Part of that is building the Board itself. We were originally established with nine Directors; for a period we operated with as few as seven, even as our number of schools more than doubled. Finding our next Chair is our first priority, but we are also looking to welcome one or more new Directors, and we would encourage anyone interested in governance at STCAT to get in touch, whichever role feels like the right fit.

Ours is a Board that one that I describe as a family. We came together as people who mostly didn't know each other, and we have built something collegiate, professional and rooted in shared values; Catholic Social Teaching runs through everything we do and this has been repeated when we have welcomed new members. We challenge each other robustly and we listen to each other collaboratively, but nobody brings their ego to the table.

The Chair I am looking to hand over to will bring strong, values-led leadership to continue harnessing the best our Board has to offer; the confidence to represent the Trust externally to the Diocese, the Department for Education and to other stakeholders; and the experience of governing or managing a complex organisation, ideally gained outside education itself. Our Directors bring a similarly wide range of backgrounds, and we are not looking for one type of person: we are looking for people who want to work for the greater good of the Trust, can read a balance sheet or ask a searching question without needing to be a specialist in every subject, and who share our commitment to the education of the whole child.

If either of these opportunities sounds like you, I do hope you will get in touch, initially for an informal and confidential conversation with Adam Stacey at Charisma Charity Recruitment, who is supporting us with this appointment.

With best wishes,

George Brzyski
Chair of the Board of Directors, St Thomas Catholic Academies Trust

Thank you for your interest in joining the Board of Directors at St Thomas Catholic Academies Trust (STCAT), either as our next Chair or as a Director.

I took on the Interim Chair's role six months ago, having previously served as a Director, so I understand both the privilege and the challenge involved, and I do so with real enthusiasm for what lies ahead.

STCAT was formed in 2020 through the merger of a number of Trusts within the Catholic Diocese of Northampton. In a short space of time we have grown into a Trust of eighteen schools stretching from Luton in the north, across Buckinghamshire, to Slough in the south. It has been a period of rapid, sometimes intense, growth, and we are now entering a new phase: consolidating what we have built, strengthening our governance and executive capacity, and taking a more strategic, outward looking role in the Catholic education landscape.