Governance & Local Accountability Board (LAB)

Strong and effective governance is vital to the success of our school. Our Governing Body plays a crucial role in providing strategic direction, ensuring accountability, and supporting the school’s leadership to deliver the best possible outcomes for our students.

Governors work in partnership with senior leaders to set the school’s vision and values, monitor performance, and ensure that resources are used wisely and responsibly. They provide both support and challenge, asking the right questions to help the school continuously improve while maintaining high standards of education, care, and safeguarding.

Governance also helps ensure that the voices of students, staff, parents, and the wider community are considered in decision-making. Through their commitment, expertise, and oversight, our governors help to create a stable, transparent, and ambitious framework within which the school can thrive.

Rugby Free Secondary School is primarily governed by Triumph Learning Trust. However, in addition to the Trust, we have an advisory board called the Local Accountability Board (LAB). The LAB is a group of parents/carers and community members who meet with the school’s leadership team in order to challenge and support them about a range of school issues – Curriculum, teaching and learning, behaviour and attitudes and community engagement.

As a school we provide effective and efficient communications to ensure that parents and carers are involved in all aspects of school life. We use parent mail as our main method of contact but also provide monthly newsletters and updates via social media platforms.

In Triumph Learning Trust there are three levels of Governance:

Members, who agree articles which define the charitable purpose and how the MAT will run, appoint Trustees and remove if necessary, receive the company accounts and annual report and hold the Board of Trustees to account.
A Board of Trustees (Directors) who have ultimate responsibility for running each academy and will deal with the strategic running of the MAT. The Board delegates day-to-day running of each school to a Local Accountability Board (LAB). The level of delegation is clearly stated in our Scheme of Delegation. Accountability always remains with the Board of Trustees.

Our Board of Trustees comprises of volunteers chosen for their expertise and experience gained in a diverse range of industries in both the private and public sectors. Our Trustees work together to fulfil the purpose of the Trust Board:

a) Holding executive leaders to account for the performance of Triumph Learnign Trust and its schools

b) Overseeing the Trust’s financial performance and making sure money is well spent.

c) Setting the strategic direction of the Trust.
A Local Accountability Board who have powers delegated by the Board of Trustees to oversee the day to day running of each school

Who is part of LAB and what do they do?

Each school within the Trust has their own Local Accountability Board (LAB) which is our approach to local governance. Each LAB will have an elected Chair and Vice-Chair, as well as two sub-committees. The core focusses of each LAB are as follows:

Ensure all pupils within the school receive the very best education
Ensure that all pupils within each school learn in a calm and safe environment

Each LAB has two subcommittees:

Performance and Standards
Personal Development and Welfare

The key roles of the LAB are:

To offer proactive support and constructive challenge to the Headteacher

To advise the board of trustees about local issues they need to consider that affect the School

To ensure that the vision, mission and values are evident throughout the School

Represent the local community.

Represent the School in its community.

These roles translate specifically into the following tasks:

Ensure that all children receive the best possible education

Ensure safeguarding is effective

Support the Headteacher and Senior Leadership Team in the development and implementation of the School Development Plan and other relevant plans,

Ensure the implementation of School policies.

Regularly review the School’s performance.

Oversee and monitor the effectiveness of local strategies

Act as a key link between the School, parents, and local community.

Support the work of the School in the community.

We aim to have parents/carers from different year groups so that we get a broad and balanced view of parents’ opinions. LAB members will be expected to attend 5 meetings a year (or at least 4) and also come in to school at least twice in the year to meet with staff members regarding their area of responsibility e.g. English.

If you are interested in becoming a LAB member, please email the school office at info@rugbyfreesecondary.co.uk and we would love to have a chat with you about the role. Although we have no vacancies at present, we may do in the future.

Click here to download our Local Accountability Board Constitution, which sets out the governance structure for our Local Accountability Boards (LABs) which support Triumph Learning Trust’s governance arrangements.

Our January 2025 LAB Links are below

LAB Chair: Leanne Crick-Hughes

LAB Vice-Chair: Alexandra Rigler

LAB Vice-Chair: Claire Baldock

Download our Triumph Learning Trust Governance Document for 2025-2026

Download our Rugby Free Secondary School Local Authority Board (LAB) Membership & Appointments

Download our LAB Code of Conduct

Download our TLT Governance Document for 25-26

Download our attendance to LAB for 24-25

Being Part of LAB

Being Involved

The LAB is a group of parents/carers and community members who meet with the school’s leadership team in order to challenge and support them about a range of school issues – Curriculum, teaching and learning, behaviour and attitudes and community engagement. We aim to have parents/carers from different year groups so that we get a broad and balanced view of parents’ opinions. LAB members will be expected to attend 5 meetings a year (or at least 4) and also come in to school at least twice in the year to meet with staff members regarding their area of responsibility e.g. English. If you are interested in becoming a LAB member, please email the at info@rugbyfreesecondary.co.uk and we would love to have a chat with you about the role. Although we have no vacancies at present, we may do in the future.