The Board of Trustees has collective accountability and strategic responsibility for the Trust.
The purpose of governance in trusts, as outlined in the Academy Trust Governance Guide, is to provide:
Strategic Leadership
Accountability and Assurance
Strategic Engagement
The Trustees are accountable to the Members and report to them formally at the Annual General Meeting.
The Keys Academy Trust has seven Trustees who form the Board of Trustees. Trustees are appointed for their skills, knowledge or experience as needed by the Board. The Trust Board meet at least three times a year: the first meeting in the autumn to elect the Chair and agree the Scheme of Delegation whereby governance functions are delegated to Governors and committees.
Each Trustee also serves on Trustee Committees. These Committees have delegated powers and meet at least once a term:
Finance, Audit, Pay, Personnel and Premises (FAPPP) Committee Curriculum Committee and Church Ethos
Meet The Trustees
After seven years in the Civil Service, David now works as the Associate Minister of St James’ Church Barkham. David has been a TKAT Trustee for over five years. He was appointed Chair of the Trust Board in September 2023 and sits on the Curriculum Effectiveness and Church Ethos Committee and the Finance and Audit, Pay and Personnel Committee. David is the lead trustee for governance. He previously served as a governor of a nearby CofE Primary School, including three years as Chair of Governors, and has also chaired the new Local Governing Body at St Cecilia's School, while that gets up and running.
David is the Vice Chair of the Trust and Chair of the Curriculum Effectiveness and Church Ethos Committee. He is the lead trustee for safeguarding and SEND. He has considerable experience across the full education age range in senior leadership and head teacher posts; as a senior adviser for local authority children's services and served for eighteen years as an Ofsted Inspector. He worked as Director of Schools in the Oxford Diocesan Multi Academy Trust and more recently held the position of CEO in the Diocesan Multi Academy Trust in Buckinghamshire.
Before becoming a trustee with The Keys Academy Trust in 2024, James served as a governor for Polehampton CofE Infant & Junior School for over 14 years.
James is a Fellow Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales. He has worked in finance for over 25 years and currently works as Head of Tax for a large global pharmaceutical group. James gained a Bachelor of Arts in History at York University.
James' two children were both educated at TKAT schools.
Bethan is a trustee for The Keys Academy Trust and is Chair of the Pay and Personnel committee as well as being actively involved in the financial governance of the Trust. Bethan is the lead Trustee for Risk Management. She is a qualified accountant with 10 years of experience and currently works for Deloitte as a Mergers and Acquisitions Consultant.
Taskeen is delighted to have joined The Keys Academy Trust as a Trustee, helping the Trust in its goal to further excellence in learning and support the development of children within our schools. Helping each child to build their self-esteem, and in turn grow their potential, has always been something very important to me. Taskeen has been involved in a number of educational initiatives and programs over the last 20 years that have worked to encourage this. Outside this, he runs a number of successful businesses operating in the UK and overseas.
After her long and successful career in secondary school leadership, Dr. Louise Ceska brings a wide range of experience and expertise to the board of The Keys Academy Trust. She is passionate about all things education and believes that every child should experience the very best teaching, pastoral support and opportunities for personal development. Dr. Ceska currently works as a coach and educational consultant, helping individuals, groups and teams develop the skills they need for sustainable success.
Michael has significant experience in the public sector in local government, consultancy and a senior position within a diocese. As Diocesan Director of Education and CEO of Good Shepherd Multi Academy Trust, Michael was the lead professional in supporting 104 church schools in the diocese. Providing guidance on school ethos including collective worship, RE and implementing the church inspection process. Also providing training and support, working with networks to develop better succession planning including governor effectiveness and recruitment. Close working with local authority including Children’s Scrutiny Committee and schools’ forum. Facilitating better working relationships between churches and schools. Creating a Multi Academy Trust (MAT) from scratch as CEO and director, developing clear vision and strategies and gaining practical experience of the requirements.
Michael started his career as a secondary RE teacher and then worked as a senior officer in neighbouring local authorities supporting schools in a range of areas and was also in charge of school building development across Oxfordshire.
