SNE Event

Les Walton CBE

Founder & Chair, Association of Education Advisers

Les Walton has a unique record of being a successful leader and innovator within most education sectors. 

As Headteacher, his school was identified by HMI as ‘one of the most successful urban schools in the country’. In his time as Director of Education the Council achieved Beacon Status for ‘tackling school failure’. All its schools were deemed successful by Ofsted. He was subsequently asked by the DfE to lead interventions into failing Local Education Authorities. Les led the merger of a Sixth Form College and an  FE College to create Tyne Metropolitan College,  the process of which was described as ‘exemplary’ by the DfE. The success rates moved from bottom to top quartile during the merger period.

Les was first invited to No. 10 to advise Prime Minister, John Major on the establishment of Ofsted. During Tony Blair’s time in office, he was involved in numerous New Labour Government education initiatives. Later, Les was appointed by Secretary of State, Ed Balls, to lead and establish the Young People’s Learning Agency. Secretary of State, Michael Gove, then asked Les to support the establishment of the Education Funding Agency and chair the Advisory Group. Both Boards have been widely recognised as setting high standards for governance and effectiveness.

Les has a track record of education innovation. He has instigated and founded a number of influential and successful education organisations, including Northern Education Associates, Schools North East, the Northern Education Trust (NET) and the Association of Education Advisers (AoEA). AoEA has established a presence across the UK and globally including the USA and the UAE.

He is Visiting Professor at Sunderland University where he received an Honorary Doctorate.  He has been recognised for his work through being awarded the Order of British Empire in 1996 and Commander of the British Empire in 2013.

Chris Zarraga

Director, Schools North East

Chris has been part of the Schools North East team since its inception in 2007 and in 2019 he was appointed Director.

Chris works with other leaders across the North East, the education sector and charity sector to represent the voice of North East schools, and lobby policy makers to ensure that the North East is not left behind when it comes to education policy. Chris has overseen the launch of the Ednorth evidence-based excellence programme, as well as the partnership with SHINE bringing over £500,000 worth of funding to North East schools.

Under Chris, Schools North East has moved to a greater focus on lobbying around education policy, with the launch of the Manifesto for North East Education in December 2019. As well as being a trustee of a local MAT, Chris sits on various boards including the board for Opportunity North East. Prior to joining Schools North East, Chris worked with over 165 schools in the North East and various education organisations including local authorities, Excellence Partnerships, 14-19 Groups, the Specialist Schools & Academies Trust, and School Improvement Officers. He led a large scale culture change project in education across the North East and was the development consultant for the LEGI funded Wansbeck Enterprise Education Network.