Clerk to Governors

ARK SCHOOLS; Greater London; On-site; GBP 15,000 - 16,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Pension scheme

28 days leave pro rata

Job summary

ARK SCHOOLS is seeking a Clerk to Governors to support governance across its London network. The role is home-based with regular travel to London schools and to EdCity in White City for central governance events.

The ideal candidate will have clerking qualifications, minute-taking experience, and strong IT skills. This part-time post requires flexibility to attend meetings outside core hours and to manage governance papers efficiently.

Qualifications

• Right to work in the UK.
• Experience of accurate minute taking in a formal setting.
• Experience of governance in a school or corporate environment.
• IT literate with MS Office and 365 tools.

Responsibilities

• Prepare focused agendas with the Chair and Principal for all meetings.
• Distribute papers on time in line with standards.
• Take minutes and draft formal minutes for review by the Chair/Principal.

Skills

Excellent communication

Time management

Remote working self-motivated

Microsoft 365

Education

GCSE English & Maths (grade 5+)

Clerking to Local Governors qualification

Tools

MS Outlook

MS Word

Excel

GovernorHub

GIAS

Job description

Clerk to Governors

Reports to: Clerk to Governors Location: Home-based, with regular travel to schools across London and travel to our central offices at EdCity in White City, London Contract: Permanent Pattern: Part time (20 hours per week, term-time only) Closing date: 08/09/2026 Interviews: w/c 14/09/2026 Full-Time Salary: £32,000 to £35,000 Part-Time Salary: £14,678 to £16,054

Key Responsibilities

• With the Chair and Principal, prepare focused agendas for all meetings
• Liaise with those preparing papers to make sure they are distributed on time and in-line to network-wide standards
• Monitor attendance and take appropriate action in relation to absences
• Attend all meetings and take detailed minutes that accurately reflect the meeting, discussion and decisions
• Draft formal minutes and liaise with the Chair and Principal to review prior to final approval by the Board/Panel
• Ensure all papers and final minutes are filed and accessible on internal systems
• Coordinate the annual meeting schedule and agenda planner, in discussion with the Chair, Principal and Central Governance Team
• Coordinate Governor Review Panels within statutory procedure and timeframes
• Draft decision/outcome letters on behalf of governors, liaise with the Chair to finalise and circulate to relevant parties within statutory timeframes
• Administrative support to the Regional Governance Officer for governor recruitment and induction
• Maintain up-to-date membership and training records on internal systems
• First point of contact for governance queries from Principals and local governors, in discussion with the Central Governance Team as needed

Key Requirements

• Right to work in the UK
• Boards and panels meet at various times throughout the day and evening during the school term (Monday - Friday). The Clerk must be available to prepare for and attend all meetings in the academic year
• This post will require attendance at Ark’s central office near White City for meetings, essential training and supervision. The Clerk must attend these events
• English and Maths GCSE, or equivalent, at grade 5 or above
• Qualification in Clerking to Local Governors
• Experience of accurate minute taking in a formal setting
• Experience of governance in a school and/or corporate environment
• IT literate and competent using MS Outlook, Word and Excel
• Advanced IT skills with experience of Microsoft 365, GovernorHub and/or GIAS
• Excellent communication skills (written and verbal) with the ability to foster relationships
• Self-motivated and able to work with remote supervision
• Excellent time-management skills and ability to manage multiple workloads
• Proactive, organised and flexible to ensure deadlines are met when reliant on others for information

Benefits

• Our flexible working model offers the best of both worlds, balancing in person collaboration, either in our state of the art West London office or through visits to our schools, with the flexibility of remote working. In addition to flexible working arrangements, employees can request to work fully remotely for up to 10 working days a year, whether this be in the UK or abroad.
• Our flexitime policy allows you to work your hours around our core hours of 10.00 - 16.00, helping you prioritise your work-life balance and personal commitments.
• 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays, rising with each year of service up to 30 days after 3-years’ service. This entitlement is pro rata for part time employees. This entitlement excludes bank holidays. Full office closure between Christmas and New Year.
• As an Ark employee, you will have the opportunity to be part of the TPT (The Pension Trust) scheme, our workplace pension scheme where we make an 11% contribution; you are not required to contribute towards this scheme unless you choose to.
• Depending on your role you may also be entitled to LGPS which is a defined benefit scheme where you contribute a percentage based on how much you earn (as do we) in exchange for a guaranteed amount in your pension pot every year.
• Access to high-quality professional learning throughout your career, offering both face-to-face sessions and a bespoke online learning platform.
• Access to Ark Rewards scheme offering savings from over 3,000 major retailers, interest-free loans available for season tickets or a bike, gym discounts offering up to 40% off your local gym and free eye tests.

About Us

Ark is an education charity that exists to make sure that all children, regardless of their background, have access to a great education and real choices in life. Our network of 39 schools reaches traditionally underserved communities in Birmingham, Hastings, London and Portsmouth. We educate 30,000 pupils and have nearly 3,000 teaching staff across our network. We also incubate and scale innovative ventures, which we roll out beyond our network of schools for the benefit of teachers, pupils and the education system as a whole. Current Ventures include Ark Curriculum Plus, which equips teachers with the subject expertise needed to ensure students succeed, and Ark Start, a growing chain of nurseries offering affordable, high-quality early years education.

Recently, Ark moved to new offices at EdCity - a unique not-for-profit development in West London, in partnership with Hammersmith & Fulham council. EdCity is designed to bring mission-aligned organisations together to focus on improving the lives of children, especially through education. It offers leased offices, a range of venues for training and events, and an innovation hub for the education sector to connect, collaborate and learn together.

Diversity and inclusion

We aim to build a diverse and inclusive organisation where everyone – staff and students – can do their best work and achieve their full potential. We want to reflect and represent diverse perspectives across our organisation because we know that doing so will make us stronger and more effective. To know more about Ark’s diversity and inclusion commitments.

Safeguarding statement

Ark is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people in its academies. In order to meet this responsibility, its academies follow a rigorous selection process to discourage and screen out unsuitable applicants. Ark requires all employees to undertake an enhanced DBS check. You are required, before appointment, to disclose any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975. Non-disclosure may lead to termination of employment. However, disclosure of a criminal background will not necessarily debar you from employment - this will depend upon the nature of the offence(s) and when they occurred. To read more about Ark’s safer recruitment process.

Please note we will be reviewing applications on an on-going basis and this role may close earlier than advertised depending on the level of response.