Governance

Governance at The GLA Trust

Badsey First School  are part of The GLA Trust. This means that we are governed by the GLA Trust Board.

The GLA Trust has Members who are the guardians of the trust’s purpose. They appoint and hold the Trust Board to account and can make key changes if needed. The Trustees are legally responsible for all schools in the Trust, setting the vision, managing finances, and holding leaders to account. The local tier of governance support individual schools, focusing on pupils, parents, and the local community within the trust’s overall direction.

More information about the Trust Board, governance and details of the Trustees can be found here.

Members

Academy Trusts are founded by members who have a general duty to exercise their powers, to further the academy Trust’s charitable purpose. Members hold the trust board to account for the effective governance of the trust but have a minimal role in the actual running of the trust. It is the trustee board, not the members, who are the organisation’s key decision makers. Members are essential to the integrity of an academy trust governance structure. Members must remain informed of trust performance and be clear on how to appropriately interact with the trustee board. While members have no day-to-day or week-to-week role in running the company, a key responsibility is the appointment/ removal of trustees.

Trust Board

The Trust board, led by a Chair, is the decision-making body of the academy Trust and is accountable and responsible for all the academies in the academy Trust.

Local Governing Body – the ‘Community Committee’

The GLA Trust Board has established Community Committees (CC), with delegated  governance functions in place of Local Governing Boards. The key focus for CC’s is on stakeholder engagement. These committees amplify the voices of local parents, pupils, staff, and community members - empowering passionate individuals to shape school life and champion positive change. Each Committee includes dedicated Champions for pupils, staff, parents, community, inclusion, and safeguarding - creating a powerful network within each school as well as across the wider GLA Trust. Together, they celebrate success, support wellbeing, and ensure every voice is heard, making our schools safer, happier, and more inclusive. 

The CC will be responsible for looking at:

• The experience of a pupil in the GLA school. Are they happy, safe and well educated?
• The experience of staff employed by the GLA – how are they supported and developed (understanding the impact of the GLA workload and well-being strategy)?
• The experience of a parent or carer who choose(s) to send their child to a GLA School. How effectively are they communicated with? What are their views? How do they articulate concerns?
• The links with the community surrounding the school. How is the school perceived? How can relationships be fostered to benefit the community and the school?
• Areas that are part of the school priorities for the academic year.
• To help make sure that the celebration of staff, pupils, and parents and carers remains a priority for the school, and to find the best ways to do this in the school, the community and across the GLA.
• Additional monitoring and input to support local level SEND, inclusion and safeguarding provision.
• Supporting panels for pupil suspension and exclusions (training will be provided)

The membership and work of the Community Committee are reported to parents via the school newsletter. If you are interested in becoming a champion, please contact the school office. This is your chance to be a trusted advocate and an essential bridge between the schools and the communities they serve.