Being a school governor or trustee is a challenging but hugely rewarding role. It will give you the chance to make a real difference to young people, give something back to your local community and use and develop your skills in a board-level environment.
Schools need governing boards that have a balance and diversity of knowledge, skills and experience to enable it to be effective.
Anyone aged 18 or over can be a governor or trustee (but there are some exceptions) and you do not need to be a parent. There is no requirement for you to have an understanding of the education system, just the necessary skills, character and time to contribute. Schools need and benefit from a range of professional knowledge on their governing board including education, finance, human resources, legal, marketing and public relations, property and estates management, and organisational change.
This video by the NGA provides information on the role of school governors and trustees.
JOIN US
We would love to hear from you if you are interested in making a difference for the children in our schools. The Mast Academy Trust is keen to expand the governance teams and encourage volunteers from diverse backgrounds to build on our inclusive culture and represent the communities we serve. We welcome applications from everyone.
Below are the vacancies we have for volunteers like you that may have the necessary skills and time to contribute. We look forward to hearing from you.
Board of Trustees
Trustees are both company directors and charity trustees as academies have the legal status of both company and charitable trust.
Because trustees are directors under company and charity law, trustees have legal responsibilities that governors of maintained schools do not. With no local authority to answer to, if anything goes wrong, the multi academy trust is accountable. The board of trustees manages the business of the multi academy trust and may exercise all the powers of the trust in compliance with its charitable objects, company and charity law.
The core functions of their role are ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction; holding executive leaders to account for the educational and financial performance of a charitable company funded by the public purse.
We have one or two vacancies on our board of trustees for professionals with strong skills and understanding of the education sector, you may currently be in a senior leadership position in the education, or have worked in education in a former role.
We also seek a trustee with specialist senior experience in the field of legal and/or compliance, ideally with a relevant qualification.
Local Governing Bodies
The purpose of the local governing body is to ensure that they provide local direction for the school within the framework of the Mast Multi Academy Trust governance structure. The delegated responsibilities of the local governing body are laid out in detail within the trust’s scheme of delegation.
We are always interested to talk with anyone interested in joining our school local governing bodies. No special qualifications are needed, and the most important thing is to have a keen interest in the school and be prepared to play an active part in the local governing body’s work. However, we would particularly welcome the following skills or interests:
- Understanding of the current education policy and curriculum requirements
- Knowledge of child welfare / safeguarding / special educational needs
- Understanding of the community and engaging stakeholders
Follow this link to find out what it is like to govern in the Mast Multi Academy Trust including the different roles our volunteers play.
If you wish to enquire about any governance vacancies we have at the Mast Academy Multi Trust please email Mrs S Hellewell or call on 01484 865444.