Governance at Fortis Academy
Local Academy Councils
Accountability is a key part of our values and, as such, our local governance model is vital to this. We have two models operating across our schools as follows:
- Academy Councils (ACs)
- Interim Executive Boards (IEBs)
Academy Councils offer a more traditional model of local governance, with an appointed membership board working regularly with schools under our scheme of delegation. Academy Councils work to a standardised agenda produced by SET, which covers a wide range of school business to ensure the school is meeting the needs of its pupils and the local community. As such, the Academy Council will have 2 parents as members.
IEBs are an interim measure put in place when SET judges a school to require rapid impact. IEBs are made up of education and support services professionals from within the Trust who have the expertise to challenge and support the school to succeed. Once the school has achieved improvement expectations, the IEB will transition into an Academy Council.
Within Shaw Education Trust our function of governance at local level is:
“To be responsible for supporting and challenging our Academy and Trust leaders, ensuring that decisions made at a local level are for the benefit of pupils, and directly linked to the strategic vision of the Academy and Trust. To ensure these decisions consider the views of our other stakeholders (parents, staff and local community) and effective communication exists between all. These decisions centre mainly around areas of educational standards & provision, and operational functions, as detailed in the Scheme of Delegation.”
Fortis Academy are in the process of transitioning to an Academy Council
The Shaw Education Trust currently oversees an Interim Executive Board at Fortis Academy.
The Interim Executive Board membership is as follows;
Chair: Mrs Kerry Inscker - Deputy Chief Executive Officer – Shaw Education Trust
Address: Kidsgrove Secondary School, Gloucester Road, Kidsgrove, ST7 4DL
- Mr Lee Barber – Director of Secondary Education, SET
- Mrs Helen Turner – Chief Finance Officer, SET, Operations link board member
- Mrs Julie Yarwood – Chief Learning Officer SET, School standards link board member
- Mrs Sarah Harris – Parent Academy Councillor
Click here to view Academies Trust Handbook – September 2021
The Chair of the IEB can be contacted via email at: kerry.inscker@shaw-education.org.uk
Information regarding Shaw Education Trust’s Board of Trustees and the Trust’s Scheme of Delegation (Delegated Accountability Framework) can be viewed here.
Click here to view Academies Trust Handbook – September 2021
We continually work to develop a culture of diversity, equality and inclusion, in which all those connected to Shaw Education Trust feel proud of their identity and ability to participate fully in school life. In our current structure, governance roles at our academy comprise white British members*, of those who chose to share information about their ethnicity. Please note that councillors are able to opt out of sharing this information so percentages can only be seen as an approximation.
(*The DfE as one of their metrics, suggest that for data collection purposes, any individual who is of any origin other than white British, is defined as being of minority ethnic background.)
For information regarding Finance and Compliance, please visit this link: