Our Trustees

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Our Trustees

The trustees of Taverham High School are all volunteers who care about children’s education and are proud to serve the school community. The Trustee Body consist of people drawn from the local and wider community, including staff and parents, who have a wide variety of skills, professional qualifications and experience from business, the public sector and across the sphere of education.

Taverham High School, company number 08204680, is set up as a charitable trust limited by guarantee. It has a tiered management and governance structure, with the Members of the Academy Trust Company overseeing the strategic direction of the Academy. Below this tier is the full Trustee Body of the school, who are responsible for setting the vision of the school, holding the Headteacher to account for educational performance, and ensuring that the academy's money is well spent and offers value for money.

There are up to 10 positions on the Trust Board, which is composed of up to 7 Member appointed Trustees, a minimum of 2 Parent Trustees (elected from parents) and the Headteacher. Further trustees can be co-opted in by the trustee body as needed. A Trustee's term of office is 4 years, though they may stand for re-election or, be re-appointment if desired.

Our Aims

1. To be at the heart of Taverham High School to ensure each pupil can develop to their full potential.

2. To support the creation of a safe, inspirational, and empowering learning environment within which every pupil can develop their skills and knowledge, self-respect, respect for others and build resilience to prepare themselves for life in a dynamic world.

3. To support the Headteacher, Leadership Team and staff to ensure the school provides high quality education supporting the above aims, raising standards of achievement, and producing an environment where children feel inspired to achieve and develop their natural gifts and talents.

What We Do

The role of the trustees is to provide strategic leadership to support the provision of high-quality education, underpinned by the school vision to enable students to become lifelong learners. Therefore, the trustees operate at a strategic level, leaving the day-to-day management of the school to the Headteacher and their staff. We set the direction of the school and are involved in shaping and reviewing the school's strategic plans in collaboration with the Headteacher and the school’s Leadership Team. The trustees make decisions as a collaborative body through specialist committees; as individuals we have no power.

Most of the Trustee Body's work takes place in committees that are led by knowledgeable and experienced chairs. Each trustee uses their specialist knowledge through serving on the committees, which meet at least on a bi-termly basis, with monitoring of provision undertaken by trustees throughout the academic year. There are three committees which oversee all aspects of school life:

Full Trustee Board

• Ensures appropriate development and implementation of the school curriculum for years 7 – 13 to ensure effective outcomes for all students.

• Ensures the effectiveness of matters relating to pupil welfare, pastoral care, parent liaison and the community links of Taverham High School for years 7 – 13.

Audit, Resources and Finance Committee

• Ensures that the financial risks of the school are effectively reviewed and monitored, and the annual statements give a true and fair view of the financial activities of the school.

• Ensures that the audit function provides assurance to the external auditors with reference to the guidance in the Academy’s Financial Handbook.

• Reviews the building function.

• Ensures appropriate staffing structure, performance management and salaries are in place.

Strategy Committee

• Receives reports of updates relating to wider and national and international educational developments.

• Ensures clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction of the Academy.

• Ensures that the Headteacher is held to account for the educational performance of the school, the performance management of staff and ensuring value for money.

The Trustee Body is committed to the school ensuring the continued provision of a dynamic educational experience for pupils, so they are equipped for life in a fast-changing modern world. To this end trustees are always keen to hear the views of members of our community including parents and pupils. The Chair of Trustees, Susan Byles, can be contacted through: governors@taverhamhigh.org