Join a Local Trust Committee

Support your local school, strengthen your community, and help shape better outcomes for children and young people.

We are always on the lookout for passionate, thoughtful and forward-thinking people to join our Local Trust Committees. 

Joining a Local Trust Committee is a meaningful way to support your local school and make a positive difference in your community. It gives you the opportunity to bring valuable local insight into Trust decision-making, champion the experiences of pupils, families and staff, and use your skills and perspective to help schools and students thrive. As a member, you will also become part of a wider governance community across Active Learning Trust, working alongside others who are committed to helping children and young people flourish.

What is a Local Trust Committee (LTC)? 

A Local Trust Committee is what we used to refer to as 'school governing body'. At Active Learning Trust, LTCs help connect each school with the community it serves. LTC members are volunteers who give their time, insight and local knowledge to support the school, champion the voices of pupils and families, and help make sure the school remains rooted in its local community.

 

What is a Local Trust Committee Member?

 

The Role of LTCs:

Local Trust Committees help bring local insight into governance across the Trust. They focus on the things that matter most to school communities, including:

  • Community
    Ensuring that the voices of pupils, parents, staff and the wider community are heard and understood.
  • Celebration
    Recognising success and championing the achievements of pupils, staff and schools.
  • Inclusion and Safeguarding
    Keeping a close eye on how well schools support all pupils, particularly those with additional needs, and ensuring safeguarding culture remains strong.
  • Panels
    Supporting fair and robust decision-making through participation in panels such as suspensions, exclusions, stage 3 complaints and other formal processes.
     

Who we're looking for:

We welcome people who can bring local insight to our committees from a wide range of backgrounds. More specifically, people who are:

  • interested in their local school and community
  • good listeners who value different perspectives
  • curious, thoughtful and willing to ask questions
  • committed to inclusion, integrity and opportunity for all
  • motivated by making a positive difference for children and young people

You do not need previous experience in education or governance to apply. You may have experience in areas such as community engagement, safeguarding, SEND, leadership, public service, business, charity work or governance. But just as important is your ability to connect with people, to listen to different perspectives and to ask questions.

Find out more

Active Learning Trust has taken an exciting step in reshaping how governance works across our Trust. The Trust Board led a careful process of reflection and consultation, working with our Reimagining Governance Working Party, to test and refine the approach. Following this work, the Board approved a new governance model designed to support the Trust’s long-term stewardship and future growth.

At the heart of the strategy is a simple shift in mindset. Governance in Active Learning Trust is not about layers of bureaucracy or compliance for its own sake. It is about stewardship: creating the conditions in which our schools, staff and pupils can thrive, not just today but for many years to come.

As part of this work, Local Governing Bodies have been reimagined as Local Trust Committees (LTCs). This change reflects our belief that local governance should be clearly anchored within the Trust, working alongside Trustees as committees of the Trust Board, in the same way as the Standards Committee or Audit and Risk Committee. Together they form one connected governance community.

Local Trust Committees bring something essential to the system: local insight. They help ensure that the lived experience of pupils, staff and families is heard and understood, and that every school remains deeply rooted in the community it serves. We believe that in a growing Trust, this connection matters more than ever.

Local Trust Committee members may take on Champion roles in key areas such as:

  • Safeguarding,
  • Inclusion and SEND
  • Parent partnership
  • Community engagement
  • Staff voice
  • Pupil voice

These roles help members build understanding, gather insight and make sure important voices are heard. Champions also connect with colleagues across the Trust, working with Champions from other ALT schools and relevant Trust leaders to share insight and learn from one another. This allows local knowledge to inform wider Trust thinking and helps spread effective practice across our schools

Local Trust Committee meetings also include a pupil voice, which helps keep the experiences and perspectives of children and young people at the centre of discussion. We may assign an LTC member to support Pupil Champions at individual schools.

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) 


How to apply

We believe that strong governance depends on diverse perspectives, so we warmly welcome applications from all backgrounds, particularly those currently under-represented in governance. You do not need prior governor experience to apply. What matters most is that you share our values, our curiosity, and our willingness to learn.

If you're ready to play a meaningful role in shaping your local community, please register your interest by completing the form linked below. 

Register your interest