Governance and leadership

The Governance and Advisory Board

Elysian's education provisions are governed through the Governance and Advisory Board, which brings the governors and the Advisory Board together in one place rather than keeping them apart. The Governance and Advisory Board sits above Elysian's internal leadership structure rather than inside it, and its input feeds directly into the Education Strategy group.

Elysian has two governors. Dr Charlotte Williams is Chair of Governors and Chief Executive. Dene Williams is a governor and a Director of the organisation. Both are founders of Elysian.

Alongside them sit the members of the Advisory Board, who are independent of Elysian and bring professional expertise from outside it.

Why the structure is built this way

Elysian was founded in 2015 and remains a proprietor-led organisation. Our governors are also its executive leaders, which is a common arrangement in independent provision and a lawful one. It also concentrates responsibility in a small number of hands, and we would rather say so plainly than leave anyone to work it out.

The Advisory Board exists because of it. Its members are independent, they are there to challenge rather than to agree, and they sit within the Governance and Advisory Board itself rather than in a separate committee held at arm's length from where decisions are discussed. Scrutiny that happens in the room is worth considerably more than scrutiny that is invited to comment afterwards.

What the Advisory Board does

The Advisory Board provides support, challenge and strategic insight to Elysian's leadership and governance. Its focus is strategic rather than operational, and its role is to:

• support the vision, ethos and strategic direction of the organisation
• provide constructive challenge and hold leadership to account
• contribute to continuous improvement in the quality of provision and in outcomes for children and young people
• help ensure the organisation meets and exceeds regulatory expectations

How it works

The Board meets once each term, usually in February, May and October. Meetings are typically held online and last around two hours. Papers are circulated in advance, and each meeting reviews data and developments from the preceding term.

Advisory Board members also visit our provisions. Visits are arranged in advance, have a clear purpose connected to the member's role, and follow the same safeguarding protocols as any other visitor. Seeing how a provision actually runs, and hearing from staff and from young people about what is working and what is not, is what makes challenge at the meeting table meaningful rather than theoretical.

The standards members work to

Every member of the Governance and Advisory Board:

• holds an enhanced DBS check, completed before joining and reviewed every three years
• completes annual safeguarding training designed specifically for governance roles
• works to the Seven Principles of Public Life, known as the Nolan Principles
• declares any actual or perceived conflict of interest, keeps that declaration current, and withdraws from any discussion where a conflict arises
• maintains confidentiality over everything discussed

Members are expected to provide respectful and constructive challenge, and to support collective decisions once they are made.

Safeguarding governance

Safeguarding sits above every other consideration in our framework, and inside our governance rather than alongside it. A safeguarding concern never waits for a meeting or a reporting cycle. Anyone raises it straight away, whatever their role.

Each provision has its own Designated Safeguarding Lead, a role held by the Head of Provision for that site, supported by Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads. Placing it with the person who leads the provision is deliberate: the people who know the young people best are the people who hold the responsibility.

Designated Safeguarding Leads undertake enhanced child protection training every two years, in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education, and supplement it with ongoing training including that provided by the Surrey Safeguarding Children Partnership.

They keep the Chief Executive and the Chair of Governors informed of safeguarding matters as they arise, and the Safeguarding Policy is reviewed annually and presented to the proprietor body.

The Designated Safeguarding Lead and deputies for each provision are named in our Safeguarding Policy, published in Policies and documents.

Anyone with a safeguarding concern can contact the team directly at safeguarding@elysianuk.org, or through our main office.

Meeting and exceeding the Independent School Standards

The Independent School Standards set out what every independent school must achieve, including the quality of its leadership and management. The framework gives us a more structured way to meet those standards consistently at every provision, and to go beyond them.

It does this in three ways. Clear roles and a single line of accountability run from Heads to Strategic Leads to the Chief Executive Officer and Director, so standards never depend on one site or one person. The Governance and Advisory Board and a regular cycle of strategy group reviews give us closer oversight and independent challenge. Quality assurance runs through all three branches, and regular monitoring, review, audit and feedback give us evidence of what works. We treat complaints, incidents and audit findings as chances to learn.

Standards are part of everyday leadership at Elysian rather than something we prepare for. That keeps every provision ready for inspection, and it gives us the evidence to keep raising the bar.

Planning, reporting and escalation

Elysian plans and reviews its work in a regular cycle. We set priorities for the year, each area agrees its own strategy, leaders work to rolling ninety-day plans, performance is reviewed every month, and leaders track progress every week. Every plan uses the same format and is rated red, amber or green, so we can compare progress fairly across the organisation.

We treat escalation as good governance, not as failure. When a matter goes up to a more senior leader, it goes to someone who takes ownership, sets a timescale and oversees the resolution. The people closest to an issue make day-to-day decisions, so Heads and their teams can respond to a child's needs without delay.

Raising a concern

Anyone wishing to raise a concern about Elysian, or to ask about our governance arrangements, can do so through our contact page. Concerns relating to governance are directed to the Chair of Governors.

Our full policy set, including the Safeguarding Policy and the Complaints Policy, is published in Policies and documents, alongside the latest inspection report for each provision.