Clare Banks; Member, chair of the Board (Leads on standards, IT, compliance and staffing – including performance management)

Clare brings a rich experience and broad skill set to her role as Chair of the Trust. Clare brings a wealth of knowledge about governance to her role, having   previously been the Chair of Governors at Vaynor.

Clare works as the Head of Technology and Business Change for the Facilities Management Division of a large multinational company and has lots of experience in project management, assurance and governance which assists her in supporting and challenging the Trust in the quest for delivering the best possible learning for children.

Clare meets regularly with the CEO and so has an excellent understanding and knowledge of the Trust. She leads on questioning on data outcomes and has a robust understanding of standards across the MAT and for individual schools alongside a fearsome intellect on all things IT!

Paul Skuce; Member

After leaving Bishop Barrington Comprehensive School, Paul started his 30+year civil service career in the National Savings and Investment Department in Durham as an Administrative Assistant. During the early 90s he transferred to the Department for Education where he worked in various roles over the years; gaining a number of promotions towards being appointed a G7 Team Leader in 2010.

Paul is a qualified Accounting Technician and has used his financial skills in numerous roles throughout his civil service career (in one role being responsible for a budget in excess of £500m). 

Paul is also a Project Manager.  In this role, Paul provided advice and training to all Project Managers in the Commercial Division of the DfE, whilst one of his other roles, was Portfolio Manager; responsible for all change projects in the Commercial Division of the DfE.

For four years, Paul also fulfilled the role of Secretary to the Chief Schools Adjudicator.  Here Paul used his excellent interpersonal skills to manage the service and ensure the Adjudicator Service provided an excellent impartial service to the Secretary of State. 

Paul joined the Academy Division in 2010 and was responsible for providing advice and guidance to the Regional Schools Commissioner on all aspects of education provision in three local authorities. 

Paul is an expert in education governance, greatly experienced in finance, change management and project management and is highly regarded by his colleagues and peers and provides excellent service in his current role as a self-employed educational and project/change management consultant.

Margaret James; Corporate Member on behalf of WDAT

Margaret James is the Director of Education for the Diocese of Worcester, overseeing Church of England education in Worcestershire and Dudley. She has had a 30 year career in primary and middle school education and leadership, working in both community and church schools in England. She spent three years working for South Gloucestershire local authority as an adviser for religious education, a role which involved working with all phases of education and representing the local authority on the Standing Advisory Committee for Religious Education (SACRE). She is a Statutory Inspector of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) and has worked as a SIAMS Manager for the Dioceses of Gloucester and Worcester. Her SIAMS work extends to involvement at a national level as a trainer of new inspectors and quality assurance inspector. She is in the final stages of completing a Doctorate in Education. Margaret is a Trustee of the Diocese of Worcester Multi Academy Trust (DoWMAT) and represents the Worcester Diocesan Academies Trust (WDAT) as a Member of several multi academy trusts in Worcestershire and Dudley.

Pete Baker; Member, (Leads on health and safety) 

Pete joined the governing body of Crabbs Cross in 2010 and was elected as Vice Chair in 2014. During this time, Pete was a very active Member of the local governing body having link roles in PE, eSafety and as the named Safeguarding Governor.

Pete was also a Director of the Trust for a number of years, bringing the expertise he had developed over his years as a Governors to the role. 

Following the Grenfell disaster a heavy work commitment took Pete away from the Trust for a while but we persuaded him to join us at the highest level of governance as a Member, a position we were delighted he agreed to take up in Autumn 2017. 

Pete is a retired fire officer from Hereford and Worcester Fire & Rescue Service having served a good proportion of his career based at the Redditch Fire Station. Since retiring from the Fire Service he has developed a career in H&S and is currently working as a Safety & Risk Manager.  

Pete brings a wealth of knowledge to the Trust and is particularly valued for his expertise on all matters relating to health and safety, compliance and buildings. Alongside this though, Pete brings a forensic attitude to data analysis and has a thorough grasp of standards across the MAT and in individual schools, asking pertinent questions around prioritisation of resources based on need and crucially asking the “so what?” questions around the impact of actions taken to address challenges

Clare Skinner; Member (Leads on business operations) 

Clare was a parent governor at CCA for nearly five years and served as Chair from September 2015 – December 2017 when unfortunately work commitments took her away from the local governing body. During her tenure as Chair and Director of the Trust, she was an active and valued participant bringing her knowledge of business management within a MAT to the table. It was with huge regret that we accepted her resignation.

However, we were delighted when she agreed to join the highest level of Governance as a Member 

Clare brings considerable knowledge and expertise of running the business side of a MAT to her role, as she is employed as a Business Manager at a MAT in Birmingham.  Prior to a number of roles within the Academy system Clare had 15 years in banking and retail. 

Clare is a really good example of a “critical friend” asking the challenging questions in a wholly constructive way. She is incredibly knowledgeable and has been an asset to the MAT during a period of change and transition.

Jon Hughes; Director, Vice Chair of the Board; chair of Governors at Crabbs Cross Academy (Director leading on HR matters)

Jon joined the governing body of CCA in 2014 as a Parent Governor.

He is an Operations Manager for a local Health & Safety and Employment Law company. His day to day profession involves constantly analysing data and working on ways to make improvements, whilst generating new ideas, with the need to have good all-round business acumen. These skill-sets align well to being a governor and Director.

Jon stepped up to Chair of Governors in January 2018 and took a seat on the board; he is an active participant and brings a thorough and considered analysis to decision making. His particular expertise in health and safety at this level of governance is an asset as is his measured, thoughtful and considered approach to matters around HR such as staffing. 

Jon’s analysis of data is also a particular strength and he has an excellent understanding of standards across the Trust and in individual schools. He asks the critical questions in a positive way and always keeps the impact question at the forefront of his thinking.

Laura Bromberg; Director (Leading on school improvement and well-being)

Laura is a new Director and brings an impressive range of knowledge, skills and expertise to the board. A former Head teacher, Local Authority Adviser and CEO of a school improvement consultancy company, Laura is currently Deputy CEO of the Achievement for All Education Trust.  Laura has first-hand knowledge of working with many agencies including charities. 

Julie Greenwood

Following retirement from the post of Head Teacher of a primary school near Malvern, Julie joined the trust in the Autumn of 2020.

Julie has worked in all areas of primary education since graduating from university and has worked for a number of different local authorities.

Since 1993, Julie has been involved with several different school governing bodies as a parent, staff representative and as Head Teacher.

As a new Head, Julie led her local authority school into a newly formed Multi Academy Trust and worked closely with her fellow Heads to support the new MAT in setting its ethos and future direction.

Alongside joining the Endeavour Trust as a director, Julie has taken on the role of foundation governor at a local church school.

Lorna Young (Leading on HR and Safeguarding)

Lorna has a long experiene of working in HR with the majority of her career in the public sector, 15 years of which specifically in schools advising at senior level within two different local authorities.  She is a member of the Vaynor First School Local Governing Body.

Oliver Kinbrum (Leading on Finance)

Oliver is a qualified chartered and certified accountany and Assistant Manager in an Accountancy Practice having experience in both profit and not for profit sectors.  He previously sat on the board of an independent school.

Charlotte Taylor (Leading on Corporate Governance and Health and Safety) 

Charlotte brings a vast experience of company secretary responsibilities in private and not for profit sectors.  She has been a Data Protection Officer and led a Health and Safety Department. 

Nicki Wright, Executive Head/CEO, Accounting Officer for the Trust, Ex Officio Director

 In 2009, following  seven years   of successful headship in inner city Birmingham, Nicki moved to Worcestershire to take up a post in the school improvement team before joining the Redditch West School Trust in October 2016.  During that time she worked with a range of schools across the LA and has significant experience in supporting schools in challenging circumstances. She is also an accredited School Improvement Partner (SIP), Achievement for All Coach and KS1 / 2 Moderator. 

Nicki is a highly motivated person who is deeply committed to promoting high quality education for all learners in an environment where both they, and the staff around them thrive.  

She brings her knowledge of the local authority to her role as School Improvement Lead, capitalising on and strengthening further a range of existing partnerships. 

The Venerable Paul Taylor, WDAT Foundation Trustee 

Paul retired to Redditch in 2018 from Dorset and the Diocese of Salisbury, where he had been Archdeacon of Sherborne for 14 years. Prior to being appointed archdeacon he had been a parish priest in North London for the previous 20 years. Paul has considerable experience in education having been a governor, and Chair of Governors of several Primary and Secondary Schools. He has also served on the London Borough of Enfield Education Committee, on the Borough of Barnet Scrutiny and Schools’ Organisation committees, and as CofE lead on the Enfield SACRE. He has had considerable experience in RE, serving as a member of Enfield’s RE Agreed Syllabus’s Conference, and prior to ordination as Head of RE in a Secondary School. 

Paul has many recreational interests including golf (he is Senior Vice-Captain elect of Redditch GC and Captain of the CofE golf team); rugby (a keen Saracens supporter), football (Arsenal); fellwalking; choral conducting and playing the organ and piano.