Sarah Lay ACG

Head of Governance & Company Secretary, The Co-operative Academies Trust

Sarah Lay has worked in governance roles for more than 15 years, holding professional positions in educational institutions and independent professional bodies. She is the Head of Governance and Company Secretary at the Co-op Academies Trust, a large multi academy trust in the North of England, where she leads a team of governance professionals facilitating effective decision making and stakeholder engagement across 38 diverse communities. Sarah is passionate about promoting the profile of academy governance professionals across the wider sector, and in identifying opportunities for cross-sector learning, development and collaboration. She is a trustee of a charity in central Manchester, and the winner of the National Governance Association's Outstanding Lead Governance Professional Award 2025.

Governance

1 Breakout sessions: Series three

Governance at scale: frameworks for resilient and purposeful stewardship

In this session, we will explore CST’s Governance at scale paper, which draws on systems thinking and sector experience to set out a principles-led framework for deliberately redesigning governance for greater complexity, pace, and distance. It focuses on stewardship, assurance, clear accountability, and effective information flows, moving beyond incremental tweaks towards governance that remains viable, resilient, and purposeful at scale.

12:10

1 Main programme

Keynote panel: Governance at scale

As the sector moves toward a fully trust‑led system, more trusts will operate at significant scale. We know that scale profoundly changes governance, and trusts need clarity about how to evolve governance as scale increases. Drawing on insights from a variety of trusts that have recently experienced growth, this keynote introduces our joint paper for consultation, setting out the principles of effective governance at scale and exploring why these will matter for every trust in the years ahead.