Lift Schools is a charitable not-for-profit company, limited by guarantee. Our charitable objectives are set out in our
Articles of Association.
Overview of governanceOverarching legal responsibility and accountability for the performance of our trust and all of our schools lies with the board of trustees.
Our trustees, who bring a wide breadth of experience and expertise, set and monitor progress against the trust’s strategic objectives, as well as monitoring the trust’s compliance with charity and company law and with its funding agreement.
The board is supported by four committees. These committees scrutinise and challenge the trust in the areas of education, wellbeing and safeguarding, finance, and audit and risk.
Governance model
Our trustees have delegated day-to-day responsibilities, through our scheme of delegation, to the leadership team, regional leaders and professional service and assurance functions within the trust.
Academy councils play a critical role as the local advisory body for each school, providing assurance and essential feedback to the trust in its understanding of how parents, staff and community members feel about how well the school is meeting local needs.
Academy Council
Academy councils are advisory bodies working directly with schools. The membership of academy councils includes representation from parents, community members, school leaders and teachers, as well as a trust link member. The role of the academy council is to ensure that schools successfully meet the needs of its pupils and community. They provide insight into the experiences of pupils, parents, teachers and leaders and the wider community. And they are the ambassadors of the school and the trust to parents and the community. Because many governance functions are undertaken by the trust’s regional leadership and professional support services, academy-council members are not governors in the traditional sense.
Making local connections – and looking out for local interests
The members of our academy councils connect with local communities, offer assurance and provide feedback.
They do this by:
- evaluating whether the school's vision and ethos reflect the lived experiences of pupils, parents, teachers and leaders and the wider community;
- championing the strengths and achievements of the school and the trust to parents, teachers and leaders and the wider community;
- being an objective voice that expresses themes from within the local community, to promote constructive discussions and seek collaborative solutions; and
- developing and maintaining links between children and their local community, to strengthen opportunities for learning, development and employment.
To find out who the members of the academy council are for a specific school, please visit the governance page of that school's website.
Meaningful engagement with parents and local communities and stakeholders.
Making sure that the school’s vision and ethos are reflected in the experiences of pupils, parents, staff and the wider community.
Championing the strengths and achievements of the school and the Trust to parents, staff and the wider community.
Being an objective voice that makes sure the concerns and opinions of the local community are discussed and solutions found collaboratively.
Developing and maintaining links between children and their local community to strengthen opportunities for learning, development and employment.
Admissions at Lift Schools
Lift Schools is the admission authority for all schools in the Trust. This means the Trust is responsible for setting the admission arrangements for each of its schools. Each school has its own admission policy and these can be found on the individual school's website.
Applications to start in Reception are usually made between November and January, and to start in Year 7 in September and October. If you would like to make an application for Reception or Year 7, you will need to apply through your Local Authority. If you wish to make an application for any other year group, contact the school you are interested in directly who will be able to advise on their availability and how to apply.
Special schools have different admission arrangements as all children are admitted on the basis of an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). If your child has an EHCP, speak to your child's SEN Officer if you wish for them to attend one of our schools.
Making local connections – and looking out for local interests
Scheme of Delegation
Our scheme of delegation lets everyone know exactly how our Trust, and all the schools that fall under it, are governed. Our model of governance allows for strategic decisions being taken at Board level, focused and effective regional leadership, plus local engagement and input from stakeholders. We find that clarity on decision making, plus good communication between all levels of governance, means that all stakeholders can work together to help the whole Trust to keep improving. Each tier of governance plays a part in establishing our schools’ values and ethos, providing continuity of care to the school and linking them with their communities.
You can see full details of how this works on our dedicated Scheme of Delegation site.
Finance Overview
