Governance

Solent Academies Trust is an exempt charity overseen by the Secretary of State for Education.

The main documents that set out how we operate are our articles of association, which set our internal structure, and the master funding agreement, which is the legal contract with the Secretary of State under which we run our schools. In addition, there are separate supplemental funding agreements for each individual school.

We are also governed by the Department for Education's Academy Trust Handbook and various pieces of legislation relating to both schools and charities.

If you are interested in becoming one of our Governors please follow the link below.

Join our Governance Team

Our governance structure

Our formal structures are designed to give robust oversight and management of our academies, without unnecessarily restricting innovation. The structure includes Members, Trustees and an Academy Committee for each school.

Formulation of strategy and day to day operations are delegated to the Chief Executive Officer, Sharon Burt. She is supported by our Executive Principals, Principals, Heads of School and our central team.

Parental opinion is gathered through elected parent governors. All the schools operate a school council to encourage pupils to take an active part in their own education.

“All people associated with the trust who were encountered during the review process spoke in positive terms using similar language about the ethos, values and aims of the Trust, and take pride in their association with Solent Academies Trust, which is clearly an exceptionally good provider of education to some of the most vulnerable students”.

“The governance professional maintains an effective and comprehensive policy schedule”.

“The governance structure and practices are outstanding - they are comprehensive and comparable with the best practice found in any trust”.

Chris Forrest - Forrest Governance Ltd

“I was impressed by the willingness and positive view of many of the people I spoke to about how alignment and finding more consistent approaches across the schools would add value to the trust”.

“The vision and values of the trust appear to be well embedded in the schools and there is an acceptance that the school must also ensure that the values reflect the needs and challenges of the community they serve”.

Sir David Carter November 2021

To view our statutory information please click the button Statutory Information