Trustees are accountable for all schools within a trust, whilst trustees often delegate the day-today running of schools to the school’s senior leadership team and local governing boards, trustees still shoulder the responsibility of the following:
- Setting the strategic direction, vision, and ethos of the trust.
- Holding schools’ senior leadership teams to account and challenging them to drive up educational standards.
- Oversee the financial performance of the trust.
- Safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
With the summer term fast approaching what should trustee boards be ensuring the have covered in the year or have scheduled in the upcoming meeting agendas?:
- Ensure that you have had and continue to have updates from the trusts accounting officer which should include- management accounts, budgets, staffing, safeguarding, updates on any vulnerable children and children on EHCPs.
- Approval of budgets.
- Review and approve any policies which are due for renewal.
- Ensure the risk register has been reviewed and updated for any new risks, as well as reassessing the impact and likelihood of any existing risks.
- Ensure that you have had at least 6 board meetings in the year, if you do have not you will have to disclose in the 2023 accounts how you have achieved effective governance and oversight.
- It is important to remember to document in the meeting minutes where the trustees have raised challenge questions to evidence that they are fulfilling their role in holding the senior leadership teams to account.
- Consider any trustee recruitment needs. Skill audits should be performed to ensure that the board has an appropriate skill mix to help the trust achieve its objectives.
- Consider staffing arrangements for 23/24.
- Ensure that dates are booked in for the TPS audit and year-end audit.
- Review and discuss the results of internal audit visit conducted and implement any action points.
- Review any ongoing contract tenders.
- Discuss any ongoing CIF bids/projects.
- Schedule time for the Chair to draft the Trustees report.
The next step
For more information on how your trust can ensure its meeting its governance requirements please get in touch with your local UHY academy expert, through the button below.
