Governance
Governance and accountability through TCES Boards
Introduction to Governance at TCES
The Complete Education Solution (TCES) believes in the importance of governance and accountability, and we have created and built a very robust Governing Body over the past five years. The makeup and expertise of our Governing Body is a significant strength, and our Governors have a more enhanced role at TCES than at most other Multi Academy Trusts (MATs) or multi-site schools or services.
Effective governance in TCES provides strategic direction, oversight and accountability to our schools, and services. This accountability is sought through a range of Governor annual activities including school visits and committee meetings. The Governors also have an escalation procedure for any concerns should they require this. All of these processes help to strengthen the accountability within our schools and services.
In summary, our Board of Governors create robust accountability, oversight and quality assurance for our schools’ educational and financial performance and our governance is ambitious for all children and young people to achieve the very best outcomes.
TCES Overall structure
TCES operates a social enterprise where society profits. Our legal constitution, as defined by our Articles of Association, is that of a social enterprise, whose mission is to create wide-scale social impact through pioneering inclusive practices. TCES operates a number of schools and services across a continuum of pupil needs, risk, and vulnerability. We have two Independent Special Schools in East and North West London, made up of all-through schools from key-stage 2 to 5, as well as, Nurture Primary school, East London School Outreach service for secondary aged pupils and our National Online School.
N.B: Our East London School Outreach service uniquely provides therapeutic education, clinical, social work, and family support services for some of the most complex, high-risk, and vulnerable children and young people in and around London, unable to attend mainstream school and alternative education settings.
The executive Board and Governors
TCES’ main board is our Executive Board. Its Chair and board members design, develop and are accountable for the company’s strategic vision, its financial resources, and its risk register. The Executive Board holds the Board of Governors to account by scheduling visits and reviewing the work that the Governors do through:
- Executive Board and Governors twice annual board days
- Governors' scheduled visits to each school and service
- Governors Business and Finance committees
- Governors Integrated Services committees
- Governors’ annual policy review
The Executive Board meets the Governing Body each academic year in February and July and these meetings are accountability meetings where the Governors explain their work, their findings, and their impact on pupils' outcomes. Additionally, members of the Executive Board attend committees with TCES ‘Governors and collectively meet with the Headteachers/Heads of Service and School Business Managers in January and June to discuss Business and Finance and Integrated Services issues, including the Governors findings.
Governors' visits utilise regulator reports, internal QA inspections, the Heads reports, the SEF/SDP, and specialist governors’ reports to drive their work. Following Governors’ visits and related recommendations, schools and services are expected to align the recommendations into the SEF/SDP, and the Governors expect feedback on continuous improvement at every subsequent visit or meeting. This is how accountability is driven from the Commercial Board to our Board of Governors and onwards to the schools/service.
The Operations Board
Strategic vision is operationalised through TCES’ weekly Operations Board. Quality Assurance and review activity is delivered through an internal peer review and inspection model, led by highly experienced education professionals and senior leaders from across TCES schools and services.
The Board of Governors also hold the two Boards within TCES to account through their written reporting processes in which the Governors work closely with the Heads to ensure that the school has the appropriate resources to deliver high quality integrated services and, ultimately, to ensure that pupils are successful in their pathways and outcomes.
Our Governors
Our Governing Body is led by an experienced social worker who has managed LADO Services across a number of Local Authorities and is a coordinator for the London Region and National LADO Networks. The Chair’s role is to lead effective governance: giving the governing body a clear lead and direction, ensuring that the governors work as an effective team and understand their accountability and the part they play in the strategic leadership of the school and in driving school improvement.
The Governing Body comprises of:
- A Chair of Governors with a background in social work, who has managed LADO Services across a number of Local Authorities and is a coordinator for the London Region and National LADO Networks.
- A Governor for Safeguarding, a qualified social worker and a previous LADO with over 25 years' experience, a former Head of an Education Safeguarding Services and a specialist in education safeguarding.
- A Governor for Health and Safety. They are a certified member of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), an Associate Member of the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE), a Member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA). Their experience in supporting many educational establishments from nurseries to universities has been brought to the governing team at TCES - an establishment with the incredible ethos of never giving up on any child.
You can see what our Governors’ have been working on, via the attached chart.
TCES’ Governors’ work in 2025/26