Trustees required for St Bartholomew’s CE Multi Academy Trust (Wolverhampton/Staffordshire)

St Bartholomew’s CE Multi Academy Trust (currently based in Wolverhampton/Staffordshire) is seeking volunteers to join the Trust Board who are keen to make a difference across our family of schools, have suitable skills and experience which may suit this role and have time to spare a few hours a month assisting and supporting the Trust’s strategic work.

St Bartholomew’s CE MAT is committed to promoting equality of opportunity and we particularly welcome applications from volunteers from a diverse range of backgrounds, in order to reflect the wonderfully diverse communities we serve as well as the diversity within the UK. We will not discriminate against anyone on the basis of any of the following protected characteristics as detailed in the Equality Act 2010:

• age;

• disability;

• gender reassignment;

• marriage and civil partnership;

• pregnancy and maternity;

• race;

• religion or belief;

• sex;

• sexual orientation.

We are specifically interested to receive expressions of interest from people with the following skills/background:

• Health and safety

• Buildings

• Legal

• HR

Some of the more general skills we are keen to utilise include:

• The ability to receive, read, understand and question sometimes complex information

• An understanding of the education landscape (particularly primary phase) or a willingness to undertake training

• A commitment to safeguarding practices, including a willingness to receive regular safeguarding training and a clear enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check (this will be undertaken upon appointment)

• Availability to attend Trust Board meetings; we have between one and two per school term; these meetings last around 3 hours and may be a mixture of daytime/evening and face-to-face or online. Costs incurred in taking up the role – for example, travel costs or formal childcare arrangements – can be compensated though our expenses policy.

The Department for Education (DfE) states that the three core functions of governance are:

1. Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction

2. Holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the Trust and its pupils, and the effective and efficient performance management of staff

3. Overseeing the financial performance of the Trust and making sure its money is well spent

This means we need people who can ask the right high-level questions, whilst always keeping the pupils at the heart of all we do.

Being a Trustee means not just attending meetings but also visiting the Trust’s schools occasionally in between meetings, in order to get to know the schools more, and find out how the schools support and challenge our wonderful pupils. It also involves keeping in touch with what’s happening across the Trust and making decisions via our online platform (more details to follow for successful applicants).

You could make a real difference and we look forward to hearing from you.

Please note that in order for an individual to become a Trustee, the Trust must undertake a number of legal checks including:

• An enhanced DBS check without barred list information. They will have an enhanced DBS check with barred list information if working in regulated activity.

• A section 128 check (to check prohibition on participation in management under section 128 of the Education and Skills Act 2008).

• Identity

• Right to work in the UK

• Other checks deemed necessary if they have lived or worked outside the UK

DISQUALIFICATION OF TRUSTEES

The following extracts from the Trust’s Articles of Association detail the disqualification criteria for those interested in becoming trustees (“directors”); please read and consider these before applying:

68. No person shall be qualified to be a Director unless he is aged 18 or over at the date of his election or appointment. No current pupil or current student of any Academy shall be a Director.

69. A Director shall cease to hold office if he becomes incapable by reason of illness or injury of managing or administering his own affairs.

70. A Director shall cease to hold office if he is absent without the permission of the Directors from all their meetings held within a period of six months and the Directors resolve that his office be vacated.

71. A person shall be disqualified from holding or continuing to hold office as a Director if:

(a) he has been declared bankrupt and/or his estate has been seized from his possession for the benefit of his creditors and the declaration or seizure has not been discharged, annulled or reduced; or

(b) he is the subject of a bankruptcy restrictions order or an interim order.

72. A person shall be disqualified from holding or continuing to hold office as a Director at any time when he is subject to a disqualification order or a disqualification undertaking under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 or to an order made under section 429(2) (b) of the Insolvency Act 1986 (failure to pay under county court administration order).

73. A Director shall cease to hold office if he ceases to be a Director by virtue of any provision in the Companies Act 2006 or is disqualified from acting as a trustee by virtue of section 178 of the Charities Act 2011 (or any statutory re-enactment or modification of that provision).

74. A person shall be disqualified from holding or continuing to hold office as a Director if he has been removed from the office of Director or trustee for a charity by an order made by the Charity Commission or the High Court on the grounds of any misconduct or mismanagement in the administration of the charity for which he was responsible or to which he was privy, or which he by his conduct contributed to or facilitated.

75. A person shall be disqualified from holding or continuing to hold office as a Director or a member of a Local Governing Body if he has not given the undertaking required by Article 45A.

76. Not used.

77. A person shall be disqualified from holding or continuing to hold office as a Director where he has, at any time, been convicted of any criminal offence, excluding any that have been spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 as amended, and excluding any offence for which the maximum sentence is a fine or a lesser sentence except where a person has been convicted of any offence which falls under section 178 of the Charities Act 2011.

78. After the first Academy has opened, a person shall be disqualified from holding or continuing to hold office as a Director if he has not provided to the chairman of the Directors a criminal records certificate at an enhanced disclosure level under section 113B of the Police Act 1997. In the event that the certificate discloses any information which would in the opinion of either the Chairman or the Chief Executive confirm their unsuitability to work with children that person shall be disqualified. If a dispute arises as to whether a person shall be disqualified, a referral shall be made to the Secretary of State to determine the matter. The determination of the Secretary of State shall be final.

79. Where, by virtue of these Articles a person becomes disqualified from holding, or continuing to hold office as a Director; and he is, or is proposed, to become such a Director, he shall upon becoming so disqualified give written notice of that fact to the Clerk.

80. Articles 68 to 75, Articles 77 to 79 and Articles 97 to 98B also apply to any member of any committee of the Directors, including a Local Governing Body, who is not a Director.