Governance
As a Multi Academy Trust the Potteries Educational Trust embraces partnerships across all phases of education and is continually considering opportunities for growth to enable us to offer the best resources and facilities to all of our children and young people.
Educational providers from across the City of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire and further afield are encouraged to contact us and explore how joining or working in partnership with the PET can help us all achieve even stronger learning outcomes, diverse and engaging curriculum and progression for our students.
Governance Arrangements
Combining individuals from across the Trust and beyond, our Trust Board provides confident and strong strategic leadership to foster robust accountability, oversight and assurance for educational and financial performance and engagement with stakeholders.
Governance Purpose
Our Trust Board provides:
- Strategic Leadership – the board defines the trust vision for high quality and inclusive education in line with its charitable objects. It establishes and fosters the trust’s culture and sets and champions the trust strategy including determining what, if any, governance functions are delegated to the local tier
- Accountability and Assurance – the board has robust effective oversight of the operations and performance of the academy trust, including the provision of education, pupil welfare, overseeing and ensuring appropriate use of funding and effective financial performance and keeping their estate safe and well maintained
- Engagement – the board has strategic oversight of relationships with stakeholders. The board involves parents, schools and communities so that decision-making is supported by meaningful engagement
Governance Structure
Incorporating meaningful input from all members of the Trust, our Governance board reflects our core values and aims. Made up of Members, Trustees and Local Governing Bodies, our governance structure is designed to be efficient and effective.
Members
The Members are the ambassadors of the Trust and are responsible for high-level monitoring of the overall effectiveness of the Trust. Members have an overview of the governance arrangements for the Trust and have the power to appoint an agreed number of Trustees and remove these Trustees. Members are responsible for the appointment of the auditors for the Potteries Educational Trust.
Trustees
Trustees are both charity trustees and company directors of the Potteries Academy Trust. Trustees are the key decision makers and accountable body for the Potteries Educational Trust. They provide strategic oversight of the day to day management of the Trust, and are responsible for setting the vision, culture, values and ethos for the Trust and reviewing the performance of all of the academies within the Trust. Trustees are supported in their work by the Governance Professional and Company Secretary to the Potteries Educational Trust.
Local Governing Bodies
Each academy within the Potteries Educational Trust has a Local Governing Body that has responsibility for the strategic oversight of the operational management of the individual academy. The Local Governing Body is a committee of the Trust Board and operates subject to the Terms of Reference agreed with the Trust Board and the Scheme of Delegation. The Potteries Educational Trust operates on the basis, as far as is legally possible, of delegating decision making to the Chief Executive Officer, the Principal/Headteacher of the individual academies and Local Governing Bodies.
Academy Local Governing Bodies – are accountable for:
- Vision and Values including
- upholding our Trust culture and ethos
- championing our Trust strategy
- promoting high quality and inclusive education
- Monitoring Local Accountability including:
- effective performance and provision of education
- pupil attendance and behaviour
- pupil welfare
- monitoring the learning environment to ensure it is safe and well maintained
- Engagement – including
- relationships with stakeholders, parents, communities
- advocacy for learners and stakeholders
- feedback and communication within the local community and its context
Executive Leadership Team
The Executive Leadership Team is made up of the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Finance Officer, Academy Headteachers/Principals and the Governance Professional/Company Secretary. The Executive Leadership Team provides the strategic oversight of the operations of each academy, develops and makes recommendation for Trust wide strategy and policies, and implements, monitors and evaluates the effectiveness of strategies and policies.
Academy Conversion Committee
The membership of our Academy Conversion Committee is determined at a time when support is required for our Associate Members to support academy conversion and due diligence processes. It will usually include a selection of delegated Trustees, the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Operating Officer, the Chief Finance Officer, senior leaders, Governance Professional/Company Secretary, and governors and senior leaders from the school wishing to convert to become an academy of our Trust.
The Governance Professional and Company Secretary
The Governance Professional and Company Secretary to the Trust is Mrs Sue Hawley. All correspondence for the attention of the Board of Trustees should be sent to:
E: shawley@potteries.ac.uk
T: 01782 854227 (direct dial)
T: 01782 848736 (ext 307)
