Trustees and Governance
The Board of Trustees is the Governing Body for the organisation and remains accountable in law and to OFSTED for the exercise of it’s functions. It is the accountable body for all the Academies within the Trust and has four key functions:
· Ensures clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
· Holds the CEO to account for the educational performance and the performance management of staff
· Oversees the financial performance of the Trust, ensuring financial probity and value for money
· Holds the Local Governing Boards to account
The Trust board meets at least termly and has a number of committees which also meet at least termly. Trustees have decision making powers described fully in the Scheme of Delegation and are both company directors and charity trustees as academy trusts have the status of both company and charitable trust.
Information about our Trustees, their committees and terms of reference can be found at: Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust - Governance
Jessica Hardie – Chair of Trust
Emma Neath – Vice Chair of Trust
Philip Sanders – Safeguarding Trustee
Graham Hill – Whistleblowing Trustee
Mark Harris
Edd Jones
Daniel Jenkins
If you would like to make contact with the Trust Board please email the Governance team: governance@dmatschools.org.uk
Our Governors
To support the work of schools and the Trustees, Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust ensures the local stakeholder voice is represented and heard through our Local Governing Boards. They are committees of the Trust Board and provide a local level of access and accountability for our parents and carers, provide a monitoring and challenge role and have some delegated decision-making as described in the Scheme of Delegation. This is the place where individual pupil and parent voice is heard and understood; where the lived experience of our provision and offer is felt and tested.
Local Governing Boards meet at least termly, and report directly to the Trust Board via Primary and Secondary Communications Boards.
Here are our local governors and key information.
South Tawton Primary School Governors:
Ella Curnow - Community Governor
Ella Curnow is a solicitor who has grown up in West Devon and has three young children who will all attend South Tawton School. She is passionate about early years education and putting schools at the heart of the community.
Ella Curnow
Community Governor
Community Governor: Ella Curnow ecurnow@dmatschools.org.uk
Rev’d C. Edwina Fennemore - Foundation Govenor
Edwina has a thirty-year background working in the NHS, clinically, managerially and at a strategic level. With roles encompassing Quality, Risk, Continuous Improvement, and Governance, she has transferable skills which will be invaluable in the education and school setting. Recently she was a key trustee involved in moving a charity from within the National Church Institutions (NCI) to becoming an independent charity establishing sound governance, policies, and involved in appointing a new Director. She has a tenacity for following due process.
Edwina is an ordained member of the Church of England, a self-supporting priest, holding a permission to officiate (PTO) licence through the Diocese of Exeter, and locally part of the North Dartmoor Parishes benefice.
Having joined Chagford Primary School two years ago to offer reading support- a passion she holds in enthusing children with a love for reading, she has also been involved in creative projects linking the church with the school. She sees the role as a Foundation Governor as an opportunity to build upon her existing links in strengthening the spiritual and religious identity of the school and supporting children to explore their own spiritual identity.