Hi
In the absence of any other responses.

My first thought when reading your post was 'wow - I cannot remember the last time I have heard of or seen a position with the title of clerk'.

For me 'clerk' is a very dated job title and if others think the same then would perhaps assume the company is also dated in the way they work and/or treat employees and this would put them off from applying?

Also, even if you have described the responsibilites of the role in an ad some of the younger generation may not even know what 'clerk' denotes?

If the salary, benefits and other T&C's are competitve with other local employers then perhaps a more modern job title would attract applicants?

Sue

In reply to Susan May:

Think it probably refers to Clerk to the Governors who acts as a combination between Secretary, adviser , process person , legal etc etc. A good one is worth edit in gold.

Personally when I had a good one I held on to them. Think poaching / getting recommendations may well be way to go.

In reply to Susan May:

Hi Sue

Thanks for your reply.

The role of clerk to the governing body is a recognised role in education. Having looked at the National Governance Association website their are many schools and Trusts recruiting using this title. For us it’s certainly not a reflection of an old fashioned working environment etc.

However, I take your point that people without experience in education may think this is an old fashioned role rather than a key role contributing to the governance of the organisation which also offers a great flexible working opportunity.

Ill see if it makes a difference advertising with a title that has more appeal outside education.

Thanks again.

In reply to Keith:

Hi Keith
You’re right it’s a Clerk to the Governors!

I’m struggling to find any clerking networks I can tap into to get recommendations but I’ll certainly see what more I can do.

Marianne

In reply to Marianne:

Find a local outstanding school and ask their clerk for recommendations? Advertising seems a very wide net for the three or four local people who are good st this?

Hi Marianne,

We recently recruited and found Guardian online very helpful. Our Clerk is happy to email her contact group if this helps but not sure where you are based?

In reply to Rachael:

Hi Rachel
Thank you for your reply and offer of assistance.

We’re in Hertfordshire, would your Clerk’s group cover our area?

Kind regards

Marianne

In reply to Marianne:

Hi Marianne,

Yes we absolutely. Not sure how we can get in touch directly?!

In reply to Rachael:

Rachael/Marianne I think if you go into each other's profiles and "Connect" you can then send each other messages privately but don't quote me on this.

In reply to Fiona:

That is correct. Messy but that's the out-the-box functionality we're stuck with for a while. Sorry.

In reply to Marianne:

I'll tweak the thread title to reflect that.

In reply to Fiona:

thanks very much Fiona and Steve!

We offered an 'annual hours' contract so that there was some flexibility over when the hours were working, other than specific attendance at meetings. Have you tapped in to any PTA groups - we have some interest from our parents. Good luck with recruiting.

In reply to Susan May:

Not sure if this helps, but i came across this today:

ICSA: The Governance Institute and the National Governance Association – Professionalising School and Trust Governance
The National Governance Association (NGA) and ICSA: The Governance Institute (ICSA) are collaborating on a professional educational initiative to raise the standard and recognition of clerking to school and academy trust boards. We are doing this through delivery of NGA’s Development for Clerks programme which leads to an ICSA-accredited Level 3 qualification – currently the only award of its kind linked to the national qualifying framework. This project helps to deliver our shared mission to professionalise the evolving practice of school and trust governance, and develop governance professionals to deliver it. The early indications from the first cohort to qualify are encouraging and it has potential to become part of a recognised career route as the profile of the clerk grows and more governance management and leadership roles are created. Building a pipeline of qualified clerks and governance professionals also provides wider societal benefit by improving the effectiveness of school and trust boards and therefore outcomes for children. We are passionate about this project and are actively building on its early success, with more enrollments and plans to extend our partnership.