Governance

Hujjat School Trust, like all Single Academy Trusts, has the legal status of a Company but is also recognised as a Charitable Trust.  We have 3 layers of governance:

Members are the custodians of the governance of the Trust. They do not have any operational responsibility for running the Trust or the School. The first Members were signatories to the Memorandum of Association when the Trust was set up, and they agreed the trust’s Articles of Association.  Their role is to ensure that the academy trust’s charitable objectives are being met, maintain an overview of the effectiveness of the trust structure and they can appoint/remove trustees.

Our Members:

Mustafa Mohamed, Chair

Janet Hilary

Shaheen Hirji

Mohammed-Azeem Merali

Trustees have the responsibilities of both company directors and charity trustees. They must have the best interests of the school uppermost in their minds at all times, and have a duty of compliance, ensuring all relevant laws and regulations are followed. As holders of a public office, trustees should also be aware of the Nolan principles of public life: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership.

Trustees are the people who also fulfil the roles traditionally done by governors: they promote the vision, ethos and strategic direction of the school; oversee the use of resources to ensure money is well spent.; and are a critical friend to the headteacher, holding them to account for the school’s performance.

Our trustees must be autonomous in their decision-making and avoid conflicts of interest. For example, if they are connected to another organisation, their decisions as a trustee must be made independently.  Our Board will include 2 Parent Trustees who will be elected in due course.

Our Trustees:

Shaheen Hirji, Chair

Gwenda Caroli, Safeguarding

Suquena Panjwani, Estates (including Health & Safety)

Fatema Rahemani, Faith

Finance, Audit & Risk

Standards & Achievement

Pastoral & Faith (including Admissions)