Graham Whiting is an Academy Clerk at Meridian Trust. He works alongside 10 different academies within our Trust, and we spoke with him to get an insight into his role.
Tell us about your career background.
I worked in the civil service for 30 years, between 1975-2005, in what is now known as the Border Force. This was a combination of immigration and customs. After 30 years, I decided to take voluntary redundancy as I wanted to do something else. Following this, I began working at the Cambridgeshire County Cricket Office, where I was an administrator.
How did you come to be a Clerk to the Academy of Councils?
So, alongside my administrative role at Cambridgeshire Cricket Office, I began work as a clerk to the governors. From 2007, I worked with four schools for around 10 years. From January 2014, I then began working with Meridian Trust directly, or CMAT as it was known back then! This was my secondary job but in 2017 it became a full-time role where I now work with 10 academies within Meridian Trust.
What does your role as an Academy Clerk involve?
Essentially, a clerk is the basic source of information about procedures, not education. An individual clerk of a school will be the person who reminds an Academy Councillor that they need to read this policy or make this declaration. Also, understanding that information for meetings should come out seven days in advance so relevant people have the time to read it. We are also there to support the various academy council chairs in building unity within the team. Typically, we would have between 5/6 in-person meetings each year and the rest can be done via Teams or Email, making it a very flexible role.
What’s great about the role?
From my point of view, it would be when Ofsted finds the governance of a school, ‘Outstanding’. It means that the hours I spent writing meeting minutes to inform Academy Councillors was all worth it. These notes help the Academy Councillors to talk to Ofsted about what they do at the school and makes you feel like you are part of something important and contributing to the school’s success. Also, you meet some amazing people, some who may be experts in their professional role and some who don’t consider themselves to be experts. I can help these people to understand more which I find a really rewarding experience. Working for the Trust is also fantastic, within my role I am valued and treated with respect.
What would be your advice for anyone who is interested in applying for a similar role?
The key to this role is listening and understanding the difference between listening and hearing. If the clerk is listening carefully, then they will pick up on things that haven’t been said in a meeting. Also, being able to build interpersonal relationships is crucial and having that ability to build a sense of team within the group. Being a good note-taker is also very important to the role and working in an organised manner. Finally, having an understanding of the regulations surrounding the role is also very important.