Our Governance
As prescribed in our funding agreement with the Department of Education and in our Articles of Association, The Board of Trustees of Schoolsworks Academy Trust are its trustees and the governors of all our schools. The company members are the custodians of the overall vision of the Trust and their roles and responsibilities are also set out the Articles.
Schoolsworks' organisational chart can be found here.
Our Members
Role of the Company Members
The key roles of the Company Members of the Trust are determined by the Trust’s Articles of Association and include the following:
- The removal of any of the Trustees
- Amendments to the Articles of Association when and if required
- Changes to the name of the Trust
While in strict company law terms, the role of the Company Members are limited, through these specific roles, and in particular with regard to the powers to appoint and remove Trustees, the Company Members are seen as the guardians of the vision and mission of the Trust: if they are concerned about the direction of the Trust, then they have the ability to exercise their powers to remove members of the Board of Trustees. They will meet at least once a year, usually in January, to receive the Annual Report and audited accounts from the Directors and to appoint the auditors.
Margaret Allen
Roy Blackwell
Roy Blackwell started his working life as a teacher, after which he became Education Officer for a Local Authority before spending ten years in the civil service which led to him travelling around Europe negotiating bi-lateral and multi-lateral treaties for HM Government.
Between 1999 and 2019, Roy was Clerk to the United Westminster Schools/Grey Coat Hospital Foundation, an ancient (1594) charity which has strong links with Westminster Abbey. He was also Clerk to the governing bodies of the schools which make up the Foundation, an unusual mixture of independent and state schools, the latter being inner city academies. From January 2020 and May 20222, he was interim CEO of the Challenger Multi Academy Trust which had primary and secondary schools in Bedford and Essex.
He is currently Chair of the VOCES8 Foundation, a charity dedicated to music education; a Director of the City of London’s Academy Trust; Vice Chair of the City of London Academy Trust; and Chair of Governors of Highgate Hill Academy. He was also an inaugural member of the City of London’s Education Board; chaired the Independent Schools Pension Scheme committee and was a board member of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme. He is Vice Chair of the Confederation of School Trusts and represented it on the Independent and State School
Partnership group. He joined the board of BrainCanDo, a charity which is looking at how neurological research can improve teaching and learning, in 2020.
He was Master of the Worshipful Company of Educators for the year 2021/22 and joined the governing body of Chelsea Academy in September 2022.
Adam Hackett
Adam is also Trustee of Schoolsworks Academy Trust, having been appointed in December 2016.
Adam is Chair of P3 (People, Potential , Possibilities) and Rugby Portobello Trust, the national Social Inclusion charity, whose mission is to improves lives and communities by delivering services for socially excluded and vulnerable people to unlock their potential and open new possibilities.
Adam is also a business mentor with Kilfinan Group and has founded three successful sales and service businesses. He has forty five years experience of managing capable and creative people and with a record of driving outstanding results.
He is a passionate supporter of young people of all ages and is married with two grown-up sons
Elliot Hirons | Trustee
Elliot is a Lt Col in The Parachute Regiment, having served for over a decade.
He has extensive experience in Leadership and Management, Operational and Strategic planning, and risk management. He has also spent a large portion of his career in the training and development field.
Elliot is married, with a 7 year old son and is a parent at Downsbrook Primary School
Nicholas Henton
Nick has worked in a number of posts in staff development and as a trainer in the FMCG sector. Nick was co-chair of governors at Edward Bryant School when Schoolsworks was founded in 2012 and served a term of office as the inaugural chair of the board.
Ian Wood
Ian Wood is a chartered management accountant and a Member of the Institute of Directors. He has over 20 years experience within the regulated financial services industry with particular focus on insurance and law sectors.
He has over a decade's experience as an executive and non executive board member ranging from start up to multinational corporations and has led the delivery of growth strategies, organisational change management and governance programmes.
As well as running a local consultancy business, a Non Executive Director for a Brighton based start up, he is also CEO for a London based Healthcare Insurance company.
Our Trustees
Schoolsworks is primarily governed by a Board of Trustees, who are also the trustees and the governors of our schools. They bring together a range of skills and experience from within and around the education sector.
A full organisational chart including the Board, committees and local governance structures can be viewed here.
Norman Rose | Chair of the Board
Norman Rose is an experienced solicitor with a particular interest in corporate governance in non-profit organisations.
One of Norman’s personal interests is vocational education and training where, from 1998 to 2010, he was an active participant in developing and implementing government policy.
In December 2016 he was appointed a non-executive director of Schoolsworks, and Chair of the Board in September 2020.
Amanda Blackburn |Trustee
Amanda Blackburn is an Executive Headteacher of two primary schools in the Southwark Diocesan Board of Education Multi Academy Trust.
Amanda has a keen interest in professional development for staff at all levels and leads on training for middle leaders as a Delivery Partner for the revised NPQs with the Church of England. She is an advocate for inclusive practice, restorative approaches to behaviour and achievement and opportunities for all.
Kate Bunyan|Trustee
Kate is a medical doctor by training with nearly 15 years of clinical leadership experience across the NHS, large multinational organisations, and innovative healthcare sectors. Her expertise spans clinical practice, public health management, and healthcare innovation, with a focus on transforming healthcare systems to improve health for all. Kate brings a deep understanding of the intersection between governance, safety, and commercial growth. She understands the vital role education plays in improving outcomes for individuals and communities and is driven by her passion to see this happen.
Dave Hollick|Trustee
Dave's career has mostly consisted of lT contracting until 2008 when he moved into leadership. He considers himself a true engineer, by which he means he is an analyst, problem solver and solution creator. He has have multiple patents to his name. He plays Piano (Grade 8) and Violin (Grade 7) and played in regional youth orchestras as a teenager. He loves photography, but his biggest love is writing where he has multiple writing projects on the go and is trying to get around to finding an agent. Dave has travelled extensively with his partner, not just holidaying, but having lived in the Bahamas, Greece, Cyprus and Spain for extended periods of time. He truly believes that travel broadens one's perspective, and teaches us we are all one people.
Amy Kensett | Trustee
Amy is a Chartered Certified Accountant with over 20 years experience and is a senior team member of a firm of Accountants in Waterlooville. She has a broad range of practice experience, with a specialism of accounts and audit for the charity and not-for-profit sector.
Amy has a keen interest in education and was a parent at Medmerry Primary School before her daughter made the move up to year 7 in 2023. She also has a little boy who will attend the school when the time comes.
Kevin Parkin |Trustee
Kevin attained an MBA from Warwick University and has over twenty years' experience in running and transforming complex businesses and their operations, within the public sector and the financial services industry. He has lived in West Sussex for 15 years and has a child currently in primary education. He is a huge believer in the importance of education in the development of young people and loves to see the send of joy and excitement in the faces of children as they discover new things and develop and deep intellectual curiosity.
Stephen Shute|Trustee
Most of Stephen's life has been spent in Higher Education. Across 35 years he has been employed by three major UK universities: Oxford, Birmingham, and Sussex. Stephen has worked at Board level at two of these institutions and has a track record of delivering institutional change and improvement. From 2014 until the end of 2021, he was Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Planning and Resources) at the University of Sussex. Before moving to the University of Sussex, he was Dean of Arts and Social Sciences and then Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of Birmingham. Externally, Stephen has worked on and with many national and international decision-making bodies, including appointments by governmental ministers such as Inaugural Chair of the Crime Statistics Advisory Committee from 2011 to 2015 and a Founding Member of the Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody from 2009 to 2014. Stephen is currently the Professor of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice at the University of Sussex in Brighton.
David Tow | Trustee
Working in education for the past 22 years, David has lead inspirational change in his own schools and groups of schools working closely together. Passionate about local schools being able to provide the best education for all children David pursues education that provides children with life choices and better life chances.
Throughout his career, David has developed a special interest in school finance, safeguarding, and bringing about strategic institutional change in teams of professionals and community stakeholders. His involvement in the Schoolsworks Trust is based around a desire to act altruistically for local schools in his local community.
Executive Directors
Cathy Williams, Chief Executive Officer sits on the Board of Trustees
Our Schools on the map