Become a Trustee

We are a values-led multi-academy trust, with a family of 21 schools based across Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk. Since the appointment of a new CEO in 2023, our Trust has been experiencing a dynamic period of growth and development that has focused on building capacity, strengthening leadership and ensuring our work drives real, lasting impact for the children and communities we serve.

At our core is a people-first philosophy. We know that great schools are built by great staff, and so we invest deeply in our teachers, leaders and support teams. This investment takes many forms: from nationally recognised training routes and bespoke leadership programmes to apprenticeships and secondments that open up new pathways for growth. We have made leadership development a strategic priority across the trust because we recognise that strong, adaptable leadership has a ripple effect - improving workload management, staff wellbeing, career satisfaction, and ultimately, the learning experience of all our pupils.

We are a values-driven organisation with five core values that shape our culture and guide every aspect of our work. They influence our interactions, our decisions and our strategic direction - and they unite each of our school communities together.

• I aspire, we achieve
  We want our high aspirations to be felt by everyone, and we want people to deliver them as part of our team. 
• We're curious, creative and bold
  We encourage innovation and different ways of thinking across the board. We don’t want people to be the same as everyone else. It’s important that our teams feel safe to fail and to try new things. 
• A family, not a house share
  We are all about collaboration. We want people to feel like they’re part of something bigger and that they’re safe in our ‘family’. However, family for us incorporates all elements of parenting – there are rules to follow, and we will always challenge, as well as encourage, the people we care for. 
• Comfortable being candid
  This speaks to psychological safety and making sure that everyone in the trust is allowed to speak their truth and to share their opinion, as long as it’s within a respectful framework. 
• Humour, humility, humanity
  We recognise the whole human, and we understand that people have lives and priorities outside of work. We expect people to bring their entire personality to work with us, including the laughter and the fun. This value helps us to overcome even the toughest of challenge, with lightness. 

Overview
We believe that our model of governance provides an effective structure to ensure sustainably high levels of performance across our Trust. Our trustees uphold high moral standards and are firmly focused on the young people and families in our care. They recognise that the key to maintaining this focus is to ensure our workforce thrives and prospers.

We leverage the expertise, experience and skills of our members, trustees and Local Governing Body members to guide the strategic direction of our schools and Trust. Governance at all levels is centred on holding leaders accountable and fostering meaningful engagement with students, parents, staff and the broader community.  
 

Our Members
Trust ‘members’ play a key role in challenging and scrutinising our trustees on the governance and operations of our Trust. They meet three times a year and participate in the Annual General Meeting (AGM). During the AGM, members have the opportunity to question the trustees to help ensure that the Trust continues upholding our shared values and fulfilling our mission for the children in our care.

Our Trustees
Our Trust board consists of eight trustees, carefully chosen for their expertise in areas such as school standards, finance, facilities management, legal matters and human resources. The trustees meet five times a year and also participate in the AGM and our annual Governance Conference. 

Trust Committees
In addition to members and trustees, there are two committees that help govern our Trust: An Audit and Risk Committee and a Standards Committee.

Local Trust Committees 
Local Trust Committees are present at each school, where they focus on the quality of education. They offer support to school leaders whilst also challenging them to ensure continuous improvement. Additionally, these boards ensure that parents, staff and the wider community have a voice within their respective schools and across the wider Trust. This ensures that our trustees receive a full picture of the standards maintained at each school.

Next-gen governance is an approach to governing trusts and the schools within them that focuses on stewardship rather than control. It recognises that those involved in governance are custodians of the organisation’s purpose, values and long-term success, acting in the interests of children, families and communities now and in the future.

Next-gen governance goes beyond compliance and box-ticking: it prioritises clarity of roles, strong relationships and well-judged decision-making, using assurance rather than constant reassurance. It values diversity of thought, openness and psychological safety, creating the conditions for honest challenge and better collective judgement. Compliance remains essential, but it is treated as the foundation, not the finish line, freeing boards and local governance to focus on culture, strategy, sustainability and real impact where it matters most.

If you're interested in finding out more about this approach, we encourage you to read the following report published by the Confederation of School Trusts:

Next-Gen Governance (2024)