Membership and Trustees

Our Trustees and Members are an essential force in providing strategic leadership, effective management and accountability across the Trust and bring with them a wealth of experience and expertise which help to raise standards of education.

The Trust Governance Handbook 2024 gives further details on the governance structure across the Trust.

To contact the Governance Lead please email dbenyon-payne@oaktrust.org 

Local Governing Bodies

Each school within the MAT has its own Local Governing Body which have the governance functions delegated to them by the Trust Board.  They are accountable to the Board.

Details of the Local Governing Bodies and their attendance and register of business interests are available on the school websites.

Trustee and Members Induction Process 2024

Diversity Reporting:

The Trustees of OAK Multi Academy Trust believe it is important that boards reflect the diversity of the communities they serve. Diverse boards promote inclusive school environments and provide diverse role models for staff and young people.

The Trustees are currently collecting data on the diversity of the board, including data on age, gender and ethnicity. They will use that data to inform their recruitment and training needs and ensure there is always a diverse range of perspectives around the table to support robust decision-making.

Due to our relatively small governing bodies, we do not publish this diversity data online as individual governors could be identified and we have a legal obligation to protect their personal data.

Members

CURRENT POST: Retired Professor and Dean of Education, University of Leicester. Emeritus Professor and Associate Director of Research, Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge.

SKILL SET: Expert in and consultant to a number of LAs on transition between primary and secondary school, creativity and well-being.  Research e.g. for the government funded Creative Partnerships (2002-8) which became Creativity, Culture and Education (CCE).

CURRENT POST: Consultant Child Psychologist, University of Leicester

SKILL SET: Significant experience working with schools and special needs.  Lead on ASD.  Delivered training to the National Autistic Society.  Published author on autism and mental health.

CURRENT POST: Vice Principal, Countesthorpe Leysland Community College

SKILL SET: Lead practitioner for Character and Culture, inclusion and vulnerable pupils at CLCC.  Founding strategic lead for Thomas Estley Learning Alliance, focusing on initial teacher training, CPD and school to school improvement. Previous Trustee.

CURRENT POST: Ground Operations Specialist, University of Leicester

SKILL SET: Community engagement.  Children, young people and schools scrutiny commission member.  Experience of secondary capital expenditure programme, public finance and budgeting.  Primary school Governor experience. Previous Chair of Trustees.

Trustees

Trustee (Co-Opted)

Date Appointed: 12.05.2022

Term of Office End: 11.05.2026

CURRENT POST: Headmaster and Principal at Leicester Grammar School

SKILL SET: Private Education; educational leadership in an all-through setting; Strategic Planning; Vision setting; Curriculum and Assessment; Performance Management; Safeguarding.

Trustee (Member-appointed)

Date Appointed: 9.05.2023

Term of Office End: 8.05.2027

CURRENT POST: Early Years Career Manager

SKILL SET: Extensive experience working as a Recruitment Manager/Early Years Career Manager-working for a big four accountancy firm. Experienced Manager-leading and navigating teams, DE&I leadership, performance management, mental health and well-being, planning and implementing strategies, driving change and innovation, conflict management, learning and development, HR, retaining competitive advantage.

Trustee (Member Appointed)

Date Appointed: 1.09.2023

Term of Office End: 31.08.2027

CURRENT POST: Procurement Business Partner, South Staffs Water

SKILL SET: Procurement management (and experience of procurement in a MAT); Strategic planning; Understanding of education sector; Analytical thinking; Performance Management; Public sector.

Trustee (Member Appointed)

Date Appointed: 1.09.2023

Term of Office End: 31.08.2027

CURRENT POST: Head of Human Resources at Farm Africa

SKILL SET: Human Resources; Governor and MAT experiences; Performance Management; Strategic planning; Teamwork and collaborative decision-making; Financial Management; Education sector knowledge; Communication skills; Approving and monitoring the implementation of policies; Compliance.

Trustee (Co-Opted)

Date Appointed: 1.11.2023

Term of Office End: 31.10.2027

CURRENT POST: Module Leader and Lecturer for the Business Law module at the University of Birmingham

SKILL SET: Extensive experience working in higher education; Qualified solicitor; Academic Integrity Officer; a corporate trainer, providing legal training to medical doctors and the automotive industry; understanding of varied legal issues; interpersonal skills; stakeholder engagement; curriculum and assessment; knowledge of local community.

Trustee (Co-Opted)

Date Appointed: 6.11.2023

Term of Office End: 5.11.2027

CURRENT POST: Principal at Crownhills Community College

SKILL SET: Extensive experience working in higher education; finance; HR; Curriculum and Assessment; Ofsted Inspector; Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND); safeguarding; performance management; health and safety and compliance.

Trustee (Co-Opted)

Date Appointed: 21.3.2024

Term of Office End: 20.3.2028

CURRENT POST: Compliance Advistory Manager

SKILL SET: Change management; interpretation of regulatory requirements and guidance on implementation; risk management; compliance; strategic planning.

Trustee (Co-Opted)

Date Appointed: 29.1.2024

Term of Office End: 28.1.2028

CURRENT POST: Supply Chain – Finance and Reporting Manager at John Lewis Partnership

SKILL SET: Extensive financial expertise. Financial management, budgeting and strategic planning.

Trustee (Co-opted)

Date Appointed: 1.9.2024

Term of Office End: 31.8.24

Current Post: Head of Operations (COO), Learning Today Leading Tomorrow (MAT)

Skill Set: Operations focus (within a MAT) with a strong analytical ability and system/process thinking. This includes data analysis, lean methodologies, quality assurance and digital transformation.

Sean also has experience across HR, estates, digital systems, governance, communications and GDPR.

The Accounting Officer for the Trust is the Chief Executive Officer. This role includes specific responsibilities for financial matters, a personal responsibility to parliament, EFA and the financial resources under the Trust control.

Previous Trustees

Trustee (Member Appointed)

Date Appointed: 01.04.2022

Term of Office End: 31.03.2026

CURRENT POST: Global Head Of Information Security, Bibby Financial Services

SKILL SET: Physical and cybersecurity expert for global security operations at Barclays.  Extensive experience of operational management, risk assessment profiling and mitigation and compliance management.  Former Police Officer.  High level of understanding of safeguarding. Project Griffin trainer for the National Counterterrorism Security Office (NaCTSO)/ Home Office.

Register of Business Interests for our Members and Trustees

The Trust’s register of interest must capture relevant business and pecuniary interests of members, trustees, and local governors of academies within a multi-academy trust and senior employees. This includes directorships, partnerships and employments with businesses.

The register must also identify any material interests arising from close family relationships between the academy trust’s members or trustees, and relationships between members or trustees and employees. A relative is defined as: a close member of the family, or member of the same household, who may be expected to influence, or be influenced by, the person. This includes, but is not limited to, a child, parent, spouse or civil partner.

Please find our business interest register below.

Please find below our attendance information for Trustees.