Board Trustees are appointed for their wide ranging knowledge skills and/or experience in the following areas:
Co-opted Trustees
Board Trustees may appoint Co-opted Board Trustees with the required skill set as is necessary to support its development from time to time. Co-opted means a person who is appointed to be a Trustee by being co-opted by Trustees who have not themselves been so appointed.
Richard’s talent is company growth, with a broad range of skills and the ability to think laterally, engage staff creatively, develop new opportunities and establish business partnerships quickly. Richard has a good knowledge of SME company management, as well as large corporation reporting and governance.
Mark has over 35 years experience as an education professional, leader and manager, including over 20 years as a headteacher and 3 years managing the Early Years and Childcare Service for a large London borough. Mark is passionate about improving the life chances of children and their families. High quality early education and care are an essential element of this.
Reverend Paul holds the office of Trust Incumbent. He has considerable pastoral and educational experience and has had a long association with the Learning Academy Partnership since its conversion to a Multi Academy Trust. Reverend Paul has seen the expansion of the Trust and the sharing of a commitment to first class teaching underpinned at every level by a strong Christian Ethos.
Mark's career has covered various role and responsibilities including setting up his own Consultancy business, working as a Design Engineer, co-founding a company to develop x ray and image processing technology for the food sector and CEO of Spectral Fusion Technologies responsible for recruitment and management.
Phil is an experienced Chief Finance Officer who matches excellent technical skills to incisive commercial awareness. He has 17 years of experience as a Financial Director within multiple sectors across multiple countries enabling him to provide clarity, design strategy and enabling actionable business development.
Neil is an experienced manufacturing and business leader with considerable international experience in leading manufacturing facilities across three continents. He is trained in Manufacturing and Engineering and has held several leadership positions as well as directorships. Neil is also experienced in working within smaller family-owned and large corporate organisations.
Adnan is an Assistant Professor of Finance and Accounting at University of Exeter and his research concentrates on advanced-level issues on corporate finance, financial reporting and contract design. Adnan is a strong believer of leverage one can attain via education and that the stronger the foundations of early education the greater the leverage.
Joanne was Chair of Governors at Dartington C of E Primary School supporting the school community through the academisation process to join the Trust in April 2021. Joanne has spent her professional life working with small to medium-sized companies in the creative and software industries and currently works at the University of Exeter as the creative industries impact and partnership manager.
Maria is the CEO of YMCA South Devon, who provides Alternative Education for children & young people that can’t access full time mainstream education and also a very busy nursery for babies to pre-school age children. Maria has worked in many different settings with children & young people for over 20 years and strongly believes everyone has a right to quality education and that it is our duty as professionals to make it accessible for them regardless of any disadvantages they might face.
The Trustees can be contacted through:
Karen Barnett, Clerk to the Trustees,
c/o Learning Academy Partnership,
Suite 4 Zealley House,
Greenhill Way,
Kingsteignton,
TQ12 3SB
Email: clerk@lapsw.org
Our Board of Trustees are looking to strengthen and expand the Trust family of schools and is currently restructuring governance to meet the changing landscape as the Trust grows.
The Board of Trustees are open to an ongoing review of governance to ensure that it retains and grows a high level skill base and highly effective governance in order that it continues to increase its capacity to support the growth of the Trust.
The Board of Trustees actively seek new members to the current board. This is a voluntary role.
