The Members:
- are signatories to the articles of association (which sets out the trusts’ charitable objects and governance structure) and have the power to amend the articles of association
- have the power to appoint a number of the Trustees and to remove any or all serving Trustees
- may issue direction to the Trustees to take a specific action
- have power, ultimately, to wind up the academy trust.
The Trustees are both charity trustees and company directors and have the legal responsibility for conducting the business of the trust. They may choose to delegate certain powers to committees or to the local governing boards of academies in accordance with the Scheme of Delegated Authority (SoDA).
The purpose of governance across the Trust is to provide:
- strategic leadership
- accountability and assurance
- strategic engagement
As shown in the diagram above, the board of Trustees has a number of committees including Local Monitoring Committees (LMC), each school, or pair of schools where relevant, has representation from the community, parents and the staff at the school. The LMC have a monitoring role for standards, SEND, safeguarding and stakeholders, this involves:
Standards
- Ensure that the trust’s vision, ethos and strategy is adopted and applied by school leaders.
- Work with senior leaders to identify areas for improvement and develop strategies to address them in line with the trust’s strategic objectives.
- Monitor school performance and improvement through regular reviews of performance data, including exam results, attendance rates, and pupil progress.
- Monitor that the adopted curriculum is being provided to pupils in an appropriate manner for the school’s context.
- Monitor the effectiveness of policies and procedures in place
- Establish a strong relationship with the headteacher in order to provide effective support and challenge, including providing feedback to their performance management process.
SEND
- Ensure that the trust policy for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is implemented and adapted to the specific school context where necessary.
- Seek assurance that staff are trained to implement pupil strategies and support plans.
- Designate a link committee member to take leadership responsibility for SEND.
- Work in partnership with the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) and other stakeholders across the MAT community to ensure that pupils with SEND are well-supported and included in all aspects of school life.
- Monitor the overall effectiveness of the school’s SEND provision, referring to pupil outcomes and other relevant data.
Stakeholder engagement
- Consult stakeholders – parents, staff and pupils – and use insights to inform decision-making.
- Help stakeholders to understand the trust’s values and vision for the future.
- Foster a culture ensuring the school is at the centre of the community.
- Monitor the effectiveness of policies and procedures in place with a specific focus on the Equalities policy and action plan.
Safeguarding
- Foster a culture that prioritises the safety and wellbeing of all pupils and staff in the school.
- Ensure that the adopted safeguarding policies and procedures reflect the safeguarding challenges and context of the school.
- Monitor the implementation of safeguarding policies and the effectiveness of procedures.
- Designate a link committee member to take leadership responsibility for safeguarding.
- Monitor the effectiveness of policies in relation to the school’s estate, including receiving outcomes of relevant audits.
