Governance Structure

热力天堂 is overseen by the Board of Trustees, known as the 热力天堂 Board. The trustees are highly experienced professionals - including education professionals - working alongside trustees appointed following a skills-based assessment.

The Board is supported by the Central Team who delivers the strategic aims of the Board and ensures the 热力天堂’s vision and ethos is met on a day-to-day basis, along with providing support for the schools in governance, educational, finance, operational and marketing support. The central team is led by the Chief Executive.

Governance Structure

As the maintaining authority, the 热力天堂 Board are accountable to the Secretary of State for Education – as a network of schools under one legal body. 热力天堂 is also known as a multi-academy trust (MAT).

热力天堂 is a company limited by guarantee – which means it has charitable status – although is overseen by the Department for Education rather than the Charity Commission. The Articles of Association sets out the purpose of the 热力天堂. The founding members of the trust signed the Memorandum of Association on incorporation. 热力天堂’s responsibilities are set out in the Master Funding Agreement, which is a contract between 热力天堂 and the Secretary of State for Education.

Each school maintained by 热力天堂 has its own Supplementary Funding Agreement (SFA), which includes duties for the local community the school serves. These documents can be found under their details on this website on Our schools page.

热力天堂 has three main layers of governance, with the appointment of members, trustees and local advisers. The purpose for the first two roles are taken from the DfE Governance Handbook, below:

Members – who have ultimate responsibility for the trust achieving its charitable objectives. They sign off the articles of association and have power to appoint and remove the trustees.
Trustees – (the Board of Trustees) who collectively deliver the three core functions common to school governance. The trustees must also ensure compliance with company and charity law and with the trust’s funding agreement with the Secretary of State.
Local advisers – (the Local Advisory Board for each school) who collectively are the local governance arrangement in each school. They are tasked with setting the strategic direction for the school, within the overall 热力天堂 vision; holding the Headteacher and senior leadership team to account for the educational performance of the school, its pupils and the performance management of staff; and ensuring investment in educational improvement is value for money and having the desired impact on standards.

Tasks of the Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees are the accountable body for 热力天堂's activities, and have the responsibility to:

Establish the core education vision
Hold Headteachers and Local Advisory Boards (LAB) to account for the standards of attainment and broader achievement of pupils, the quality of teaching and learning, the behaviour and safety of pupils, the leadership and management of the school, the pedagogy, curriculum and learning environment for the children
Arrange for educational audits to evaluate performance regularly with cognisance of the latest Ofsted guidance and to make recommendations to improve effectiveness
Set school targets, with input from LAB
Monitor and manage the financial and administrative policies (HR, ICT)
Budgeting and reporting procedures
Statutory compliance work
Staff contracts and HR policies
IT network strategy
Major procurement policies
Headteacher recruitment and appointment
Evaluation of Headteacher performance, with input from LAB Chair
Administrative and support services as required
Other educational programmes including but not limited to: leadership training, extended school programme.

The 热力天堂 Board has delegated a number of responsibilities to the Chief Executive (Accounting Officer), Local Advisory Board and Headteacher of each school, which is set out in the 热力天堂 Scheme of Delegation.

The 热力天堂 Board meets 6 times a year and has the following committees:

Finance, Risk & Audit Committee: David Thomas (Chair), Simon Rule and Sandeep Jain
Remuneration Committee: Vicky Griffiths (Chair), Claire Delaney and David Thomas

Financial scrutiny is through an external auditor, appointed by trustees and an internal audit process carried out by a separate audit provider, reporting to the Finance, Audit & Risk Committee.

One Board meeting a year is a strategic planning session, where the 热力天堂 3-Year Strategic Plan is reviewed, assessing whether the key risks of the group have changed and assessing the key strategic developments across 热力天堂.

The Board has adopted the 热力天堂 Board Governance Policy which sets out the terms of reference for these committees along with the rules for the Board.

National Governors Association review, 2023

Following an external governance review by the National Governors Association (NGA) in 2023. The NGA was clear that the review was commissioned by 热力天堂 because "the trust wants to be the best it can at what it does, including its governance".

The trustees are pleased with the NGA's key findings:

The governance structure of 热力天堂 is fit for purpose
The board functions well. It is led by a strong chair and is carrying out its three core functions well
The 热力天堂 vision and values are clear and understood by trustees
Finances are carefully managed; financial oversight is good
热力天堂 has a considered approach to growth which is working
The LAB handbook is excellent
There are a few areas for development, but these are not significant.

The suggestions given were mostly around developing stronger relationships with local advisory boards, which would will leave the trust in an even stronger position, such as:

Develop relationships with the LABs
Create a clearer understanding of where the LABs sit in the structure, and where they add value
Develop a standardised approach to the mechanics of local governance in 热力天堂.

The above points will be actioned during the next three years, before the next NGA review will take place.

Last updated: March 2024