The circle model of school governance lets schools hold full governing body meetings but scrap most of their committee meetings.
This article explains how governing without committees works in practice. It also provides a comprehensive annual planner that can be used to adopt the circle model in your setting.
Can we really abolish all committees?
In maintained schools there is no legal requirement to run any committees at all. However, it is good practice to keep a pay committee so that some governors are not involved in pay decisions and are therefore free to hear pay appeals. All other committees can be abolished.
In academy trusts the Academy Trust Handbook says that each trust must have an audit and risk committee and should have a finance committee. It is also considered good practice to run a pay committee. All other committees can be abolished.
In multi-academy trusts the local governing bodies (LGBs) are committees of the trust board, so trustees have the power to scrap any LGB. This would be a significant step though and more radical than abolishing committees at the trust board level. This page assumes you are considering scrapping committees that are not LGBs.
Committees Versus Panels Versus Working Groups
Before we discuss the circle model I need to explain the difference between committees, panels and working groups. There is some overlap in how schools use these terms, but here are the most common definitions.
Committee: a small group of governors with delegated decision-making powers. It meets regularly to discuss the same subject, eg: finance or the curriculum. Committees are sometimes called standing committees, with “standing” meaning “permanently in place”.
Panel: a small group of governors with delegated decision making-powers. It meets rarely and only when a need arises, eg: to consider the later stage of a parent’s complaint. Panels are sometimes called ad hoc panels.
Working group: a small, informal group of governors. It meets to talk about a particular issue, for example a policy, but has no decision-making powers.
The circle model gets rid of most committees.
You still need panels so that governors can hear complaints, consider staff disciplinary matters and so on.
You are free to use working groups for any purpose, but there is never a requirement to use a working group for any reason.
Why is it called the circle model?
No decisions are delegated down to committees, so all the power stays within full board meetings. Picture a circle of meetings around a calendar year, each full board meeting feeding into the next one.
If you had committees the circle would be broken because power would be delegated down from the full board to each separate committee, so the structure would look more like a flowchart than a circle.
Funnily enough some schools refer to the circle model as a flat model rather than a circle, because all the power is kept on one flat level – the full board level – rather than delegated down.
I don’t really know how a structure can be both flat and circular at the same time, but that’s one of the great mysteries of school governance…
How does the circle model work?
The work of the scrapped committees is incorporated into an increased number of full board meetings. Each full board meeting will often have one main focus, such as the budget or educational standards.
Meetings are planned to match relevant dates, so a finance-focused meeting is held when the budget needs approval. The policy schedule can also be planned so relevant policies fall into the most relevant meeting.
Rather than a wide-ranging headteacher’s report that covers absolutely everything, the head can be asked to produce shorter, more focused reports that just cover the subjects on that meeting’s agenda.
Individual or pairs of governors are then assigned to monitor areas that would have been covered by committee work. They need to visit school regularly, speak to staff in charge of areas like SEND or safeguarding and then produce written reports to feed back to the full board.
Circle Model Annual Planner
A fellow clerk has very kindly given me permission to share her annual planner for the circle model – many thanks to the clerk in question! This Excel planner was used in a maintained school.
Section one shows the meeting schedule for the year, with full governing body meetings and pay committee meetings planned. One FGB per year is dedicated to the budget in April and one FGB to admin tasks in September (electing the chair, assigning link roles and so on).
Section two provides comprehensive agendas for all meetings across the year. Section three lists the link governors and their areas of expertise.
Section four records the working groups the school used, which in this case included a group discussing the school improvement plan and a group creating a risk register.
Before you download the file here’s a tip from the clerk who shared it with me – it is important that governors keep on top of monitoring under the circle model, including both carrying out the visits or discussions and reporting them back to the board. This may need chasing by the clerk or chair.
The clerk also noted that her school runs three governors days each year where governors can walk round the school, conduct monitoring tasks and take part in training. This lets them cover much of the monitoring that is needed.
Download Circle Model Annual Planner (.xlxs Excel file)
Advantages of the Circle Model
The circle model comes with both pros and cons. Let’s look at some of the advantages first.
Everyone knows everything! Because all governors are attending all meetings they have a much broader view of what is happening in school. It can be easier to follow discussions because they hear about all aspects of school life.
No repetition of committee work. A common pitfall under a committee model is that a decision is made at committee level and then rehashed all over again at a full board meeting. This wastes time and defeats the purpose of delegation.
No clashing of committee work. A decision made in one committee can easily impact the work of another. This is avoided if all decisions come to FGB.
Full board decisions may be made more urgently. This will depend on how many FGB meetings you have, but many schools who run committees only hold one full governor meeting per term, which can delay decisions that can only be made by the full board.
It can suit smaller governing bodies. If you struggle to recruit governors you may not have enough people to form multiple successful committees. I’ve worked in a school where we could just about form committees but the meetings were often inquorate because just one governor couldn’t attend.
Agendas can be easier to plan. All subjects are the business of the full governing body and do not need to be shared among multiple committees according to their terms of reference.
It may be easier for busy governors. Rather than needing to attend committee meetings at times convenient for all committee members, governors can arrange to conduct their monitoring visits at times that suit them (as long as the times suit the school staff too, of course).
It avoids delegation confusion. Most clerks will have had a conversation with governors about a decision they are trying to make in a committee that actually requires the approval of the full board. If all decisions go to the full board this problem is avoided.
Disadvantages of the Circle Model
Here are the downsides of the circle model, along with some ideas on avoiding these challenges.
Lack of time for really detailed discussions. When committees work well they allow for a forensic look at a specific subject, for example the budget. Some schools call committees the “engine room” of governance because that’s where they feel the most important work is done.
Solution: Make sure you hold enough full board meetings throughout the year. Form working parties if needed. Encourage governors to read all papers, reports and data before the meeting so they can ask informed and challenging questions.
Governors must commit to school visits. In all schools governors must visit regularly, but this is vital when using the circle model as a lot of monitoring previously done by committees will now be done by individuals or governor pairs. Written reports must then be discussed at the full board.
Solution: Make sure governors understand the commitment required for the circle model. Work with the clerk to write a monitoring plan that accommodates governors’ schedules. Provide governors with an example visit report. Ask the clerk to chase visit reports.
It can be daunting for new governors. They may be more comfortable starting out in a committee with their colleagues rather than visiting a school alone.
Solution: Assign people into monitoring pairs or give them a more experienced governor buddy. Make sure they have access to training and support from the clerk or outside organisations.
You need a strong chair. The chair will have no back-up from committee chairs and will be responsible for approving all draft agendas and minutes. They may also need to encourage governors who are not undertaking the necessary monitoring.
Solution: The only solution to this one is electing a good chair, but the board can help itself by ensuring a succession plan is in place for the chair and giving them access to training. Also make sure the vice-chair is giving support.
Danger of long meetings. The circle model can result in very long meetings as nothing is delegated down. Two hours is considered a rough maximum for a full governor meeting, with two and a half hours absolute maximum. After three hours everyone is asleep.
Solution: The clerk and chair should work together to plan out annual agendas. Working parties can look at subjects in detail and bring a recommendation to the full board. Get anything operational off the agenda and remember that most policies do not need annual approval and some do not need governor approval at all.
It may not suit large boards. If you have a larger than average board ditching committees may make it harder for all governors to be heard in meetings and make discussions less manageable.
Solution: Jettison half your governors. (Just kidding.) Consider that a structure that includes committees may suit your board better.
How many full governor meetings do you need under the circle model?
It is up to the board to decide, but a standard minimum under the circle model seems to be six full governor meetings per year, so one meeting each half-term.
(The absolute minimum number of full board meetings for both maintained schools and academies is three per year, but three meetings will not be nearly enough under the circle model.)
Between each meeting individual governors or governor pairs visit the school and write a report that is discussed at the next meeting.
Does the full board need terms of reference under the circle model?
Strictly speaking the answer is no, because terms of reference describe how power is delegated and in this model all the power remains with the full board.
However I would recommend agreeing terms of reference that describe the circle model, how many meetings per year will be held and the responsibilities of the full board. This avoids any confusion and reminds you that if you do set up committees in the future those committees will need terms of reference themselves.
The terms of reference should also explain how many monitoring visits governors are expected to undertake per term.