Kay Crosse

Date of appointment - 01.10.19

Kay Crosse is a qualified teacher and has a Masters degree in early years education.

During her career Kay has had a range of educational roles including:
- Preparing early years education professionals to care for and educate very young children.
- Ofsted inspector inspecting in colleges of further education, local authority children’s services, children’s centres, adult and family learning and commercial training providers responsible for the training of early years modern apprenticeships.
- External Examiner for the National Nursery Examination Board.
- Mentor and critical reader for Registered Nursery Inspectors.
- Director of the Association of Nursery Training Colleges.
- Early years consultancy work in Bahrain, Hawaii and Japan.
- Consultancy work for Oxford Brookes, Reading and Bath Spa Universities

Kay’s last post of employment was as Principal of Norland College where Kay had responsibilities for its strategic direction and vision. Following this post Kay then set up her own consultancy business continuing to advise on early years matters both in the U.K. and abroad. She has published two books as well as contributing to several early years journals.

Sam Kendall

Date of appointment - 01.09.19

am is Education Manager at Cornwall’s Eden Project, leading the organisation’s educational charitable work with schools, young people and their teachers since 2010. She’s been a member of Eden’s Education Team since the project opened in 2001, establishing Eden as a must-go school visit destination for schools across the UK and maintaining a focus on high quality teaching and learning across Eden’s learning programmes. She designs and delivers projects and programmes linked to Eden’s mission to connect people with the living world and each other, towards a more sustainable future for all.

Sam brings her rigorous approach to linking highly engaging nature-based and environmental learning to the requirements of the curriculum and the needs of children and young people and their teachers. Following a first degree in Natural Science at Jesus College, Cambridge, she qualified as a primary school teacher, with science specialism, in 1997 and taught in schools in Bristol, Cornwall, Karachi and rural South Africa. She has a particular interest in the links between children’s emotional wellbeing and the outdoors and has recently written her Masters dissertation on the topic.

Tanya Ovenden-Hope

Date of appointment - 01.09.22

Tanya is Professor of Education at Plymouth Marjon University (the University of St Mark and St John). A senior academic leader with innovative scholarly engagement in educational improvement and effectiveness at a national and international level. She has 29 years of cross-sector educational experience and was awarded Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in 2014 and Enterprise Educator of the Year in 2014.

She is a published author of academic texts and research and holds an associate role with the Department for Education, an Adjunct Professor in Education at Cape Breton University, a Member for three Multi Academy Trusts, a co-opted executive committee member of the Universities Council for the Education of Teachers (UCET) and Special Interest Group (SIG) Convenor for the British Educational Research Association (BERA).

Tanya is committed to education for transforming lives and has held roles as Head of Sociology (Wheatley Park School, Oxford), Programme Team Lead for Education and Higher Education (Truro College), Additional Inspector for Ofsted, Head of the School of Secondary and Further Education Studies (Plymouth University), Director of Education (Cornwall College). Tanya’s current research is in school improvement, with a focus on socio-economically deprived coastal regions in England and educational isolation.

David Parker

Date of appointment as a Member - 15.05.21 Date of appointment as a Trustee - 11.09.20

David is a retired former CEO of a local academy trust and before that a secondary school headteacher for fifteen years.

He trained as a teacher of geography and outdoor education and worked in schools in Oxfordshire, Bristol and Devon including advisory work for the local authority and senior examiner roles at A level and GCSE.

Appointed as Headteacher at The Roseland, near Truro, for four years and then Principal of Penrice Academy in St Austell for eleven years. Penrice was recognised by Ofsted as an outstanding provider in successive inspections and designated as a National Teaching School and a Leadership Development School. David then worked with local partner primary schools in St Austell to establish a collaborative academy trust of eight schools.

David was recognised as a National Leader of Education and worked with Cornish schools to improve educational outcomes. Also trained as an Ofsted inspector.

He was a governor for twelve years at Cornwall College and is currently a governor at two local primary schools.

David has always been committed to state education, to raising standards and to ensuring every child both succeeds and enjoys school.

Askel Veur

(The Umbrella Trust of the Diocese of Truro)

Date of appointment - 01.09.19

Askel Veur (meaning ‘Great Wing’ in Cornish) is The Diocese of Truro’s Academies Umbrella Company.

The Diocesan Education Department works not only with the 44 Church schools but also a large number of community schools, their representatives take up roles on the boards of multi-academy trusts that include both church and non-church schools. The focus of this work will always be on improving outcomes for children.

The Diocese of Truro is committed to being a significant partner in raising standards in schools for children in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. They play an active part in the new school-led education system set out in the recent White Paper: Educational Excellence Everywhere. This involves providing expertise, training, support, challenge and grants in all the seven identified areas of excellence.

Mohamed Abdallah

Date of appointment 02.12.2022 (Trustee appointed)

Mohamed’s career began in youth work and pupil referral units, before spending over a decade leading pioneering inclusive practice at an ‘Outstanding’ all-through mainstream school.
Mohamed’s use of Asset-Based Community Development approach - empowering young people and families - alongside a multi-disciplinary approach to safeguarding and inclusion drove down both fixed term and permanent exclusions across the school.

Mohamed now leads the Inclusive Leadership Course at The Difference supporting school leaders across the country to draw on best practice in trauma-informed approaches, contextual safeguarding, and in taking an Asset-Based Approach to leadership within a local community.

Sonia Blandford

(SEND Trustee)

Date of appointment - 05.09.22 (Foundation appointed)

Sonia has over 40 years in education as teacher, school senior leader, researcher, teacher educator, university dean of education, pro-vice chancellor, school governor, MAT trustee, and author; Professor of Social Mobility Plymouth Marjon, Visiting Professor of Education UCL, Honorary Professor Warwick University; Founder and former CEO award-winning charity - Achievement for All 3As; The Prince’s Trust Learning Lead – Taskforce 2030. Named in Debrett's Sunday Times 2015 and 2016 list of the Top 500 Most Influential People in the UK, 2016 Women of the Year Awards, 2018 UK Social Mobility Award Leadership of the Year, 2022 BBC Making a Difference Awards.

Co-created Teacher Training Resource Bank and Teach First programme; Co-Author European Commission Improving Teacher Education; Founding Vice-President Chartered College of Teaching; UK lead for European Agency for Inclusion and SEND Raising Attainment research report.

Editor Teaching Times Inclusion Journal; recent book publications -Born to Fail? Social Mobility, A Working Class view,’ ‘Social Mobility Chance or Choice?’, John Catt Education; forthcoming publication Teaching and Learning to Unlock Social Mobility for Every Child: Building Learning Futures, Routledge Taylor and Francis.

Russell Crawford

Date of appointment - 29.09.23 (Trustee appointed)

Pen profile coming soon.

Clare Crowle (CEO)

Date of appointment - 25.04.22 (Ex-officio)

Clare is an experienced, successful educational leader, having been involved in Academies and Multi-Academy Trusts since 2010. Prior to her appointment as Kernow Learning CEO in April 2022, she was a Headteacher of an outstanding school (Trenance Learning Academy), Executive Headteacher of two schools, a National Leader of Education, Regional School Improver and the Deputy CEO of Kernow Learning.

Clare has been instrumental in establishing the OneCornwall Teaching School Hub, Kernow English Hub and enabling a successful bid for Kernow Learning to become jointly designated as one of the Regional Associate Research Schools for the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF).

Throughout her professional career Clare has made the quality of education and outcomes for the children her focus. She believes that the sharing of best practice is an important strand in the shaping of the new national educational landscape and that the strong, clear systems of Governance at Kernow Learning are key to the Trust continuing to go from strength to strength.

Phil Mason

(Vice-Chair)

Date of appointment - 01.09.19 (Member appointed)

Phil has been a Governor and Director in Primary Education since 2007. As Chair of governors he helped lead St Columb Minor Primary School in its transition to academy status and then helped lead the creation and development of the ACE Multi Academy Trust in Cornwall and was Chair of Director from 2013 - 2019.

As well as being Vice Chair of Kernow Learning, Phil was a Director of Newquay Education Trust until it merged this year with another trust. He has significant experience and skills in leadership, management, finance and property. Phil is the Strategic Director for Economic Growth and Development for Cornwall Council having formerly held the role of Service Director and Chief Planner for the Planning and Sustainable Development Service for the local authority.

Phil is currently helping to lead the Council’s response to Climate Change and the need for Cornwall to reach a net zero carbon position.

Phil has children at Tretherras and Cornwall College. He is passionate that education is the foundation for the welfare and well-being of every child and that every child in every school matters; he believes his role is to ensure that there are continual improvement in all aspects of education.

David Parker

(Chair)

Date of appointment as a Member - 15.05.21 Date of appointment as a Trustee - 11.09.20 (Trustee appointed)

David is a retired former CEO of a local academy trust and before that a secondary school headteacher for fifteen years.

He trained as a teacher of geography and outdoor education and worked in schools in Oxfordshire, Bristol and Devon including advisory work for the local authority and senior examiner roles at A level and GCSE.

Appointed as Headteacher at The Roseland, near Truro, for four years and then Principal of Penrice Academy in St Austell for eleven years. Penrice was recognised by Ofsted as an outstanding provider in successive inspections and designated as a National Teaching School and a Leadership Development School. David then worked with local partner primary schools in St Austell to establish a collaborative academy trust of eight schools.

David was recognised as a National Leader of Education and worked with Cornish schools to improve educational outcomes. Also trained as an Ofsted inspector.

He was a governor for twelve years at Cornwall College and is currently a governor at two local primary schools.

David has always been committed to state education, to raising standards and to ensuring every child both succeeds and enjoys school.

Derek Rushton

(Safeguarding Trustee and Vice-Chair)

Date of appointment - 12.03.21 (Trustee appointed)

In brief, my career has been in primary education with twenty five years spent in senior management. These positions spanned working in three very different education authorities, culminating in two headships in Cornwall. In these times there were two breaks in service. The first of these was to travel in Europe but also included a period teaching EFL in Germany to business. The second break was a secondment from my headship to work with the Children’s Fund in establishing community service partnerships in North Cornwall – Children’s Centres developed from this! This experience of looking at integrated service partnerships working alongside schools became an abiding interest of mine and upon my retirement I have continued to develop this.

Initially I served on the Board of Trustees of a community action organisation –CN4C including a five year stint as Chair. This was a county wide organisation whose activities aimed to build capacity in communities of significant deprivation. Locally I served on the board of community centre in Bodmin and also began my connection with Beacon School.

During this time I have served as a Director of the Atlantic Centre of Excellence Multi Academy Trust and Chair of Beacon ACE Academy with some responsibilities for working alongside Trust Chairs from other academies.

Mark Smith

Date of appointment - 01.09.19 (Member appointed)

Mark is a Professional Director with experience in UK public sector environment, UK education landscape and with strong commercial acumen.

Mark is Executive Director of Business Engagement at Aston University, formerly he was Director of Enterprise and Employability at Birmingham University and from 2012 - 2015 was Executive Director of Unlocking Cornish Potential and the University of Plymouth.

He has also worked as a Director of the Cornwall Enterprise Institute Plymouth University, a Director of Business Development CPR Regeneration Limited, Chief Operating Officer AIDC UK Limited, Head of Business Development Renaissance South Yorkshire and Deputy Director (Strategy) Small Business Service in London.

Samantha Sutherland

Date of appointment - 29.09.23 (Trustee appointed)

Samantha is a financial coach, mortgage and insurance adviser with more than 20 years of experience helping clients achieve their financial goals. Samantha is experienced in providing education and support on financial topics such as budgeting, debt management, saving money and planning. She also specialises in helping clients find the best mortgage and insurance products for their personal and business needs.

Outside of work Samantha is passionate about helping others and found that the best way to do that is to get involved in the local community.  She is a volunteer trustee and the fundraising officer for Newquay Surf Life Saving Club, an important community organisation that provides a safe and inclusive environment for people to learn about water safety and participate in a variety of activities.

Holly Sykes

(Whistleblowing Trustee)

Date of appointment - 01.09.19 (Member appointed)

Holly oversees and delivers the Internal Audit Service for Cornwall Council. In addition she is the lead for the Internal Audit Service for Corserv, which includes Cornwall Housing Limited, Cornwall Airport Limited, and Cormac, as well as for a number of Multi Academy Trusts.

Holly previously headed up part of the audit service for the Ministry of Defence, with over 15 years experience in central Government from Internal Audit, transformation to working behind the scenes of Typhoon and Tornado fast jet projects.

Previous experience includes auditing Housing Associations, local authorities, the NHS and education sectors as well as delivering external audit in the private sector. She specialises in Audit, Risk Management, transformation and leadership development.

As a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors South West Committee she facilitates and leads conferences having also been an examiner for the Institute on the risk management qualifications.
In her spare time she is a Trustee and Treasurer for Newquay Surf Life Saving Club, based at Fistral beach.

Mike Teague

Date of appointment - 31.03.23 (Trustee appointed)

Mike was born in Redruth and has lived in Cornwall all his life. He was educated at Treleigh Primary and Redruth Grammar.

Mike is now retired but had a professional career at Senior Operational Management level spanning 35 years. This was primarily in the dairy food sector and he has worked in several Cornish based manufacturing sites covering a wide range of products, working for both large PLC’s and family-owned businesses.

His last position was as Creamery Operations Manager for A&E Rodda & Sons, the local but very well-known, Cornish clotted cream producer.

Mike is qualified in Industrial Management to Diploma level, AAT level four in accountancy and has undertaken a range of training programmes and experience covering Strategic development, Effective Team building, External and Internal Auditing, Risk- based assessment for both Health and Food Safety, Change and Lean management, Continuous Improvement, Purchasing, Budget setting and Project management.