Our Governance
The de Ferrers Trust is a charitable company limited by guarantee and as such is required to comply with charity law and company law. The charitable company was set up by our founding members, details of whom can be found in the memorandum of association.
The Trust is one legal entity with one set of articles of association that governs each academy within the Trust. The Trust has a master funding agreement with the Secretary of State and then each academy has a separate supplementary funding agreement. The memorandum of association, articles of association and master funding agreement can be located at the bottom of this page. Each academy will publish their supplementary funding agreement on their academy website.
Our Governance Structure
The Members
The trust consists of five members (although we are currently carrying one vacancy) who are very similar to shareholders in a normal company. They are often considered as the custodians of the trust and act as a ‘check and balance’ on the performance of the multi-academy trust. The members have the power to appoint or remove trustees, amend the articles of association and, if necessary, wind up the multi-academy trust. To ensure robust accountability within our governance structure the members are independent of the trust board. The members will meet as often as is necessary to carry out their duties, but at least on an annual basis.
Details of our Members for the last 12 months can be seen in the table below. Current members are displayed in a bold font.
We currently have a vacancy for a member. Should you be interested in the role or would simply like further information, please contact our clerk, Sandra Taylor - staylor@deferrerstrust.com
Member |
Appointed |
Resigned |
Declaration of Interests |
JAMES TYE |
5 JANUARY 2021 |
FOUNDER OF HAMMERSBACH CONSULTING |
|
Rev. Michael Freeman |
3 September 2015 |
Vicar of The Church of Saint John the Divine, Horninglow |
|
Matt Hancock |
15 June 2017 |
|
Burton albion Community Trust |
Kevin Gaunt |
31 October 2017 |
|
Proprietor of NJ&W Consultants Limited |
CECET - Corporate Member |
01 September 2018 |
|
None |
The Trust Board
The Trust board has strategic oversight and ultimate responsibility for all of the management decisions within the multi-academy trust. The board consists of up to 11 trustees, eight of whom are appointed by the members. The trustees are appointed purely on a skills basis. The board’s key responsibilities are to ensure, through their governance structure and leadership teams, that the multi-academy trust is making proper and effective use of public funds and for the quality of provision. The trust board will meet as often as is necessary to carry out their duties, but at least five times per year with Board Committees meeting in addition to this.
Details of our trustees for the last 12 months can be seen in the table below. Trustees that appear in a bold grey font are our current directors. If you would like to learn more about a particular trustee please select the trustee, or alternatively go to our 'Meet the Trust Board' page.
Director |
Appointed |
Appointed by |
Term of Office expires |
Resigned |
Attendance at meetings during 2019/20 |
Declaration of Interests |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Andrew Burns (VICE CHAIR) |
04.10.2011 |
Members |
18.03.2023 |
|
4/5 |
Employed by Willmott Dixon |
CLAIRE SHAW (CHAIR) |
12.09.2017 |
CECET |
11.09.2021 |
08.09.2020 |
4/5 |
Employed by the lichfield diocese |
Amy Smith (Vice Chair) |
06.11.2017 |
trustees |
05.11.2021 |
04.12.2019 |
2/2 |
employed by the department for education |
Sophie Leadley |
15.05.2018 |
trustees |
14.05.2022 |
|
5/5 |
Owner of Viva Vacations Limited (since 2017)
|
Gerry McSorley |
06.12.2018 |
Members |
05.12.2022 |
17.07.2020 |
4/5 |
Employed by Health Education England. Sits on the North Cluster Board of the Discovery Schools MAT. Specialist advisor to the Care Quality Commission. |
JOHn widdowson |
02.04.2019 |
MEMBERS |
01.04.2023 |
3/5 |
employed at burton albion community trust. trustee of central england co-operative learning trust. |
|
LEE MOLAI |
02.04.2019 |
members |
01.04.2023 |
2/5 |
eMPLOYED BY CEVA LOGISTICS UK LTD. |
|
GLEN BOWN |
09.12.2019 |
MEMBERS |
08.12.2023 |
3/3 |
COUNCILLOR - FRADLEY AND STREETHAY PARISH COUNCIL |
|
SARAH MEADER |
09.12.2019 |
members |
08.12.2023 |
3/3 |
EMPLOYED BY GREENWOOD ACADEMIES TRUST CIPD, MHFA ENGLAND, ILM
|
|
FIONA STAGG |
16.07.2020 |
MEMBERS |
15.07.2024 |
|
N/A |
LOCAL GOVERNOR AT MEADOWS PRIMARY ACADEMY, GOVERNOR AT WALTON PRIMARY SCHOOL, STONE. indEpendent chair of north mids maths hub |
CLAIRE SHAW (CHAIR) |
08.09.2020 |
TRUSTEES |
07.09.2024 |
|
n/a |
Employed by the lichfield diocese |
JOHN FITCHETT |
08.09.2020 |
CECET |
07.09.2024 |
N/A |
trustee HOME-START STAFFORDSHIRE MOORLANDS, TRUSTEE MANOR HALL MAT, councillor uttoxeter town council |
Accounting Officer |
Date Appointed |
Declaration of Interest |
Ian McNeilly |
01.05.2018 |
Governor at Brookfield Community School, Chesterfield. |
The trust board has established three sub-committees to assist them, namely the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee, the Standards Committee and the Resources Committee. Each committee operates with its own set of terms of reference which can be located at the bottom of this page. The Finance, Audit and Risk and the Standards sub-committees will meet as often as is necessary, but at least three times per year. The Resources Committee will meet as often as necessary, but at least on an annual basis.
The Standards Committee
This is a newly formed committee meeting in 2018-19. The committee will be responsible for considering all education and employment matters relating to the performance of each academy within The de Ferrers Trust and for reviewing data on the progress and attainment of all trust academies.
Current membership (displayed in bold type face) is detailed below, together with details of the attendance of last year's committee members.
Member of sub-committee |
Position |
Appointed TO COMMITTEE |
Resigned from Committee |
Attendance for 19/20 |
John Widdowson |
Director (Chair) |
21.05.19 |
|
2/2 |
Claire Shaw |
Director |
11.09.18 |
|
0/2 |
Glen Bown |
Director |
17.12.19 |
|
1/1 |
Sarah Meader |
Director |
17.2.19 |
|
0/1 |
Amy Smith |
Director |
11.09.18 |
04.12.19 |
1/1 |
The Finance, Audit and Risk Committee
The Finance, Audit and Risk Committee sat as the Audit and Risk Committee for the year 2017-18 but its remit has been expanded to include finance for the year 2018-19. The committee is responsible for providing financial scrutiny, oversight and assurance on behalf of the trust board over the suitability of, and compliance with, its financial systems and operational controls. It also has responsibility of ensuring risks are adequately identified and managed.
Current membership (displayed in bold type face) is detailed below, together with details of the attendance of last year's committee members.
Member of Sub-Committee |
Position |
Appointed TO COMMITTEE |
resigned from the committee |
attendance for 2019/20 |
Mark Taylor |
Director |
12 May 2015 |
27.09.2019 |
N/A |
lee molai |
director |
21 may 2019 |
|
1/2 |
Sophie Leadley |
Director |
26 June 2018 |
|
1/2 |
Andy Burns (CHAIR) |
Director |
17 July 2018 |
|
2/2 |
Gerry McSorley |
Director |
19 March 2019 |
17.07.2020 |
2/2 |
FIONA STAGG |
DIRECTOR |
08 SEPTEMBER 2020 |
N/A |
|
JOHN FITCHETT |
DIRECTOR |
15 DECEMBER 2020 |
N/A |
Member of Sub-Committee |
Position |
Appointed TO COMMITTEE |
resigned from the committee |
attendance for 2019/20 |
Claire shaw (chair) |
director |
08 september 2020 |
|
n/a |
SARAH MEADER |
director |
08 SEPTEMBER 2020 |
|
n/a |
Sophie Leadley |
Director |
08 SEPTEMBER 2020 |
|
n/a |
Andy Burns |
Director |
08 SEPTEMBER 2020 |
|
n/a |
Meetings
Details as to Attendance at meetings for 2019-20 can be found next to the details regarding each member, director or governor.
Our Annual Calendar of Meetings for 2020-21 can be found below.
Training
"The role (of a governor) is so important that amateurish governance will no longer do. Good will and good intentions will only go so far. Governing boards made up of people who are not properly trained and who do not understand the importance of their role are not fit for purpose in the modern and complex educational landscape."
Sir Michael Wilshaw - November 2015
With this in mind the Trust has worked with all members, governors and directors to provide continuous professional development to assist them in acquiring the skills required to fulfil their role.
During 2019-20 clerks, governors and trustees participated in the following training:-
- Level 1 Safeguarding
- GDPR Training
- Prevent Training
- Level 2 Safeguarding
- Preparing for Ofsted
- Local Governor Induction Training
- NGA Clerks conference
Code of Conduct
All governors and trustees are requested to abide by a code of conduct. A copy of which is located below.