How to review a trust-wide policy

Note, if you’re on:

• The board of trustees, you’ll be reviewing trust-wide policies that’ll be set for all schools within your trust
• A local governing body (LGB) it’s unlikely you’ll need to review trust-wide policies in detail, as they will have already been reviewed by the board of trustees. You’ll make sure any policies have been adapted for your school where necessary - you can find question prompts later in this article

What policies should be trust-wide?

There are no hard and fast rules, but generally speaking, centrally-set policies will typically include:

• HR policies (e.g. pay, maternity and whistle-blowing)
• Finance
• Data protection
• Complaints
• Equality information and objectives
• Freedom of information

Other policies can be set centrally, but schools should adapt them, such as:

• Health and safety
• Child protection
• SEN policy and information report

Find out more about setting policies centrally here.

This could be the full board of trustees, or a trust committee if