Trustee / Non-Executive Director (Voluntary Position) in Sunderland

Are you able to help lead our family of specialist schools? At Ascent Academies’ Trust, our young people are at the heart of everything we do. We’re a family of six specialist schools, with a shared purpose to build brighter futures for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Every day, we champion their voices, celebrate their achievements, and work together to help them thrive.

We’re a family who collaborate, challenge and support each other, putting the progress and care of our children at the forefront of everything we do. With support from our Trustees, colleagues, children and young people and their families, Ascent is committed to providing the very best in terms of provision for young people with SEND.

Make a real difference to the lives of young people with SEND. Contribute to the success of a supportive, values-led Trust built on collaboration. Help shape the vision and direction of our Trust. Access excellent professional development opportunities, including Insights Discovery®. Strengthen your strategic leadership profile and CV. Experience working alongside a range of highly motivated and skilled Trustees from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds. It’s rewarding, different, interesting and FUN!

What do Trustees do? Our Trustees are a critical part of our Trust Governance, offering challenge and support to the Executive Team, particularly around our values, culture and the delivery of our strategic plan. Our Trust Board is an essential part of a growing organisation of 750 employees across 6 schools, operating over 16 sites and making a difference to over 1,300 young people across the North East and North Yorkshire.

Who are we looking for? Following a recent review of our governance, including skills and diversity audits of our existing Trustees, we are looking to recruit a number of new Trustees (Non-Executive Directors). We are seeking professionals with an ability to lead and influence that have skills / expertise in one of the following areas:

• Current experience in Information and Digital Technology, including cyber security.
• Experience of the education sector. This could be working with any age groups / key stages, including in mainstream settings. This individual should have expertise in curriculum and assessment or school improvement.
• Experience of Human Resources.
• Experience of Financial Management, Audit and / or Risk Management.

Candidates need to share our passion and ambition to build brighter futures for our young people. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, ages, and lived experience, with education, charity, public sector or business experience. We’re especially keen to hear from people who can bring new and diverse perspectives to our Board. The strongest boards reflect the workforce and communities they serve, so we particularly encourage applications from younger people, anyone from an ethnically diverse background, people with disabilities and those with lived experiences of the social and economic factors that our communities may encounter.

We are keen to build a leadership team that truly represents our Ascent community and those of the North East and North Yorkshire. We’re committed to equality and inclusion and will therefore make adjustments so this process is more accessible for you, such as providing information in a different format.

What’s involved? Attending around four meetings per term (each lasting about 1½ hours) across three terms, with some reading and preparation beforehand. Most meetings are held online over Teams, with occasional face‑to‑face meetings when richer conversation and collaboration is needed. Taking on a Link Trustee role aligned to your interests (e.g., IT, Quality of Education). As a Link Trustee, you will liaise with relevant members of the leadership team from time to time to give your perspective. Full induction, training and on‑going support will be provided. A policy is in place for reasonable out‑of‑pocket expenses to be reimbursed. Appointment to the role of Trustee will be subject to the necessary safer recruitment checks, including an enhanced DBS check (which will be funded by our Trust), as well as relevant social media checks.

Interested in shaping brighter futures? For further information or to arrange an informal discussion, please contact Rachel Hargreaves, CEO, Ascent Academies’ Trust by emailing. The young people are very excited about new Trustees coming to join our Ascent Family.