The Archer Academy began life as a free school, created by a group of parents (known as the founders) with the support of more than a thousand members of our community. Upon opening, it became an academy, funded by and reporting directly to the Department for Education, rather than the local authority.
This page explains how the regulation and governance of the Archer Academy work in practice.
Our governing board
The governors are responsible for providing support and challenge to our headteacher and senior leadership team. They oversee the school’s strategy and monitor the progress against the school’s development plan, ensuring that the school is operating efficiently and effectively.
If you’d like to know more about our governing board, you can read a welcome from our chair, and find out more about our individual governors. We also publish an annual governors’ report
The Archer Academy Trust
Like all free schools, the Archer Academy is underpinned by a charitable company, in our case the Archer Academy Trust. This is both a registered company and an exempt charity, which means we have to follow company and charity law, but are regulated by the DfE rather than the Charity Commission.
The rules along which the Archer Academy Trust is run are set out in our Memorandum and Articles.
There are five members of the Archer Academy Trust, who are responsible for ensuring that the Archer Academy’s founding vision and ethos are maintained as the school progresses and develops. Toby Blume, Avis Johns, Sarah Glennon (all founders of the school) and John Rubinstein are members of the Trust company, with an unlimited term of office. In addition, Claire Straus is a member of the Trust for the term of her office as Chair of the governing board.
Regulation and reporting
In May 2013, the Archer Academy signed a Funding Agreement with the Department for Education. This set out the relationship and expectations between the school and the department, explaining the protocols and requirements on both sides. You can read the full Funding Agreement here (within the Workforce and finance tab).
As a charitable company and an academy, we are also required to produce an annual report and accounts, incorporating information on our finances, operations and future plans.