Trust Structure & Governance

The board has three sub-committees whose role is to scrutinise the work of the Trust and hold DNEAT officers to account in accordance with the Articles of Association and Scheme of Delegation (individual Schemes of Delegation can be viewed via the Local Governing Bodies page):

• Finance, Audit and Resources Committee (FARC)
• Personnel Committee
• Standards and Strategic Development Committee (SSDC)

All sub-committees report back to Trustees at each Board Meeting.

In addition, two DNEAT Trustees represent the Trust on the Joint Policy Development Committee which develops and reviews policies for DNEAT, St Benet’s MAT and DoNESC (Diocese of Norwich Education Services Company).

The academies within the Trust are split into three geographical regions – East, South-West and West.  Each region is allocated an Academies Group Executive Principal (AGEP) whose role is to provide support and challenge to the headteachers in their area.  This is carried out via a regular schedule of visits to the academies.  The AGEP also facilitates within their region meetings of the Headteachers’ Regional Alliance which allows for collaborative working across the region.

In the second part of each term, an Academy Improvement Review meeting is held with each headteacher and their Chair of Governors.  These meetings are held at the academy and are attended by the relevant AGEP, the Deputy CEO and for some meetings, one of the Trustees assigned to the region by the SSDC.  The purpose of this meeting is to review the progress the academy has made since the last meeting, consider aids and barriers to further improvement, agree the academy risk rating, discuss the effectiveness of the Local Governing Body (LGB) and review Scheme of Delegation responsibilities.  This meeting is formally minuted and the Minutes are made available to the Headteacher, Chair and the SSDC to assist in the flow of information between Trust Board and LGB.

Local governance at academy level is conducted via a Local Governing Body which comprises Trust Appointed Governors, Parent Governors, a Staff Governor and the Headteacher.  Responsibilities from the Trust Board are delegated via a Scheme of Delegation which is reviewed on an annual basis.  An outcome of the termly Academy Improvement Review meeting is a grading of the academy and this grading will inform the level of delegation.  The LGB is expected to meet in full on a half-termly basis.  From September 2023, most LGBs have opted to collapse the previous committee structure which consisted of three committees: Resources, Standards & Curriculum and Ethos & Community which all met on a termly basis.  The items will now be included as agenda items in the full LGB meetings. The Chairs meets on a regular basis with the Trust via the Academy Improvement Review Meetings and the termly Chairs and Heads Forums.

The Trust provides guidance and support to the LGBs through the provision of draft agendas, supporting documents, quality assurance visits and in-house training for governors and clerks.  In addition, as part of the Trust’s ongoing commitment to ensure that governance is well informed at all levels, access to the Modern Governor online training facility is provided to all Trustees, Local Governors and Clerks.

Board and Local Governing Body Diversity

Our trustees and governors are volunteers and providing diversity information is also voluntary at the point of application. In April 2023 our governing community (Trust Board and Local Governing Bodies) had provided the following information.

Age
31 – 45 : 31 %
46 – 60 : 34%
61 and over : 25%

Gender
Female : 56%
Male : 37%

Religion or Belief
Christian : 72%
No religion or belief : 17%
Prefer not to say : 10%

We also collect data on ethnicity, disability and sexual orientation but have chosen not to publish data in these areas at present.

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