Our MAT Structure

Key Documents

MAT Structure
Companies House Information
Policies
Financial Information
Scheme of Delegation

1. Members

The Members of our Multi-Academy Trust are the conscience and moral guardians of its governance. They are tasked with assessing if the Board of Trustees is performing well to ensure that the purpose of the Trust is being met, it’s values are being adhered to and its charitable object (of “advancing education for the public benefit”) is being fulfilled. Essentially, this means focusing on the following questions:

  • Is the Board of Trustees governing effectively and ensuring strong governance across the Trust?
  • Is the Board of Trustees ensuring that the pupils in the trust are receiving a high quality education?
  • Is the board of Trustees ensuring robust financial oversight?

Although the legal minimum is three members, our Trust is committed to having five members, as recommended by the DfE and NGA, in order to maximise the scrutiny of our Trust’s performance.

Furthermore, although the law permits Members to also be appointed as Trustees, we have decided that Members should not have this dual role. This decision has been made in order to retain a degree of separation between the Members and the Trust Board, in line with DfE and NGA expectations. It is also important to note that, in line with DfE-amended model articles, our Members are not permitted to be employees of the Trust.

2. Trust Board

Our Board of Trustees is the accountable body for the performance of all MAT schools and as such must:

  1. Ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction.
  2. Hold the Executive Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the schools including their pupils and the extent to which the vision of the Trust is being fulfilled.
  3. Oversee the financial performance of the Trust and make sure its money is well spent.
  4. As charity trustees (within the terms of section 177.1 of the Charities Act 2011) the Trust Board must also ensure that they are complying with charity law requirements by “advancing education for the public benefit.”

The Board of Trustees is responsible for the general management of the Trust in accordance with the provisions set out in the Memorandum and Articles of Association. Therefore, , decisions regarding the vision, strategy and day to day operations need to be delegated to the Executive Headteacher/CEO, other Executive Leaders, Sub-Committees, Local Governing Bodies and the Headteachers of each individual Academies. This is documented in the Scheme of Delegation.

3. Local Governing Bodies (LGBs)

Even though the Board of Trustees is ultimately accountable in law for all decisions about its MAT schools, this does not mean that the Board is able to or needs to unilaterally and directly govern all individual schools; responsibility and decision-making powers need to be and should be delegated to LGBs.

And, our preferred approach to the governance of individual schools is that LGBs should have significant decision-making powers delegated to it from the Trust Board in a full range of key areas, so that governors are empowered to actually govern their school and not just advise the Trust Board.

Our Trust believes that LGBs are able to scrutinise key areas of a school’s and performance and financial probity in greater depth and with a more detailed understanding of the school’s context than the Trust Board. Indeed, LGBs have a critical “eyes and ears” role that both the Trust and LGBs themselves need to take seriously in order to discharge the governance responsibilities of ensuring that voices are heard and account is rendered effectively in all MAT schools and so that improvement is driven at local level.

However, although empowerment through a high level of delegated decision-making is our preferred approach, we recognise that, as the MAT grows and develops, there may be LGBs which are at different points of the ‘delegation spectrum’ depending on their relative effectiveness. Therefore, following formal reviews of governance activity, or whenever circumstances dictate, the Trust Board has the right to amend the Scheme of Delegation, if necessary and justified, for individual schools.

Indeed, being as LGBs are, strictly seeking, Trust Committees, it is the Trust Board which determines what exactly will be delegated. It is crucial, therefore that the roles and responsibilities are clearly defined via the Scheme of Delegation, so that that local governors are empowered to fulfil their role with real clarity and confidence. It is also crucial that LGBs are informed and consulted about any potential changes.

4. Executive Headteacher

The Chief Executive (who is referred to as Executive Headteacher, not CEO in our Trust) has the delegated responsibility, from the Trust Board, for the operation of the Trust, including the performance of all MAT schools in accordance with the Vision and Values of the Trust. The Executive Headteacher, in turn, works with and supports other senior executives which include the Headteachers of the individual MAT academies and the Chief Finance Officer.

The individual Headteachers are responsible for the day to day leadership, management and performance of their particular school and although the Executive Headteacher supports and manages them on a day-to day basis, but they also report to their LGB on matters which the Trust Board has delegated to the LGB With regards to the performance management of Primitas Headteachers, this is the responsibility of the LGB, with input and quality assurance from the Executive Headteacher.

The Executive Headteacher is also the Chief Accounting Officer but it is important to note that the Executive Headteacher does not and must not hold personal responsibility for assuring the board that there is compliance with the AFH and the funding agreements. Instead, they delegate the delivery of the Trust’s detailed financial and accounting processes and functions to a properly qualified Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and works closely with them on a daily basis, holding them to account and ensuring that the MAT is run with financial effectiveness and stability and probity.

In many MATs, the CEO/Executive Headteacher is appointed as a Trustee. However, there is an inherent conflict of interest when you consider that one of the core functions of a Trustee is to hold the Chief Executive to account Therefore, in our Trust, the Executive Headteacher is NOT a Trustee although attend all Trust Board meetings and will play a full and active role in them.

5. Executive Leadership Team

Through the Executive Leaders Forum, the Executive Headteacher works with the other Headteachers of Primitas academies, on a regular basis, to give every child in our Trust the kind of education that they need and deserve. They aim to do this by delivering, reviewing and shaping our School Improvement Offer. This means working closely with each other and with other staff from within Primitas, from our Partner MATs and from other external organisations.

6. Central Support Team (CST)

Our Central Support Team works closely alongside the Executive Leadership Team and the Trust Board and consults LGBs in order to effectively manage all core MAT business functions. The aim of the CST is to ensure that we are robust as a business so that we can provide educational excellence to our young people. By centralising specialist services, we are able to deliver a more effective and cohesive business, provide better value for money and relieve Headteachers from burdensome and time-consuming business/admin tasks which hinder their focus on learning and teaching.

Our Trust will endeavour to keep the CST as lean as efficient as possible, utilising the most appropriate personnel from within the MAT schools, to ensure that unnecessary additional central staffing costs are kept to a minimum.

7. LGB Forum

Our Trust will operate a Local Governing Bodies Forum. The purpose of this forum is to provide a platform for meaningful consultation, built on positive relationships and characterised by freethinking and honest debate about issues such as:

  • The growth, development and strategic direction of the Trust.
  • Alignment of the LGBs with the Trust’s vision, values and strategic priorities.
  • The review and amendment (if necessary) of Schemes of Delegation.
  • Policy development.
  • Assessment of the training/support needs of the LGBs.

8. Audit Committee

The main role of the Audit Committee is to oversee the programme of internal scrutiny that meets the requirements of the Academies Financial Handbook (AFH) as informed by our trust’s risk register. The Audit Committee meets three times per year and works closely with our appointed and will produce an annual report on the internal scrutiny work summarising the areas reviewed, key findings, recommendations and conclusions of the internal scrutineer. Such reports may become more frequent as our Trust grows. The programme of internal scrutiny will be carried out by an external provider, who will produce reports for the Audit Committee to scrutinise and use to make their recommendations to the Board

9. Interim Governing Body

This structure is in place for whenever a school requires governance outside of the normal governance arrangements of the MAT. This arrangement may apply to an existing Primitas academy which becomes eligible for Tier 3 support or a school which is looking to join the MAT as a result of a DAO.