Governance

The governance structure of RPT is as follows:

Members:

‘are the guardians of the governance of the trust. The members’ role is discrete and distinct; they are tasked with assessing if the board of trustees is performing well and, as such, are ensuring that the purpose of the trust is being met, and its charitable object is being fulfilled.’ (NGA, 2018)

Trustees:

‘are both trustees of the charity and directors of the Company limited by guarantee. The Charities Act 2011 defines charity trustees as the people responsible under the charity’s governing document for controlling the administration and management of the charity, regardless of what they are called. They are known collectively as the trustee board. Under charity law trustees have the ultimate responsibility for directing the affairs of, and ensuring that it is solvent, well run and delivering the charitable outcomes for which it has been set up. In law trustees have several legal duties, which are often described as those of compliance, care and prudence.’ (NGA, 2016) Our Board of Trustees also has the following Committees (Terms of Reference for which can be found in the Scheme of Delegation on the Documentation page):

Finance and Resources (FAR) committee: responsible for ensuring that the staffing, financial, and infrastructure (buildings and ICT) resources of the Trust are effective, efficient and support the objective of maximising pupil outcomes at every school. The Resources Committee will also lead on audit and assurance work. The Committee ensures that the Trust adheres to the requirements of the Funding Agreement, Academies Trust Handbook, Academy Accounts Direction and other DfE / ESFA requirements.

Audit, Risk and Compliance (ARC) committee: responsible for maintaining oversight of the RPT's governance, compliance and risk management, internal control and value for money framework. The Committee leads on ensuring robust internal and external auditing and ensuring that the recommendations of auditors are actioned promptly. It strategically considers the risks, including scrutiny of the risk register to ensure Trust risk is minimised and compliance with the requirements of the Academy Trust Handbook, DfE, ESFA and regulators such as Ofsted.

We also have a number of groups and panels:

Strategic Sub Group (SSG): to support the trust in understanding the most current educational, local and national landscape context. Consider stakeholder need, and use this key information to plan the way forward for RPT to ensure the Trust grows effectively and provides outstanding education and provision for pupils with SEND.

Chairs Forum: enables the Trust and Local Boards to come together to develop and share Trust wide plans and developments, discuss key priority areas, ensuring consistency and comparison of information from schools and emerging points of development and strengths across RPT schools.

Pay Committee: responsible for determining the pay and undertaking the pay review for all RPT staff in accordance with the Trust’s Pay Policy.

Complaints Panel: convened as required and subsequent report to the next relevant meeting, including any lessons learned for the school and / or recommendations for policies or procedures. The panel will consist of two LAB members plus at least one Trustee.

Employment Appeals Panels: convened as required for grievance, dismissal, or dismissal appeal hearings and report to the next relevant meeting as appropriate, including any lessons learned for the school and / or recommendations for policies or procedures. The panel shall consist of three people.

CEO/Principal/Vice Principals/Headteacher/Head of School Appointment Panel: convened as required and report to the next relevant meeting as appropriate, including any lessons learned for the school and / or recommendations for policies or procedures. The panel will consist of two LAB members and at least one Trustee.

Pupil Exclusions Panel: convened as required and report to the next relevant meeting, including any lessons learned for the school and / or recommendations for policies or procedures. The panel will consist of two LAB members and at least one Trustee.

Pay Appeal Panel: convened as required if a member of staff wishes to appeal against their pay award decision made by the Pay Committee. The panel will consist of at least two Trustees.

Our members are:

Stephen Hull – British Council employee, and a highly experienced governor
Bob Anderson – HR, compliance, and governance expert
Judith Enright – school leadership and secondary education expert, local secondary school head teacher
Yasmin Sher – parent, and wellbeing and counselling expert
Simon Pink - Chief Operations Officer and finance expert

Our trustees are:

Christine Jackson, Chair of Trust and Safeguarding (inc Health and Safety) Trustee.
Therese McNulty, Member of the Finance and Resources Committee and Standards and Curriculum Link
Amy Gunning, Chair of Finance and Resources Committee
Rachel Rossiter, Chair of Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee
Chris Murray, Member of the Finance and Resources Committee and Risk and Compliance Committee
Suhail Roshan, Member of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee and Finance and Resources Committee
Ketan Sheth, Member of the Finance and Resources Committee and Risk and Compliance Committee
Jayne Jardine, CEO and Accounting Officer. Member of Finance and Resources Committee and Contributor to Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee.

We are holding some positions open to allow for future trust expansion.

Local Academy Boards:

Each school has a Local Academy Board whose duties are similar to that of a maintained school’s local governing board, but without the legal responsibility or recognition. They hold the school to account on curriculum and standards, safeguarding and health & safety, and community & parental engagement.

Details of Local Academy Board members can be found on the respective school’s website

Documentation relating to Trust governance and compliance can be found below:

Some documents refer to our former trust name 'Brent Specialist Academy Trust' or 'BSAT', and are included here for consistency.

Details of governance at the schools which make up The Rise Partnership Trust can be found below:

Manor School - Governance:

https://www.manor.brent.sch.uk/page/?title=Governance&pid=17

The Avenue School - Governance:

https://www.theavenueschool.london/page/?title=Governance+and+Compliance&pid=16