Governors' Welcome

Our Academy Trust was established in 2011 and continues to thrive, always evolving in response to changing times.  Our aim is to ensure the highest standards of teaching and learning and we are very proud of our broad curriculum and the opportunities within the school, personal development and progress to the Sixth Form.   We have remained a stand-alone academy and amongst many other achievements we balance our budgets whilst continually striving to maintain and improve our premises and facilities – we were recently successful in securing (Condition Improvement Funding) to improve our facilities.  We appointed our Headteacher in 2012 and since then we are pleased that the school has evolved whilst maintaining many established traditions.

In line with Academies Financial Handbook our model of governance has also adapted.  We have changed the terminology from Governors to Trustees and we have separate Members who meet with us at our Annual General Meeting to discuss our Annual Report.

Our Trustees carry out three main responsibilities which are:

• To establish the vision and strategic direction of the school
• To hold leadership to account
• To oversee effective financial performance

Much of our work is carried out through committees and the main two are:

• The Finance and Premises Committee
• The Personnel, Performance and Curriculum Committee.

We have a full Academy Trust Meeting every half-term (previously known as a Full Governing Body Meeting).  As well as standard business, we also carry out different tasks throughout the year.  In the Autumn Term we scrutinise external examination results - there are always many successes but we challenge the school leadership on how these can be improved further.  In the Summer Term we have to approve a balanced budget and are keen to ensure that funding supports our strategic priorities.  Throughout the year we are updated on the progress of the School’s Development Plan.

We approve all the school policies and review each one annually.  We take seriously our role as employer and remain indebted to the fantastic staff we are able to recruit.  Their contribution to the school’s success is much appreciated and their well-being is important to us.  Most Trustees also have links with specific aspects of the school including subject departments and important areas including Sixth Form, Safeguarding, SEN, well-being, health and safety and careers.

Our Trustees regularly carry out a skills audit and in recent years have strengthened the Board by recruiting new Trustees with specific skills and through wider training.  Given our responsibilities above, we are always keen to recruit Trustees with good experience in Human Resources (HR), finance or a relevant legal background. 

We keep a close eye on national developments and how we can contribute to the wider system.  We are supportive of the school’s recent bid for Teaching School Hubs for example. 

In summary - we are very proud to be Trustees of Thomas Mills High School - our pupils’ achievements both inside and outside the classroom are amazing and are deservedly described as ‘world class.’