governance
At TCES Group (The Complete Education Solution), strong governance and clear accountability are central to how we work. We have carefully developed a robust and experienced Governing Body whose expertise is a real strength of our organisation.
Our Governors play an active and meaningful role, with responsibilities that go beyond those typically seen in many Multi Academy Trusts or multi-site provisions. They provide clear strategic direction, ensure strong oversight, and hold our schools and services to account so that standards remain high for every child and young person we support.
Governors carry out a structured programme of annual activities, including school visits and committee meetings, to monitor educational quality, safeguarding, and financial performance. There is also clear escalation procedures in place should any concerns arise. These processes ensure transparency, rigour, and continuous improvement across TCES.
Our Board of Governors is ambitious for every pupil. Their oversight and quality assurance help ensure that our provision remains safe, effective, and focused on achieving the very best outcomes for children and young people.
Our PATRON
Dame Esther Rantzen
Dame Esther Rantzen, Founder of Childline and presenter of the UK’s iconic TV programme ‘That’s Life’ became our patron in 2019 to help raise awareness of how specialist therapeutic education for children and young people can positively transform their lives.
“I’m delighted to be Patron of TCES and to champion these young people. I have seen first-hand how this unique formula for therapeutic education can work, how the positive environments and supportive staff team help children to build trust and respect.” — Dame Esther Rantzen.
Social Enterprise
TCES is a social enterprise where society profits. Our legal constitution, as defined by our Articles of Association, is that of a social enterprise, whose mission is to create wide-scale social impact through pioneering inclusive practices. TCES operates a number of schools and services across a continuum of pupil need, risk, and vulnerability.
The executive Board and Governors
The Operations Board
TCES’ main board is our Executive Board. It’s Chair and board members design, develop and are accountable for the company’s strategic vision, its financial resources, and its risk register. The Executive Board holds the Board of Governors to account by meeting them twice each year and reviewing the work that the Governors do through:
- Executive Board and Governors twice annual board days
- Governors two-day visits to each school/service
- Governors Business and Finance committees
- Governors Integrated Services committees
- Governors’ annual policy review
The Executive Board meets the Governing Body each academic year in February and July and these meeting are accountability meetings where the Governors explain their work, their findings, and their impact on pupil’s outcomes. Additionally, members of the Executive Board attend committees with TCES ‘Governors and collectively meet with the Headteachers/Heads of Service and School Business Managers in January and June to discuss Business and Finance and Integrated Services issues including the Governors findings.
Governors visits utilise regulator reports, internal QA inspections, the Heads reports, the SEF/SDP, and specialist governors’ reports to drive their work. Following Governors’ visits and related recommendations, schools and services are expected to align the recommendations into the SEF/SDP, and the Governors expect feedback on continuous improvement at every subsequent visit or meeting. This is how accountability is driven from the Executive Board to our Board of Governors and onwards to the schools/service.
Strategic vision is operationalised through TCES’ weekly Operations Board and Inspection and Quality Assurance are delivered through an internal inspection team led by a very experienced ex-Ofsted Lead Inspector and Peer Heads from the other schools and services.
The Board of Governors also hold the two boards within TCES to account through their written reporting processes in which the Governors work closely with the Heads to ensure that the school has the appropriate resources to deliver high quality integrated services and ultimately to ensure that pupils are successful in their pathways and outcomes.
Our Governors
Our Governing Body is led by an experienced social worker who has managed LADO Services across a number of Local Authorities and is a coordinator for the London Region and National LADO Networks. The Chair’s role is to lead effective governance: giving the governing body a clear lead and direction, ensuring that the governors work as an effective team and understand their accountability and the part they play in the strategic leadership of the school and in driving school improvement.
Governing Body Vacancies:
- Governor for Clinical Services
- Governor for Sixth Form and Careers
You can see what our Governors’ have been working on, via the attached chart.
Contact the CEO or Chair of Governors
Nick Pratt
Chair of Governors
Nick is a qualified Social Worker and has worked in statutory child protection for over 20 years. He has managed LADO Services across a number of Local Authorities and is a coordinator for the London Region and National LADO Networks. He is the co-founder and Director of the Independent Safeguarding Service, a Community Interest Company specialising in safeguarding policy and training provision across the UK. He has worked closely with a number of Safeguarding Partnerships, including authoring Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews.
His extensive consultancy experience supporting early years settings, schools, the NHS, faith settings, third sector, Premier League football and numerous private sector organisations has developed a passion for organisational safeguarding, which he brings to his role as Governor for TCES, which he describes as the ‘most innovative and inclusive education solution in the country’.
Claire Ray
Safeguarding Governor
Claire is a qualified Social Work England registered Social Worker with over 25 years’ experience in child protection work. She has held various statutory child protection roles, including working as a Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO). Specialising in education safeguarding over 20 years ago, Claire was most recently the Head of an Education Safeguarding Service in one of the largest counties in the UK, responsible for the advice, support, challenge, guidance, and training to education establishments of all designations. The key focus of the service was to support and empower school and setting Senior Leadership Teams and Designated Safeguarding Leads to successfully meet their statutory and multiagency responsibilities under the Education Act 2002, Childcare Act 2006 and Children Acts 1989 and 2004.
Claire has extensive operational and strategic experience in policy writing, training delivery, case management, and safer recruitment, particularly related to education safeguarding and LADO functions. She has collaborated with various agencies, authored reports, and served on various multiagency panels, including for Domestic Abuse Related Death Reviews (formerly DHR) and Local Safeguarding Children Practice Reviews (LSCPR). She has significant experience in representing the education sector’s interests in various multiagency forums.
Claire now works independently and is passionate about the welfare and safeguarding of children and young people in education settings taking pride in sharing her skills to support others in keeping children safe.