Maxine Arnott is an Academy Clerk for Meridian Trust. She supports two primary schools in Ely – Lantern Community Primary and Downham Feoffees Primary Academy. We caught up with Maxine to find out more about her role as an Academy Council clerk and what it entails.
Tell us about your career background.
I’ve worked in education for over 30 years. Officially, I retired last year whilst I was working as a Chief Finance Officer at another multi-academy trust in Peterborough. I have worked in all sorts of administrative roles over the last 30 years and have been involved with Lincolnshire County Council, being a leader of governance, supporting governing boards within the county.
How did you come to be a Clerk to the Academy Councils?
Clerking is something that I had done previously, it currently keeps me involved in education and keeps the brain matter going! Prior to joining Meridian Trust, I was coming up to serve my notice on retirement and the job ad appeared online to support Greater PeterboroughUTC (GPUTC), and I just thought, I’ll have a go at that! After starting with GPUTC and then moving house, other vacancies came up. I now remotely support two Meridian primary schools in Ely – Lantern Community Primary and Downham Feoffees Primary Academy.
What are Academy Councils?
They are there to help support the school with their strategic vision, objectives and ensure the best possible outcomes for students. There is quite a lot to monitor regarding the legal side of things.
What does your role as an Academy Council clerk involve?
My role is basically ensuring that the Board of Trustees (who are accountable for the overall performance of our Trust schools) is on track with their objectives and to help if they need any additional support. Also, making sure that the agenda is being met throughout the year, and what needs to be covered is being covered. It’s important to be organised as you need to know when meetings are coming up and have all the documentation ready within the statutory deadlines. In a typical week, I would spend around 2 and a half hours on each school. I will also have five or six face-to-face meetings throughout the year; the rest are carried out on Microsoft Teams and email. It is a very flexible role with the way it works and allows me to enjoy my semi-retirement!
What’s great about the role?
The main benefit is definitely the flexibility of the role. I have already got this year’s academic calendar with all my meetings planned in, so I can tell (from that) where my peak points are and I can now plan around them, which is really helpful. Also, it is interesting working with different schools because you get to work with different people and no school is the same in the way they work. The schools that I work with are all relatively new to the trust, and they all say what a huge benefit it is to be part of the trust and the support network that is behind it. From a clerking viewpoint, the Trust is very supportive. It can also be very rewarding, especially after a positive inspection or governance review, that’s when you feel like you have done your bit and helped the school.
What would be your advice for anyone who is interested in applying for a similar role?
I’d recommend that anyone who’s interested in doing this role ensures that they can work flexibly because conversely, that aspect does not suit everyone (i.e. the education sector isn’t always ‘9-5’). It is a role you can do at any stage of your career, I did it when my daughter was very young due to its flexibility. Now I am partly retired and doing this role, so if you have a slight interest in education, go for it!