St Martin’s Multi Academy Trust
Strategic Governance
Strategic Governance
Integrating the Nolan Principles and Ethical Leadership
At St Martin’s Multi Academy Trust, our governance framework is deeply rooted in ethical leadership and the Nolan Principles, ensuring that our practices are transparent, accountable, and focused on the public interest. These principles guide our actions and decisions, fostering a culture of integrity, objectivity, and accountability within our Trust.
Vision and Values
Our vision, to create a “place to thrive,” is built on the foundations of trust, respect, and compassion. These core values are woven into every aspect of our governance, ensuring that our strategic decisions and day-to-day operations reflect our commitment to fostering a supportive and inclusive environment for our pupils, staff, and communities.
The Nolan Principles Aligned with Our Vision and Values
- Selflessness: We act solely in the public interest, ensuring that all decisions benefit the pupils and communities we serve, creating a nurturing environment where everyone can thrive.
- Integrity: We maintain honesty and transparency in all dealings, fostering a culture of trust and respect that underpins our interactions and decisions.
- Objectivity: Decisions are made impartially and fairly, promoting a climate of possibility where diversity is celebrated and every child’s potential is realised.
- Accountability: We are accountable to our stakeholders, ensuring that our actions are aligned with our values of respect and compassion, and we uphold the highest standards of integrity.
- Openness: We act transparently, sharing information openly to build trust and relational transparency, which is crucial for creating psychological safety and a thriving educational environment.
- Honesty: We are truthful in all our communications, fostering an environment of trust and respect that supports the well-being of our school communities.
- Leadership: Our leaders exemplify these principles, promoting ethical behaviour and challenging poor conduct, ensuring that our schools remain places where trust, respect, and compassion are paramount.
Ethical Leadership in Education
Aligned with the NGA’s Framework for Ethical Leadership in Education, our governance promotes:
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- Selflessness: Prioritizing the best interests of our learners, ensuring every child has the opportunity to thrive.
- Integrity: Upholding honesty and transparency, critical for building relational trust and psychological safety.
- Objectivity: Ensuring fairness and impartiality in decision-making, fostering an inclusive and respectful environment.
- Accountability: Taking responsibility for our actions, aligned with our core values of respect and compassion.
- Openness: Sharing information openly, essential for creating a supportive and transparent community.
- Honesty: Being truthful, which is fundamental for maintaining trust and respect.
- Leadership: Leading by example, promoting ethical behaviour, and ensuring our schools are safe and supportive places to learn and work.
Strong, strategic governance ensures the Trust is sustainable and has the capacity for growth, whilst still ensuring excellent provision for the pupils in the schools.
There are four core principles that underpin the Trust’s approach to governance:
Board leadership: An effective board will define the vision of the trust and then set a strategy to deliver it. The values and ethos of the trust must underpin this strategy. The board must be clear on what the trust does to advance education for the public benefit and what it does to enact its civic role within the community and beyond. The process will also take into account current and future risks for the trust; financial viability and any future goals or uncertainties that have to be addressed.
Structures: It is essential to have clear roles and responsibilities as part of the governance structure of our trust. Change is inevitable and, as a dynamic organisation, governance must also change to suit the needs of the Trust. The governance structure must reflect the legal duties and accountability of the Trust board but must also reflect the identity of the individual schools. Local governance is the voice for the school and community and challenges school leaders. It is the eyes and ears on the ground to feed into boards for decisions.
Accountability: Our single governance structure enables the board to effectively oversee the strategic direction of the Trust and hold executive leaders to account for pupil outcomes. The Scheme of Delegation provides clarity for the remit and purpose of governance so that it has particular focus on pupil outcomes, finance and compliance.
Compliance: Competent risk management and strong financial management is imperative as it mitigates against risks and barriers to educational outcomes. Processes to ensure due diligence, probity and regularity are carried out centrally to empower school staff to focus on teaching and school improvement.