Governance

Our highly valued, engaged and committed governance community sits at the heart of our Trust Partnership.

As a multi-academy trust, Northern Star Academies Trust (NSAT) is a charitable company limited by guarantee. This means that NSAT is a single legal entity, but it has several academies within its family of schools.

Currently, NSAT has fifteen academies in its Trust Partnership. These are situated across North and West Yorkshire and serve diverse and vibrant communities. This page provides an overview of how the Trust is governed.

Layers of governance

The Trust has established three key layers of governance: 

  1. Members

  2. Trustees

  3. Local Governors 

Members

Members are the guardians of the governance of our Trust. They need to be assured that effective governance practice is taking place. To do so, they keep in touch with the work of the Board of Trustees by meeting at least twice per year (including the Trust’s AGM). Our Members receive the Trust’s annual report and accounts, an annual governance report, and they are able to appoint and remove Trustees.

Christine Schofield

Member

David Whitworth

Member

Craig Goold

Member

Richard Millington

Member

 

Trustees

As NSAT is a charitable company, the Board of Trustees are regarded as directors in company law, and Trustees in charity law. Reflecting the charitable objects at the core of the Trust’s work, members of NSAT’s Board are referred to as our Trustees. They meet as a minimum six times per year.

The Board of Trustees is responsible for three core strategic governance functions:

  1. Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
  2. Holding the CEO and Headteachers to account for the educational performance of each school and its pupils, and for the performance management of staff
  3. Overseeing the financial performance of each school and the Trust overall, and making sure that the Trust’s money is well spent
Trustee Role Meeting attendance 23-24

Helen Murphy 

Trustee

(Chair of the Board)

 8/8

Jenn Plews

Trust Leader

(Chief Executive Officer and Accounting Officer)

 8/8

Mark Chambers

Trustee

 6/8

Neal Walker

Trustee (Chair of Finance Committee)

 7/8

Jake Unsworth

Trustee

 6/8

Tim Richards

Trustee

 3/3

Professor Leigh Hoath

Trustee (Chair of Education and Standards Committee) 

 5/8

Louise Terzza

Trustee

(safeguarding link trustee)

 3/3

Joanne Heron

Trustee (Chair of Audit and Risk Committee)

 N/A

Ashfaq Rahman

 Trustee N/A

To make sure that everyone in our governance community acts with integrity and in the best interests of the Trust at all times, all Members, Trustees and Governors are asked to declare any relevant business or personal interests annually, and at the start of each meeting. You can view the Register of Interests for both our Members and Trustees by clicking on the links below. Registers of Interest of school governors can be found on the respective school websites. 

 

NSAT Trustees Register of Interests 24-25

NSAT Members Register of Interests 24-25

The following Members and Trustees have stood down from their positions in the last 12 months:  

Name Role Term of Office Resignation date (if applicable)
Helen Flynn  Trustee (Chair of the Board)  25/09/2020 - 24/09/2025 02/05/24
Rob Allan  Trustee 30/06/2023 - 29/06/2027 30/09/2024
Bev Ashby  Member 27/01/2023 - 26/01/2027 15/08/2024
Jane Beasley  Member  28/05/2020 - 27/05/2024 End of term