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Governance

BISHOP BEWICK CATHOLIC EDUCATION TRUST GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE

Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust is structured in accordance with its Articles of Association.

 

There are three levels of governance within the  Trust: the Members, The Trust Board of Directors, and the governors who make up the Local Governing Body for each academy in the Trust.

The Trust comprises five Members. The Members are accountable to the DfE and have ultimate responsibility for the Trust achieving its charitable objectives. They sign off the Articles of Association and have the power to appoint and remove the Directors. The Members include representatives from the Diocese of Newcastle and Hexham. The majority of the Members are independent of the Directors to provide challenge and scrutiny to the Board.

The ultimate responsibility for the running of our schools resides with the Directors of the Trust. They set the strategic direction for the Trust and are accountable to the Secretary of State for the performance of the schools within it. This is set out in a legal document known as the ‘funding agreement‘. As charity trustees, they must also ensure that they are complying with charity law requirements.

 

Directors are appointed on the basis of skills needed.

 

The authority for running each school remains at Local Governing Committee level and is clearly defined by our scheme of delegation.

The Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust is governed by people in our local communities who have each made a significant impact on the lives of young people.

ST AIDAN'S CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL: LOCAL GOVERNING COMMITTEE

Our local governing committee comprises of 8 governors including foundation, parent and staff governors. Each governor appointed to the Local Governing Committee must meet the core competencies and adhere to the governor code of conduct (see below).

 

Parents, or those with the day to day responsibility for the care of the child, can stand as a parent governor if their child is in the main school i.e. Reception to Year 6.

 

Parent governors are representative parents rather than representatives of parents. That is to say, the parent governor provides their impartial parental perspective to the work of the local governing committee, rather than bringing or representing individual parental ‘issues’.

Parent governors do not personally become involved in individual concerns as no governor has the authority to act individually on behalf of the school. Sometimes parent governors find they are approached by parents with individual concerns. In this case, it would not be appropriate to take the issue to the governing body and as governors they would encourage the parents to take the matter up with their child's class teacher, Deputy Headteacher or the Headteacher. Effective parent governance links working alongside the other members of the Local Governing committee to ensure that the work of the governing body fulfils its duties to all children.

Name
Role
Type
Attendance
Start Date
Expiry Date
Sinead Devine
Chair of Governors | Responsibility for SEND
Foundation Governor
03/11/2025
30/11/2026
Ruth Patterson
Foundation Governor
22/05/2026
21/05/2030
Paul Cassidy
Foundation Governor
01/09/2023
31/08/2027
Vincent Rice
Foundation Governor
27/01/2023
26/01/2026
Laura Bonello
Foundation Governor
23/04/2026
22/04/2030
Aby Tellas
Foundation Governor
08/01/2024
07/11/2028
Julia Trainor
Staff Governor
01/02/2026
30/01/2030
Emma Garrick
Parent Governor
12/05/2026
11/05/2030
Rachel Lalor
Headteacher
Ex-Officio
01/01/2000
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