Set up by teachers and transitioning 18 months ago from a business to an ambitious, dynamic, innovative and tech-focused charity, Learning with Parents (LwP) has a vision for every child to be supported at home to fulfil their potential. With a focus on underprivileged or disadvantaged children, i.e., from a low-income family, it narrows the attainment gap by supporting all parents and carers to engage in their children’s learning. Its friendly child-led videos support parents and children to do fun, accessible, activities together which support what is being learnt in schools. These activities can be enjoyed using objects from around the home, with play-based educational activities that are hands-on and open-ended. LwP supports indirect teaching by working through schools and developing activities around curriculum topics that teachers set for families and parents using the LwP site. These activities are designed so that they do not require additional materials or devices (such as printers) or involve hard work. They promote positive fun interactions between parents / caregivers and children.

LwP also leads the Parental Engagement Forum — a group of organisations and researchers connecting to improve parental engagement in learning across the sector. In the last year, the charity has become a leading player in parental engagement, working with over 10,000 families and large organisations such as BBC, Department for Education and Oak National Academy.

You can read its 2020 impact report here and see its latest news and blogs here.

LwP has been able to deliver its services and social mission through income generated by school sales and with the support from grants, and has a strong track record with corporate funders. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, it was able to leverage this support and extend its reach to a national coverage, working with 85 schools nationwide. LwP seeks to continue this expansion and further develop its reach through strategic partnerships, and hopes to engage with over 140 schools by next year. LwP is a thought-leader in the charity education space, continuing its network expansion and collaboration with direct partnerships through schools, commercial businesses in the education sector, and other not-for-profit organisations working with communities.

The newly-appointed Chair will take on the exciting role of overseeing the Board and ensure that LwP is carrying out its purpose. The successful candidate will work closely with the Board, CEO and senior team to ensure LwP has a clear, strategic direction, and is employing the best methods to achieve its targets. The Chair will take on the responsibility of overseeing the management of LwPs resources, which will involve reviewing the income and spending on a quarterly basis, approving expenditure over a certain amount and reviewing and approving the statement relating to finance in the annual report and accounts.

Working with the Board, the Chair will monitor LwP's performance and ensure the charity is satisfying all regulatory and legal compliance requirements. They will also maintain an active Board able to fulfil its duties and responsibilities (which may include recruiting new members when required) and will chair quarterly Board meetings.

The appointed Chair will work closely with the CEO and provide support on behalf of the Board on strategic issues. The Chair and CEO will host fortnightly one-to-one meetings and openly discuss progress and problems, and prepare for Board meetings together.

The new Chair will be able to demonstrate strategic leadership experience as well as an understanding of governance and board development. They will be able to provide guidance and appropriate support and challenge to the CEO and team and to contribute towards shaping strategy, driving change and organisational development. They will also have an alignment with and commitment to supporting LwP's charitable mission.

LwP seeks to appoint a candidate who has experience of good governance and demonstrates chair-readiness, having either led or been active on a number of boards. This experience does not have to be restricted to the not-for-profit sector, and could be demonstrated from commercial organisations that have a connection with the education industry. The successful candidate will be able to evidence the ability to lead strategic direction and will have the necessary experience to support the CEO, and be able to hold other Trustees to account.

The charity is looking for the Chair to take on an ambassadorial role, and would particularly welcome applications from individuals who are well connected with networks that would support the charity, raise its profile and build sustaining relationships with key stakeholders.

Whilst not a requirement for this appointment, LwP would be interested in hearing from candidates who have an understanding of educational inequality in the UK, having lived experience of some of the barriers faced by parents in disadvantaged communities, or having worked with these communities professionally. Other desirable skills include accountancy, experience in charity law and fundraising.

LwP is keen to build an increasingly diverse Board. As such, it particularly welcomes applications from women and candidates from ethnic minority backgrounds. Please see the Diversity section for more information.

This role is unremunerated, but pre-agreed reasonable travel expenses will be reimbursed. The time commitment for this role consists of quarterly Board meetings, more regular catch-up sessions with the CEO held fortnightly, ad hoc engagement where needed, and one Board strategy away day per year. The Board and CEO meetings will be held virtually, and the strategy away day will expect in-person attendance. Any in-person meetings will be held in either London or Bristol. The successful candidate will be expected to be UK-based. The term for this Chair role is for two years and renewable at the discretion of the Board.

The time commitment is quarterly Board meetings, fortnightly meetings with the CEO, plus ad hoc engagement.

Learning with Parents welcomes applications from everyone regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, faith or disability. As women and individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds are currently under-represented on the Board, applications from those candidates would be particularly encouraged. All appointments will be made on merit, following a fair and transparent process. In line with the Equality Act 2010, however, the organisation may employ positive action where candidates from underrepresented groups can demonstrate their ability to perform the role equally well.