Trustee at Interaction and Communication Academy Trust

Could you be an Academy Ambassador in Huddersfield? Interaction and Communication Academy Trust seeks up to three non-executives/directors to join its board.

The Academy Ambassadors programme brings the expertise of the business world onto boards at multi-academy trusts (MATs) throughout the country to raise standards of education and improve the life chances of young people, which is critical to our social and economic success.

The opportunity

The ICAT specialises in meeting the educational needs of children and young people aged 3-19 with a range of learning difficulties. Whilst the trust is based at Castle Hill School in Huddersfield, the other schools are at High Park School in Bradford and Milton School in Rotherham.

The trust makes up a family of schools which are all judged Good or Outstanding by Ofsted, recognizing the high-quality work with children and young people with a wide range of challenges.  Some of the children in the trust have highly complex needs ranging from physical disabilities through to autism and behavioral challenges. The team are skilled in blending the best possible educational and therapeutic practice.

ICAT constantly seeks to improve the life chances for the 350 children across the three academies in the trust.  It also values the skills of the 300+ team of staff and the trust manages an overall budget in the region of £9m.

The board seeks three business leaders with expertise in

• legal
• finance or
• growth/risk

As a key member of the board you will support the trust in achieving the following over the next 12 - 24 months:

• Refine and refocus the trust's strategy for the future.
• Develop further capacity at all levels to increase the impact on children.
• Review governance at all levels within the trust.

What's involved?

The trust board generally meets four times per year and meetings are usually held on Tuesdays or Wednesdays starting at 6pm and last for up to 2 hours, this typically involves attending c. six board meetings per year/6-8 hours' time per month.

The trust also operates two sub-committees: the Resources Audit & Risk Committee meets up to 5 times per year, part of their remit is to oversee the strategic issues relating to the trust's finances, the Academic & Safeguarding Committee has met once each term, whilst this committee provides valuable oversight its terms of reference and remit may be subject to change as part of the governance review. Trustees are invited to join one of the sub-committees depending on skills and interests.

You will be responsible for:

• Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
• Holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils, and the effective and efficient performance management of staff; and
• Overseeing the financial performance of the organisation and making sure its money is well spent

As an Academy Ambassador, you will join our Ambassadors alumni network which provides resources, guidance, networking events and webinars to support you in your role. All roles are pro bono.

What next?

Please send a copy of your CV and details of your location to us, either through this website or directly

A full trust specification is available at https://www.academyambassadors.org/board-opportunities/interaction-and-communication-academy-trust-icat

We strongly recommend applying as early as you can to have the best possible chance of being considered as we may change the closing date if we have received sufficient applications.