Background to the Trust including Governance Arrangements
In 2011 two schools St Thomas More and St George’s in Maida Vale approached the Diocese of Westminster for permission to become an Academy. This was driven by government policy which was driving the Academy programme nationally and allocating more resources to Academy schools.
The Cardinal Hume Academies Trust was set up with the agreement of the Diocese of Westminster to be the umbrella organisation for two outstanding secondary schools, St George’s Catholic School in Maida Vale, West London and St Thomas More Catholic School in Wood Green.
The key principles at conversion in 2013 were:
- That statutory responsibilities were with the Trust Board ie: the filing of accounts and ensuring compliance with company law.
- Delegation of operational responsibilities was to the governing bodies
Both St George’s and St Thomas More are rated as ‘Outstanding’ by OFSTED (2014 and 2012 respectively) and by the Diocese of Westminster S48 Inspection (2016 and 2012 respectively). In the last application round, both schools have been over-subscribed and have had to organise independent appeals. The Executive Headteacher is Martin Tissot who has been at St George’s helm for ten years, starting in 2006. In 2010, he was appointed as Headteacher of St Thomas More School. He was appointed Headteacher of Bishop Douglass School in East Finchley in 2015 and this joined the Cardinal Hume Academies Trust in September 2016. Bishop Douglass School is currently Ofsted ‘Good’ (2013) but the leadership are convinced that recent very good examination results for two years running (GCSE results put the school in the 3rd percentile in the country for value-added, A level results are in the top 10% in the country) merit an OFSTED outstanding judgement and the Governors have asked for a re-inspection of the School.
All three schools are mixed, comprehensive schools providing Sixth Form provision (11-19 education) and all share a common set of aim, policies and objectives. The schools have high (St George’s and Bishop Douglass) and very high (St Thomas More School) social deprivation indicators, with the proportion of pupils with Free School Meals (FSM) and Special Educational Needs SEN exceeding the national average in all three schools.
The Trust has set up an overarching management board containing governor representatives from the three schools, Diocesan representatives and Martin Tissot who is the Chief Executive Officer for the Trust. Aside from statutory company responsibilities and some monitoring there is maximum delegation to the Governing Bodies of the three schools who still assume the mantle of strategic responsibility.
The Trust Board meets four times a year and considers the Audit reports, the budgets and accounts of the three constituent schools and the overall performance of the Schools. The Trust has three committees – the Finance and Audit committee, the Risk Committee and the Remuneration Committee (that considers the salary of the Chief Executive). Committees meet three/four times a year.
Company Number
08148675
Registered Office
Lanark Road, Maida Vale, London, England W9 1RB
Tel: 020 7328 0904
email: office@stgeorgesrc.org
Structure
Members
Cardinal Vincent Nichols
The Westminster Roman Catholic Diocese Trustee
Bishop John Sherrington
Dr Christopher Horsburgh
Trust Board
The current members of the Board are:
Mr John Meadows – Chair
Mr Michael Veal- Vice Chair
Mrs Anna Clark
Mr Martin Tissot – Chief Executive Officer
Dr Christopher Horsburgh
Mrs Anne O'Shea
Mr Simon Bunce
Finance Committee members
Mr Michael Veal - Chair
Mr John Meadows
Dr Christopher Horsburgh
Mr Martin Tissot
Mr Simon Bunce
Remuneration Committee members
Mr John Meadows - Chair
Mr Michael Veal
Dr Christopher Horsburgh
Audit and Risk Committee members
Mr Simon Bunce - Chair
Mrs Anna Clark
Mr Martin Tissot
Mr John Meadows
The Trust has a professional minute taker, Mrs Jenny Ridd. The Company Secretary and Acting Chief Financial Officer is Mr Thomas Hicks and the Accounting Officer is Mr Martin Tissot.
Trust Board and Members details