Michael Sanderson - Trust Appointed, and Chair of Governors

Michael has served on various governing bodies in Barnsley, and helped form the Barnsley Governors Association. He was a National Leader of Governance. Having trained as a statistician, Michael worked for nearly 40 years in local government, in a wide range of roles. He links with Sam Bailey, Executive Principal, in relation to Leadership and Management, and Finance.
 

Father Paul Cartwright - Trust Appointed, and Vice Chair

Paul is a parish priest in Barnsley, as well as being a chaplain to Barnsley College and West Yorkshire Police, and has a background in equalities and diversity.  He is an elected member of the General Synod of the Church of England, a member of the Society for Education and Training, and has a love of music.  Paul’s link responsibility on the Governing Body is Curriculum and Quality of Education

Craig Aubrey - Parent Governor

Craig is one of the Parent Governors for Barnsley Primary Partnership and his two daughters attend The Forest Academy. He was born and raised in Barnsley and works for Barnsley Council as the Community Development Officer for the Central Area Team, where he leads on projects and initiatives that build stronger, safer and healthier communities.  Craig’s link responsibility on the Governing Body is Community and Stakeholder Engagement.

Ella Copping - Staff Governor

Ella has over 8 years of experience working within the education sector, and is a teacher at The Forest Academy.  She was born and raised in the local area of Barnsley and has good understanding of the area.  Ella loves to spend her time outdoors and enjoys sharing her passion for the Arts in her teaching.

Ken Mosley - Trust Appointed

Ken is a retired Chartered Health & Safety Practitioner, having worked 40 years in the construction industry in UK and China in various engineering and management roles and has several years experience in corporate governance. Post retirement Ken worked for Barnsley Football Club in an advisory capacity on management procedures. Ken's link responsibility on the Governing Body is Health and Safety, Safeguarding and Attendance.

Natalie Hardman  - Ex-Officio Governor, Trust Representative
 
Natalie has eight years experience in the MAT sector with a further six years experience within education management. She was one of the founding officers at Wellspring and led the development of the infrastructure,systems and processes throughout the growth of the Trust.
She is a member of the Executive Team responsible for the business support function encompassing leadership of; Governance, Marketing & Communications, Data & Information and Academy Conversions. Natalie has extensive experience as a values driven leader who champions an inclusive community culture. 
 

Scott McHale - Trust Appointed    
   
Scott is an Associate Principal based at Victoria Primary Academy in Leeds. His main duties include being a Designated Safeguarding Lead, specialising in online safety and curriculum lead for the school. Over the last 12 years, Scott has supported schools with developing fun and engaging curriculums that provide high quality learning for all children, especially in Computing. This is complimented by him being the network lead for computing for Wellspring. Scott's link responsibilities on the Governing Body are SEND and Behaviour.