Do you have experience in child welfare and safeguarding, or senior leadership experience in primary education? Could you support the community within Bradford by becoming a Trustee and Academy Ambassador at The Priestley Academy Trust? The trust's main location is BD9 5DF; board meetings will be held virtually for the foreseeable future.

The Academy Ambassadors programme brings the expertise of the business world onto boards at single-academy and multi-academy trusts (SATs and MATs). Academy trusts exist to improve the outcomes of young people; at the highest levels of governance, they need highly skilled individuals with a variety of experiences to hold executive leadership teams to account. Insights from a wide-range of backgrounds ensure that boards are able to make informed choices on decisions that impact the lives of children and staff.

The Academy Ambassadors Programme is funded by the Department for Education, to match senior business leaders with academy trusts looking to strengthen their boards. By working together, inspirational educationalists and talented business leaders can provide a better future for the next generation.

The opportunity

The Priestley Academy Trust is a group of five schools located in the Manningham District of Bradford, West Yorkshire. The Trust was formed to create a local solution in providing outstanding education and to enable our schools to work together to increase our capacity for embedding and sustaining real school improvement for the benefit of our learners. Its motto is 'Be the Change' and the trust strongly believes in education as a driver for social change, working to ensure its pupils and staff have the skills needed for the future.

The trust employs 300 staff across its five schools to support 2500 pupils, with a budget of approx. £10m.

The trust's five core values are respect, responsibility, excellence, compassion and collaboration, and its mission is to develop all pupils as both academic and well rounded, independent young people, equipped with the understanding, attitudes, skills and behaviours necessary to succeed in life. The trust strives to ensure that its learners are prepared to succeed in secondary school, higher education, employment and their family and community life.

The board currently has one board vacancy and they are seeking an individual who brings expertise in

• Child Welfare and Safeguarding, and/or
• Education leadership (primary)

Throughout your term of office (typically 4 years, but this may vary between trusts), you will be an active contributor to key board decisions. Specifically, in the next 12 - 24 months the trust's key focus areas will be:

1. To recover the pupils lost learning from the Covid pandemic
2. Strong levels of pupil attendance
3. To grow the Trust in a sensible manner ensuring the Trust continues to be financially viable.

What's involved?

Board governance in education is a strategic, 'eyes on, hands off' commitment which typically involves attending c. six board meetings per year/4-6hours' time per month.

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 ambassador network which provides resources, guidance, networking events and webinars to support you in your role.

All roles are pro bono.

The Academy Ambassadors Programme is committed to supporting boards with inclusive recruitment practices, and we actively encourage applications from individuals from diverse backgrounds.

What next?

Please register your interest now to be considered for the role.

When you select the option to Apply you will be redirected to the Academy Ambassadors webpage where you will find a full role specification with more details of the opportunity and the trust, including details of how to apply for the position.

Please be aware the closing date may change if we have received sufficient applications.