Bathford Church School is a member of the Bath & Wells Diocesan Academies Trust (BWMAT). The Board of Trustees is the accountable body and the proprietor for all the schools in BWMAT. As the accountable body for the school, the Board of Trustees is responsible for governance.
Here is a link to the scheme of delegation: Bath and Wells Multi Academy Trust – Scheme of Delegation
As an academy, it is important to remember that the Trust is one entity, and that the Board of Trustees and Trust leaders are responsible for the quality of education provided in all the schools that make up BWMAT.
The Board of Trustees has identified that each school in the Trust will have a dedicated committee to oversee the governance arrangements of the school on their behalf. This committee is called the Trust Local Committee (TLC) and it works closely with the headteacher and the school’s leaders in order to achieve the best possible outcomes for all pupils. Trustees have determined the role of the TLC given that it is a committee of the Board of Trustees.
The role of the Trust Local Committee (TLC) is to form a positive partnership with the school’s stakeholders and provide confident, strategic leadership to the school community. The TLC will create a robust accountability framework that enables oversight and assurance of the school’s arrangements to promote safeguarding and high standards in all aspects of the school’s work whilst promoting a distinctively Christian ethos in support of the Trust’s wider vision.
As part of this role, the TLC ensures that Christian distinctiveness is a golden thread that runs through all of the school’s activities.
The TLC meets half-termly and its work reflects the Trust’s Scheme of Delegation that identifies the duties delegated to the TLC by the Board of Trustees.
Members of the TLC work very hard to ensure that they know what it is like to be a learner in the school. They undertake a range of activity in relation to the core functions of governance and these activities enable them to understand the school’s strengths and areas for improvement.
The requirements of the Trust’s Scheme of Delegation and the national expectations related to efficient and effective governance, as identified in the Academy Trust Governance Guide (DfE 2025), have been used to support the development of the Trust’s own local governance framework.
The key elements of the Trust’s local governance framework in relation to the role of the TLC are as follows:
i) Strategic leadership
The TLC helps to shape the vision for the school and this is reviewed annually. It also looks regularly at the progress being made against achieving the school’s identified aims.
The School Development Plan (SDP) identifies the school’s priorities for the year and the TLC is instrumental in working with the headteacher to develop this and then monitoring progress against the identified priorities for the year.
Members of the TLC are linked to areas of the SDP and undertake a range of activity during the year – meeting staff, talking to pupils, reviewing plans, looking at pupils’ work – so that they can see the progress being made against the priorities for themselves.
One member of the TLC has an oversight of the school’s safeguarding arrangements as this is such an important area of school life. This member’s role is to monitor the school’s arrangements to support safeguarding to ensure that the school is doing what it should in this area.
Members of the TLC report on their activity to the meetings of the TLC so that all members are aware of what is going well and what is in need of development.
The TLC also identifies and manages any risks that might impact on the outcomes achieved by the school. Significant risks are escalated to the Board of Trustees to ensure that those areas identified as being of particular concern are being effectively managed and the risk mitigated.
ii) Accountability and assurance
The TLC acts as a critical friend to the headteacher and is always striving to ensure that the school is doing the best it can for every pupil.
The TLC regularly reviews the information provided by the school on the progress and attainment of pupils and challenges the school’s senior leaders when performance appears to be uneven or inconsistent. It holds senior leaders to account for the school’s support and provision for disadvantaged pupils, those with SEND, those who are known (or previously known) to children’s social care, and those who may face other barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing.
TLC members ask about the organisation of the curriculum and the quality of teaching in the school. They make sure that the school has a robust system in place for supporting the professional growth of staff. The TLC and Trust staff work together to support the professional growth of the headteacher.
The TLC looks at a range of external data and information to see how the school compares to local and national benchmarks. It also receives and reviews the reports of external partners about the school so that it has as wide a view as possible of how the school is performing.
iii) Strategic engagement
The TLC is the Trust’s anchor in the local community. To fulfil this role, the TLC will develop communication channels, consult stakeholders and work in partnership with the school’s local community. It will ensure that stakeholder views are accounted for when looking at planned developments in the school. By actively engaging with the local community, the school is able to make a positive impact contribution to life outside the school.
Governance priorities for the TLC for the year ahead are set at the start of each academic year and are regularly reviewed and evaluated.
Impact of TLC 24/25
Some highlights of our work as a TLC are included below:
- Across the year the TLC looked at information and data on areas including but not limited to teaching and learning, our curriculum, pupil premium, pupil outcomes, SEND, EYFS, the use of our Sports Premium funding, safeguarding, and inclusion. By offering critical challenge and questioning across these areas, we are confident that all our children benefitted from quality first teaching, a broad and balanced curriculum and a welcoming, inclusive and safe school environment.
- The TLC dedicated time and resource across the year to work alongside our Head Teacher, Senior Leadership team and the BWMAT to prepare for the expected Ofsted inspection. The school was inspected by Ofsted in January 2025, with the report published in March 2025. TLC members met with the Ofsted inspectors as part of the process. The judgements of ‘Good’ across quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, leadership and management and early years provision, and ‘Outstanding’ for personal development are a testament to the hard work, dedication, partnership and the Christian vision and values that are truly embedded within our school, our staff, pupils and their families. The TLC are really proud of the outcome. The TLC supported with ongoing monitoring and support to work through the action plan that was developed following the Ofsted inspection.
- The TLC worked across the year with our Head Teacher and the Senior Leadership Team to monitor the financial position of the school and to consider and scrutinise all decisions with regards to the budgetary position.
- The Chair of Governors undertook a full day training course on Safer Recruitment in March 2025.
- The TLC worked closely with our Head Teacher and the wider staff team around safeguarding. The Safeguarding Governor met regularly with the Head Teacher and with staff to look at safeguarding information and to ensure the robustness of our safeguarding culture for staff and pupils. The Safeguarding Governor supported with an external review of safeguarding which took place in May 2025. Feedback from the review: ‘Bathford has a strong safeguarding culture, where children’s needs are understood, and prioritised. Children are happy, cared for and thrive within the school environment.’
- The TLC were focused across the year on ensuring that the school development priorities of flourishing people, a warm curriculum, excellent mental health and pupil independence were prioritised and remained at the forefront of every decision made. The Chair of Governor met regularly with our BWMAT Assistant Director of Education for Bathford Church School and the Head Teacher to monitor progress with updated shared at TLC meetings.
If you have a query that you would like the TLC to address, please email [email protected] or [email protected]
| Name | Category | End of Term | Committee membership | Responsibilities |
| Becky Hayter | Staff | Headteacher has no fixed term | School Improvement, Finance, Admissions, Safeguarding, Ethos | Headteacher |
| Charlotte Hart | Foundation Appointed | 1st term: 2022-2025 2nd term: 2nd November 2025 onwards- for 4 years | Finance, Pay and Renumeration, Safeguarding, Ethos | Chair Safeguarding SEND |
| Lauretta Wilson | Foundation Appointed | 6th June 2027 | Vicar of St Swithun’s | |
| Stephanie Taylor | MAT Appointed | 18th December 2026 | School Improvement | EFYS Pupil Premium |
| Natalie Tanner | MAT Appointed | 27th April 2027 | Finance | Finance |
| Helen Morris | Parent | 31st December 2029 | School Improvement | School Improvement |
| Christine Iles | Staff | Clerk | ||
Former Bathford Church School Governors’ who have Resigned or Retired in the last 12 months – as of October 2024
| Name | Status | Date |
| Name of Previous Governor | Resigned/ Term Ended | Month Ceased to be Governor |