The Trust’s mission is as follows: to run a family of schools that enables autistic pupils to thrive in school and beyond into adulthood.

The purpose of our schools is to help prepare children and young people to make a successful transition into adulthood with the confidence and the necessary skills to live as independently as possible and participate in their local community. It is our vision to increase achievement to give our students the best possible opportunity to gain employment or access further education and enable them to go on to live the life they choose.

We have high ambitions for all pupils, for them to fulfil their potential. We have a clear ethos of respecting each young person recognising their strengths, as well as equipping them with effective support to help minimise any barriers or areas of difficulty

As a charity and company limited by guarantee, the Liberty Academy Trust (the Trust) is governed by the Trust Board (the Trustees), who are responsible for, and oversee, the management and administration of the Trust and the Schools.

The Directors (The Liberty Trustees) are accountable to external government agencies including the Charity Commission and the Department for Education (including any successor bodies) for the quality of the education they provide and they are required to have systems in place through which they can assure themselves of quality, safety and good practice.

In order to discharge these responsibilities, the Directors appoint people to serve on a Local Governing Body (LGB) which has been established to ensure the good governance of a School.

The Trustees delegate the Delegated Functions to the LGB and the function of the LGB shall be to:

• Have a monitoring role in connection with the School, in relation to the School Development Plan as directed;
• Check the Principals are suitably reviewing of its Single Central Register and arrangements for safeguarding training are in place and enacted;
• Monitor and analyse attendance exclusions in accordance with appropriate regulations;
• Monitor progress against priorities within school development plan; including provision for pupils with SEND, including having due regard to outcomes for pupils that attract the pupil premium alongside other identified vulnerable groups;
• Act as a critical friend to the Principal;
• Represent the views of the community in discussions that relate to community engagement and activity and make recommendations to the Principal; and
• Support the Principal in recruitment and selection, grievance, and disciplinary processes where appropriate.

Governance Model

As a School Trust, our Board is the legal accountable body for the Trust and the Local Governing Body (LGB) of each School is a committee of the Board. This model allows for strong, focused local governance. Freed from the statutory responsibilities of traditional local authority governing bodies, our governors are empowered to concentrate on enhancing the education for and improving the life chances of all the children in their School. They monitor their Schools and provide support and challenge in the traditional way, but spend less time on policies and paperwork.

Our governors provide a voice for the community in the School, and for the School in the community. They are also an important advocate for the needs of their School within the Trust, and a source of sharing of good practice across the family of schools.

The Trustees have overall accountability and hence ultimate decision-making authority for all the work of the Trust, including the establishing and running of Schools. This is largely exercised through strategic planning and the setting of policy. It is managed through business planning, monitoring of budgets, performance management, the setting of standards and the implementation of quality management processes.