Your voice. Your community. Your school.
Our Local School Boards play an important role in helping our schools understand and respond to the communities they serve. By listening to pupils, families, colleagues and local partners, Local School Board members help ensure voices are heard and our schools continue to provide the best possible outcomes for every child and young person to thrive.
You don’t need a particular background or previous governance experience to get involved. You might already be a governor or work within one of our schools, or you may be a parent, local resident, professional, community volunteer, or someone with a strong connection to the area. Whatever your experience, this is an opportunity to bring your knowledge, ideas and perspective to your local school and make a meaningful difference.
We want our Local School Boards to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve and welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and walks of life. What matters most is that you care about your community, are willing to listen and learn and want to help children and young people succeed.
By joining a Local School Board, you can help shape the future of your local school, ensuring that the views, experience and aspirations of its community continue to inform and strengthen our work. If this sounds like you, we hope you’ll consider joining us.
You'll help to:
- Be a voice for pupils, parents, carers and our community
- Share local insight and fresh ideas
- Champion your school
- Strengthen links between schools and families
- Help shape the future
What's involved?
- Three meetings a year
- Ad hoc school visits and attendance at parent forums
- Training and ongoing support
- A rewarding opportunity to make a positive change
We're looking for people who are:
- Advocates for children and young people
- Positive and collaborative
- Good listeners
- Committed to inclusion and belonging
Apply to join your Local School Board today!
If you'd like to join a school board, please fill out the adjacent form and select the school you wish to apply to.
If you're unsure which school to apply to, please scroll to the bottom and select that option.
We will be in touch soon.
About us
We’re an academy trust made up of 26 schools across five local authority areas: Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset, Somerset and South Gloucestershire. More than 12,000 pupils attend our schools every day, from nursery and preschool through to primary, secondary and post-16 education. Six of our schools are Church of England schools and we’re proud to work closely with the Diocese of Bath and Wells. Around 1,700 colleagues work together to support our pupils and communities.
What is a Local School Board?
A Local School Board brings the voice and perspective of the local community into the life of the school. It helps the school understand what matters to its pupils, families, staff and wider community, and ensures those views help inform its priorities and development.
Our model of Local School Boards is designed to strengthen that local voice and deepen the connection between each school, its community and Futura. Our approach is informed by the Confederation of Schools Trusts (CST), which describes a particular value that local governance brings to schools as the ‘local governance dividend’.
For our Local School Boards, that means four important things:
Community insight:
Bringing an understanding of the needs, aspirations and challenges of families and neighbourhoods.
Support for leaders:
Acting as a sounding board for headteachers and senior colleagues, offering constructive challenge rooted in local context.
Advocacy and ambassadorship:
Promoting the school and wider trust within the community, strengthening relationships with parents, local organisations and stakeholders.
Safeguarding Local Identity:
Ensuring each school retains its distinctive character and connection to its community, an important part of our approach in Futura.
By focusing on these principles, local governance is a powerful mechanism for ensuring that trust-wide strategies are implemented in ways that resonate with each school’s individual context.
The role of Local School Board members
We’ve aligned the role of a Local School Board and its members to our mission of ‘building the brightest future for all, enabling every individual to flourish’ as well as our values of respect, opportunity, collaboration and aspiration.
The remit of the Local Schools Board and role of the members is connected to our strategic goals of championing inclusion, being rooted in our communities and cultivating growth.
We champion inclusion
We create belonging, remove barriers and champion equity for all.
We believe every child’s uniqueness is a source of strength. Inclusion is our catalyst for equity and excellence – ensuring every child is seen, heard and supported to thrive academically, socially and emotionally.
Our Local School Boards help us keep this promise. Board members listen carefully to pupils, families, colleagues and local partners, especially those whose voices are not always heard. They help us understand barriers that may prevent children and young people from thriving and ensure that inclusion, belonging and opportunity remain at the heart of school life.
We are rooted in our communities
We work alongside families and partners to strengthen local places and improve lives.
Our schools are beacons of connection, hope and shared purpose. We listen deeply, act collaboratively and invest in the collective strength of the communities we serve. Board members are an important link between each school and the community it serves. They take time to understand local experiences, aspirations and challenges, helping us stay connected to what matters most. Through their relationships and insight, they support our schools to bring people together, strengthen partnerships and play a positive role in community life.
We cultivate growth
Our environment is one where pupils and colleagues can flourish and succeed.
Being a Local School Board member is challenging, rewarding and fulfilling. At times, it can also feel uncomfortable, because high ambition means holding ourselves to high standards, both personally and collectively. That can involve difficult conversations and honest reflection, but it is also where real improvement begins.
The Role
You’ll sit alongside the Headteacher and other Board members, representing either the staff body, the parent and carer body or the wider local community. If your school is a church school, there’ll also be Board members chosen by the Diocese of Bath and Wells.
Between meetings, you’ll take part in listening activities - this might mean meeting a group of parents, talking with the school’s inclusion lead, or visiting the school to learn how teaching is adapted for pupils with special educational needs. The aim is always to understand the school’s community more deeply and bring helpful insight back to the board. At the main meetings, you’ll report back on what you’ve learned, share any concerns and agree what improvements could be made.
Time commitment
Typically, Local School Board members will attend:
- Three board meetings each year
- Around three to six listening activities annually
- Relevant training sessions
There’ll be some preparation and reading before meetings. Bring your experience, perspective and ideas - and help shape the future of your school and its community.
