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Statutory Information
Our Governance Structure ensures there are clear reporting lines of accountability to ensure probity, good governance and outstanding performance.
Trustees and Members of the Trust are appointed in accordance with the Trust Articles of Association.
Trustees focus on three core functions of governance:
- Ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction of the Trust;
- Hold trust schools and its leaders to account for the educational performance of the schools and its pupils, and the performance management of staff; and
- Oversee the financial performance of the Trust and make sure its money is well spent.
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Mrs Ruth Rule-Mullen - Chair Email: r.rulemullen@cfat.org.uk Tel: 01942 487982 Mrs Jane Chambers - Vice Chair |
The role of Members
Meetings of Members are called 'General Meetings' and the decisions they make are called 'resolutions'. CFAT Members meet at least once a year at the Trusts Annual General Meeting (AGM). Member’s are responsible to ensure the continued adherence of the Trustees to the founding principles of the Trust, namely to secure the best educational standards, personal and academic, for all pupils within the Trusts.
The role of Trustees
The role of Trustee is to oversee the strategic direction of the Trust and work with fellow Trustees to monitor the outcomes of pupils and the application of funds to ensure the continued viability of the Trust. It is also the Trustees role to provide constructive challenge so that they can demonstrate that they are effective and efficient managers of the Trust.
Trustees meet at least once a term to discuss key strategic and operational issues.
The Board of Trustees is supported by a Finance, Audit and Risk Committee that meets once per term to monitor internal controls, a Local Academy Board that meets once per term at each school/academy and a Headteacher Board (HTB) for its school-centred initial teacher training (SCITT) facility Kingsbridge.
Member, Trustee & Executive Team Pen Portraits
Member and Trustee pen portraits can be viewed by clicking here.
Executive Team en portraits can be viewed by clicking here.
School Improvement / Executive Team pen portraits can be viewed by clicking here.
The Board of Directors / Charitable Trustees
|
Name |
Role |
Date of Appointment |
Term of Office |
Date of Resignation (if within 12 months) |
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Members |
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Mrs Ruth Rule-Mullen |
Member & Chair |
03rd December 2019 |
annual |
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Mr Neil Bailey |
Member |
25th September 2017 |
4 Years |
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Mrs Elizabeth Greenside |
Member |
1st September 2018 |
4 Years |
03rd December 2019 |
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Mrs Brenda Szwandt |
Member |
25th September 2017 |
4 Years |
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Mrs Angela Holland |
Member |
1st May 2018 |
4 Years |
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Mrs Rose Crompton |
Member |
1st September 2019 |
4 Years |
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Trustees |
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Mrs Ruth Rule-Mullen |
Trustee & Chair |
1st September 2019 |
annual |
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Mrs Jane Chambers |
Trustee & Vice Chair |
1st March 2018 |
annual |
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Mrs Sue Darbyshire |
CEO / Trustee |
25th September 2017 |
4 Years |
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Mr Jack Pugh |
Trustee |
25th September 2017 |
4 years |
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Cllr Carl Sweeney |
Trustee |
25th September 2017 |
4 Years |
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Mr Mark Rowlands |
Trustee |
25th September 2017 |
4 Years |
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Mrs Lynne Hamnett |
Trustee |
1st September 2019 |
4 Years |
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Mr John McDonald Strategic Finance Manager |
Co-opted member on to the Trustees finance, risk and audit committee |
1st September 2018 |
annual |
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Clerk |
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Ms Marie Collier |
Trust Wide Clerk | 1st September 2018 | annual | |
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Associate Attendees / Executive Team |
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| Craig Holden | Director of HR | attendee by virtue of their position | - | |
| Carol Brockbank | Chief Finance Officer | attendee by virtue of their position | - | |
Platt Bridge Local Academy Board (LAB) information can be reviewed by clicking here
Kingsbridge SCITT Headteacher Board (HTB) information can be reviewed by clicking here
Trustees or Committees with Specific Roles - updated 17th Sept 2019
| Name or Committee | Specific Role |
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Mr Jack Pugh |
Safeguarding and Staffing |
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Mrs Lynne Hammett |
Vulnerable Groups including Special Educational Needs & Disability |
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Cllr Carl Sweeney |
Pupil Premium and Looked after Children |
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Mrs Jane Chambers |
Pupil Progress and Outcomes including Curriculum |
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Mr Mark Rowlands |
Health & Safety and Estates |
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Finance Audit and Risk committee (FAR) |
Finance, Audit & Risk |
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Mrs Ruth Rule-Mullen, Mrs Jane Chambers, Mr Mark Rowlands & Mr Jack Pugh |
Executive Pay Committee |
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Kingsbridge Headteacher Board (HTB) |
Responsible for advising and challenging the Trusts SCITT activity inline with its Scheme of Delegation. |
The Trust Scheme of Delegation applies to all schools/academies & business areas within the Charitable Trust including its SCITT. It is available for review at the footer of this page.
Formal Meetings of Members and Trustees
All meetings of both Trust Members and Trustees take place at the Trust's registered office which is Rivington Ave, Platt Bridge, Wigan, WN2 5NG and generally start at 17:30hrs unless stated otherwise.
Minutes of meetings are available for inspection via request from the Trusts registered office.
Request for Copies
Anyone can by law request a copy of the accounts from the charity at any time. Our accounts are however, displayed online at the footer of this page for public review.
If you would like to request copies of anything else please contact our Clerk in the first instance by emailing info@cfat.org.uk
Contact
To contact any member of the Trusts Governing Board, please contact the Trust Clerk by emailing info@cfat.org.uk
Record of Attendance - Members and Trustees Meetings September 2020 - August 2021
P – present
A – apology received and accepted
N – apology received but not accepted
D – did not attend, no apology received
Meetings of Members
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Name |
Planned AGM 24th November 2020 |
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Ruth Rule Mullen |
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Rose Crompton |
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Brenda Szwandt |
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Neil Bailey |
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Angela Holland |
Meetings of the Board of Trustees
| Name |
22nd Sept 2020 Business & Resources Agenda |
24th Nov 2020 Standards Agenda
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26th Jan 2021 Finance & Resources Agenda |
23rd March 2021 Standards Agenda |
18th May 2021 Finance & Resources Agenda |
20th July 2021 Standards Agenda |
Attendance - out of a possible 6 meetings |
| Ruth Rule-Mullen (Chair) |
TBC out of a possible 6 |
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| Jane Chambers (Vice Chair) | TBC out of a possible 6 | ||||||
| Sue Darbyshire | TBC out of a possible 6 | ||||||
| Jack Pugh | TBC out of a possible 6 | ||||||
| Cllr Carl Sweeney | TBC out of a possible 6 | ||||||
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Lynne Hamnett |
TBC out of a possible 6 | ||||||
| Mark Rowlands | TBC out of a possible 6 |
in attendance
| Craig Holden (HRD) | TBC out of a possible 6 | ||||||
| Carol Brockbank (CFO) | TBC out of a possible 6 | ||||||
| Marie Collier (Clerk) | TBC out of a possible 6 |
Meetings of the Finance, Audit & Risk Committee
| Name | 4th November 2020 | 10th February 2021 | 16th June 2021 | Attendance - out of a possible 3 meetings |
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John McDonald (Committee Vice Chair) |
TBC out of a possible 3 | |||
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Jack Pugh (Committee Chair) |
TBC out of a possible 3 | |||
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Ruth Rule-Mullen |
TBC out of a possible 3 | |||
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Sue Darbyshire |
TBC out of a possible 3 |
in attendance
| Carol Brockbank (CFO) | TBC out of a possible 3 | |||
| Craig Holden (HRD) | TBC out of a possible 3 | |||
| Marie Collier (Clerk) | TBC out of a possible 3 |
Record of Attendance - Members and Trustees Meetings (previous academic years)
Click Here to review the Record of Attendance - Members and Trustees Meetings 2019-2020
Click Here to review the Record of Attendance - Members and Trustees Meetings 2018-2019
Click Here to review the Record of Attendance - Members and Trustees Meetings 2017-2018
Declared Conflicts of Interest Register
Click Here to review the Trust's Register of Business Interest (Sept 2019 to Aug 2020)
Financial Statements
Please click here to view Community First Academy Trust Financial Statement to Aug 2019
Please click here to view Community First Academy Trust Financial Statement to Aug 2018
Please click here to view Community First Academy Trust Financial Statement to Aug 2017
Financial Regulations Manual
Please click here to view Community First Academy Trust Financial Regulations Manual.
Management Letter
Please click here to view Community First Academy Trust Management Letter 2019
Please click here to view Community First Academy Trust Management Letter 2018
Value for Money Statement
Please click here to view Community First Academy Trust Value for Money Statement
Articles of Association
Please click here to view Community First Academy Trust Memorandum of Association
Please click here to view Community First Academy Trust Articles of Association
Scheme of Delegation
Please click here to view Community First Academy Trust Scheme of Delegation
Please click here to view the DfE's Governance Handbook
Funding Agreement
Please click here to view Community First Academy Trust Deed of Variation of Funding Agreement
Please click here to view Community First Academy Trust Supplemental Funding Agreement
General Data Protection Regulations
Please click here to view Community First Academy Trust General Data Protection Regulations
Trade Union Facility Time
Please click here to view Community First Academy Trust Trade Union Facility Time
Policies
Please click here to view Community First Academy Trusts Statutory Policies
Record of Member, Trustee and Local Academy Board Training
All Trustees and Local Academy Boards for all CFAT partner schools are invited for ongoing training. Recent training has included the following:
| Date | Event | in attendance |
| March 2016 | RAISE online with Tauheedul Education Trust (now Star Academies) | Members, Trustees and Local Academy Boards |
| May 2016 | Using Fisher Family Trust Aspire | Members, Trustees and Local Academy Boards |
| June 2016 | Performance Tables - Secondary with Tauheedul Education Trust (now Star Academies) | Members, Trustees and Local Academy Boards |
| Sept 2016 | Narrowing the Gap with Tauheedul Education Trust (now Star Academies) | Members, Trustees and Local Academy Boards |
| May 2017 | CFAT Annual Conference including Review of Governance & Ofsted Framework Training | Members, Trustees and Local Academy Boards |
| April 2018 | Members and Trustee Review of Governance Workshop with the National Governance Association (NGA) | Members, Trustees and Local Academy Boards |
| May 2018 | Mandatory trust-wide GDPR training for Members and Trustees | Members, Trustees and Local Academy Boards |
| July 2018 | CFAT Annual Conference Review of Governance & School Data Analysis Training | Members, Trustees and Local Academy Boards |
| Sept 2018 | CFAT Trustees Business Planning Workshop with Education Business Management | Trustees |
| Oct 2018 |
National Governance Association Conference
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Governance Away Day all Trustees |
| 8th and 9th Feb 2019 |
Confederation of School Trusts (CST) MAT Conference
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Governance Away Day all Trustees |
| June 2019 |
''Don’t Believe Everything You think'' and review of trust business plan. |
Governance Away Day all Trustees |
| November 2019 |
Governor Services - Safeguarding for Governors and Trustees |
Jack Pugh |
| 11th to 12th June 2020 - POSTPONED DUE TO COVID |
CST Inaugural Annual Conference “Holding trust on behalf of children” |
CFAT Executive Team & Trustee working party |
| 10th to 11th July 2020 - POSTPONED DUE TO COVID | Agenda - TBC | CFAT Governance Annual Conference All Members, Trustees, LAB Members. |
Request for Copies
If you would like a copy of any not listed please contact our Clerk in the first instance by emailing info@cfat.org.uk