Job title and organisation: Clerk to Corporation (Governing Body) - Notre Dame Catholic Sixth Form College
Salary: Appointment will be made on the Sixth Form Colleges’ Association Salary spine for Support staff, Scale Point 37 £57,263 to Scale Point 39 £59,810 per annum pro-rata.
Actual pay based on 0.4 FTE will be Support Pay spine point 37-39 £22,905 - £23,924 per annum.
This post is a Senior Postholder position.
Hours: Hours will vary but on average approximately 2-3 days term time or 0.4FTE per week (2 days) over the course of the academic year. (740 hours, excluding holiday allowance.)
Contract: Permanent
Location: Notre Dame Catholic Sixth Form College, St Mark’s Avenue, LS2 9BL
Closing Date and Time: Monday 3 November at 9 AM
The Role
The College is seeking to appoint a high performing individual with outstanding communication, administrative and organisational skills to support the functions of the Full Governing Body of the College. Clerks are governance professionals who are good at organising others, willing to continually embrace changes to education and both highly motivated and committed to their role. The Clerk will provide advice and guidance to the governing body on governance, constitutional and governance matters and will provide highly effective procedural and administrative support. You will ensure the governing body works within legal compliance and meets the regulatory framework. The Clerk will also hold a unique communication position in the triumvirate of Chair of Corporation, Principal of Notre Dame and the Governing Body. You will embody the core competencies of always behaving ethically and with probity, acting positively and striving to provide excellence in everything you do.
It is essential as Clerk to be reliable and able to work flexible hours and to be available for all Board meetings and associated events.
This role is predominantly evening work to cover approximately all Committee and Full Corporation meetings per year. Meetings normally start between 4.30pm-6.30pm. Apart from attendance at meetings, the role could be potentially in part carried out from home. Access to a computer, home printer and the internet from home would be essential, although a workstation in College will also be provided.
Main duties and Responsibilities
- To ensure that the business of the Corporation Board is conducted effectively, efficiently with a high standard of governance.
- To ensure that the Governors and Board operates within their powers and follow agreed and proper procedures in accordance with legislative and other statutory requirements.
- Provide high-quality independent, unbiased and impartial advice to members of the Board on all matters relating to governance.
- Provide high quality administrative and organisational support including the preparation of accurate and fair minutes of all the committee and Full Corporation meetings per year and maintaining the Notre Dame Catholic Sixth Form College Corporation’s administrative and organisational records and papers.
- Advise the Corporation and its Committees on its statutory duties and responsibilities.
- Advise the Corporation and its Committees on the proper operation and exercise of their powers and on the application of the College’s Instrument and Articles of Government, education acts, other laws/regulations and Policies affecting its work.
- Advise the Corporation and its Committees on items such as, procedural matters; quoracy; the conduct of their business; matters of governance practice; obtaining or making available professional advice where appropriate.
- Draw up for approval, and keep under review, Standing Orders and Terms of Reference for the conduct of business of the Corporation and its Committees.
- Take appropriate action if and when the Corporation, its Chair or one of its Committees appears to be at risk of acting outside their powers or to be proposing actions that may be unlawful.
- In consultation with the Chair and Principal, plan the calendar of forward programme of meetings of the Corporation and its Committees, identifying the main items to be taken at those meetings and liaising with those members of staff or Governors preparing papers for forthcoming meetings.
- Ensure that an appropriate annual cycle of business is in place for the Corporation and its Committees. This includes setting targets and monitoring the performance in relation to academic achievements and retention, quality assurance, admissions/enrolments, financial control and forecasting, Regularity and risk management issues.
- Summon meetings and prepare and despatch agenda and papers in a timely manner for Corporation and Committee meetings, including ad-hoc committees/meetings e.g. appeals, appointment of Senior staff etc.
- Attend, in person, all meetings of the Corporation and its Committees and preparing an accurate record of Minutes and actions of the proceedings in a timely manner.
- Ensure actions identified at Corporation and its Committee meetings are followed-up and reported during the next meeting under Matters Arising.
- Ensure compliance with the law as regards public access to Corporation and Committee papers and requirements of publishing governance documents on the College website.
- Make arrangements for safe custody of the official record of the Corporation’s business and maintain a record of outstanding business.
- Facilitate effective communication channels on Corporation matters between the Chair, Principal and Senior Leadership staff in the College.
- Act as correspondent for the Corporation and its Committees.
- Maintain a record of the terms of office for membership of the Corporation and its Committees and ensure adequate succession planning.
- Notify the Corporation and Diocese where appropriate of any resignations or vacancies in membership, and with reference to the skills needs of the Board:
a) Foundation Governors - liaise with the Diocese over arrangements for appointment and reappointment of Foundation Governors
b) Staff, Student and Parent - make arrangements for elections
c) Co-opted – convene a meeting of the College’s Search committee to identify appropriately qualified/skilled/experienced candidates
- Facilitate induction sessions for new Governors with the Chair and Principal.
- Maintain a Code of Conduct for the Corporation and a Register of the Financial and Personal Interests of Governors; advising Governors on Declarations of Interest; ensuring all Governors are eligible to serve and all appointments are valid.
- Ensure the Governors’ skills audit and training records are reviewed on a regular basis, to aid succession planning and to identify training issues.
- Maintain an attendance record of Governors, notifying any Governors whose membership lapses as a result of non-attendance or who become disqualified for some other reason.
- Administer any scheme for the re-imbursement of Governors’ expenses.
- Demonstrate active commitment to the College’s Catholic ethos, Ethical Leadership, Equality policies, Health and Safety and quality assurance frameworks.
- Participate in the College’s quality assurance arrangements as appropriate, e.g. preparing the Governance self-assessment report, Ofsted inspections etc. and identify areas for improvement in governance.
- Monitor the Public Interest Disclosure procedure (Whistleblowing) and review the policy as review dates require.
- Take part in an appraisal process and personal development as appropriate, usually conducted by the Chair and Vice Chair on an annual basis.
Qualifications
The successful candidate should have one of the following qualifications or be willing to study towards either of the following qualifications:
- The Education and Training Foundation's qualifications for governance professionals
- Certificate in charity law and governance
- A legal or para-legal degree or diploma
- An advanced corporate governance qualification.
- Experience in other governance positions could include;
- FE colleges, academy trusts, universities or other large charities
- Public bodies such as NHS trusts
- Experience with a regulator or professional body concerned with standards in governance practice.
Closing date: 9am on Monday 03 November 2025.
It is intended that interviews will take place on Thursday 06 November 2025.
For further details and an application pack please visit:
Notre Dame Catholic Sixth Form College - Tes Jobs and scroll down to see our live vacancies.
The College is committed to Safeguarding and promotes the welfare of young people and expects all staff, students and volunteers to share this commitment. All appointments are subject to satisfactory references, an enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check and a satisfactory Social Media check.
In promoting equal opportunities, we welcome applications from all sections of the community.
The above post is not a Leeds City Council vacancy and has been advertised on behalf of the relevant organisation. To apply please follow their application instructions.
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