Responsible Officer

We carry out systems review and compliance testing to provide assurance on the systems of internal control to the Governing Body and to the external auditor. We would emphasise the importance of this role and the need for it to become simply a 'tick box' exercise. Our experience shows us that this role is best delivered as part of a wider internal audit function and which incorporates quarterley reporting to the governing body. We would look to establish this role at an early stage of the decision to become an academy (ideally in the pre-conversion stage) so that it is embedded into the School's culture from day one.