For more than a decade, our trust has been on a journey – one rooted in belonging and true accountability to the communities we serve. This has shaped our schools, our leadership culture and our role as a civic organisation. It has also led us to rethink one of the most important – but often least examined – parts of our system: governance.
Inclusion is not something we do as an add-on. It is in our DNA. It continues to influence how we lead schools, how we work with families, how we develop staff and how we show up in our communities. If we genuinely believe that school leaders know their communities best (as we do), then that principle must apply to governance too. Accountability cannot be something that happens to people; it must be something that happens with them.
And it is this belief that is driving us towards a new model of governance: inclusive dynamic accountability.
This approach recognises that accountability must be adaptive and context-driven. It brings together strong accountability with inclusion, learning and responsiveness. It draws on principles of civic and social responsibility to ensure that accountability remains meaningful as needs, expectations and environments change.
A ten-year journey, not a sudden shift
This is not a reaction to a single moment or policy change. It is the next stage of a ten-year journey that has seen our trust evolve through a strong social enterprise strategy and into its role as an anchor institution in our communities. Throughout this time, we have been intentional about the culture we are building and the leaders we have recruited and retained. Shared values and clarity of purpose create genuine trust – and we know that trust is the foundation of effective accountability.
We have invested in helping staff in all our schools understand what inclusion and belonging look like in practice. We work hard to ensure people feel seen and valued, creating environments where professional voice and agency are the norm rather than the exception.
But are we doing the same in our governance structures?
Governors and trustees are just as important as staff in shaping culture and direction, so we asked some important questions: do our governance arrangements truly reflect our values?; Do governors feel connected to the schools and communities they serve?; And do our structures genuinely enable them to influence, challenge and contribute meaningfully?
To explore this properly, we undertook a trust-wide governance review. This included a series of consultation events involving more than 100 participants from across leadership and governance roles – from local academy governors to trustees and executive leaders.
Our ambition was made clear: to develop a governance model that is fully inclusive, values-led and fit for a growing trust. Strengthening community engagement and shared ownership across all our schools is key– with learners at the centre of all decision-making.
Inclusive dynamic accountability
Traditional accountability models often lean heavily towards compliance and fixed, hierarchical structures. While necessary, they can unintentionally create distance between decision-makers and communities, sometimes prioritising certain voices over others. We recognised that in a fast-changing and increasingly complex educational landscape, this approach is no longer sufficient.
Our thinking has been influenced by David Teece’s work on dynamic capabilities – the idea that successful organisations are those able to sense change, interpret it collectively and then adapt responsibly over time. Accountability, like capability, cannot be static. Who we are accountable to, and for what, changes as communities, needs and expectations change.
Inclusive dynamic accountability applies this thinking to governance. It recognises that accountability is not a one-off event, a fixed framework or a retrospective judgement. It is a living capability that enables organisations to learn and adapt while remaining anchored to their values and civic purpose.
At its heart, this approach is being genuinely answerable to the people and places we serve – and placing that within an inclusive, future-facing framework. It is about ensuring governance is not just structurally sound, but culturally strong.
Inclusion and belonging in the governance space
Inclusive governance is about more than representation. It is about building cultural capital, valuing lived experience and creating conditions where people have a real voice and the ability to influence and effect change. It requires the intentional recruitment and support of governors and trustees, alongside a recognition that different schools and communities may need governance to look and feel different. This diversity is a strength, not a risk.
One practical example has been our focus on language. Through the governance review, we moved from the term local academy council to academy board for our school-based governors. This was a deliberate signal of parity and shared responsibility, reinforcing that local governance is integral to collective stewardship and accountability.
Our leaders know their communities best – and we trust them to do the right thing. Inclusive dynamic accountability extends this trust into governance, strengthening the connection between school-level insight and trust-level stewardship. It creates coherence without uniformity, and alignment without unnecessary centralisation.
Through this approach, authority is strengthened through legitimacy. In practice it will change how boards exercise oversight, shifting governance away from operational detail and tick-box assurance, towards values-based oversight that builds public trust and supports courageous leadership.
Crucially, it recognises that accountability flows in more than one direction. Trustees and governors are not simply recipients of information; they are co-stewards of purpose and impact.
This also reframes governance as a learning responsibility. Trustees and governors are accountable not only for performance, but for how the organisation reflects and responds when things do not work. This includes acknowledging mistakes and ensuring trust is rebuilt over time.
What next?
As the name suggests, our new framework is not static or a finished product – but an invitation to think differently about governance. In a system that often defaults to control and compliance, we believe there is a powerful alternative, rooted in inclusion and civic responsibility.
Key principles include:
- Treat governance as a cultural endeavour, not just a technical one
- Design accountability with communities, not just for regulators
- Invest in governors as people, not just roles
- Accept that accountability must evolve as contexts evolve
If we want schools that are truly accountable to their communities, then our governance must reflect the same values we expect to see every day in our trust and our schools – from our pupils, leaders and staff.
We look forward to working with colleagues across the sector to help us shape this work - ensuring that inclusive governance strengthens trust and remains firmly rooted in the civic purpose of education.
