Governance

Welcome from the Chair of CST

At the heart of the Trustee Board’s work is our determination to ensure outstanding outcomes for all of the learners in each of  our schools. If you look at the brief biographies of our Trustees you will see remarkably talented and experienced colleagues who, like our school governors, put their time and expertise freely at the disposal of the Trust and each of our schools.

The Trustee Board has statutory responsibilities and is accountable to regulators and the regulatory framework in which the Trust operates. We take this very seriously. We are similarly charged with the financial management of the Trust, and we aspire to invest in outstanding teachers, support staff, and facilities. In financially challenging times this can involve hard choices. Nevertheless pupils and their parents can be confident that we will do all in our power to ensure that we remain a high-performing Trust focussed on delivering an outstanding learning environment for our pupils and a professionally supportive and rewarding culture for all our staff.

David Eastwood, Chair of Trustees

CST Governance

CST is a charitable company limited by guarantee, and an independent legal entity. Our governance requirements are set out in our articles of association. The overall governance of our MAT is made up of three levels of dedicated volunteers:  the Members, the Trustees, and the Local Governing Bodies who bring a wealth of experience in areas such as HR, Finance, School Improvement and Education.

Members

Sit above the board of Trustees and have a largely hands-off role, similar to a company's shareholders and have some specific responsibilities including the appointment of Trustees.

Trustees

Are both charity Trustees and company directors of the academy trust (both terms are commonly used). They make sure the Trust complies with charity and company law, and the academy trust's own funding agreement. The Trust Board is the non-executive body accountable for all aspects of the conduct and performance of the schools across the Trust. They oversee the running of the schools and are responsible for the strategic priorities of the organisation, its growth plans, major capital investments, for approving the budget and managing the finances across the organisation. 

Committees 

The Trust Board retains close oversight of different aspects of the work of the organisation by appointing committees to take responsibility for the following areas of its work: Finance, HR, Education and Standards, Risk and Audit. A list of committee members can be viewed here.

Local governors

In CST, the Trustees delegate some of their functions to ‘local governing bodies’ (LGBs) in each of the schools. LGBs are technically committees of the trust board who have delegated powers, which are set out in the terms of reference and a scheme of delegation. Local governors who sit on LGBs are not trustees or directors (unless they also sit on the trust board)

Join our Governance Team

Governance is a priority for the trust and we would like to hear from you if you would be interested in working with us as either a Member, Trustee or Local Governor.

We look forward to hearing from you and please contact us by email at: enquiries@cathedralschoolstrust.org or via post to: Governance Professional, Members and Trustees, Cathedral Schools Trust, College Square, Bristol, BS1 5TS.