INTRODUCTION

This document lays out the governance structures for the Sapientia Education Trust (‘the Trust’)

MEMBERS AND TRUSTEES

Membership of the Trust Board is in accordance with the funding agreement the College signed with the Secretary of State in March 2016 when the Trust was established.  A breakdown of the Members and Trustees is as follows:

Members:  There are six Members, one of whom is also a Trustee

Trustees:  there are ten Trustees, one of whom is also a Member.  One Trustee is employed by the Trust, that person being the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). 

MEETINGS, BOARD COMMITTEE AND LOCAL GOVERNING BODY

The Board meets at least twice termly including once in December each year for the Annual General Meeting. 

The Trust Board has established the following Sub-Committees:

• Audit and Risk
• Boarding
• Finance
• Human Resources and Remuneration
• Infrastructure
• Education (Primary and Secondary)
• Local Compliance

Trustees make up the majority membership of each Committee in accordance with the Academy Trust Handbook.  A list of Committee membership is shown on the SET website.

Following a review of governance arrangements across the Trust, Trustees have agreed on changes to the governance structure which take effect from September 2022.  The overall aim is to further strengthen governance arrangements across the Trust

These revised arrangements have explicit aims, one of these being to ensure effective parental/career input by means of a Parent Focus Group (PFG) at each school.

This group facilitates communication between the Headteacher and parents/carers and acts as a consultative group.

COMPLIANCE

The Board of Trustees have a programme of compliance as follows:

• External Review of Governance (first one completed in 2018, the second in 2021, and a further review every three years thereafter).
• Annual external audit of accounts.
• Internal Audit programme carried out by professional auditor.
• External Quality of Assurance (QA) of education throughout the school year.
• Annual external review of Data Protection procedures