Members/Trustees/Directors
Members:
- Mr David Warr
- Mr Steve James
- Dr Aswin Sayiram SJ
- Mr Mark Bayley
- Alex Thompson
Trustees:
- Mr Alan Guildford– Chair (Appointed by Members)
- Mrs Gill Edwards – Vice-Chair (Appointed by Members)
- Mr Gordon Fairbairn (Appointed by Members)
- Mrs Pamela Simpson (Appointed by Members)
- Mr David Malam (Appointed by Members)
- Mrs Pauline Turner (Appointed by Members)
- Mrs Julie Alexandra-Orrell (Appointed by Members)
Members
Members have overarching responsibility for the viability and performance of the Academy Trust through the appointment of trustees and approval of the annual report. They have the power to amend the Articles of Association that govern the way the Trust is constituted and managed.
Main duties and responsibilities
- To appoint trustees to the Trust Board bearing in mind the Articles of Association and the need for a balanced skillset to manage the Trust effectively
- To remove any trustee who is not considered to be acting in the best interests of the Trust
- From time to time to review the Articles of Association and to make changes where deemed necessary after taking advice from the Trust Board
- To appoint other Members (to not exceed 5) as necessary in line with the provisions of the Articles of Association
- To approve the annual report and accounts prior to submission to Companies House
- To appoint and if deemed necessary to remove the CEO
Trustees
The Board of Trustees acts in the best interests of the Trust, governing in accordance with its Articles of Association and having governance arrangements that demonstrate visionary leadership, clarity of relationships, effective oversight and sustainability, and achieve the greatest possible economies.
Trustees are responsible for the strategic direction, broad policy framework and oversight of the Trust and all its schools. They make decisions that are in the best interest of the MAT as a whole and are not representative of any one of the constituent schools.
Main duties and responsibilities
- To ensure that the activities of the Trust fulfil the objectives as described in the Articles of Association
- To ensure compliance with the Trust’s duties under company and charity law
- To ensure the schools are compliant with all statutory obligations (e.g. curriculum, SEND, safeguarding)
- To safeguard the assets of the Trust
- To ensure the solvency of the Trust and to abide by the agreements made with the Department For Education (DfE) and Educational Funding Agency (EFA) including the Master Funding Agreement and the Supplemental Funding Agreement and as defined in the current issue of the Academies Trust Handbook
- To determine the overall strategic direction and development of the Trust through good governance and clear strategic planning
- To approve the Trust’s strategic plan
- To challenge and support the Trust’s CEO, senior staff and school leaders to achieve the outcomes of the strategic plan
- To oversee the performance of the Trust and its schools and direct change where performance falls short of expectation
- To agree on policies across the schools within the Trust (unless otherwise delegated to individual schools)
- To ensure that risks are mitigated where possible and otherwise effectively managed
- To review the Trust Board terms of reference on a regular basis and to recommend any changes to the Board of Members
- To approve the terms of reference of the Board’s committees
- To approve the Trust’s annual budget and monitor progress through the receipt of regular reports and to commission auditors
- To approve the annual budget for each school and monitor expenditure against the budgets
- To approve the annual and other statutory reports to Members and the EFA
- To agree and review from time to time the scheme of delegation to the schools
- To review the effectiveness and skill set of the Board and recommend appropriate changes to the Board of Members