The Schools North East Governance team is made up of Trustees as well as an Advisory Board & School Business Management Council. Learn more here.
Trustees
The Board of Trustees provides guidance on the Charity’s activities and is responsible for its governance with overall legal responsibility for the Charity, its financial sustainability, and its strategic direction. Trustees are elected by Partner Schools, with further Trustees co-opted to add specific expertise where required. In a time when ever-increasing demands on our schools can be a barrier to collaboration, the role of the Trustee Board is to ensure that Schools North East meets and responds dynamically to the needs of North East schools and the children and young people they serve, now and in the future.
Advisory Board & School Business Management Council
Advisory Board
A representative group of Head Teachers and CEOs from across the region providing guidance on the Charity’s activities, ensuring Schools North East meets and responds dynamically to the to the needs of the region’s schools and the children and young people they serve.
The Board aims to:
- Enable Head Teachers from across the North East to meet, share intelligence with each other, and create an accurate picture of the current regional situation
- Help to develop the powerful voice of Schools North East by identifying likely future local and national trends, potential opportunities, responses to legislation, DfE, Government, and national initiatives
- Inform the agenda for local and regional support activities to ensure that they accurately match the needs of North East schools, helping to facilitate area-bespoke support for each local area/ network
School Business Management Council
A representative group of School Business Professionals from across the region founded in 2013 to build upon the existing local SBM networks, and provide a platform in every type and phase of school in the region.
The Council aims to:
- Enable colleagues from across the region to meet and share intelligence and Best Practice with each other and their local networks
- Develop a powerful voice for the North East’s SBPs and raise their profile with Head Teachers to ensure they fully understand the contribution that SBPs make to North East schools
- Provide local and regional support, bespoke to each local area/network
Sunderland
Advisory Board Members
| Name | Type | School | Role |
| Claire Smith | Primary | Vision Learning Trust | CEO |
| Ailsa Taylor | Primary | Oak Learning Trust | CEO |
| Sarah Dixon-Jones | Nursery/Early Years | Houghton Community Nursery School & Mill Hill Nursery School | Head Teacher |
| Joanne Maw | Secondary & Sixth Form | Aspire North East Multi Academy Trust | CEO |
| Paula Hegarty | Secondary | Excelsior Academy | Head Teacher |
| Cathy Westgate | Primary | Hudson Road Primary School | Head Teacher |
| Graham Stephenson | Primary | Aim High Academy Trust | CEO |
School Business Management Council
| Name | Type | School | Role |
| Sarah Chapman | Primary | Balmoral Learning Trust | Director of Finance and Operations |
| Emma Swansbury | Primary & Secondary | Laidlaw Schools Trust | Finance Business Partner |
| Hayley Swinhoe | Primary & Secondary | Northern Lights Learning Trust | CFO |
| Elliot Stirk | Primary | Exotl Trust | CFO |
| Lisa Charlton | Primary | Wise Academies | Health & Safety and Estates Manager |
Stockton
Advisory Board Members
| Name | Type | School | Role |
| Julia Armstrong | Primary | Price Regent Street Trust | CEO |
| Louise Spellman | Secondary | Vision 1590 Trust | CEO |
School Business Management Council
| Name | Type | School | Role |
| Ryan Powner | Primary | Prince Regent Street Trust | CFOO |
Darlington
Advisory Board Members
| Name | Type | School | |
| Stuart McGhee | Primary & Secondary | Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust | CEO |
School Business Management Council
| Name | Type | School | Role |
| Angela Taylor | Primary | Mowden Schools Academy Trust | School Business Manager |
| Sarah Jones | Secondary | Northern Arch Learning Partnership | Business Operations Manager |
| Lisa Marron | Secondary | Northern Arch Learning Partnership | COO |
South Tyneside
Advisory Board Members
| Name | Type | School | Role |
| Brendan Tapping | Primary & Secondary | Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust | CEO |
| Gemma Jeynes | Primary | Mosaic Federation | Executive Head Teacher |
School Business Management Council
| Name | Type | School | Role |
| Alexis Thurkettle | Primary | Jarrow Cross CofE Primary School | Office Manager |
| Victoria Henry | Secondary | St Josephs Catholic Academy | School Business Manager |
Redcar & Cleveland
Advisory Board Members
| Name | Type | School | Role |
| Carl Faulkner | Primary | Ironstone Academy Trust | CEO |
School Business Management Council
Vacancy
Northumberland
Advisory Board Members
| Name | Type | School | Role |
| John Barnes | Primary & Secondary | Seaton Valley Federation | Executive Head/CEO |
| James Wilson Alan Rogers | Secondary | Duchess’s High School | Co-Head Teachers |
| Susie Drake | Primary | Haltwhistle Primary School | Head Teacher |
School Business Management Council
| Name | Type | School | Role |
| Dominique Flint | Primary & Secondary | Cheviot Learning Trust | HR Manager |
| Jennifer Marshall | Primary & Secondary | Cheviot Learning Trust | Head of Business and Finance |
North Tyneside
Advisory Board Members
| Name | Type | School | Role |
| Philip Sanderson | Primary & Secondary | King’s Priory School | Principal |
| Jill Shaw | Primary | New York Primary School | Head Teacher |
School Business Management Council
| Name | Type | School | Role |
| Gareth Edmunds | Primary & Secondary | Northern Education Trust | CFO |
Middlesbrough
Advisory Board Members
| Name | Type | School | Role |
| Hugh Hegarty | Primary & Secondary | Nicholas Postgate Catholic Academy trust | CEO |
| Phil Latham | Secondary | Endeavor Academies Trust | CEO |
| Katrina Morley | Primary & Special | Tees Valley Education | CEO |
School Business Management Council
| Name | Type | School | Role |
| Nikola Flint | Primary & Secondary | The Legacy Learning Trust | CFOO |
| Jackie Lowe | Primary and Secondary | The Legacy Learning Trust | Estates & Premises Manager |
| Maxine Bates | Primary | Whinney Banks Primary School | School Business Manager |
| Susan Robinson | Primary, Secondary & Special | Priory Woods | School Business Manager |
| Jim Farquhar | Primary & Secondary | Nicholas Postgate Catholic Academy Trust | CFO |
Hartlepool
Advisory Board Members
| Name | Type | School | Role |
| Mark Tilling | Secondary | High Tunstall College of Science | Head Teacher |
School Business Management Council
| Name | Type | School | Role |
| Sue Lister | Primary | Ad Astra Academy Trust | COO |
| Sarah Prestedge | Secondary | High Tunstall College of Science | Operations Manager |
Durham
School Business Management Council
| Name | Type | School | Role |
| Alison Jefferson | Special | Durham Trinity School & Sports College | Director of Resources |
| Gillian Pigott | Primary | Tudhoe Learning Trust | Director of Business, Finance and Development |
| Andy Collishaw | Primary & Secondary | New College Durham Academies Trust | COO |
| Gaynor Cuthbertson | Secondary | St Bedes Catholic School & Sixth Form College | School Business Manager |
Newcastle
Advisory Board
| Name | Type | School | |
| Paula Hegarty | Secondary | Excelsior Academy | Head Teacher |
| Rebecca Jackson | Primary | Cragside Primary School | Head Teacher |
| Julie Stuart | Primary | ONE Trust | CEO |
| David Lynch | Primary | Stocksfield Avenue Primary School | Head Teacher |
| Name | Type | School | Role |
| Claire McDonald | Primary | Simonside Primary School | School Business Manager |
| Lee Comstock | Primary | Throckley Primary School | School Business Manager |
| Lisa Bilton | Primary & Secondary | NEAT Academy Trust | Director of Business Services |
| June Renwick | Primary, Secondary & Special | Trinity Academy | Head of School Business |
Gateshead
Advisory Board
| Michelle O’Reilly | All through, Special | The Cedars Academy | Head Teacher |
School Business Management Council
| Name | Type | School | Role |
| Sarah Johnson | Primary, Special | Gibside School | School Business Manager |
| Alison Orton | Primary | Fell Dyke Primary School | School Business Manager |
| Louise Levy | Secondary | Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust | COO |
| Louise Doran | Secondary | Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy | School Business Manager |
