Port Regis is one of the country's pre-eminent preparatory schools. Situated on the Dorset-Wiltshire border between the towns of Shaftesbury and Gillingham, Port Regis is the fourth largest co-educational day and boarding school in the country. With a stunning estate nestled within 140 acres of parkland, the School provides an outstanding education for over 300 children aged between 2-13.

A school in which tradition and innovation have gone hand in hand for more than a century, Port Regis provides a thoughtful, holistic education that inspires the head, the hand and the heart to enable children to thrive. This education goes well beyond the School's beautiful buildings and outstanding facilities — it is rooted in the School's culture and values. With a reputation for strong academics, sport and creative arts facilities, Port Regis provides an unhurried and fundamentally joyful childhood by focusing on extraordinary teaching that stretches and supports every child, enabling them to discover the discipline of study and the delight of learning. Rated excellent in its latest ISI inspection, the School champions a culture of kindness and tolerance, so that children leave as capable and compassionate young people who are inspired to play their part in making the world a better place. For more insight into what makes Port Regis special, check out their latest promotional video. 

The future is exciting for Port Regis. Last year it launched its new Green Vision, which puts sustainability at the heart of all that the School does, with the ambitious target of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2030. This will involve dramatically increasing the pace of its green investment programme. The School is also enjoying record levels of interest from domestic students, together with a resurgence in demand from the international market following a couple of turbulent years. There are also significant opportunities to develop new income streams through the strategic use of the School's extensive estate and facilities, as well as through investment in a development and fundraising strategy. Under the leadership of an outstanding executive team, supported by a deeply committed Board of Governors, Port Regis is committed to becoming the Prep School of choice in the South West of England. 

Port Regis is governed by a Board of Governors, called the 'Council of Management', whose prime responsibility is to ensure that the School provides the best education for its pupils. The Council has a duty to ensure its charitable objectives are adhered to. It comprises a group of people who voluntarily contribute a varied and differing range of experiences and skills applicable to the functions of the School. The Council seeks to achieve a balanced and diverse membership.

The full Council meets once a term although much of its work is carried out through Committees which meet on a regular basis and report to the Council. These Committees are: the Governance Committee, Education Committee, Communications Committee, Wellbeing Committee, and Finance Committee. 

Governors focus on the three core functions of governance:

1. Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
2. Holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the Trust Schools and their students, and the performance management of staff
3. Overseeing and ensuring effective financial performance

To complement the skills of the existing Board and support the long-term strategy of the school, Port Regis seeks a new Governor with strategic-level finance experience. The successful candidate need not be a qualified accountant, so long as they have analytical finance skills and bring senior-level financial expertise to support / advise the Board and Bursar on financial risk and strategy. This experience could have been gained in a number of roles, such as a CFO or Director of Finance of a large business, and could come from public, private or not-for-profit sectors.

Above all, the successful candidates will share in Port Regis' vision to provide a thoughtful, rounded education, and its commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.

You can read about the Board Composition here.

The Council of Management meets once per term. Meetings take place at the School on Friday afternoons, and last for roughly two hours. Hybrid meetings are occasionally permitted, but the majority take place in person. Governors are expected to join a Committee, which also meet once per term and generally immediately precede the Council of Management meetings. The appointment is for an initial three-year term, which can be renewed twice. The role is unremunerated, however reasonable, pre-agreed domestic travel expenses will be reimbursed.

As meetings take place in person, candidates will need to be based within a reasonable commuting distance of the School. 

Port Regis welcomes applications from everyone regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, faith or disability. As people from ethnic minority backgrounds are currently under-represented on the Board, applications from those individuals 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.