This page was updated in September 2021.

Westgate Academy is a charitable company/trust (except charity), limited by guarantee (not having a share capital) - company number 07669761 - was set up in September 2011.  The Academy entered into a funding agreement with the Secretary of State for Education to run one of its academies.

Members

The company was set up by three members who are subscribers to its memorandum of association.

The members who set up the company were: Michael Belcher, Elizabeth Hopkins and Maureen Geddis

The members as of the 1^st September 2021 are: Michael Belcher, Elizabeth Hopkins, David Ford and Simon Clarke

The Members meet twice a year to:

• Appoint and remove Trustees
• To make changes to the articles of association
• To sign off the academy’s financial strategy and the previous years accounts
• Ensure that the strategic direction set by the trustees in conjunction with the Headteacher safeguards and promotes the vision, ethos and values of Westgate Academy
• Ensure that arrangements are in place to support effective governance and to make any required changes to committee structure etc
• Financial solvency and probity are secured.

Trustees

The Trustees are the directors of the charitable trust (Members can be Trustees but don’t have to be) who are responsible for the following three core governance functions:

• Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
• Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the performance management of staff
• Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent and best value is offered

Trustees are responsible for ensuring the leadership and management, education outcomes and pastoral welfare of pupils are achieved.

The trustees are subject to the duties and responsibilities of the charitable trustees and company directors and as such are responsible for ensuring that the charitable company achieves its objectives as well as compliance with charity and company law and the academy funding agreement.

The Trustees usually meet three times each school term (to make decisions linked to the above) and to be assured in relation to the matters linked to the leadership and management, educational outcomes and pastoral welfare of pupils.

Governance model

The Trustees meet once each term as a Full Governing Body, once as a Finance and Resources Committee and once as an Achievement and Teaching Committee.

Finance and Resources Committee

This committee is responsible for assuring the strategic financial management of the Academy and for making recommendations to the Full Governing Body regarding decisions linked to:

• Pay, personnel and performance management (including the Trustees role as employer)

• Budget setting and finance (including procurement matters)
• Premises and asset management (including Health and Safety matters)
• Audit and Risk
• Stakeholder engagement and management information

Achievement and Teaching Committee

This committee is responsible for assuring the educational outcomes of the Academy and for making recommendations to the Full Governing Body regarding decisions linked to:

• Curriculum
• Pupil outcomes
• Quality of teaching, learning and assessment
• Personal development, behaviour and welfare (including pupil safeguarding)
• The Monitoring Evaluation Team form part of this Committee

The Full Board of Trustees

The Full Board of Trustees takes reports and recommendations from the Finance and Resources Committee and Achievement and Teaching Committee and is responsible for assuring the Leadership and management excellence of the Academy - including the generation and implementation of the Academy Improvement Plan (AIP) and the identification and management of risk.

Specific Trustee roles

The Trust has a Chair and Vice Chair and each of the committee’s has an appointed chair.

There are three specific Trustee roles: Safeguarding governor; SEN governor; health and safety governor.

Decisions which are made by the Trustees and which are therefore not delegated to the headteacher

Assuring Operational Excellence

Pay, personnel and performance management (including the Trustees role as employer)

• The appointment of the school headteacher
• The appointment of the Deputy Headteacher and Assistant Headteachers
• The appointment of the School Business Manager
• The appointment of a registered auditor
• The appraisal of the Headteacher
• The schools pay policy
• The dismissal of staff following disciplinary hearings
• The results of any appeals linked to employment matters
• Key personnel policies relating staff staff discipline, code of conduct etc.

Budget setting and finance matters (including procurement matters)

• The schools annual budget
• The schools annual financial statement

Other

• The schools admission policy
• The actions linked to any complaints about the school

Assuring educational outcomes

Curriculum:

• The curriculum statement: content and organisation of the curriculum including its underpinning values and principles

Personal develop, behaviour and welfare:

• To permanently exclude a pupil from the school
• The results of any appeals linked to pupil discipline matters

Assuring excellent leadership and management

• The school’s vision, values and aims