The Board of Trustees of EPA are the legal governors and trustees of the Trust and the Directors of the company.

The Trust central executive delivers the strategy of the Board of Trustees and provides leadership and central support to the schools in the Trust, under the direction of the Chief Executive Officer.

The Trust is overseen by its Board of Trustees.

The Chair of the Board of Trustees is Julian Soanes. He can be contacted by email or by writing to the Chair of the Board of Trustees, EPA Trust, Witney Road, Eynsham, Oxon, OX29 4AP.

Julian Soanes 

Term: First appointed 07/03/19 Current Term: 07/03/23 - 06/03/27

Roles/Committees: Chair of Directors, Audit and Pay Committee

Julian is a Foundation Director and the CEO and Founder of a Global automotive engineering company specialising in electric and autonomous vehicles. The business is in both Oxford, UK and San Jose, California with outlets in both China and India. Julian was appointed to the Board of Directors in 2019 and had previously served as a primary school governor for over 8 years.

 

Anne Carter

Term: First appointed 07/04/14 Current term: 01/05/23 - 30/04/27

Roles/Committees: Safeguarding Trustee, Finance and Resources

Anne is a Foundation Director and has been a Trustee since EPA (Eynsham Partnership Academy) was founded in 2014. She used to teach KS2 and later was a Homelessness Officer for West Oxfordshire. She is also a trustee of ADHD Oxfordshire and on the Advisory Board for the EPA Early Intervention Hub. Anne is a diocesan (Church) appointed trustee on the EPA board. She now works for Citizens Advice and is the Environmental Lead for Standlake Church.

 

Dr. Jennifer Faulkner

Term: First Appointed 25/09/19 Current term: 25/09/23 - 24/09/27

Roles/Committees: Chair of Standards Committee

Jenny is a Member Appointed Director is the Chair of the Standards Committee of the main Board.  She is an experienced Chair of Governors having been both a Chair of a Secondary School in Bolton and the Chair of Stanton Harcourt Primary School for EPA, where she recently led the school through its ‘Good’ Ofsted Inspection.  Jenny has also previously been a governor at Bartholomew School where she led the Achievement Committee.  She has a strong and unique understanding of governance at both primary and secondary levels and how this is such an important part of building great schools.

Jenny is a Lecturer in Chemistry at The Queen’s College, University of Oxford and supports the Open University, having a real commitment to education in the widest sense.  She has previously worked on Aim Higher initiatives looking specifically at supporting diversity in those reaching the highest levels of achievement and progression.   She is a parent with children at EPA schools and, despite her many commitments, is also helping us with the development of our 5-Year Strategic Plan of which Science will be a key part.

 

Jane Osborne

Term: First Appointed: 07/04/14 Current term: 01/05/23 - 30/04/27

Role/Committee: Member of Standards Committee

Jane is a Member Appointed Director and has also been a governor of Bartholomew School for more than twenty years, including seeing the school through two inspections as chair of governors. A longstanding resident of Eynsham, she has experienced both the primary and secondary school as a parent and governor. She has taught at secondary level, including leadership roles, in Scotland, England and Germany where she was also involved in secondary teacher training.

 

Michael Ryan

Term: First appointed 07/04/14 Current Term 01/05/21 - 30/04/25

Role/ Committee: Vice-Chair of Directors, Member of Finance and Resources Committee 

Michael is a Member Appointed Director of and Vice-Chair of the Trust Board. Michael also previously served on the Board of Governors for Bartholomew School. For twenty years, Michael worked in clinical biochemistry within the pathology departments at the Radcliffe Infirmary and Luton and Dunstable Hospitals. He then left the NHS and subsequently managed a family firm, a specialist contractor within the construction industry, as joint MD, and finance director.

 

Tony Wilson

Term: First Appointed: 24/09/19 Current term: 24/09/23 - 23/09/27

Role/Committee: Member of Standards Committee

Tony is the Director of Education for The Diocese of Oxford, overseeing 285 schools across Oxfordshire, Berkshire, and Buckinghamshire. He possesses extensive headship experience, including providing intervention for schools in challenging circumstances, as well as leading a school designated as outstanding. In addition, Tony has international school improvement and system leadership experience gained from his role for four years as Principal Education Consultant in The Kingdom of Bahrain. During this time, Tony developed an intervention programme for primary schools to ensure rapid improvement as part of a 'Challenge Programme'. This had a demonstrable impact on the country's standing in relation to the PISA and PRL tests. Tony is a Foundation Director.

 

Simon Morrell

Term: 15/09/21 - 14/09/25

Role/Committee: Chair of Audit Committee

Simon joined the Board in September 2021 as a Foundation Director, and he is the Chair of the Audit Committee of the main Trust Board. He had previously worked as Chair of Governors at Heyford Park School and worked with EPA on the transfer of that school to the EPA in 2020.

Simon studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge University but left that behind to train as a Chartered Accountant (ICAEW) with Grant Thornton. Having spent time in audit and then in a training role, he joined the Dorchester Group, a housing developer at Heyford Park, in 2016. There he manages the property estate from an operational and financial perspective as Estates Financial Controller.

Simon brings his Dorchester experience to the EPA Board working strategically on developing new school sites and bringing a new school into operation, working with the local developer, council, and the RSC. As a committed Christian at a CofE church, Simon is also a Foundation Trustee for the diocese.  

 

Lindsay Nadin

Term: 01/11/23 - 31/10/27

Role/Committee: Member of the Standards Committee

Lindsay was appointed as a Trustee in November 2023. Lindsay is a Director for Pearson, a global education company, responsible for primary school teaching, learning and assessment services. She also leads on digital innovation across all phases of school education, including exploring the role of Generative Artificial Intelligence in education. Lindsay is chair of the Educational Publishers' Council, an industry body that works with government and other stakeholders to support the work of this publishing sector.

Lindsay has a long record of school governance, most recently as Chair of Governors at Hanborough Manor, supporting the school through its recent 'Good' Ofsted inspection.

 

Jane Johnson

Lead Governance Professional – EPA Trust

Employment from 01/09/2022

Jane joined the Eynsham Partnership Academy in September 2022 and is an experienced Governance Professional working across several Academy Trusts in the Oxfordshire County. She also has experience as a governor in a small primary school in West Oxfordshire and as a Trustee of a Company Pension Scheme. A lifelong linguist, whose language skills in German, Spanish and French led to a successful career in international academic library supply, Jane initially worked for Blackwell’s Library Services for 20 years after graduating and then moved to Bertram's Books. In 2014, Jane was appointed MD of Dawson Books - one of the pioneering companies at the time in eBook solutions for academic libraries.

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