Governance

The Keys Academy Trust (TKAT) is structured with three layers of governance:

  1. The Members
  2. The Board of Trustees
  3. Local Governors who make up the Local Governing Body (LGB) for each of the academies within the Trust.
Members

The Members are accountable to the Department of Education (DfE) and have ultimate responsibility for the Trust achieving its charitable objectives. Members are independent of the Trustees and provide challenge and scrutiny to the Trustees.

Trustees

The Members have appointed a Board of Trustees who set the strategic direction for The Keys and are accountable to the DfE for the performance of the schools within it. As charity Trustees, they must also ensure that they are complying with charity law requirements.

Local Governing Bodies

Each school within The Keys has its own local governing body, which is a committee of the Board of Trustees. Local governing bodies have governance functions delegated to them by the Trust Board for their school and they are accountable to the Board. 

How it works

Our Trustees and Local Governors come from a wide variety of backgrounds; from finance, corporate business and education and include parents, members of the parish and the local community. The term of office is usually four years, apart from the CEO who is ex-officio.

The governance structure within The Keys delegates the 'business' matters of running schools to the Board of Trustees and the administration team, thus enabling the Headteachers/Heads of School to focus on teaching and learning and school improvement. Systems are in place for HR processes; financial planning and internal control; premises management; and the reporting and benchmarking of school performance data.

Finance, Audit, Pay and Personnel Committee - Terms of Reference

Curriculum and Church Ethos Committee - Terms of Reference

Premises Committee - Terms of Reference

The Trust will make available upon request (via admin@keysacademytrust.org) copies of agendas, minutes and reports considered at meetings. The Trust reserves the right to remove names of individuals and any information that the Trustees consider should remain confidential.