Trustee Reponsibilities

Harlands Primary School has been a stand-alone Academy (the Harlands Educational Trust), since April 2014.

The Headteacher is responsible for the day-to-day management of the school, and a Board of Trustees is in a strategic role:
• to support the school in its development
• to act as ‘critical friend’ in setting targets and priorities, monitoring performance (curriculum and finance)
• to provide constructive challenge to the school leadership team.

Trustees
• are volunteers drawn from families of children in the school and from the wider community. Up to 14 at any time, always including two parent Trustees nominated from within the parent body, and always including the Headteacher. Appointments are for four-year periods and can be renewed.
• meet four times a year as a full Board – once a term and an extra meeting in Autumn term to receive the external auditors’ report.

Members
As a stand-alone Trust, we have an oversight group of five Members (drawn from the wider community) whose role is to hold the Trustee Board to account in its decision making and overall performance. They
• meet after each Board to discuss results and strategic direction with Trustee Chair and other Trustees.
• make final decisions on recommended new Trustee appointments (except the specific parent trustees).
• convene an Annual General Meeting (normally January) attended by all Trustees.

The Trust Board has three main committees:
• School Improvement,
• Resources
• Audit & Risk
Each committee reports back to the termly Board meetings.

Individual Trustees take on specific roles, such as chairing the committees. Occasionally the Board co-opts additional support from someone who can help with a particular set of skills or knowledge.

Governance Professional
The Board has a Governance Professional whose job is to advise the Board on its legal and fiduciary responsibilities and maintain records, including posting minutes of recent Board meetings on the Harlands website.

Updated September 2024