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Our Trust of Schools

Meet the Governors

The governing body for Matford Brook Academy will be appointed for September 2023.

If you are interested in governance for our new and exciting all-through school, please contact our Clerk via [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.

  • Catherine Gibaud

    Chair of Governors

  • Hannah Rose

    Ex-Officio

  • Jane Bellamy-Cooper

    Parent Governor

  • Joseph Bispham

    Trust Appointed Staff Governor

  • Lorraine Mitchell

    Co-opted Governor

  • Rachel Higginson

    Co-opted Governor

  • Theo Zimbler

    Staff Governor

  • Tony Jordan

    Vice Chair of Governors

Catherine Gibaud

Chair of Governors

Catherine is the Link Governor for Safeguarding

 

Catherine Gibaud is a Barrister and KC, practising at Gray’s Inn, London and specialising in commercial litigation. Catherine was recently appointed as a part-time Deputy District Judge in Civil and Family law. 

Ms Gibaud has previously been a Governor of a federation of schools in the maintained sector and currently serves as a Governor of Exeter School and City Junior School in London. Married to a barrister, she has three children. The family are based in Devon, near Exeter. 

Hannah Rose

Ex-Officio

I began teaching in 2006 in China and subsequently trained to teach at Warwick University. My homing instincts brought me back to the South West where I taught across several schools and took on multiple roles from literacy lead, to various phase lead positions, to SENDCO and deputy head. I joined Ted Wragg Trust in January 2023 as a future Headteacher and worked across the primaries and our partner all-through school at Cranbrook, as well as deputising for Emily Simpson Horne prior to MBA’s opening.  I was delighted to be asked to return as Acting Head during Emily’s maternity leave and MBA’s values of community, kindness and scholarship deeply align with my own.

 

Outside of school, I live on Dartmoor and spend time with my husband and two young children. I love baking, swimming and spending time in Cornwall when the sun is shining. 

Jane Bellamy-Cooper

Parent Governor

Jane is the Link Governor for Careers

 

Coming soon 

Joseph Bispham

Trust Appointed Staff Governor

Joe Bispham is a Deputy Headteacher who has worked in a variety of high-performing schools in both London and Exeter.  He has led in a variety of areas in schools but is still most passionate about teaching English Literature and helping students to explore great ideas and the human experience. 

Joe’s experience in teaching and learning leadership and a coaching model of teacher development has seen rapid improvement in the quality of education for children in the schools he has worked in.

Lorraine Mitchell

Co-opted Governor

Lorraine has a passion for all things governance in education and at her core are her values of social inclusion whereby all students thrive in the school environment. By placing the students at the heart of decision-making, and being both ambitious and relentless in striving for excellence, she believes we will transform our young people's lives. 

Lorraine has had a varied career in education and governance, encompassing the role of a leader and teacher in an inner-city secondary school, a strategic lead for governance in a London local authority, and more recently Head of Governance in Ted Wragg Trust before joining a national organisation, Trust Governance Professionals Ltd. Lorraine has supported others in governance through mentoring, training and speaking at national conferences. She strives to support the governors strategic oversight of school improvement and positive relationships across the school community, work in partnership with the Trustees of Ted Wragg Trust as well as both the senior leadership of the school and Trust executive teams.

Lorraine feels honoured to take the role of Chair of the Local Governing Board at ISCA Academy to provide support, challenge as well as championing all the inspirational work taking place in the school.

Rachel Higginson

Co-opted Governor

Rachel is the Link Governor for SEND

 

Rachel Higginson is an education consultant and a keynote speaker and has been in education for 25 years.

She is the Primary Adviser for Uffculme Academy Trust, a collaborator for the education platform Myatt & Co and is the Education Consultant for the children’s publisher, Redan.

Rachel designed the ‘Finding my Voice’ project based in Devon. This supports young people to physically and metaphorically ‘find their voice’.

Rachel works in schools to help facilitate school growth with specialisms in transformative conversation, curriculum design, oracy and personal development.

 

Theo Zimbler

Staff Governor

I am the Pupil Empowerment Lead and Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead.

My role as staff governor is to ensure that the voice of our passionate team is heard. My role at Matford Brook Academy allows me to communicate with every member of our team, therefore allowing me to hear every member of the Matford Brook Team.

Tony Jordan

Vice Chair of Governors

Tony is the Link Governor for Attendance and Health & Safety

 

I was educated in Devon and have worked mainly in the South West, chiefly in education administration for Local Education Authorities and Children’s Services Authorities. I am employed as a business manager at a secondary school in a coastal town in Devon. After over 35 years involvement in education, my professional career is winding down now but my passion for education is undimmed. In my spare time I enjoy tinkering around with bicycles and sometimes even riding them. I am very excited to be appointed as a school governor to continue my work in education.

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