Local School Committee

Local School Committees (LSCs)

Our LSCs are the champions of our values in each of our academies. The role of a Local Representative within a Multi-Academy Trust is an important one and sits at the heart of the relationship with academy leaders. The Trust Board establishes the LSCs and approves the membership of each committee. For the most part, each LSC is made up of individuals drawn from the community, both as elected and appointed members.

The Local Representatives are accountable to the Trust Board as well as to the communities they serve. Across all of our LSCs we have a range of expertise that help to fulfil their role to:

support and challenge academy leaders to make their academy highly effective
provide local insight and connect the academy to its community
ensure clarity of vision, ethos, and strategic direction.

Training and development are provided to ensure new Representatives are inducted successfully, and existing Representatives are kept up to date with changes in education practice and procedures.

The Role of the LSC

Together with the Headteacher they are responsible for making sure that our academy provides good quality education
Provide challenge and support to the Headteacher, drawing on their knowledge, experience, and community insights
Support the Headteacher to develop the academy vision and strategic objectives, including performance targets, academy policies, and school development plans
Review progress against the objectives and performance data
Evaluate the academy’s culture, curriculum, and daily experience against the Trust’s values
Monitor the impact of policies
Conduct purposeful, structured visits to understand lived experience
Report on academy achievements and respond to inspection recommendations
Champion the strengths and achievements of the academy and Trust within the community
Strengthen and maintain community engagement and partnerships and gather community insights
Support with exclusions and the reinstatement of pupils

Our LSC Representatives and their specific responsibilities for 2025/26:

Chair of Representatives (SEN, Therapeutic Thinking & DT) - Claire Pitt
Vice Chair (PDP & French) - Chris Harley
Curriculum (Sports Premium, Art & PE) - Emily Compton
Pupil Premium, Wellbeing, PSHE & Humanities - Kathryn Whitby
EYFS - Vikki Harris
Safeguarding - Kathryn Whitby
Staff Representative - David Hartwell

What do Local School Representatives do?

The Local School Committee and its Representatives are responsible for promoting pupil achievement; providing local insight; connecting the academy to its community; and ensuring clarity of vision, ethos, and strategic direction. These are practical examples of how the LSC, and its Representatives might do this:

Safeguarding, SEND and pupil premium leads meet with the appropriate academy staff at least once a year
Representatives could attend academy performances, sports fixtures, or exhibitions and help publicise them locally
A Representative might collect feedback from parents/carers on new homework approaches, communicate concerns respectfully, and help the academy shape clearer messaging or support materials
Representatives might help organise community days, invite local trades to offer work experience, or connect with local universities for enrichment activities
Representatives carry out academy visits
The LSC needs to understand key trends, so they will review data, for example, strategies that are improving attendance or reducing exclusions
They will discuss curriculum intent and implementation with the Headteacher or subject leads and review examples of children’s work

The LSC is made up of:

Parent Representatives
Community Representatives
Co-opted Representatives and;
A Staff Representative

We are currently looking for Representatives to join our Local School Committee - for further information about this role please see below: