Governance

David Griffin – Chair of Corporation

The Corporation has overall responsibility for determining the educational character and mission of Huish, as well as strategic and financial planning.

The College Board of Governors, or Corporation, has responsibility for ensuring that Huish meets the needs of all its students and that the College will continue to grow, develop and provide the best possible education for the whole community it serves.

The Corporation has twenty governor members who are responsible for:

the determination and periodic review of the educational character and mission of the College and the oversight of its activities
approving the quality strategy of the College
ensuring the effective and efficient use of resources, the solvency of the College and the Corporation, and safeguarding their assets
approving annual estimates of income and expenditure
the appointment, grading, suspension, dismissal and determination of the pay and conditions of service of the holders of senior posts and the Clerk to the Corporation
setting a framework for the pay and conditions of all other staff.

Membership of the Corporation includes two student governors, two parent governors and two staff governors, all elected by their respective constituencies. The insight and experience of governors is essential in ensuring that Huish remains on track. With some two thousand students at the College, the Learner Voice is particularly important and the professionalism of governance must support Huish to ensure that we continue to improve the very high standards we have set.

Members of the Corporation come from a wide variety of backgrounds – business, health care, financial and legal – and appointments to the Corporation are made to ensure that there is the necessary expertise to carry out all the statutory obligations set out in the governing document, the Instruments and Articles of Government for Sixth Form Colleges. For this and other policies which set out the way in which the Corporation must operate please refer to our Governance Links.

Governors meet a number of times during each term and take a keen interest in the work of the College, both through the formal learning environment and through the many other activities and events which make up the College experience.

Meet our Governors

The Board of Governors plays a key role in overseeing the strategic planning of the College, working closely with Senior Managers to ensure that all the College does continues to meet the highest standards. As well as thinking about the needs of current students, Governors must also plan for the future and consider the changing needs of the community.

Governors must be committed to getting to know Huish through various formal and informal links with teaching and learning, but also through attendance at College events throughout the year. It is important that Governors have a good understanding of their most important stakeholders, the students. Parents, employers and the local community also have a big part to play.

Joining the Board of Governors – the Corporation – means that as well as getting to know the College, its students and its staff, you must also be prepared to give up time in order to attend meetings on a regular basis. You will have an opportunity to work with a diverse group of people and use your professional and personal skills to shape learning in the local community.

Governors have many different skills – those with accountancy backgrounds sometimes choose to become a member of the Finance Committee, ensuring that funds are spent wisely and that there is adequate financial planning for the future. Other Governors may have skills in human resources, a background in the legal profession or work in education – the wider the range of skills, the better. Governors have real responsibility and it is an exciting opportunity.

Being a governor has been challenging and exciting
Jonathan Langdon

Individual Governors have different responsibilities and choose to become involved with a range of different aspects of college life. All Governors are expected to attend Committee meetings and meetings of the Full Board, the Corporation.

The Full Board usually has meetings in September, December, March, May and July. As well as these meetings, there may be other occasions when the Board gets together to have strategic planning days. These planning days take place in early February and late April.

As well as the Full Board, there are Committees as follows:

Academic Planning and Quality Committee
Audit Committee
Finance Committee
Personnel Committee
A Committee which looks after governance – the Search Committee

Sometimes there are other groups or committees convened to deal with particular tasks, such as overseeing building projects.

There are usually two meetings of each Committee during each academic term.

As far as possible, meetings take place at 5.30 pm on Mondays.

Calendar of Meetings 2020-21

The Corporation, the Board, has a membership of up to twenty Governors, including parent, staff and student Governors who are responsible for:

The determination and periodic review of the educational character and mission of the College and oversight of its activities
Approving the quality strategy of the College
Ensuring the effective and efficient use of resources, the solvency of the College and the Corporation, and safeguarding their assets
Approving annual estimates of income and expenditure
The appointment, grading, suspension, dismissal and determination of the pay and conditions of service of the holders of senior posts and the Clerk to the Corporation
Setting a framework for the pay and conditions of all other staff

The Instrument and Articles of Governance for the College is the constitutional document which sets out the framework of governance.

Instrument and Articles of Government for Sixth Form Colleges

Governors have other policies and codes which set out the way they must conduct their business. These documents are listed on the Governance Links tab.

Richard Huish College is keen to recruit motivated and dynamic volunteers from a wide range of backgrounds and with a diversity of skills and experience.

The Governing Body, together with the Principal, constitutes the highest level of decision-making in the College, having overall responsibility for the strategic direction and financial health of the institution. A number of College Governor opportunities will become available this year. As a Governor you will be at the heart of the College, responsible for determining the education and training provided and the strategy for delivering it. You will also lead the drive to maintain outstanding teaching and learning by ensuring good control systems and challenging areas for improvement.

More information about current Governor Vacancies can be found on the Vacancies page. We actively promote equal opportunities and encourage applicants from all sections of the community. For more information please contact us on 01823 320800 or email Bettinaw@richuish.ac.uk.

For more information please contact Bettina Walker (Clerk to the Corporation and Trustees) on Bettinaw@richuish.ac.uk.

All Governance minutes are available to read. You may find that the latest meetings will not publish minutes until they have been ratified at the following meeting so there is a delay in publication.

Corporation Minutes

Audit Committee Minutes

Finance and General Purposes Committee Minutes

Personnel Committee Minutes

Governance and Search Committee Minutes

Academic Planning and Quality Committee

If you have a governance minutes query contact us on bettinaw@richuish.ac.uk.