Meet the board members and trustees

Bath & Wells Diocesan Board of Education (DBE) Corporate Member - Ed Gregory

Exeter Diocesan Education Network (EDEN) DBE Trust Corporate Member

Keith Hallam

Eric van den Barselaar

TRUSTEES

I have lived in Somerset since 1987, raising four children in the Taunton area and being involved in their schooling as a volunteer, member of the parent/teacher association and as a governor. My training was as a modern linguist and I taught primary French for several years. After working on a government project relating to citizenship in the curriculum, I moved to work for the Diocese of Bath & Wells. Initially responsible for governance, admissions and buildings, my remit increased to include all school organisation, including the academy agenda. In 2012, I became the Director of Education for the Diocese, having responsibility for standards and Christian distinctiveness in 182 schools. I initiated the Bath & Wells MAT and acted as CEO for the first two years, subsequently acting as a trustee both on that and the many other MATs that came to include church schools, including TRLP. Retiring initially in 2018, I soon found myself looking for a challenge and became the Operations Director at TRLP, finally retiring in August 2021. I am passionate about environmental issues and safeguarding the planet for future generations.

I am the CEO of The Redstart Learning Partnership based at The Redstart Primary School. I work with all schools in our Multi Academy Trust and sit on the Board of Trustees.

My role is to ensure that all pupils in any school in the Partnership receive the best educational experience and achieve their full potential. I spend time in all of the schools working alongside the Heads of School and we work very closely together to develop each school. 

I have a very strong leadership team which works across the Trust. This includes the Central Team including Alison Wyatt, Chief Financial Officer, Dominic Heath-Coleman, Operations Manager, Caroline Lancey, Associate Head of Accelerated Learning, Beth Souster, Trust Manager and Governance Professional, Lani Gold, Trust HR Manager and the Heads of School - Steve Morton, Castle Primary School and Buckland St Mary C of E Primary School; Gareth Nation, Minerva Primary School; Lisa Eadie, Holy Trinity Primary School; Joanne Crocker, Ashill and Hatch Beauchamp Primary Schools; Emma Johns, Winsham; Becky Bendall, Stockland Primary Academy and Carly Ellis, Priorswood Primary School and finally the Chair of the Board of Trustees, Mrs Tess Gale. 

It is my aim that every school in the Partnership will be outstanding.

After graduating from the University of Bath in 2009 I moved to Taunton to train as a Chartered Accountant with Albert Goodman LLP. I qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2012 based in the audit department. As well as working with companies and charities, I have acted for a number of academies across Somerset and Dorset over the last 10 years.

In March 2015 I was appointed to the Board of Trustees, followed by my appointment as Vice Chair and the Chair of the Business and Audit Committee.  I'm excited to put my professional skills to good use. With the resources and people we have available, the Trust has an exciting future ahead of it.

I very much enjoy working with The Redstart Learning Partnership. 

I am an architect and was director of my practice in Frome between 1980 and 2017. I have spent a large part of my career designing schools and I have developed a good understanding of the needs of both staff and pupils and the issues involved in managing school premises. I developed a good relationship with the Diocese of Bath and Wells and I have also worked with the dioceses of Bristol and Lincoln.

An interest in education runs in the family; my mother was a history teacher and both my children have chosen careers in education; biology at a secondary school and climate change at a university. Following this theme I was pleased to be appointed as Chair of the Education Committee for the Trust. 

I am now retired from full time architecture and excited to be involved with The Redstart Learning Partnership. I whole-heartedly endorse the Trust’s ambitions.

I am based in London working in Canary Wharf for BP and have previous experience working for RBS, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and The New York Stock Exchange. I have a mixed career background, where I have worked in Risk Management, Ethics and Compliance, Trading and also Project Management; allowing me to develop a number of different skill sets that will be useful in my role as Trustee. I graduated from Loughborough University in 2008 with an Economics degree.

I am excited to be involved with the Trust and utilise experiences from my professional career; having been lucky with my own education and opportunities, I know how important it is to provide high quality education from a young age and I am passionate about ensuring this is delivered.  

I am passionate about raising standards in Education and promoting the rights of all children to develop a love and zest for learning. I am thrilled to be part of The Redstart Learning Partnership as my association with Redstart, and Suzanne Flack in particular, goes back many years, to when I was working for Somerset County Council.

During my time at the County Council I carried out a number of different roles over a period of fifteen years, mainly supporting the development and growth of new early years settings. I was also responsible for the quality of education in early years settings and offering support and advice on how they could improve.  

I am a qualified and experienced primary/middle school teacher and prior to working for Somerset County Council, I managed an independent Nursery, worked as an independent registered nursery inspector and spent many years as an early years support officer and advisor, which has helped me support other educational provision.

Recent achievements include taking on failing nurseries as an independent consultant, offering advice on improvements and offering practical support and improvement plans to improve their practice. I have also delivered training and support to nursery providers on a private consultancy basis. 

My husband and I were respite foster carers and youth workers for a number of years and we also have two sons. We enjoy DIY, walking, and caring for a mad sprocker dog!

I also enjoy a wide range of crafting activities and reading and I am excited to be part of a growing Academy Trust. 

I am embarking on a new chapter in my career as a business consultant and non-executive director, supporting businesses to maximise their greatest assets - their people.  This is based on my 30 years’ experience as a proven business manager, director and senior leader with a passion for people management and a strong background in operational excellence.  Personally, I have been married to a teacher for 28 years, have two grown-up sons who have both been through the education system here in Somerset and have been a Governor for a local primary school.

Claire Lowe is the Chief Executive Officer of Inspire Learning Partnership and has been in this role since May 2018.  She holds an MA(Ed) and more recently was appointed as a founding fellow to the Chartered College of Teaching, recognition of her total commitment to the profession over the past 25+ years.

Previously Claire was the Executive Principal of the Inspire Learning Federation from October 2014 to April 2018.  Before this she was the Executive Headteacher of Blackfield Primary and Fawley Infant Federation.

She moved to the Federation in September 2008 after holding the Headteacher role at a small village primary school in the New Forest.

Tom is an experienced digital consultant and marketer with a demonstrated history of working across sectors as wide as retail, media, higher education and not-for-profit. Tom is strong at building relationships, stakeholder management and solving complex problems across digital platforms and has both strategic and commercial experience.

Tom has a first in Economics and Politics (BSc) from the University of Exeter.  He has also been highly involved over the last few years with various political campaigns at local and national level. 

I graduated from the University of St Andrews in 2018 with a degree in History, and went on to complete the Graduate Diploma in Law and the Legal Professional Course, gaining a Masters in Law, Business and Management.

I am currently a second year trainee solicitor for a national law firm. One of my seats was Education, where I assisted in academy conversions and transfers, as well as assisting schools in a range of education law queries.

Whilst at University, I volunteered as a teacher in the dance society, teaching General Contemporary and then Advanced Lyrical. I am an active person who enjoys being outdoors, which has incidentally led to my newest hobby of learning how to play golf. I also enjoy singing, and I used to sing with a choir, as well as take part in musical theatre productions.

As a Foundation Representative, I will strive to ensure that the morals faith teaches us are held at the core of what we do. This is something I was lucky to experience in my own education, which included going on pilgrimage to Lourdes.

I am excited to work with a Trust that is working hard to ensure that all students are afforded support, opportunities, and an education of the highest quality.