Haberdashers' Academies Trust South

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Governance

Haberdashers’ Academies Trust is a closely integrated Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) consisting of nine schools which share a common approach and work closely to achieve that.

There is a close relationship between the different parts of governance in the Trust but each has distinct responsibilities as described in the Scheme of Delegation. Each of our nine schools has a Local Governing Body (LGB) which is responsible for overseeing the school and supporting school leaders.  It focuses on monitoring the quality of educational provision and the outcomes that children achieve with a focus on safeguarding, special educational needs and supporting the most disadvantaged children.  It ensures that the school is following the Trust’s vision and strategy, agreeing policies and checking compliance with them.

The Trust Board is the non-executive body accountable for all aspects of the conduct and performance of the schools across the Trust. It is responsible for the strategic priorities of the organisation, its growth plans, major capital investments, for approving the budget and managing the finances across the organisation.

 It exercises its responsibilities by employing a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who is directly accountable to the Trust Board and the Department for Education for standards across the Trust and as such Principals report directly to the CEO. 

 The Trust Board retains close oversight of different aspects of the work of the organisation by appointing a range of committees to take responsibility for specific areas of its work.  These committees are the Finance Committee, Audit & Risk Committee, the People Committee and the Standards Committee.  These are described in more detail on the Committees of the Board page. 

The key Executive roles in our Trust are the CEO, the Principals of the nine schools and other Directors in the central team. The organisation is structured to support collaborative activity to develop and implement highly effective shared practice across all aspects of the work of the schools in the Trust. The Principal of each of the school is responsible and accountable for the management of his or her school. The Principals work together with each other and with the CEO and Directors in the central team to develop the Trust’s agreed policies and procedures, which they are then responsible for implementing in their schools. Each Principal is supported by a school Leadership Team.

The core responsibilities of each function are outlined within the Scheme of Delegation for Governance and Leadership and the Trust’s Terms of Reference. The relationship between the CEO, the Principal and the Chair of the LGB is an important one. The CEO holds three Keeping in Touch meetings per year with each Principal. These are formal accountability meetings where the progress of the school is reviewed alongside strategic planning. The Chair of the LGB attends these meetings. Similarly, they are invited to feedback Review and Support visits, held twice per year. Each LGB has access, through its committee papers, to an ‘Evidence of Excellence’ document which details progress of the school across a number of key areas such as pupil progress, pupil numbers, suspensions and exclusion, attendance etc.

 Composition of Governance

  • Members - There are 5 members – The Haberdashers’ Company itself, two appointed by the Company and two Trustees who sit on the Trust Board, all are appointed by the Haberdashers’ Company. The Members can appoint Trustees and remove serving Trustees, appoint new and remove existing Members, approve any proposal to amend the Memorandum and Articles of Association and appoint the external auditors (on the recommendation of the Trustees). Further detail on the remit of Members can be found in the Trust Articles of Association.
  • Trustees - The Trust Board is made up of:
    • Nominated Trustees - nominated and appointed by the Members of the Trust
    • Temple Grove Schools Trust Trustees – up to two Trustees appointed by the Temple Grove Schools Trust, one of the Trust’s sponsors
    • The CEO of the Trust (appointed by the Trust Board)
    • Co-opted Trustees - appointed by the Nominated Trustees
  • Independent Co-opted Governors who sit on the Trust Finance, Audit & Risk and People Committee and have no other role in the Trust’s governance
  • Local Board Governors – The Chair of each LGB is appointed by the Trust Board, the remaining members are made up of elected parent governors, governors co-opted by the Trust Board and in some cases Trustees who also sit on LGBs.

Our Governors are recruited, nominated or elected based on the skills that they will bring to the governing body.  On appointment, Governors receive extensive information relating to the Trust and its schools and are invited to attend an Induction Day as well as online and face to training sessions throughout the year.  Governors also have access to online training modules through the National Governance Association’s Learning Link platform and are invited to attend collaborative sessions run by the Haberdashers' Company.  

The Governance Professional maintains a pipeline of potential Governors. These are recruited through open recruitment processes, through networking opportunities and with the support of the Haberdashers’ Company.

For further information on governance within the Trust please click the below links:

 

 

 

 

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