Education Central Multi Academy Trust
The Role of the
Link Governor
Author
ECMAT Governor Lead
Approved
25th November 2014
Version
1
Amended
n/a
Review
By 1st September 2015
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The Role of the Link Local Advisory Board Member
What is a Link LAB Member?
Link LAB members are members of, and are appointed by, the Local Advisory Board
(LAB) to oversee specific aspects of the work of the academy.
There is no legal requirement to appoint link LAB members, but most Local Advisory
Boards find them a very effective way to help them understand, oversee, monitor
and develop a particular area of responsibility within the academy. The link LAB
member should ultimately enrich the whole local advisory boards’ understanding of
their particular area and therefore contribute to more informed decision making. Link
LAB members are also a useful way for the LAB to develop positive links with staff
and pupils and to maintain a visible and professional profile within the academy.
Link governors must understand that their role is as a source of support to the
academy and a source of information for the local advisory board.
What does a Link LAB Member do?
A Link LAB Member could;
 take a special interest in a particular area of need
 keep abreast of development locally and nationally
 attend appropriate training
 make focussed visits to the academy
 become familiar with areas in the academy development plan
 have regular contact with the member of staff within the academy with
responsibilities in their particular area;
 discuss the implications of any policies adopted by the LAB with the staff
concerned;
 monitor how well relevant policies adopted by the LAB are operating within
the academy and understand any barriers to their implementation;
Ultimately an effective link LAB member reports back regularly to the Local Advisory
Board, making recommendations where appropriate, either via a LAB committee or
to the full Local Advisory Board meetings.
The Benefits of Link Governors
Link LAB Members:
 are a means to build up relationships based on mutual trust and respect,
enabling effective governance and supporting academy improvement
 provide Ofsted with concrete evidence of the involvement of the LAB
members in the academy and of the extent to which they are able to
contribute to the academy’s self-evaluation process
 can see first-hand the available resources in the classroom so that the Local
Advisory Board can make informed decisions about future budget allocations
and tie them to the academy development plan priorities
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What areas do we need to have link LAB members for?
There is no statutory requirement to have link LAB members attached to individual
subjects or aspects of the academy’s work but such roles are considered good
practice. It is a matter for each LAB and head teacher to plan its own guidelines on
the role that it expects the link LAB member to undertake.
It is suggested however, that the Local Advisory Board considers having link LAB
members in the following areas:
 Data
 Finance
 Pupil Premium
 Safeguarding/ Safer Recruitment
 SEND
 Training and Development
Listed below are guidelines to help Local Advisory Boards define the role of their link
LAB members.
Data Link LAB Member
Role: to use a greater knowledge of key academy data to inform the wider LAB
Remit:
 to have a greater knowledge of the Data on RAISEonline (the DfE data
analysis tool)
 to have greater knowledge of the data available on the Data Dashboard( the
Ofsted ‘snapshot’ of the academy’s performance over a three year period))
 to be able to interpret the academy’s attainment, pupil progress and
attendance data
 to compare the academy’s performance data with national data and data for
similar schools
 to challenge, when necessary, the data analysis of the head teacher at
governing body meetings
 to help fellow LAB members make links between data from the head teacher’s
assessment of the quality of teaching and its impact on academy performance
 to help advise LAB members involved in the performance management of the
head teacher on the relevant data
 to use knowledge and understanding to robustly defend the academy’s data
record during Ofsted inspections
The chair of governors' role in data analysis
Guidance produced by the National College for Teaching and Leadership (National
College) in association with the National Governors' Association (NGA), outlines
some of the data-related aspects of the position. It says the chair of governors
should:
 Ensure that the school has effective processes relating to self-evaluation
 Ensure that good quality and relevant information is available to governors
 Have a good understanding of the data and other sources of evidence
available
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It suggests that some of the data and other sources of
evidence that chairs of governors should have an understanding of include:
 Exam results (SATs, GCSEs and A-levels)
 The academy self-evaluation form, which is no longer compulsory but still
used in academies for compiling performance information
 Results of lesson observations, work scrutiny and pupil interviews
 The academy development plan, which LAB members should have been
involved in developing
 Ofsted reports
 Data on RAISEonline (the DfE data analysis tool) and academy-level data
 Head teacher reports to the Local Advisory Board
 Parent, student and staff surveys
 Academy visits by LAB members
Finance Link LAB Member
Role: to act as a ‘link governor’ between the academy’s finance planning and
committees, any premises committees and the full Local Advisory Board.
Remit:
 to act as an objective sounding board for the head teacher and finance
operations
 to undertake regular reviews of the financial planning, position and reporting
 to provide information to the full Local Advisory Board and to any relevant
committees concerning financial matters
 to assist in the development of budgets
 to attend local ECMAT finance updates
 to discuss budget implications of major initiatives, current commitments, and
changes to existing arrangements or external influences on budgets
Pupil Premium Link LAB Member
Role: to develop a greater knowledge and understanding of the pupil premium by
looking at the allocation of resources and consequent audit trail and how the
academy is narrowing the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and other
pupils
Remit:
 to be familiar with the concept of the pupil premium; what it is, why it has been
set in place, how it is allocated, how it is calculated and which groups of pupils
attract the premium
 to obtain and become familiar with the school's pupil premium policy, (if it has
one)
 to know basic pupil premium facts for the academy; how many pupils attract
the premium, how this figure compares with other local and similar schools
and how the money is spent
 to understand relevant academy pupil performance data that shows
progress of different groups over time
 to monitor the spending of the pupil premium, ensuring the money is spent in
identifiable ways to support target groups of pupils
 to monitor the impact of pupil premium spending on target groups
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Monitor the attainment of different groups of pupils
over time to provide evidence of how pupil premium pupils are progressing
compared with others
to challenge the allocation of the pupil premium grant if there is no clear audit
trail evidencing appropriate use of the resources
to take an active part in any governing body or committee discussions when
the allocation and monitoring of the pupil premium is discussed and decided
to report back to the local advisory board on the academy's use of the pupil
premium
Safeguarding/ Safer Recruitment Link LAB Member
The Department for Education’s (DfE's) statutory guidance on ‘Keeping Children
Safe in Education’ requires governing bodies to:
... ensure a member of the governing body, usually the chair, is nominated to liaise
with the LA and/or partner agencies on issues of child protection and in the event of
allegations of abuse made against the head teacher, the principal of a college or
proprietor or member of governing body of an independent school.
Remit:
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to ensure that the academy has an effective safeguarding children policy in
place and follows local procedures
to ensure that a robust system is in place for recording, storing and reviewing
child welfare concerns
to liaise with the head teacher about general child protection and broader
safeguarding issues within the academy, and provide reports to the Local
Advisory Board
to ensure that academy staff training is up to date
to recruit staff and volunteers in line with safer recruitment processes
to ensure that the academy has procedures for dealing with allegations of
abuse made against staff and volunteers
to ensure that the academy has a designated senior member of staff for
dealing with safeguarding children issues
SEND Link LAB Member
Role: to provide a link between the Local Advisory Board, and the SEND Coordinator.
Remit:
 to develop an understanding of SEND needs and provision in the academy
 to understand the responsibilities of the LAB in relation to the SEND Code of
Practice
 to be familiar with the SEND policy and ensure that it is reviewed on a regular
basis
 to meet with the SEND Co-ordinator on a regular basis to discuss the SEND
needs and provision in the academy
 to report to the committee or to the Local Advisory Board on relevant issues
relating to SEND
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to attend LAB member /governor training on SEND
in accordance with the ECMAT LAB Members Visits Protocol and Guidelines,
visit the academy and view appropriate lessons reporting back according to
the protocol and guidelines procedure
Training and Development Link LAB Member
Role: The co-ordination of training and development to meet the identified needs of
the Local Advisory Board:
Remit:
 to develop and monitor a protocol for LAB training and development
 to use both the ECMAT Skills Audit and the Self-Evaluation Tool to inform
training and developments
 to develop an annual LAB member training programme in accordance with the
protocol and in response to identified need
 to ask members to evaluate their own training and the impact that it has had
on their role
 to report termly to the Local Advisory Board on the training undertaken
 to ensure that training and development opportunities are brought to the
attention of and discussed by the Local Advisory Board on a regular basis
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