Bishop Stopford School is an academy under the Academies Act 2010. Our school is funded and maintained directly by the Department for Education rather than the Local Authority and operates under Articles of Association.
The Academy Trust established a company limited by guarantee:
Bishop Stopford School: A company registered in England and Wales No: 07698789
Registered Office: Bishop Stopford School, Headlands, Northamptonshire NN15 6BJ
Governance
The Academy Trust has two levels of governance:
Members
Members are similar to shareholders in a company, although they cannot draw a profit from the Academy Trust.
The members meet each term and at an annual general meeting and have specific responsibilities as detailed in the Articles of Association.
Directors/Trustees (more commonly known as governors)
As with all UK companies, Academy Trusts have directors. Each director is registered with Companies House and is subject to a range of directors' duties under the Companies Act 2006.
As an academy, Bishop Stopford School is a charity with exclusively charitable purposes for the provision of education. Directors are therefore also trustees and must ensure that the academy complies with charity law and the requirements of the Charity Commission for England and Wales.
Under education law, directors and trustees are known collectively as the 'Governing Body'. 'Governors' is used in the Articles of Association to refer to all functions of governors (ie as directors and trustees also.)
The Governing Body has four core functions:
- Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
- Holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its students, and the performance management of staff
- Overseeing the financial performance of the organisation and making sure its money is well spent
- Ensuring the voices of stakeholders are heard
Governors work to the School’s Core Values and the Standards in Public Life (The ‘Nolan Principles’) in all that they do. Their practice is compliant with the requirements of the Academy Trust Handbook.
