Our Governance Structure
- Trust Board (5 Members)
- Board of Trustees (9 Directors, not including the Chief Executive)
- 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. The Board of Trustees focuses on four core strategic functions:
- Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
- Holding the CEO and Deputy CEO/Education Director to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils
- Overseeing the financial performance of the Trust and making sure its money is well spent
- Quality of senior appointments and oversight of their overall development
The Board of Trustees meets six times per year.
Sub-committees
The Board of Trustees has the following sub-committees:
- Education
- Audit, Risk and Finance
- HR and Remuneration
- 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