Corporation (Governing Body) Information

Sixth-form College Corporations (Governing Bodies) have the legal status of statutory corporations and exempt charities. A college, is a charitable activity undertaken by its Corporation. As laid down in the Higher and Further Education Act of 1992, the Corporation of the Sixth Form College, Colchester, has ultimate responsibility for the College and it is the responsibility of the Members of the Corporation (the Governors) to ensure that the College achieves its mission as a sixth form college.

The core functions of the Corporation (Governing Body) include:

• setting and communicating the College’s educational mission, vision and quality improvement strategy 
• holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance and quality of the college and the performance of staff 
• exercising effective control to ensure that funds and assets are used efficiently, and legal obligations are met

The Corporation is made up of members from a cross-section of the community. They come from a variety of backgrounds with the skills and expertise required to ensure that the Corporation functions as effectively as possible and in the best interests of the College and its stakeholders. The Corporation comprises of up to 20 members, including parent, community, student and staff representatives.

Members of the Corporation (governors) are also charity trustees and have six main duties under charity law. These are to;

• ensure the Corporation carries out its purpose for the public benefit
• comply with the Corporation’s governing document and other laws and regulations that apply to the Corporation
• act in the Corporation’s best interests
• manage the Corporation’s resources responsibly
• act with reasonable care and skill
• ensure the Corporation is accountable

In addition, governors also commit to follow the Nolan ‘7 principles of public life’ Which are the ethical standards expected of people in public life: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership.

The Corporation operates a limited committee style of operation governance, supported by dedicated Lead Governors  who focus on key areas of its responsibilities including:

• Safeguarding including child protection
• Health and Safety
• Finance
• Curriculum, Data and Educational Quality
• Pastoral incl. SEND
• Human Resources
• Information Technology
• Strategy
• Equality, Diversity, Inclusion
• Careers and Destinations 

Mission and Vision Statements

Mission: The College’s mission is to provide suitably qualified 16 to 19 year olds wishing to pursue full time academic general education in the Colchester area with a supportive and inclusive environment, in which they are able to acquire the necessary qualifications, talents and skills vital for success in adult life.

Vision: Our vision is to be the first choice for these students and to deliver to them the highest level of quality educational experience, the broadest possible curriculum, and the strongest pastoral and enrichment support that is possible within the resources available.

Coronavirus (Covid 19): During the pandemic, the Corporation put into place contingency plans to make sure it continued to fulfil its statutory responsibilities, including that of strategic oversight and with the aim of ensuring that the College was able to continue to provide all students with a first-class learning experience. At all times the primary focus of the Corporation was the wellbeing of the students, the staff and the wider college community.

Strategic Planning: The Corporation recently agreed the College Strategic Plan for the period 2023 to 2025/26. The Plan, shaped by a wide range of stakeholder feedback, takes into account known external influences, including local demographics and government funding.  A copy of the Strategic Plan is available to view online or by contacting the Clerk to the Corporation. 

Arrangements for obtaining the views of stakeholders on the determination and periodic review of the educational character and mission of the institution and the oversight of its activities.

The Corporation (Governing Body) regularly provides a number of opportunities and approaches for stakeholders to provide their views on the educational character, mission and vision statements of the College and the work of the Corporation in general. These opportunities include; providing views in response to stakeholder consultations, direct feedback to governors during college events (including open evenings for prospective students and their parents/guardians), staff and student surveys and meetings with union representatives. In addition to the above, the constitution of the Corporation includes staff, student, parent and community representatives. The Standing Orders, minutes of meetings of the Corporation and its committees, and Terms of Reference published on this page, provide further information on the work undertaken by the Corporation. Feedback is welcomed and can be given by contacting the Clerk to the Corporation using the contact details below.

Public Access to Corporation Meetings                                                                                                                                          The Instruments & Articles of Government and appendix B of the Corporation’s Standing Orders provide information regarding public access to meetings.

Register of Business and Pecuniary Interests                                                                                                                               Members of the Corporation (Governors) must avoid conflicts of interest with respect to their fiduciary duties to the College. Corporation members, senior managers and specified budget holders are required to disclose their business, financial and other interests and those of their family members and close associates which might be seen as a conflict of interest. These declarations are entered on registers maintained by the Clerk, which are open for public inspection. The Register of Members declared interests is available to view online Register of Members 2021 - 2022 and Register of Members 2022 - 2023. Should you wish to view the senior manager or budget holder register, please contact the Clerk to the Corporation.

Information Updates

Corporation Chair & Vice Chairs:  M Atherton has been elected to serve as Chair of the Corporation and K Finnigan and S Codling elected to serve as Vice Chairs of the Corporation, for a 2 year period commencing 01.09.2022. The Chair can be contacted via the Clerk to the Corporation using the contact details below.

Governor Appointments:  The Corporation is very pleased to welcome M.Sherer to the board. M Sherer has previously served the Corporation as a co-opted member of the Audit Committee and brings a wealth of experience to the role of community governor.

Parent Governor: Following the  parent governor elections, J Tallentire was elected as a parent governor and will serve a 2-year term of office ending May 2023. If you are interested in serving the college as a parent governor please contact the Clerk to the Corporation.

Governor Vacancy: Details of our current vacancy and information on how to apply, can be found in our governor recruitment flyer. If you are interested in becoming a governor and would like to find out more about the role, please contact the Clerk to the Corporation

Accessibility statement, further information & contact details.

The Corporation is mindful of its responsibilities under the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No.2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 and its legal obligation to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010. 

We want as many people as possible to be able to use this webpage. This means you should be able to: 

• navigate most of the webpage using just a keyboard 
• navigate most of the webpage using speech recognition software 
• listen to most of the webpage using a screen reader – although we recognise that most of the PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

We know that some parts of this webpage are not fully accessible. The Corporation agreed that it would be a disproportionate burden, to convert all historical governance documents to fully accessible versions (PDF and other documents published pre-2018 are exempt from the regulations, unless the user needs to use the document to access a service, such as completing a form).  A copy of the minutes detailing the governors’ decisions can be found in the minutes section of this page (minutes of meeting July 2021)  and a copy of the disproportionate burden assessment can be obtained by contacting the Clerk to the Corporation, using the contact details below. During 2023, the College is planning a significant update and overhaul of its website. This will provide us with an opportunity to resolve existing PDF accessibility issues and ensure that new documents added to this page are fully accessible. We aim to have this work completed by December 2023.

If you would like any of the information on this webpage in a different format such as accessible PDF, large print or an audio recording please contact the clerk to the corporation using the contact details below. We will consider all reasonable requests and aim to respond to requests received via email within 7 working days. 

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this webpage. If you find any problems not listed on this page or you think that we are not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact the clerk to the corporation using the details below.

Should you have a query regarding any of the information contained on this page or would like to register an interest in becoming a governor please contact:

Tina Johnson
Clerk to the Corporation
The Sixth Form College, Colchester
North Hill
Colchester
Essex
CO1 1SN

01206 500700
 johnsont@colchsfc.ac.uk