Meet our Trustees

I've worked in and around schools for many years in such varied roles as geography teacher, school inspector and head of education for a local authority. I have been a trustee for over 8 years and was chair of the board for 6 of them. Both my children went through the Morpeth school system and it won't be long until my grandchildren start.

It is partly for their and everyone else's future that I have taken on the role of climate champion for the Learning Trust. This role challenges me to make sure that climate change remains at the forefront of our collective consciousness. Lots has already been achieved but there's still a long way to go.

Beyond this role with the Learning Trust, I have a passion for the outdoors; be it working on our allotment, walking our dog through the fields and woods around Morpeth or exploring further afield. I also love upcycling things - it's amazing what you can make from a discarded pallet!

Rob is a retired Local Government senior manager delivering major social, economic and environmental change in partnership with Newcastle’s local communities and the public and private sectors. Extensive experience in strategic planning, review and change management. Also programme management, business growth, governance, human resources, risk management, asset management and stakeholder engagement.

Rob has over 10 years of school leadership at the Prudhoe partnership of schools. As Vice Chair at Broomley First School he contributed to the school receiving an outstanding judgement and a successful federation with Whittonstall First School. As Parent Governor and Chair of Prudhoe Community High School he helped the school make rapid improvement from inadequate to good.

Ben grew up in Morpeth, attending Newminster and King Edward VI High School before studying pharmacy at Nottingham University. He has since held several senior management positions with significant experience in patient care, budget management, business strategy, and external oversight. Ben currently supports NHS primary care organisations in England, Scotland, and Wales with medicines optimisation in his role as a Pharmacist Account Manager for Optum UK.

Before returning to Morpeth in 2020, Ben was based in Yorkshire and volunteered as a Governor and Trustee, including 4 years as Chair of Governors for a Leeds primary school.

Ben is delighted to continue as a Trustee for Cheviot Learning Trust, having formerly been a Trustee for Three Rivers Learning Trust; and will strive to ensure young people experience a diverse, enriched education and leave as confident young adults with the skills to overcome life's challenges.

I have been a resident of Morpeth for 30 years, and during that time I have brought up two children with my wife, Kay. My children have been through Goosehill, Newminster and KEVI schools and one is now working and the other training to be a teacher.

I am a chartered civil engineer specialising in offshore geotechnical engineering for both renewable and oil and gas projects. I have started and grown two engineering companies, both of which have been purchased by offshore survey contractors and their successors are still based in the North East.

I hope that my engineering background and commercial experience will be of benefit to the schools and help further enhance the experience and employability of the students as they move on from school.

I have been involved in Higher Education for over 20 years with leadership roles in Operations, Business Planning & Governance, International Accreditation & Partnerships, Global Rankings and Research Management. My current role is with Newcastle University as Head of Professional Services at the Business School.

I am excited to continue my journey as a trustee with Cheviot Learning Trust, with a true commitment to make a positive contribution wherever I can. I am especially interested in creating opportunities for students to acquire much sought after employability skills, break down barriers to higher education and ensure we are equipping our children with the resilience and confidence to succeed whatever their chosen path.

Mavis is a retired NHS Project Manager for Agenda for Change (10,000 staff) following 22 years as a Ward Sister and lead representative for the Royal College of Nursing. Previous local councillor, church council and chair of Nurse Section of Society for Endocrinology.
Mavis has extensive experience in change management, human resources, operational audit, risk management and communications. Mavis has spent over 20 years as a LA governor.

David Leat is Professor of Curriculum Innovation at Newcastle University. His career has included classroom geography teaching, teacher training and working for the Department for Education. His research interests started with thinking skills and developed to embrace Learning2Learn, metacognition, formative assessment, widening participation, teacher coaching and professional learning. He was Executive Director of the Research Centre for Learning and Teaching at Newcastle for 12 years.

His current projects revolve around Enquiry/Project Based Learning and Community Curriculum Making - supporting schools to collaborate with cultural venues, businesses, conservation bodies and local community groups and individuals. He is an Associate Editor of the Curriculum Journal, and has many conservation interests including bird ringing, forestry and regenerative food production.

Joan was born in Zimbabwe (Rhodesia). At the age of sixteen Joan was accepted into the Royal Ballet Upper School in London. Here she pursued self-directed “A” level studies in English Language and History, alongside a demanding and fulfilling ballet schedule. Finally deciding that a career in ballet was not what she wanted, Joan returned home and then to the University of Cape Town, where she gained a bachelor’s degree in English Language and History. After working in commerce for a while Joan embarked on her professional career as a chartered accountant and returned to the University of Cape Town for further part time studies, concurrent with her accountancy articles. She qualified as a chartered accountant in 1986.

Joan worked for large financial institutions in South Africa, including Old Mutual, now listed on the London Stock Exchange, where she was head of Internal Audit in its Investment Division.

She and her family moved to the Northeast in 1998. Joan has extensive business experience as a “hands on” finance director and as a consultant, working with early stage developing companies and third sector organisations. She is particularly interested in organisational governance and streamlining systems within businesses. Joan was a Trustee of the Theatre Royal for nine years and chaired the Finance and General Purposes Committee. She also served as an independent chair of the Audit Committee for the Tyne Community Learning Trust.

Joan believes in the need to foster a love of learning in young people and her own interests include theatre, reading modern history and tennis.

Joan retired in 2021 but wants to continue to use her skills and experience in a meaningful way and looks forward to contributing to the growth and development of The Cheviot Trust.

Deborah is a chartered accountant and has worked in financial roles in both public and private sectors for the last 20 years. She has worked in internal audit and accountancy roles and now provides financial support to schools, academies and local authorities. Deborah also works with the DfE as a School Resource Management Adviser.

Caroline came to the northeast, from Scotland, to study law at university before becoming a teacher. Having fallen in love with the region, she made the northeast her home and became a headteacher of a school in Newcastle before going into school improvement work in a local authority. A graduate of both Newcastle and Northumbria Universities, she has worked in 6 of the region’s 12 councils, from Teesside to Tyneside. She was director of education in both Hartlepool and Durham before becoming Strategic Director of Children and Adult Services in Gateshead.

During her career Caroline worked as an Ofsted inspector, taught at a number of the region’s universities, assisted in writing the parts of the national curriculum and wrote advanced test questions in science and technology. She had a number of research articles and teaching resources published, during her time as an editor of the Association of Science Education journal.

Caroline is currently the Local Government Association’s Children’s Improvement Adviser for the northeast region, providing advice and support to Directors of Children’s Services, Chief Executives and Lead Members of Children’s Services. She has led a number of peer reviews and challenges across the country and provided national training for leaders in children’s services. Caroline also works for the DfE, on a consultancy basis, as a children’s improvement adviser, supporting councils, across the country, which have had disappointing Ofsted inspections.

Ruth has worked in the NHS all her adult life until her retirement in 2020. She has a deep commitment to state education and believes high quality education can enable greater social mobility and opportunity. Her aim is to use the skills she has gained over four decades in public service to benefit students in the Cheviot Learning Trust.

Having moved to the North East from Yorkshire to study medicine at Newcastle University, Ruth went on to work as a consultant old age psychiatrist. As a senior doctor her focus was developing high quality, patient centred services, that delivered good outcomes and value for money. This approach involved quality improvement activity, a focus on high quality leadership and effective team working. Ruth believes that the same approach is applicable to education through the active engagement of students, teachers, parents and the wider community. As an NHS leader she understood the centrality of strategy and clarity in improving outcomes for users, especially when faced with resource constraints Ruth now wants to support the Cheviot Learning Trust as a trustee by using the skills she has developed through her professional life.

Ruth has previously served as Chair of Governors at Whittonstall First School, also volunteers with Barnados, Fareshare and a local gardening project. She is a keen cyclist.

Education changed her life. It gave her the opportunities that she could only have dreamed of as a child, therefore Ruth wants to contribute to every child in the Cheviot Learning Trust having similar life chances.