Governance

Bishop Otter Academy Trust aims to provide an exciting environment for children to enjoy a holistic education founded on Christian principles.  Jenny is passionate about equity of education for all youngsters, offering them the optimum life chances; she has a thirty-year history of involvement in education provision in Sussex, as a policymaker and is an experienced Chair of Governors.  

Jenny has served as a chair of governors in primary, secondary and special schools and FE colleges, and is designated by the National Governor Association as a National Leader for Governance (NLG).  Jenny is a consultant governance & leadership trainer working with Local Authorities and Academy Trusts She uses her skills to support Chairs of Governors and develop capacity within governing bodies.

Jenny is a founder Trustee of a Sussex based charity, Tony Barnard Foundation (TBF), which seeks to enhance the quality of life for children and adults with Learning Difficulties and where appropriate, their carers.  She enjoys life to the full, seizing opportunities to share her skills and encouraging others to have opportunities to extend themselves and their quality of life.

Christine has 20 years’ experience as a governor in primary schools within Brighton and Hove. She served as Chair of a Church of England primary school for 8 years and provided support to schools in her capacity as a Local Leader of Governance. Christine has a background in policy development and has also worked for many years for IT companies, as Head of Finance with experience in co-ordinating successful bids for government funding and currently as Head of Business Development.

Christine is committed to the christian ethos of Church of England schools which includes a responsibility to provide an inclusive education for local children.  She also supports schools working together to bring about school improvement and has initiated governor collaboration between schools.

Mark has had several disparate careers in different industries including the performing arts, marine engineering, the construction industry and economic development.

Persuaded to apply his financial skills as a governor in a small rural Church of England Primary when schools were first given control of budgets in 1988, Mark has seen increasing professionalism in School Business Management since then.

After working in that field himself, he now supports SBM’s across Sussex and Surrey for the Roman Catholic Diocese and has responsibility for ensuring the upkeep of the Diocesan education estate.

He also provides professional consultancy advice to both independent and state-funded schools, and is accredited as a School Resource Management Adviser for the DfE.

He has been a Trustee of Multi-Academy Trusts since 2016, firstly for City Education Trust and now for Aurora Academies Trust.

Lesley works as the Assistant Director of Education for the Diocese of Chichester Education Team. Her areas of responsibility include CE school land and buildings, academisation and school organisation, project management and budgets. She has experience of working with government funding and therefore an understanding and awareness of the need for accountability in terms of showing how funding is used.

Lesley has been involved in school governance since 2015, having been a governor at a large CE primary school, a special educational needs school and more recently a large CE Secondary school.

Revd Martin Lloyd Williams became Archdeacon of Brighton and Lewes, and moved to Sussex with Jackie and Ben, in 2015.  He was ordained in 1994.  Martin has a wide experience of parish ministry having worked in Bath for 18 years, a city where all traditions of church flourish, and was also Rural Dean of Bath for four years.  He has been instrumental in developing the diocese’ vision and growth strategy over the last few years. He can occasionally be found at the Amex Stadium in the winter, at Hove County Ground in the summer or on the South Downs with the dog.