UET Director Vacancy - Voluntary Position

United Endeavour Trust directly accountable to the Secretary of State for Education for

its academies through its Board of Directors. We currently oversee 3 Secondary academies in Newcastle Under Lyme, Clayton Hall Academy, Newcastle Academy and Sir Thomas Boughey Academy.

The role of the Board is to oversee all aspects of the operation of the Trust, providing support

and challenge to the Chief Executive Officer and Trust Academy Leadership Teams to ensure that every child in each of the Trust’s academies makes good or better progress.

Each school has its own Local Governing Board (LGB) and the Board are able to delegate

responsibility to the LGBs for a range of duties.

Under the Companies Act 2006, Directors have a number of general duties which are owed to

the Academy Trust. These include:

• Duty to act within powers, ensuring the Board operates within its mandate as set out in the Articles of Association and the Funding Agreement;
• Duty to promote the success of the Academy Trust, ensuring they act in the Academy Trust’s best interests;
• Duty to exercise independent judgement;
• Duty to exercise reasonable care, skill and diligence;
• Duty to avoid conflicts of interest, ensuring that when individual interests may be in conflict with those of the trust Directors do not influence, or be seen to influence, decisions for their own benefit. In Multi Academy Trusts, directors must also ensure that there are no conflicts between their duty to the Academy Trust and to individual schools. A Director must ensure they consider and promote the needs of each individual school for the benefit of the Academy Trust and not simply focus on achieving the best outcome for one particular school;
• Duty to not accept benefits from third parties; and
• Duty to declare an interest in a proposed transaction or arrangement

In general terms, the responsibilities Director of the Academy Trust are to:

Be accountable for the performance of the Trust and its academies, and in particular for

standards, attainment and outcomes for children, to parents and carers, pupils, the

community and the DfE,

Provide strategic direction of the Trust by:

• safeguarding and promoting the values and ethos of the of the Academy Trust and the Academies it runs
• Ensuring all key stakeholders are engaged with the Trust and listening to their views
• Contributing to the LGB’s role by providing them with clear strategic direction and ensuring that the Academies respond to the needs of pupils, parents and the wider community

Hold the senior leaders to account and monitoring the performance of the Trust and its

academies by:

• Ensuring the quality of educational provision
• Challenging and monitoring the performance of the Academies and keeping the focus on school improvement
• Providing clearly delegated responsibilities to the CEO and calling her to account for her actions and those of her team
• Employing staff and being involved in staffing structures and senior recruitment;
• Ensuring that all staff undergo performance management and are supported in their professional development
• Critically evaluating the performance of the Academies and, where applicable, holdingthe LGBs to account
• Establishing clear and effective lines of communication with other Directors, Members and the LGBs
• Ensuring that all policies are effective and regularly reviewed;
• Agreeing the financial budget and the auditing of Academy accounts, ensuring sound financial management
• Carrying out Board business effectively, including induction of new Directors and commitment to the continued professional development of Directors.

When required, serve on panels of the Trust to:

• oversee finance and resources
• appoint and manage staff; and
• hear discipline, admissions and appeals cases

Follow the principles and commitments set out in the Trust’s Code of Conduct for

Directors and Members of Local Governing Bodies.

Knowledge and skills:

The Trust Board relies on a variety of experiences and perspectives. No specific prior knowledge

is required, and volunteers have a range of skills and backgrounds. Training and support is

available for new and existing directors and is free of charge.

Time commitment:

The average time commitment is 10-15 hours per term. This includes meetings, background

reading and school visits.

Under Section 50 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, if you are employed, then you are entitled

to ‘reasonable time off’ to undertake public duties; this includes school governance. ‘Reasonable

time off’ is not defined in law, and you will need to negotiate with your employer how much

time you will be allowed.

Term of appointment:

The normal term of appointment is three years and you would be eligible to be reappointed with

the approval of the members. However, as a volunteer you can resign at any time if your

circumstances change.

Safeguarding:

United Endeavour Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of

children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Directors are expected to hold or be willing to obtain Enhanced DBS check or Enhanced check

for Regulated Activity with the Disclosure & Barring Services (previously the Criminal Records

Bureau).

Interested?

Speak to our CEO about the role – wendy.whelan@uetrust.org

All interested parties are asked to complete an application form and undertake an interview.

An appointment panel will consider all applications and interview those who have the skill sets and experience that we need to further strengthen our Board.