Governance

The Brian Clarke CE Academy became part of the Cranmer Education Trust on 8th November 2021 with governance meetings beginning in March 2022. Formalised cross school governance arrangements can help with efficiencies, with ultimate accountability held by the Trust Board and corporate and strategic functions being carried out centrally, leaving Local Governing Committees free to focus on pupil progress and attainment for their schools.

The Trust Board has established Local Governing Committees for each of its academies, for the most part made up of individuals drawn from the academy’s community. Local committee members serving on the Local Governing Committees are accountable to the Trust Board as well as the communities they serve. Whilst not trustees under charity law, the local committee members are under a duty to act in good faith and in the interests of the academy and the Trust. 

Local Governance Committee members have been appointed, bringing a diverse range of skills and experience to governance and being committed to the vision of the school.

Elections for the first Parent Governors took place in June 2024 and Parent Governors will commence in post from 1^st September 2024.

The election for a staff governor will take place in Spring 2025.

The Cranmer Education Trust has appointed Mr Neil Clephan, OBE, formerly the Headteacher of the Roundhay School, Leeds, West Yorkshire to be the independent School Improvement Partner for The Brian Clarke CE Academy, advising the Local Governing Committee and the Trust on the quality of education in the school.

The Brian Clarke CE Academy Local Committee Members:

Ann Flatman

Chair of the Local Governing Committee

Ann has enjoyed a career in education working in four secondary schools in Hertfordshire, Cheshire and Manchester.

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Ann is passionate about education and the genuine opportunities schools provide for the young people who pass through their doors.

Ann has enjoyed a career in education working in four secondary schools in Hertfordshire, Cheshire and Manchester and having moved to Oldham is delighted to be taking on the role of Chair of the Board at the Brian Clark Church of England Academy.  

As a governor of a primary school in Stockport, Ann appreciates the responsibilities that a Board member commits to and believes that being involved in both sectors will be very beneficial.  

Ann is a member of Lifechurch Manchester, where she volunteers in different ways, ranging from working with mums and babies to leading services. She is developing a new range of hobbies, however, her passion for the theatre continues to be her favourite pastime.” 

Allison Ash, Headteacher of The Brian Clarke CE Academy

Allison, is an Oldhamer by birth and has lived in the borough all her working life.  She has spent the last 17 years working at the trust’s first secondary school, The Blue Coat School, latterly as the Deputy Headteacher to the school and SCITT Director in our teacher training arm, Manchester Nexus.

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Allison said of her appointment; “I am absolutely honoured to be appointed as the first Headteacher of The Brian Clarke Church of England Academy. Having worked within the Cranmer Education Trust for 17 years I am extremely proud and privileged to have played a part in transforming the life chances of the young people and communities served and I am committed to building on these strong foundations to ensure The Brian Clarke Church of England Academy benefits from this legacy.

I am also committed to ensuring our school vision of luceat lux vestra – let your light shine (Matthew 5:16) – we celebrate the light within us all and the light we are all drawn to – the light which enables us to grow, thrive and understand – is at the fore of what we do.

I look forward meeting as many of our community as I can and helping them learn more about The Brian Clarke Church of England Academy.”

Allison has two children, attends worship at her local church and enjoys taking part in athletics.

Mohammed Hussain

Mohammed is an experienced conveyancer who has worked for the past 5 years with Wrigley Clayton Solicitors in Oldham, advising clients in property sales and purchases, conveyancing and managing a team of referrers.

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He brings legal and negotiating experience and a professional understanding of working within systems and accountabilities that transfer readily to the public sector.

In addition to English, Mohammed speaks Bengali, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu. He is deeply involved in the community, in a range of charitable fundraising and is a member of the Oldham Central Masjid and Islamic Centre.  He provides pro-bono advice and support in Immigration Law Chambers.

Mohammed has 2 sons, both of whom attend Oldham schools.  He enjoys and plays sports, especially 5-a-side football, tennis, badminton and table tennis.

Ruby Summerscales

Ruby has worked in education for the past 15 years. For the past 4 years she has served as Deputy Headteacher at St Anne’s Church of England Academy, one of our secondary schools within the trust.

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Previous to her appointment as Deputy Headteacher at St Anne’s Church of a England Academy, Ruby worked as a senior leader in secondary schools in both Oldham and Cumbria.

Ruby’s unwavering commitment to improve the life chances for young people through high quality education and support, is evidenced through the significant journey of improvement St Anne’s is currently on.

Ruby lives in Bolton with her husband and two sons. She enjoys an active lifestyle and in particular has had a passion for skiing, open water swimming and spending time in the Lake District. 

Luke Ireson

Luke, a former secondary school student at The Blue Coat School, is an education professional with 10 years’ experience working in the sector. Luke is currently an Associate Director at the national education charity, Ambition Institute, where he leads the team responsible for the operational delivery of Ambition’s National Professional Qualification (NPQ) programmes. He has previously led the delivery of a range of professional development programmes, both at Ambition and other educational organisations.

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Luke cares deeply about the potential, and impact, that a high-quality education can have on individuals, their families and their wider communities. Having followed the development of The Brian Clarke CofE Academy from initial application to become a new free school, through to its current realisation as an academy that will welcome its first intake of pupils in September 2022, Luke felt compelled to identify ways in which he could become part of the journey that lies ahead for the academy and the young people of Oldham. He brings with him all the personal values and his individual affinity to the mission and vision of The Cranmer Education Trust as an alumnus of a school within the trust.

Luke is a keen walker and runner and enjoys spending time as much time outdoors as possible – taking advantage of the nearby beauty of the Peak District with his new, enthusiastic dog. Time with his family and partner consists of eating out, trips to the theatre and exploring the wonderful cities of Europe, when possible.

Janet Francis

Janet comes to governance from a long and deeply committed background in public service, supporting and leading children’s social care and supporting Oldham schools.

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Initially she worked as a Residential Social Worker with children in care for Tameside Council and for a time she also managed a children’s home. During this period, she and her husband were foster carers for a young boy who lived with them from the age of 13 to 19 years together with their daughter. After a short period living in Canada, Janet worked for a private care company for 6 years as the Registered Manager, recruiting, training, and managing staff to support older people and families of children with additional needs. She then moved to Oldham Council as Senior Children’s Complaints Officer, a post she held for 15 years, managing the process for complex care complaints and providing the complaints service for schools across Oldham

Janet was brought up in the Church of England, attended Church Girls’ Brigade, and was confirmed at the church as a young teenager. In her late teens, she decided to attend an evangelical church youth group where she met her husband. They became members and were very involved in church life especially outreach towards children and young people. Over the years they have been Sunday School teachers, church house group leaders and have been involved in organising and running children’s holiday clubs.

Janet’s strong Christian faith has always been the foundation for her life and work and having recently felt it was the right time to retire she sought a role which will allow her to still be involved in public service, still be connected to children and young people, and in an area where there is a Christian ethos and vision.

The Reverend Canon Jean Hurlston

Jean is Borough Dean of Oldham and Associate Vicar at Oldham Parish Church. She has a deep commitment to community involvement and leadership, interfaith dialogue and joint working, and to provision for young people.

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Formerly a researcher who became director of Age Concern in Tameside, she secured the largest single capital grant at that time from the National Lottery to support a major building refurbishment.

Following a period of teaching religious studies in secondary and FE Jean moved into chaplaincy and a wide range of civic and community roles.  She is lead chaplain at Ashton Sixth Form College, part-time chaplain at Manchester Airport, and founder of Oldham Street Angels which keeps people safe by working in collaboration with local churches, Greater Manchester Police, Oldham Council and the NHS to co-ordinate teams of volunteers to work within the night-time economy in Oldham and provide a night-time drop-in for rough sleepers.

Jean is also joint Chair of Greater Manchester Interfaith Health and Social Care and Working Group, an elected public governor on the Pennine Care FT Council, a member of Leaders in Greater Manchester, a member of Greater Manchester Interfaith Forum, Oldham Interfaith Forum and the Priests and Imams Group.

Her previous experience includes serving on Tameside Magistrates Advisory Committee, the first female member and subsequent president of Ashton Rotary Club, and a Lay Assessor for NHS England National Commissioning Board.

Her huge contribution to citizen participation in all areas of public life has been recognised through the GMP Excellence Award (2012) and Pride in Oldham Ambassador Award (2014), a Civic Appreciation Award from Oldham Council (2018) and the Queen’s  Award for Voluntary Service (2021).

Vaheed Shadi 

Vaheed was elected as a parent governor commencing on 1^st September 2024.

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Vaheed is a proud father of twins who have been at The Brian Clark Academy since it’s opening. He has been in the IT industry for over 25 years and is currently an contractor for a government department.

Oldham born and raised, he has worked in IT for a number of global organisations around the country and has had the privilege of supporting  a detachment for HM forces inbedded overseas during his career.

Vaheed has a keen interest in the development and prosperity of our youngsters having been a parent governor at a primary school as well as a Scout Leader and recently a Duke of Edinburgh assessor for the local group.

SHABANA SADIQ

Shabana was elected as a parent governor commencing on 1^st September 2024

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Shabana is proud to say she is born and bred in Oldham. As a front line Advanced Podiatric clinician specialising in Musculoskeletal disorders, she has dedicated 21 years of her career to the National Health Service in Oldham. Recently, she has also taken on a leadership role. Her passion lies in reducing health inequalities and promoting Equality, Equity, and Inclusion.

She is a proud  member of the Woman and Girls Equality Panel for Greater Manchester Combined Authority, influencing policy change with numerous Authorities, from the Police, Transport, voluntary sectors, and Health.

Having completed her BSc Hons in Podiatry at the University of Salford in 2003. In 2012, she finished her first MSc in Clinical Podiatric Biomechanics. She is currently finishing her second MSc in Leadership with the University of Birmingham and expects to complete it by January 2025.

Shabana has always valued education and is enthusiastic about equal opportunities for all young people to succeed in their learning.

Shabana resides in Tameside with her husband and their two children, aged 10 and 13. In her little spare time, she enjoys cooking, and running.

Serving as one of the first Parent Governors at Brian Clarke is an honour and a privilege for her. She is enthusiastic about working with young people, parents, staff, governors, and other stakeholders to ensure that the school delivers excellent education and extra-curricular activities, fostering the well-being and success of the students.

Collecting and publishing governing board diversity data

Diversity is important and we want our Trustees and our Local Governing Committees to be increasingly reflective of the communities they serve. The Trust is in the process of working through GovernorHub’s facility to see if it is possible to collate Trustees’ and Local Governing Committee members’ information. The return will be voluntarily, and they can opt out of sharing their information, including protected characteristics, at any given time including after publication. To ensure that individuals cannot be identified through the publication of data, anonymous data will only be published in an appropriate format based on the number of optional returns. The current legal advice is that the safest way to protect data subjects and special category data, meeting the UK GDPR standard, would be to publish information that does not amount to ‘personal’ because it is anonymous, and therefore data protection principles do not apply.

Local Committee Members can be contacted via the Trust Clerk by clicking on the link below:

Email : [email protected]