Chair of the Board of Governors

Could you be the new Chair of the Board of Governors at Croydon College, an organisation deeply rooted within its local area with a vision to create a diverse, ambitious community in which every student can create a career which achieves their potential and contributes to the world?

Time commitment: 3-4 days per month

Closing date: 9 a.m. Monday 10th March

Who we are.

Croydon College was formed from a merger between Croydon College and Coulsdon Sixth Form College in 2019. Both Colleges continue to deliver high-quality education, building on their proud history of serving the local community whilst becoming an anchor institution for the local area.

Our College consists of two campuses in South London offering distinctly different provisions. Our Croydon Campus provides general further education with a focus on vocational and skills education, and our Coulsdon Campus is the home of our sixth form college. We offer a wide range of provision, including vocational and academic programmes for young people, courses for adults to upskill or retrain, higher education, apprenticeships, and a specific curriculum for learners with high needs.

In total, we provide education for over 6,000 learners from Entry level to Level 6, a great majority of whom come from within the London Borough of Croydon. The Borough itself is the largest and one of the most diverse boroughs in the capital. It is a place that faces a range of challenges relating to deprivation, disadvantage and relatively low educational attainment. With this in mind, our senior leaders and the c.500 staff who work at our College are all committed to a shared purpose: to transform lives in Croydon and the surrounding areas by equipping students with the knowledge, skills and capabilities to create careers and play their part in society.

About the role.

We believe that this will be an interesting time to be a part of our College as we embark on a new and exciting chapter in our organisational history: a chapter filled with ambition, to be defined by further improvement, more growth and even more positive impacts for our local communities.

We are fortunate to have a very professional, high-performing Governing Body. The 12 external Governors on the Board come from a broad range of professional backgrounds across education, public and third sectors, and large corporate entities. Together, their expertise has enabled them to offer a huge amount of support and scrutiny over recent times. A number of our Governors have only joined us within the last two years, whilst others have just entered their second terms of office. We believe our Governing Body is strong and stable, allowing us to work collaboratively in bringing success to the College as we strive towards our new strategic goals.

As Chair, you will have a responsibility to ensure the Governing Body upholds the educational character of Croydon College whilst working with our Director of Governance to ensure that, as an organisation, we are acting in accordance with our governing documents and national regulatory frameworks. Alongside this will be your responsibility to collaborate with Committee Chairs and senior leaders to ensure that agendas are effective and meetings are run efficiently with full engagement and contribution encouraged.

Our new Chair will play a vital role not only in leading our Governing Body but also in offering their expertise as an experienced strategic leader, supporting and advising our senior leadership team as they navigate the many challenges and opportunities they will face in the years ahead.

Who we are looking for.

We are looking to engage candidates to become our new Chair and lead our governing body with enthusiasm, energy and dedication. You will be innovative in your thinking, curious in your questioning and bring your growth mindset to share in our ambitions. Like all of our Governors, you will understand our longer-term vision and share our aspirations and ambitions for both the College and our students.

Whilst our new Chair will share our passion for education, and particularly further education, we are keen to attract candidates with a wide-range of experience be it commercial, third or public sector or educational.

Our new Chair will need to have previous board experience, preferably in a leadership role such as Chair, Vice Chair or Committee Chair. Coupled with this experience, you will bring a keen understanding of our local ecosystem and be able to appreciate the impact that our College can have on the communities that we serve while also understanding how local demographics and economics impact the decisions we take.

In addition to being a successful strategic leader, you will bring an understanding of organisational transformation and development and be well-placed to act as a trusted advisor to our senior leaders as we seek to navigate our growth and development in the years ahead.

Whilst we will welcome applications from candidates from a diverse range of backgrounds, we are especially interested in those individuals who live or work within our local area and who have a particular interest in supporting the development and growth of their local College.

Expectations and commitment.

Our Governing Body meets a minimum of four times per year in person. Our meetings are held outside of the working day from 6 pm and always take place on a Wednesday.

We hold two strategy days per year in March and December, one at each campus, and our board meetings are incorporated into these.

As well as leading our Governing Body as Chair, the appointed candidate will be asked to join a number of committees, which may include Finance and Resources, Learning and Quality, Search and Governance and Remuneration. These Committees meet in person three times a year and a schedule for these is available in the key documents section of this site.

It is anticipated that our new Chair will need to be able to dedicate between three to four days per month. As we continue on our journey of improvement, it is expected that in the early part of your term of office, the commitment could be slightly more. The time you need to dedicate will be influenced by meeting schedules, academic cycles, and other ad-hoc support needs. As with any Chair role, a key aspect of this role will be flexibility and accessibility. Governors are asked to commit to a four-year term of office.

We very much welcome applicants from diverse backgrounds and lived experiences.

Please click 'Apply via website’ to be redirected to the Peridot Partners website, where you can find full details of the candidate profile and register your interest to apply.

Applications for this role close at 9 a.m. Monday 10th March.