Jeremy Lloyd : Chair of Members

Jeremy Lloyd

Chair of Members

Jeremy has in the past been a parent governor at Severndale and then in 2014 an Academy Member and Trustee and has been associated with Severndale for 20 years. He has served on many of the main committees which gives him a good understanding of how Severndale Academy works.

He has been working in the Corporate Finance industry for over 35 years and therefore has a strong finance background. Jeremy’s spare time is spent with his family and as a season ticket holder at Shrewsbury Town Football Club.

Lyn Hough : Member

Lyn Hough

Member

Lyn spent her working life teaching in Liverpool and Telford. As well as teaching food technology she was a Head of Year and a staff governor. She has been involved with the governance of Severndale for over 20 years and was an original signatory when the school became a single Academy Trust.

Carla Howarth : Member

Carla Howarth

Member

Carla was delighted to be asked to join the Severndale Board as a Member as she has long since admired the school which she believes is a credit to the children it serves and the County of Shropshire within which it operates.

She has been involved in school governance since 2014 and very much enjoyed the interaction, contribution and insight, which the role involves. Coming from a legal background and currently being involved in professional training at various levels, in the compliance and financial crime fields, she hopes that her experience can bring a different dimension to the governance of Severndale.

Melanie Auden : Trustee

Melanie Auden

Trustee

Melanie became a proud Trustee of Severndale Specialist Academy in January 2020.  Having worked in Learning & Development all her professional life, she is passionate about working collaboratively to ensure everyone has an opportunity and the support they need to achieve their full potential. With a desire to both support and challenge, she is focused on working with the leadership team to achieve this for the entire Severndale community.

Louise Burns : Trustee and Chair of Finance, Audit and Personnel Committee and Chair of Salaries Committee

Louise Burns

Trustee and Chair of Finance, Audit and Personnel Committee and Chair of Salaries Committee

Louise is part of the leadership team in a large international company where she heads up strategic communications and focuses on social and environmental projects as well as mentoring young talent. As a parent of four children, Louise has carried out various community roles and built an understanding of how the education system operates and the challenges facing schools. She is particularly interested in building stronger ties with businesses for jobs for our students in the future.

John Hitchings : Vice Chair of Trustees and Chair of Health, Safety and Safeguarding Committee

John Hitchings

Vice Chair of Trustees and Chair of Health, Safety and Safeguarding Committee

John has served as a school governor in the Primary sector for over 30 years. His interest in Severndale has developed as a result of his involvement with the local Schools Forum, of which he is Vice Chair.

He worked until his retirement as a Scientist and then Manager within the Water Supply function of Severn Trent Water. John then served as a member of the Lay Judiciary on Employment Tribunals for 12 years. During his working life, he was also involved in Trade Union activities with Unison at local, regional and national levels.

John’s current major hobby is the complete renovation of a country cottage. His wife is a retired Primary Teacher, two of his daughters are Secondary Teachers and his third daughter is a Police Officer.

Lyn Hough : Chair of Trustees

Lyn Hough

Chair of Trustees

Lyn has been a parent governor at Severndale and then in 2014 an Academy Member and Trustee. She retired from teaching in 2015 which enabled her to give more time to her role as Chair of Trustees.

Lyn has served on all the main committees which has given her an insight into the way Severndale Academy works. Her professional knowledge of teaching and learning has also enhanced her ability to carry out the role of Trustee in an effective manner.

Lyn has completed up to date training on PREVENT, Looked After Children and Safeguarding. She is the Academy’s nominated Trustee for Safeguarding.

In her spare time, Lyn enjoys reading, cooking and she is a season ticket holder at Shrewsbury Town Football Club.

Ann Jones : Trustee and Chair of Standards and Curriculum Committee

Ann Jones

Trustee and Chair of Standards and Curriculum Committee

Ann uses her skills and knowledge as a Secondary School Teacher to serve as a Trustee. The specialisms in her Post-graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) were Languages and Special Needs.

She has served as a Teacher Governor in a school in Surrey and has completed the Induction Training for New Governors. She is Chair of the Standards and Curriculum Committee as well as a member of the Finance, Audit and Personnel Committee and the Salaries Committee.

In her spare time Ann enjoys horse riding and is involved in the Rea Valley Riding for the Disabled group, leading disabled riders in weekly sessions to develop their confidence and co ordination. She also enjoys cycling, travelling and using her language skills.

Karen Mitchell : Trustee

Karen Mitchell

Trustee

Karen has been working in the area of Special Educational Needs for over 20 years. She has three children with learning difficulties, ranging from Dyslexia to Autistic Spectrum; all are now adults and doing well in their own field of work. Karen is a specialist teacher and assessor and is passionate about supporting those children and adults who have a learning difference and hopes her skills will help support Severndale in their excellent work.

Verity Nettleton : Trustee

Verity Nettleton

Trustee

Verity is passionate about helping children and their families to maximise their key life skills to help them get the most out of their lives. As a Severndale parent she appreciates the challenges that parents face and would like to bring this perspective, among others, to the work of the Board of Trustees. She also appreciates the importance of governance in the role of being a Trustee.

She has been involved in local business for many years in areas including finance, Human Resources and marketing. She is in full support of the Academy’s mission around inclusion at every age, stage of development, and level of ability and feels she will make a valuable contribution to achieving this.

Sarah Russell : Trustee

Sarah Russell

Trustee

Sarah is the Teacher Trustee for the Academy. She started working at the original school, Katherine Elliot, in 1990 and has seen many positive changes since that time.

She has taught children in Nursery, Reception, Lower Primary, Upper Primary and the Secondary Phases in Severndale as well as supporting schools across the county as a Severndale Outreach teacher. She has thus had the experience of watching pupils grow and develop in their journey through the Academy, from transition to a mainstream setting at Mary Webb in Pontesbury, and the Sixth form, Futures, at Shrewsbury College. Sarah has also enjoyed meeting ex-students as young adults living in the local community.

The Role of the Members

The Members of the Trust are guardians of the Trust and as such have a different role from the Trustees. The Members appoint Trustees to ensure that the Trust’s charitable object is carried out, and have the authority to remove Trustees if they fail to fulfil this responsibility.  Members are also responsible for approving any amendments made to the Trust’s Articles of Association.

Trustees Interests

Interests of Trustees PDF >

Board of Trustees

In our role as Trustees, we work towards the vision and aims of the Academy. We work at a senior strategic level but it is the staff of the Academy that put the plans into practice. Trustees act in the best interest of the students and we work as a team not a collection of individuals or groups with separate agendas.

We have three main functions as Trustees

  • Making sure the vision, ethos and strategic direction of the Academy is clear. We work with the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) to set priorities and targets for the Academy. We offer constructive criticism and an independent view.
  • It is important that we monitor the Academy’s performance – we look at data and agree outcomes from self-evaluation and we make sure they are used in the Academy’s improvement plan. We ensure SLT have developed the required policies and procedures. We listen to and report to all the Academy’s stakeholders.
  • Our third priority is monitoring finance.  We make sure that resources are allocated in line with our priorities and that we achieve best value for money.

Our Board of Trustees get to know the Academy by visiting during the day, attending meetings and reading all the relevant papers beforehand. We have a Board of Trustees’ Code of Conduct which includes acting in strict confidence. The Trustees meet once a term for a full meeting of the Board and each main committee also meets at least once a term.

The main committees are: –

  • Finance, Audit and Personnel
  • Standards and Curriculum
  • Health, Safety and Safeguarding

Details of Trustees >

Details of Meetings attended >

For more information on the Governance, please contact Kathy Turner, the Clerk to the Trustees, on 01743 563287 or at kathleen.turner@severndaleacademy.co.uk


Please see below statutory information regarding Governance.

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