Rising to the challenge

At face value the National Challenge Trust model for schools is attractive – not least because of the additional funding available. But there are hurdles to overcome, warns Vicki Hair, particularly in relation to who can be involved in the trust.

For the 250 or so remaining National Challenge secondary schools, time is running out. With only one set of GCSE results left between them and potential closure, many schools and local authorities are turning to the National Challenge Trust (“NCT”) model to support and facilitate the governing body by strengthening leadership and raising achievement. However two issues have recently come to light which may make the NCT a less attractive option than previously thought.

The NCT model

NCTs build on the existing and popular Trust school model which allows the school, along with carefully selected external partners (known as “Trust Partners”), to form a charitable Trust (sometimes also called a foundation).

The Trust appoints a set number of governors to the board of governors of the school and it is via these Trust-appointed governors that the expertise and skills of the Trust Partners can be fed into the governance of the school. In the NCT model the majority of the governors must be Trust-appointed governors.

Each NCT must have a successful local educational establishment as a Trust Partner. It appears that the DCSF initially intended that this “lead education partner” would be a local school – two out of the three NCT models proposed by the DCSF involve schools as the lead education partner. However this approach seems to have softened as more higher education and further education institutes become lead education partners.

This model is made even more attractive by the potential £750,000 additional funding available from the DCSF to support structural changes at the school and to promote the work of the Trust.

Problem 1 – National Challenge school governing bodies excluded

Although not prohibited by law from being involved in the Trust, the DCSF has confirmed that it may not provide additional funding to NCTs where the governing body of the National Challenge school itself is to be a Trust Partner. Under the DCSF’s plans, the governing body of the school will have no involvement in the Trust and have no say in the appointment of the Trust-appointed governors. This policy has created three main stumbling blocks to overcome:

1. This policy has not been widely publicised by the DCSF and many schools and local authorities have not been made aware of it. Those governing bodies who have been made aware of the policy have found the NCT model difficult to support. They struggled to promote a change which specifically excludes the governing body from being involved in the very Trust which is intended to support and facilitate them.
2. The purpose of the Trust is stated in its governing documents and closely mirrors that of the governing body of the school – to advance the education of pupils at the school and to promote community cohesion. Arguably it would be difficult for the Trust to promote community cohesion if a section of the school community, the governing body and staff of the school, are prevented from being involved in the Trust. And what if the governing body, a governor or a member of staff applies to join the Trust once it is up and running? The existing Trust Partners will be forced to make an uncomfortable decision between disobeying the wishes of the DCSF (and risking the funding) and insulting the individual or body applying to join.
3. Finally the exclusion of the governing body from the Trust means that the route for information regarding the school to pass to the Trust is now laborious – the head will report to the governing body and then the Trust-appointed governors will report back to the Trust. The route for communicating the wishes of the Trust back to the governing body is equally long. It is clear that there is great potential for miscommunication and “Chinese whispers” with so many steps involved.

Problem 2 – the governing bodies of other maintained schools excluded

As mentioned above, it appears that the DCSF originally intended every NCT school to be supported by a local, successful maintained school.

However the DCSF have recently become unsure whether the governing bodies of maintained schools legally have the power to support NCTs by becoming Trust Partners. Whilst the governing body of a maintained school has the power to “advise and assist” another maintained school it is unclear whether this allows the governing body to itself be a Trust Partner.

Whilst the draft Children, Schools and Families Bill should categorically give the governing body the power to be a Trust Partner, it is by no means certain that the current Bill will become an Act in this shortened session of Parliament. In the meantime, governing bodies are being forced to find alternative routes to participate.

Whilst the National Challenge Trust school model might seem an attractive option at first glance, local authorities and National Challenge schools will need to tread carefully to ensure that they do not fall foul of DCSF policy or act ultra vires.

Vicki Hair is a solicitor in the education team at Browne Jacobson.