Welcome to our Trust Local Committee section.
Kilmersdon Church School is a member of the Bath & Wells Diocesan Academies Trust
(BWMAT). The accountable authority for the school is the Board of Trustees. The Board of
Trustees is the appropriate body for all the schools in BWMAT for the purposes of section 6
of the Education Act 2005 and, as such, is directly responsible, together with BWMAT
leaders, for the quality of education and governance provided in the school.
The Board of Trustees of the Trust has identified that each school in the Trust will have a
dedicated committee to oversee the governance arrangements of the school on their behalf.
This committee is called the Trust Local Committee (TLC) and its members work closely with
the Head Teacher and the school’s leaders in order to achieve the best possible outcomes
for all pupils.
The role of the TLC is to provide confident, strategic leadership and to create a robust
governance framework that enables oversight and assurance for the school’s safeguarding
arrangements and its educational and financial performance.
The TLC meets half-termly and its work reflects the Trust’s Scheme of Delegation that
identifies the responsibilities delegated to the TLC by the Board of Trustees.
Members of the TLC work very hard to ensure that they know what it is like to be a learner
in the school. They undertake a range of activity in relation to the core functions of
governance and these activities enable them to understand the school’s strengths and areas
for improvement. Their core work is as follows:
i) Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction.
The TLC helps to shape the vision for the school and the TLC reviews this annually, as well
as looking regularly at the progress being made against the school’s aims.
The School Development Plan (SDP) identifies the school’s priorities for the year and the
TLC is instrumental in working with the Head Teacher to develop this and then monitoring
progress against the identified priorities for the year.
Members of the TLC are linked to areas of the SDP and undertake a range of activity –
meeting staff, talking to pupils, reviewing plans, looking at pupils’ work – so that they can
see the progress being made against the priorities for themselves.
One member of the TLC is linked to safeguarding as this is such an important area of school
life. This member’s role is to monitor the school’s arrangements to support safeguarding to
ensure that the school is doing what it should in this area.
Members of the TLC may also be linked to aspects of school life – e.g. Vulnerable pupils –
where the area identified is of particular interest to the school.
Members report on their activity to the meetings of the TLC so that all members of the TLC
are aware of what is going well and what is in need of development.
The TLC also identifies and manages any risks that might impact on the outcomes achieved
by the school. The school’s risk register is then used to inform Trustees of any significant
risks so that Trustees are aware and can monitor the impact of the school’s mitigating
actions.
ii) Holding school leaders to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the performance management of staff.
The TLC acts as critical friend to the Head Teacher and is always striving to ensure that the
school is doing the best it can for every pupil.
Members of the TLC look at the information provided by the school on the progress and
attainment of pupils and challenge the Head Teacher when performance appears to be
uneven or inconsistent. They ask about the organisation of the curriculum and the quality of
teaching in the school. They make sure that the school has a robust system in place for the
performance management of staff. The TLC relies on the Trust to undertake the
performance management of the Head Teacher on their behalf.
The TLC looks at a range of external data and information to see how the school compares
to local and national benchmarks. It also looks at the reports of external partners about the
school so that it has as wide a view as possible of how the school is performing.
iii) Overseeing the financial performance of the organisation and ensuring that money is well spent for the benefit of all pupils.
The TLC is involved in discussion about the projected budget for the year but the final
decision on the school’s budget is taken by the Board of Trustees. The TLC then receives
regular updates on the progress of the budget for the year and challenge where there
appears to be variations in what has been spent compared to what was expected to be
spent.
The TLC also receives information about the school’s plan for spending its Pupil Premium
grant and PE and Sport grant. The school provides regular updates on the impact of these
plans to meetings of the TLC.
As well as attending business meetings of the TLC, members of the TLC also attend regular
training and development sessions. These relate to either the development of the TLC as a
whole or to the personal development of individual members. All members of the TLC are
expected to undertake regular, Trust-identified training. Members can also access on-line
training as members of the National Governance Association. Newly appointed members of
the TLCs receive a planned programme of induction support.
The TLC is always trying to improve what it does and an annual self-evaluation takes place
at which members decide, in terms of governance, what has gone well during the year and
what the areas of focus need to be for the following year.
Registered name is The Bath and Wells Diocesan Academies Trust.
Company number is:
08207095
Registered address –
The Bath & Wells Diocesan Academies Trust
St Nicholas Church School,
Kilmersdon Rd,
Radstock, Bath,
BA3 3QH
The company is registered in England and Wales
Links to Funding agreement/MoU and Articles are here: Bath and Wells Multi Academy Trust - Articles of Association