ONE Governance

Effective governance with robust oversight and assurance enables confident, high-quality leadership. Trustees and local governors together oversee financial, academic and pastoral performance and hold leaders across the Trust to account for the support they provide.

Strong governance is at the heart of ONE. Our governance structures bring rigour, challenge and accountability. Those involved in our governance understand the many layers – ONE child, ONE employee, ONE school, ONE community and ultimately ONE Trust.

Meet the Members

The members "own" the multi-academy trust and their rights and responsibilities are set out in the Articles of Association.  They are responsible for ensuring that the charitable objective is being fulfilled and they hold the trustees to account. 

In ONE Academy Trust, the members meet annually in December at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) to review the annual accounts and external auditors report.  They are also responsible for appointing the auditors of the trust and the appointment of trustees.  Some decisions may be made out-of-committee by written resolution .  

Meet the Board of Trustees

The ONE Academy Trust Board of Trustees is the accountable body and is responsible for the oversight of all activities within the multi-academy trust.  It is responsible for the core governance functions in relation to the trust, making key decisions and conducting the business of the trust. It must ensure compliance with charity law, company law, and the trust's funding agreement. Its responsibilities are set out in the Articles of Association and the Scheme of Delegation.  

You can contact the Chair of Trustees (Dr Pip Dean) via the Trust's Governance Professional (Di Dakin) at d.dakin@oneacademytrust.co.uk or by calling the trust's head office and leaving a message (0115 9733626) and we will return your call. 

Governors

Six of our schools have a Local Governing Body which is a committee of the Board of Trustees and has been delegated specific functions and responsibilities in accordance with the ONE Scheme of Delegation.  Each Local Governing Body operates in accordance with the ONE Academy Trust Terms of Reference.  The Local Governing Bodies may delegate specific functions and responsibilities to permanent and/or ad-hoc committees in accordance with their constitution. More information can be found on our school websites. Information about who are governors are and more about their roles and responsibilities is available on each schools website.   

Executive team

CEO - The chief executive officer (CEO) has overall responsibility for the operation of ONE Academy Trust and is the accounting officer for the trust. 

Vice-CEO - The role of the vice-CEO includes a trust-wide focus on education and standards, and safeguarding.    

CFO - The chief financial officer (CFO) is responsible for the trust's financial management. 

HR Manager - The HR Manager is responsible for Human Resources support to management and staff and the effective implementation of statutory and trust policy. 

COO - The Chief Operations Officer is responsible for oversight of facilities management across the trust, health & safety, IT infrastructure and other aspects of operational support. 

DPO - The Data Protection Officer (DPO) has responsibility for overseeing compliance with Data Protection legislation across the trust. 

Governance Coordinator & Clerk to the Board of Trustees and LGBs - The governance professional is responsible for clerical support to the members, trustees and governors including drafting agendas, producing minutes, advising on legislation and ensuring compliance.  The clerk also provides administrative support in drafting and maintaining ONE policies and documents.   

Headteachers

Each school has a headteacher who is the school's leader and is responsible to the Trust Board for the school's strategic vision and values, effective financial and staff management, and the educational outcomes for pupils in their school.

We are one legal entity with one set of articles governing all our Academies. We have a Master Funding Agreement with the Secretary of State, plus supplemental funding agreements with each of our schools (academies).

Trustees and governors are jointly responsible for delivering the core functions of governance which are:

  • strategic leadership

  • accountability and assurance

  • strategic engagement

In ONE Academy Trust, the trustees meet six times throughout the year as a minimum.  The Finance, Audit & Risk Committee also meets 6 times per year and focuses on oversight of financial management, risk management and the implementation of effective internal and external audit processes and arrangements.   

To assist this, between the Trust and each school there is a Scheme of Delegation. The scheme of delegation is designed to provide clarity and define responsibilities within the Trust-School relationship.

In accordance with the Scheme of Delegation, the trustees delegate responsibilities to:

  • Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

  • Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

  • Headteachers

  • Finance, Audit & Risk Committee (FAR)

  • Local Governing Bodies (LGBs) of each school

  • Ad-hoc committees formed to meet specific needs e.g. Exclusion Committees

 

The layers of governance within the trust provide accountability, oversight, support and challenge close to the point of delivery.

 

ONE Academy Trust Terms of Reference and the Scheme of Delegation jointly set out the structure, constitution and delegated responsibilities of the Board of Trustees and School Local Governing Bodies in detail.  These are reviewed annually. The Articles of Association set out the legal framework under which we operate.

Terms of Reference

Scheme of Delegation

Articles of Association

 

Members

The members "own" the multi-academy trust and their rights and responsibilities are set out in the Articles of Association.  They are responsible for ensuring that the charitable objective is being fulfilled and they hold the directors (the trustees) to account. 

In ONE Academy Trust, the members meet annually in December at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) to review the annual accounts and hold the directors to account.  They are also responsible for appointing the auditors of the trust and the appointment of directors.  Some decisions may be made by written agreement out-of-committee.  

 

Trustees (Directors)

The ONE Academy Trust Board is the accountable body and is responsible for the oversight of all activities within the multi-academy trust. It is responsible for the three core governance functions in relation to the trust, making key decisions and conducting the business of the trust. It must ensure compliance with charity law, company law, and the trust's funding agreement. Its responsibilities are set out in the Articles of Association and the Scheme of Delegation.  

In accordance with the Scheme of Delegation, the trustees delegate responsibilities to:

  • the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
  • the Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
  • the Finance, Audit & Risk Committee 
  • school Local Governing Bodies (LGBs)
  • the Headteachers

In ONE Academy Trust, the Trustees meet six times throughout the year as a minimum.  Some decisions may be made by written agreement out-of-committee.  The Finance, Audit & Risk Committee also meets throughout the year

 

Local Governance

Most of our schools have a Local Governing Body which is a committee of the Board of Trustees and has been delegated specific functions and responsibilities in accordance with the Scheme of Delegation.

The governors on each Local Governing Body are responsible for local governance in relation to their school. Details of our local governors and contact arrangements are available via our school's individual websites.

Each Local Governing Body operates in accordance with the Terms of Reference.

As part of their statutory responsibilities, members, trustees and governors are required to publish their terms of office and attendance at meetings. For local governors, this information is published on each school's website. For members and trustees, the information is set out in the document below.

Appointment & Attendance Register

Members, trustees and governors are required to publish their personal and pecuniary interests which could potentially influence their decision making.  These are reviewed at the start of every meeting and reviewed annually by our external auditors to check for accuracy.  Where a conflict of interest exists, the individual is required to declare the conflict of interest and will not take part in discussion or decision making.

The personal and pecuniary interests details for local governors can be found on the school websites.

The details for the members and trustees, the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Financial Officer and the Executive Team can be found below:

Register of Interests

The autonomy given to me as a Headteacher within ONE Trust is perfect. Whilst I receive a wide array of support to continuously make improvements both educationally and in the wider running of the school, I am also able to retain all the wonderfully unique and individual aspects of Abbey Primary School.
Neil Harris Head Teacher Abbey Primary School