Governance

Within FLT there is a deep belief that strong governance is essential to ensure a strong Trust. The Trustees bring skills, knowledge and experience to their roles. They work closely with the CEO to guarantee the success of the Trust and all its schools.

The governance structure consists of Members, and Trustees of the board and its committees. The committees include the local governing bodies of individual schools.

The work of the board is directed by the Articles of Association, funding agreements, governance handbook and the Academies Financial Handbook.

This work is distilled into the FLT Scheme of Delegation which is reviewed and updated every year.

You will find on this page information on our current Trustees, their attendance at meetings and any pecuniary interests they may have. 

The purpose of governance is to provide confident and strong strategic leadership, which leads to robust accountability, oversight and assurance for education and financial performance

DfE Governance Handbook 2019

MEMBERS

The four Members are akin to shareholders and have ultimate control over the direction of the Trust. They ensure the charitable company achieves its objectives, sign off the financial accounts and annual reports, and appoint some of the Trustees. They hold responsibility for:

  • Changing the Articles of Association
  • Deciding on a change of school category
  • Amendments to the Funding Agreement
  • Appointing Trustees
  • Appoint the Trust’s external auditors
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Anthony Cook
Chair of Trustees
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Gordon Joynor
Corporate Member from the ODBE
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David Wilson
Member with Primary Experience
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Bob Wintringham
Member with Secondary Experience

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

The Trustees, appointed by the four Members or Oxford Diocesan Board of Education, have delegated responsibility for the three core strategic functions:

  • Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
  • Holding the CEO to account for educational performance of the schools and their pupils
  • Overseeing the financial performance of the academy.

They have overall responsibility and ultimate decision-making authority for all the work of the Trust. This is largely exercised through strategic planning and the setting of policy. It is managed through business planning, monitoring budgets, performance management, the setting of standards and the implementation of quality management processes. They have the power to direct change where required.

Trustees will have regard to the interests of all academies for which the Trust is responsible in deciding and implementing any policy or exercising any authority.

The board consists of 12 Trustees. They represent the interests and views of all the academy schools at board level. They are essentially responsible for the day-to-day running of the ‘company’.

The board of Trustees consists of:

  • Eight Trustees appointed by Members
  • Three Trustees appointed by the Oxfordshire Diocesan Board of Education (ODBE)
  • A Chief Executive Officer (ex-officio)
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Adale Bennett
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Samantha Brady
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Anthony Cook
Chair of Trustees
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Richard Evans
Chief Executive Officer
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Mark Greenwood
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Liz Holmes
Vice Chair of Trustees
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Jason St John Nicolle
Vice Chair of Trustees
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Paul Turner
Chair of Quality of Education

LOCAL GOVERNING BODIES

Schools’ local governing bodies operate as committees of the board of Trustees. They operate under the delegation approved by the board and outlined in the Scheme of Delegation.

Those elected/appointed to serve on a local governing body are appointed Members of a committee of the board, and can be referred to as governors. Local governing bodies have been delegated the authority to appoint their own governors and elect their own post-holders (including chair), but appointments are to be made in accordance with the relevant Instrument of Government and FLT Policies and Procedures.

Members of local governing bodies are not Trustees or Directors of the academy Trust (unless they hold those positions in their own right), and it is therefore important to remember that, even where responsibility is delegated to a local level, it is the academy Trust as the legal entity that holds the statutory accountability and not the local governing body