Governance

The Schools of the Mercian Trust work together under an over-arching structure of Governance.

The Board of Trustees sets the strategic direction of the Trust and holds the Executive Team to account. The Trustees have a responsibility to:

  • Ensure compliance with charity and company law
  • Determine, alongside the Executive Team, the strategic priorities of the MAT
  • Determine and review Trust-wide policies
  • Ensure financial probity
  • Determine the funding model across the Trust and set the budgets for individual Academies
  • Review and challenge progress of the trust against its agreed objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs)
  • Appoint staff at Senior Leadership Level

In addition, there is a Local Governing Body (LGB) for each School or Academy within the Mercian Trust. The core responsibility of each Local Governing Body is to:

  • Recommend, monitor and review the School Improvement Plan
  • Recommend targets for performance and hold the school leadership team to account for the delivery of KPIs
  • Ensure that the school budget is on track and money is well spent
  • Recommend, monitor and review the school’s curriculum

We value the independence of each school, but that does not mean that schools will work in isolation from each other. Quite the contrary; we see ourselves as a family of schools with a strong commitment to each other’s success. We are stronger together and our day to day operation reflects this.

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Members

Members function in much the same way as shareholders of a company. Membership is shared by the Queen Mary’s Foundation and the Vine Trust Group, Walsall. The Queen Mary’s Foundation is a Corporate Member and appoints two further Members. The Vine Trust Group is a Corporate Member and appoints one further Member.

Together, they are responsible for:

  • Appointing (and removing) the Trustees
  • Holding the Executive Team to account for the successful operation of the Trust
  • Amending the Articles of Association
  • Winding up the Trust

Vivian Fairbank

Member


Lorraine Johnson

Member


Brian Powell

Member


John Punch

Member


John Vallance

Member


Trustees

The Trustees are the Directors of the Multi Academy. They have a collectively responsibility to:

  • Ensure compliance with charity and company law
  • Determine, alongside the Executive Team, the strategic priorities of the MAT
  • Determine and review Trust-wide policies
  • Ensure financial probity
  • Determine the funding model across the Trust and set the budgets for individual Academies
  • Review and challenge progress of the trust against its agreed objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs)
  • Appoint staff at Senior Leadership Level

The Board of Trustees is responsible for all the Academies in the MAT. It exercises its role by delegating some functions to the Local Governing Body (LGB) of each academy through an agreed Scheme of Delegation.


Kevin Davis

Chair


Rebecca Hearsey

Vice Chair & Chair of People and Culture Committee (PCC)


Jane Bonner

Chair of AIMS Committee


Paul Lee

Chair of Finance and Resources Committee (FRC)


Beverley Boden

Trustee


Mark Harland

Trustee


The Rt Hon. Sir Gary Hickinbottom

Trustee


Jacqueline L’Herroux

Trustee


Robert Quayle

Trustee


Roland Roberts

Trustee


Eddie Stride

Trustee


Winston Weir

Chair of Audit and Risk Committee (ARC)


Articles of Association

Code of Governance

Scheme of Delegation 2023-2024.pdf

Terms of Reference

Declarations - Members & Trustees

Declarations - Aldridge School LGB

Declarations - The Ladder School LGB

Declarations - Queen Mary's Grammar School LGB

Declarations - Queen Mary's High School LGB

Declarations - Shire Oak Academy LGB

Declarations - Walsall Studio School LGB