The Northern Schools Trust, and its board of Trustees, is committed to the promotion of equality of opportunity and choice for employees and supports the fair treatment of all staff irrespective of gender through our transparent recruitment processes, pay policy and professional development. We are proud of our gender balance and recognise that diversity and equal opportunities at all career stages are key to providing a quality education experience for our young people and their families. We recognise this an essential aspect of running a thriving multi academy trust.

Our male and female staff are paid the same pay point for the same job role. However, we have a larger majority of female staff occupying lower paid roles therefore the gap between the “average” female hourly rate of pay and the “average” male hourly rate of pay is still affected. The gender pay gap is a high level, non-adjusted indicator of male and female earnings which is affected by workforce distribution and workforce make-up. The overall gender pay gap therefore reflects workforce composition rather than pay inequalities.

Northern Schools Trust supports its staff with a number of family friendly provisions such as part-time and flexible working. Of course, there is always more that can be done and as a trust we are absolutely committed to driving positive change for our staff teams and our young people.

Director, Lyndsay MacAulay says; “I have worked for the Northern Schools Trust since 2013 and recognise the significant amount of support I have received to progress in my career as a young professional woman. I have benefited from family friendly working policies which have supported me to be a role model to my two young daughters and show that women can have both a family and a career.”

Dr Geoff Wainwright, Chair of Governors says; “Gender is not something that defines a person’s capability in the workplace, their experience, commitment, knowledge and passion do. As such, we value people for the job they do, not their gender, and remain committed to a culture of equity and equality throughout our Trust.”