Wilson's School

Governance, Finance & Insurance

Wilson’s School is governed by a Trust Board constituted under a Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association. The Trust Board is responsible for ensuring that high standards of governance are maintained, and all statutory and legal requirements are met by the school. It exercises its powers and functions at a strategic leadership level, addressing policy development and strategic direction, management of all resources and monitoring of the school’s performance.

The Structure is set out in the Articles of Association and is as follows:

TRUSTEES OF WILSON’S SCHOOL (Article 46)
Chair of Trust Board of Wilson’s School Mr John Nicholson
Vice Chair of Trust Board of Wilson’s School Mr Michael Creamore
Foundation Trustees
(appointed by the Wilson’s School Foundation CIO)
Number provided for in Articles – up to 5
Mr Michael Creamore
Mr David Eynon
Mrs Elizabeth Nash
Mr John Nicholson
Diocesan Trustee
(appointed by the Southwark Diocesan Board of Education)
Number provided for in Articles - 1
Revd Lynn Billin
Member Appointed Trustees
(appointed by the Members of Wilson’s School)
Number provided for in Articles – up to 5

Mr Julian Pearcey
Mr Phil Walters
Ms Rebecca Allott

Parent Trustees
(elected by parents of pupils on the roll at the school and must be a parent of a pupil at the time of election)
Number provided for in Articles – 2
Mr Sunil Ramakrishnan
Mr Ashish Pawargi
Principal
(Appointed by the Members of Wilson’s School)
Mr Nathan Cole

The Members of an academy trust are the guardians of the governance of the school. Whilst Members don’t make actual governance decisions, they need to ensure they are satisfied that the standard of governance of the School is high.

The composition of the Members is laid out in the Articles of Association and is as follows:

MEMBERS OF WILSON’S SCHOOL (Article 12)
Chair of Trust Board of Wilson’s School Mr John Nicholson
Signatory to the Memorandum of Association Mr Steve Wisson
Chair of Wilson’s School Foundation CIO Mr Clive Peckover
Diocesan Appointee Mr Julian Pearcey
Foundation CIO Appointee Mr Rod Hall

The Trust Board has established a number of committees to which it delegates day to day responsibility for oversight of various key areas:

Committee Chair Remit
Education and Policy Committee Mr Julian Pearcey To consider matters relating to teaching and the curriculum and review in detail policies and procedures for the School making recommendations to the Trust Board.
Finance and General Purposes Committee Mr Michael Creamore To review and monitor the financial performance of the School, review reports from the Responsible Officer and to oversee the systems of internal control at the School.
Performance Committee Mr John Nicholson To review the school’s performance information, focussing on school development priorities and supporting the school leadership in its self-evaluation of school performance.
Admissions Committee Mr Julian Pearcey To determine matters relating to the admissions criteria of the School.
There are also committees established to deal with matters of Pupil Discipline and Staff Salary and Discipline which meet as and when required.

Governance Professional: Naomi Hamilton

All Trustees can be reached through the Governance Professional using the following contact details:

Naomi Hamilton
Governance Professional
c/o Wilson’s School
Mollison Drive
Wallington
Surrey
SM6 9JW

Tel: 020 8773 2931

Email: clerk@wilsonsschool.sutton.sch.uk

Governance Information and Relevant Business and Pecuniary Interests

as required by the Academy Trust Handbook 2023

Trustee Position relevant to Wilson’s School Date of appointment Date stepped down Name of organisation Nature of interest Date from which involved Identify any material interests arising from close family relationships
Mr Russell Allen Trustee 2012 3 June 2024 WSFCIO Trustee 2019 NA
WSTCIO Trustee 2019
Revd Lynn Billin Trustee 2014 St Mary's Hospital & Hamilton Almshouses Trustee 2016 NA
National Schools (including Beynon's Endowment) Chair of Trustees 2018
All Saints Church Hackbridge and Beddington Corner Chair of Trustees 2016
WSFCIO Trustee 2019
WSTCIO Trustee 2019
Mr Nathan Cole Wilson's School Employee & Trustee 2014 Oaks Park High School Governor 2022 NA
Mr Michael Creamore Trustee 2011 Gregsons Solicitors Partner 1993 NA
Edward Wilson Trading Company Ltd Director 2020
WSFCIO Trustee 2019
WSTCIO Trustee 2019
Mr David Eynon Trustee 1997 WSFCIO Trustee 2019 Spouse is employed as support staff at Wilson's School
WSTCIO Trustee 2019
Mr Rod Hall Member of WSAT 2014 WSFCIO Trustee 2019 NA
WSTCIO Trustee 2019
Mrs Boz McMillan Trustee 2010 31/08/2023 NA NA NA NA
Mr Ram Nandula Trustee 2020 03/02/2024 NA NA NA NA
Mrs Liz Nash Trustee 2006 NA NA NA NA
Mr John Nicholson Trustee/Member of WSAT 1994 Turner Nicholson Ltd Shareholder/Director 2016 NA
Alfie-in-the-air Ltd Shareholder/Director 2020
WSFCIO Trustee 2019
WSTCIO Trustee 2019
Mr Julian Pearcey Trustee/Member of WSAT 1988 WSFCIO Trustee 2019 NA
WSTCIO Trustee 2019
Mr Clive Peckover Member of WSAT 2003 WSFCIO Chair/Trustee 2019 NA
WSTCIO Chair/Trustee 2019
Mr Sunil Ramakrishnan Trustee 2022 Warham Residents Association Director 2015 NA
Mrs Lynne Smithard Trustee 1997 31/12/2023 NA NA NA NA
Mr Philip Walters Trustee 2008 NA NA NA NA
Mr Stephen Wisson Member of WSAT 1994 Edward Wilson Trading Company Ltd Director 2020 NA
WSFCIO Trustee 2019 NA
WSTCIO Trustee 2019

Trust Board Diversity Data

As a school we recognise that a diversity of thought, voices and perspectives is essential to good governance and the effective running of any organisation. We regularly collect diversity information from our Trustees and, depending on current data, can use this to:

  • target recruitment to address gaps in experience and diversity
  • develop and adapt board practices to ensure full participation
  • prioritise training and awareness-raising in identified areas
  • address potential ‘blind spots’ through seeking wider advice and perspectives on current and upcoming opportunities, challenges and risks

However, we are unable to publish this information as it would mean that individual members of our Trust Board are identifiable.

Attendance Record 2023-24

Trust Board and Committee Meetings attended by Trustees

out of possible number of meetings (during term of office)

Position Appointed by Note TB PC AC E&P F&GP Out of possible meetings 2023-24
Possible meetings 4 3 1 3 3
Russell Allen WSFCIO Stepped down 06/24 1 2 3/6
Lynn Billin Southwark Diocese 3 2 5/7
Nathan Cole Executive Head Members of WSAC Part year academic sabbatical 2 3 1 0 3 9/9
Michael Creamore Vice Chair of TB WSFCIO 3 2 3 8/10
David Eynon WSFCIO 0 1 1/7
RamJogi Nadula Parent Body Stepped down 02/24 2 1 3/3
Liz Nash WSFCIO 4 3 1 3 11/11
John Nicholson Chair of TB WSFCIO 4 3 7/7
Ashish Pawargi Parent Body 2 2/2
Julian Pearcey Members of WSAC 4 3 1 3 11/11
Sunil Ramakrishnan Parent Body 0 3 3/7
Lynne Smithard Members of WSAC Stepped down 12/23 2 1 1 4/4
Phil Walters Members of WSAC 4 3 7/7

* Members of the Annual General Meeting (AGM)

The Directors’ Report and Financial Statements for the period ended 31 August last are available here.

Executive Pay for year ended 31 August 2023

Number of employees whose benefits are in the following bands:

Salary Band Employers' Pension Contribution Total Benefits Band Number of employees in band
£90,001 - £100,000 £20,001 - £30,000 £110,001 - £130,000 1
£150,001 - £160,000 £30,001 - £40,000 £180,001 - £200,000 1

Wilson’s School ensure that we do everything reasonably practicable to ensure the safety of our pupils and staff. Unfortunately sometimes Incidents do occur; if you feel that we have failed in our duty, then you have a legal remedy of raising a liability claim against us.

The London Borough of Sutton Insurance Office handles all Public Liability and Employee Liability claims on behalf of Wilson’s School.

If you are a Third Party Solicitor and wish to make a claim on behalf of your client, against Wilson’s School, please would you register your client’s claim on the Portal against the London Borough of Sutton.

If your clients claim does not fall into the portal guidelines please send your letter of claim directly to: Claims Manager, LB Sutton Insurance Team, London Borough of Sutton, Civic Offices, St Nicholas Way, Sutton, Surrey, SM1 1EA or email.

If you are a claimant in person please write directly to: Claims Manager, LB Sutton Insurance Team, London Borough of Sutton, Civic Offices, St Nicholas Way, Sutton, Surrey, SM1 1EA or email including sufficient information to enable us to start an investigation into the incident including:

  • Date and Time of accident
  • Exact location of accident
  • Cause i.e. paving slab etc.
  • Details of the injury
  • Details of accident circumstances

In order for your claim to succeed, it will be necessary for you to prove negligence or breach of statutory duty. Please note there is no automatic right to compensation.

A claims handler will be appointed from this department to investigate your claim on behalf of Wilson’s School. This will involve liaising with the appropriate department to obtain the necessary information to determine whether Wilson’s School, another organisation or third party has been negligent.

We may require further information from you and if this is necessary you will be given a clear indication of the information needed.

There are three possible outcomes to the claim process:

  1. The claim will be accepted and subject to appropriate documentary evidence a settlement will be negotiated with you. 
  2. The claim will be rejected/repudiated if we can demonstrate that the school acted responsibly.
  3. Our investigations may indicate that another party was responsible and we will advise you that your claim will need to be redirected. We will try to provide their contact details to assist you in pursing your claim against them.

You may wish to consider obtaining advice from your Solicitors or local Citizens Advice Bureau.

The Council participates in a number of National and Local schemes to reduce the cost of fraudulent claims to Council Tax Payers. Information may be shared between Council Services, insurers, claim handlers, loss adjusters and other agencies.  The London Borough of Sutton’s Insurance office would be grateful for this reason if you could supply your Date of Birth and National Insurance number.