Our Governance Structure
- Trust Board (5 Members)
- Board of Trustees (9 Member-appointed Non-Executive Directors, plus others co-opted by the Board of Trustees)
- Local Academy Councils (up to 9 members, including the Head teacher)
Members
Our Members have a diverse range of experience but a shared passion for education. In line with the Academy Trust Handbook requirements for Members to be regularly appraised of Trust performance and issues, the Members meet twice per year, including holding an Annual General Meeting in the autumn term. Other meetings may be held in addition if deemed necessary.
The core functions of the members are:
- To amend the articles of Association
- To appoint or remove Members
- To appoint or remove Trustees
- To issue direction to the Trustees to take specific action
- To appoint the Trust auditors and receive the Trust Annual Accounts
- To change the name of the company and, ultimately, to wind it up
Board of Trustees
As Directors of a charitable Trust, our Board of Trustees ensure that they comply with charity and company law. The Board is also accountable in law and to Ofsted for the Trust’s performance.
The Board of Trustees is strategic in function, providing overall leadership for the Trust and therefore for the schools without being involved in or responsible for the day-to-day management. As set out in the Academy Trust Handbook, the purpose of the Trust Board is to provide:
- Strategic leadership of the Academy Trust: the board defines the Trust vision for high quality and inclusive education in line with its charitable objects. It establishes and fosters the Trust’s culture and sets and champions the Trust strategy including determining what, if any, governance functions are delegated to the local tier
- Accountability and assurance: the Board has robust effective oversight of the operations and performance of the Academy Trust, including the provision of education, pupil welfare, overseeing and ensuring appropriate use of funding and effective financial performance and keeping their estate safe and well maintained
- Engagement: The Board has strategic oversight of relationships with stakeholders. The Board involves parents, schools and communities so that decision-making is supported by meaningful engagement.
The Board of Trustees meets four times per year.
Sub-committees
The Board of Trustees has the following sub-committees:
- Education
- Audit, Risk and Finance
- HR and Pay
- A Local Academy Council for each school
As a Multi-Academy Trust, the Board is responsible for all Academies in the Trust. They exercise this responsibility by delegating functions to the sub-committees including Local Academy Councils, the Trust Executive Team and school leaders through schemes of delegation.
Local Academy Councils
Each school in our Trust has a Local Academy Council which is made up of up to 9 members who meet formally half termly and report to the Board of Trustees. Membership of the Local Academy Councils is generally independent of the Board of Trustees and is made up of the following:
- 4 Trust-appointed members, including a Chair appointed by the Trust
- 2 elected parent representatives
- 2 elected staff members (1 teacher and 1 support staff)
- Headteacher, ex-officio by virtue of their role
Scheme of Delegation
The Scheme of Delegation sets out the Trust’s approach to delegations between the different layers of governance within the Trust.