The Board of Directors
OGAT has a team of Trustees whose combined skills offer a wealth of experience to support Outwood in its activities.
David Earnshaw CBE (Chair)
David is currently Chair of the Board of Outwood Grange Academies Trust, a multi-academy trust which runs 41 academies in the North of England and the East Midlands. He has extensive experience in the education sector at both secondary school and local authority levels, and was headteacher of a state secondary school before entering into private-sector business. He has been a school governor for many years, mainly in the state sector, but also with some independent sector commitment. Additionally, he was a non-executive director of a local Training and Enterprise Council (fore-runner of the Local Enterprise Partnership).
In the private sector, David was an executive Board Director of two technology companies (one mid-sized, the other a larger enterprise), non-executive chairman of a mid-sized creative design and marketing company, and managing director of a small business management company.
David was awarded a CBE in the 2018 New Year’s Honours’ list.
Sue Blayney (Vice Chair)
Sue is currently Vice Chair of the Board of Outwood Grange Academies Trust. She has been involved in school governance for over 20 years with experience in Early Years, Primary and Secondary education. Sue has been a National Leader of Governance and has extensive experience in supporting school improvement, where academies have moved from Special Measures to Good and Outstanding. She is experienced in External Review of Governance and supports the governors of new schools joining the Trust, in particular mentoring the Chair.
Sue also is a member of the North Lincolnshire Standards Board and the North Lincolnshire Inclusion Partnership. She is also the Trust’s named Safeguarding Trustee.
Sue is the owner and Managing Director of a successful engineering company in Scunthorpe and is determined to use her influence to ensure schools support the regeneration of communities through raising expectations and outcomes for young people and their families.
Roland Harden
Roland works for a large pharmaceutical retail company and has been a school governor for over 24 years. He was a governor and then Chair at Ledger Lane J&I School until December 2012, after presiding over the school’s sponsored conversion to academy status under OGAT.
He had the pleasure of appointing Michael Wilkins to the post of head teacher at what was Outwood Grange School in 2001 and has been involved in Outwood’s journey since that time. Roland has also been involved in the delivery of the governor induction programme through the LA.
Roland became a Director of the OGAT Board at its inception in September 2009, carrying out the role of Vice Chair. He held the post of Chair of the Board for 18 months until September 2013 and remains a member of the Board.
Ralph Pickles
Ralph had an international career, based in the UK, Singapore and then the USA, running a global manufacturing business with sales of $800 million and several thousand staff in 26 countries. He now chairs several early-stage high-tech medical device companies; is Vice-Chair of the Yorkshire and NE Region of the Institute of Directors; is a member of the NE Development Committee of the Prince's Trust and is a member of the leadership group of the Careers and Enterprise Company. At Outwood, he chairs the Audit Committee and the Regional Board for our northern schools. He also has been a governor on many of the northern schools' Academy Councils, as the number of schools has grown and currently is chair of two - Bishopsgarth and the Alternative Provision at Eston.
Chris Dalzell
Chris is a qualified chartered surveyor and has been a senior director of a number of highly successful commercial development and investment companies, operating both in the UK and Germany. He now owns a property consultancy business advising corporate clients across the UK.
He is committed to using his property and business skills to assist the Trust with its programme of continued enhancement and improvement of the Trust’s real estate portfolio, so as to provide the best possible learning environment for our students. Chris has also previously served a three-year term as a school governor at a middle school in the Kirklees LA area.
The Right Honourable, Lord Mann - Baron Mann of Holbeck Moor
Lord Mann is now an Independent politician who serves as an advisor to the Government on Antisemitism, sitting as a Member of the House of Lords. Prior to being granted a peerage, he was the Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Bassetlaw from 2001 to 2019. On 7th September 2019, he announced that he would not stand as an MP at the next general election and would instead take up full-time role his role as the UK Government's independent adviser on antisemitism in the United Kingdom, at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, which he had been appointed to on 23rd July 2019.
Alistair Brownlee MBE
Alistair is best known as a British triathlete. He is the only athlete to hold two Olympic titles in the triathlon event, winning gold medals in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games. He is also a two-time Triathlon World Champion (2009, 2011), a two-time World Team Champion (2011, 2014), a four-time European Champion (2010, 2011, 2014, 2019), and the 2014 Commonwealth champion. With his brother, Jonny Brownlee, he established the Brownlee Foundation to inspire children from all backgrounds to enjoy sport, encourage them to lead active lifestyles and benefit from the opportunities sport provides. Health and fitness are integral to the curriculum within the Trust and in some areas, the Secondaries North for example, there is a particular focus on health given the regional health and life- expectancy inequalities.
Sue Silk
Sue has been an education professional throughout her working life, teaching in schools and undertaking middle and senior management roles in the further education and voluntary sectors. She has also worked as an independent consultant on Skills for Life programmes.
Sue has been a school governor for eleven years, ten of which were as chair of a primary academy, as well as being a National Leader of Governance for some of this time. She is committed to supporting the development of high-quality educational opportunities for children and adults.
David Harle
David has extensive governor experience in Primary, Secondary, Post 16 and SEND schools (in each
sector working as Governor and Chair).
He also has a volunteer role with the local authority on the Standards Committee as an independent member. David also manages to find time for his position as Parish councillor for the community.
In the private sector he is Managing Director of a financial services company based in Yorkshire.
Clare Barton
Clare is a business strategist and operational professional with over 20 years’ experience supporting companies and charities across Yorkshire and the North of England. She is Managing Director of a commercial advisory company which helps businesses grow.
In her spare time she holds roles with a number of regional and national charities. Prior to this, Clare had a long and varied career in banking, including senior roles in commercial and corporate finance, performance management, and leading large-scale and international operations.
She is passionate about supporting the regional economy and her aim is to encourage the development of strong partnerships between industry, charity, and education, to create opportunities for young people, businesses, and to benefit the wider community.
Principles of Public Conduct
The Board is required to follow the principles of public conduct set out by the Nolan Committee, including the declaration of individual Trustees’ interests. The full register of interests can be found below: