WISE Academies is a Multi-Academy Trust which incorporates a number of academies in the North-East of England. The Trust is a DfE approved charity that consists of both converter and sponsored academies. WISE Academies is governed by a Board of Trustees. 

Members hold the Board of Trustees to account for the effective governance of the Trust but have a minimal role in the actual running of the Trust. It is the Board of Trustees, not the Members, who are the organisation’s key decision makers. However, there are some critical decisions that sit with the Members such as appointing and removing Trustees and appointing the Trust's external auditors.

As the guardians of its governance, Members sit at the top of the trust’s governance structure. Holding the Board of Trustees to account is the most important role that Members play. The Members will do this in a hands-off manner, through monitoring the work of the Board of Trustees.

Members are essential to the integrity of an academy Trust governance structure. Members must therefore remain informed of Trust performance and be clear on how to appropriately interact with the Board of Trustees.

The Trust has 5 Members the majority of whom are not Trustees so that appropriate seperation is maintained.

The Board of Trustees are accountable for all academies within the organisation. Trustees delegate some of their responsibilities to Local Governing Body(LGBs) as set out in the Scheme of Delegation.

Trustees main responsibilities are to:

• Set the strategic direction of the trust
• Hold executive leaders to account
• Ensure that all public money is used appropriately to support the education of pupils

All Trustees hold voluntary positions and receive no renumeration for their role. Trustees are both company directors and charity trustees as academies have the legal status of both company and charitable trust.