Millbay Academy is seeking dedicated and passionate individuals to join the team of voluntary Governors, who look to make a difference in the School community.

Governance at Reach South Academy Trust

At Reach South Academy Trust, governance is the cornerstone of our commitment to delivering high-quality education across our family of academies. Our governance framework ensures accountability, strategic oversight, and continuous improvement, supporting our mission to advance education for all.

The Trust operates through a multi-layered governance structure that includes:

Members: guardians of the Trust’s constitution
Board of Trustees: responsible for strategic direction and oversight
Board Committees: focused on key areas such as finance, education standards, people, risk, and audit
Executive Team: led by the CEO, managing day-to-day operations
Local Governing Bodies (LGBs): providing challenge and support to individual academies.

Each tier plays a vital role in ensuring that our academies are well-led, compliant, and aligned with our values and educational principles.

To learn more about our governance structure, roles, and responsibilities, please refer to our comprehensive Governance Handbook.

Main responsibilities of the Board of Governors

To act within the formal powers and rules as set out in the Memorandum and Articles of Association
To determine the educational character and mission of the School and to exercise oversight of its activities
To approve the quality improvement strategy for the institution.
To ensure the effective and efficient use of resources, the solvency of the School and to safeguard its assets.
To act in the best interests of the School.
To be fully informed about the operation of the School.
To ensure decisions are always taken for the benefit of the School, its students, staff and other users and with a view of safeguarding public funds.
To act as individuals and not bound by mandates from other bodies.
To attend School events, such as student awards presentations and open days, in order to gain an appreciation of and support the work of the School.

About the School

Millbay Academy is a thriving secondary school in Plymouth’s Coastal Quarter, where every individual is valued, and every moment counts. Our journey of school improvement has been transformational, culminating in our recent Ofsted GOOD rating across all areas in 2024. As we continue to build on this success, our student numbers are growing, and we are excited to be recruiting due to both increased capacity and our commitment to nurturing talent from within - creating opportunities for our existing staff to take on new and exciting challenges.

At Millbay Academy, we are driven by our ethos: "Think Like a Creative." With a strong focus on Creative Industries and a broad, rich curriculum, we empower students to develop the skills, mindset, and confidence needed for success in the modern world. We are committed to protecting Arts and Vocational pathways in the city and ensuring that creativity, innovation, and ambition are at the heart of everything we do.

We provide students with the knowledge and opportunities to progress to a wide range of high- quality post-16 destinations, including Plymouth Arts University, UTC Plymouth, City College, Callywith College, local Sixth Forms, and a variety of applied apprenticeships. By fostering curiosity, critical thinking, and resilience, we prepare them to thrive in further education and employment.

With an improved and modernised capacity for 1020 students, and a growing reputation, Millbay Academy is a school where students are supported, challenged, and inspired to achieve their full potential and where staff opportunities are excellent. There is strong precedent for Leadership development and roles across both schools for the individuals. We expect excellence from our staff, as we are committed to serving our community and to support this, we have a strong focus on staff wellbeing, including the potential for flexible PPA time; email curfew and Wellbeing Wednesday initiative.

About the Trust

Reach South is a young and developing Trust which operates across the South West of England with the aim of delivering all through 3-19 education. We operate 16 academies in Plymouth, Exeter, Bournemouth, Dorset and Wiltshire. We are building this Trust on a clear set of values, behaviours and curriculum principles. At the heart of those values and principles is a belief in our young people and a determination to support them to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes to become the successful citizens for today and all of their tomorrows.

Our core business is delivering exceptional education for children and young people with a mission to help all pupils aspire to achieve beyond the expectations that others put on them. We do this through the development of a talented and committed workforce. In order to deliver exceptional opportunities for learning, we need highly motivated staff across all parts of the organisation.

Those we recruit are able to demonstrate that they share our values, are highly motivated to work with colleagues, within and beyond their school, to continuously develop their skills and pursue professional excellence.

Next Steps

If you have any queries about this role, please get in touch by contacting the Recruitment Team on recruitment@reachsouth.org

To apply for this opportunity, please complete the expression of interest form attached to the advert page and send to recruitment@reachsouth.org

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