The New Schools Network is an independent organisation devoted to improving education.

 

Rachel Wolf – Director

Before she founded the New Schools Network, Rachel was an education adviser to the Conservative Party. She has also worked for Boris Johnson and the Institute of Education. She studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge and Economics at Birkbeck.

Trustees

Sir Geoffrey Owen

Sir Geoffrey is a former editor of the Financial Times and is a Senior Fellow at the London School of Economics.

Amanda Spielman

Amanda is part of the senior team at Absolute Return for Kids (ARK) – a multi-Academy sponsor. She is responsible for Research and Development.

Christine Homer

Christine was a consultant on Academies for the Department of Children, Schools and Families. She played a key role in getting sponsors involved in the Academy movement. She is currently working with the David Ross Foundation, and particularly with Havelock Academy.

Sir Bruce Liddington

Sir Bruce is the former Schools Commissioner for England, and is the Director General of EACT – an education foundation opening Academies across England. He is former head of Northampton School for Boys, whose performance he transformed, and held several posts in the Academies Directorate.

Theodore Agnew

Theodore is Deputy Chairman of Jubilee Managing Agency. He is also Chairman of the Norfolk Community Foundation, and a trustee of Policy Exchange.

Barbara Harrison

Barbara is the former chief executive of the Girls’ Day School Trust, one of the largest and most successful providers of independent education in the UK. She established the first independent sector Academy (The Belvedere) in Liverpool, closely followed by Birkenhead High.

Advisers

Professor Julian Le Grand

Professor Le Grand is Richard Titmuss Professor of Social Policy at the London School of Economics. He was one of Tony Blair’s key advisers and has written books on the use of market systems in public services – including education.

Baroness Sally Morgan

Sally is an adviser to Ark Academies. She is a former Director of Government Relations at 10 Downing Street and senior adviser to Tony Blair. Originally a secondary school teacher Sally has a BA (Hons) in Geography from Durham University, PGCE from London University and MA in Comparative Education from the Institute of Education.

Rev Tim Hastie-Smith

Tim was head of Dean Close in Cheltenham for ten years, and is a former chair of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference. He has been a school governor for a wide range of schools, and currently runs Perrett Laver’s practice within schools and colleges.

Heath Monk

Heath is Chief Executive of Future Leaders which develops the next generation of leaders for challenging schools. He is the former Deputy Schools Commissioner. He also spent six years as a secondary teacher of English and Drama, having read English Literature at Queen’s College, Oxford.

Geoffrey Davies

Geoffrey is a former partner for Lewis Silkin, where he acts as a consultant. He has helped to establish around 60 Academies, working with many of the major sponsors. He is on the board of ULT – a multi-Academy sponsor.

James Merriman

James is CEO of the New York City Charter School Center, which serves as a resource and facilitator for new charter schools. He is the former director of the Charter Schools Institute of the State University of New York (SUNY), one of America’s largest authorisers of charter schools.

Ian Cleland

Ian is the Chief Executive of the Ormiston Academies Trust, a multi-Academy sponsor. He has been a Visiting Professor at Wolverhampton University. He has extensive experience of education consultancy at a senior level with KPMG, DCSF and Local Authorities and is a former head.

27 Queen Anne’s Gate
London
SW1H 9BU
020 7222 8666

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