Governance at XP - Meet the Trust

Dr Richard Pountney (Chair)

Principal Lecturer in Education, Sheffield Hallam University

Richard is the Teaching Fellow for Curriculum and Professional Development in the faculty of Development and Society. His role is to support the development of learning and teaching in his faculty and specifically to work with course teams to plan their courses, make changes to the curriculum, address their own professional development and (increasingly) respond to the national and institutional drivers for change in Higher Education.

Richard is our Link Governor to the Academic community and will help drive the CPD of Trust staff and academically validate its practice and pedagogy.

Appointed 2nd January 2013 - reviewed annually in the December AGM

Steven Mundin

Senior Manager, Higher Rhythm Ltd

Steve is an experienced, motivated and dynamic leader who after starting his first business in the professional music industry, later progressed into teaching in Higher Education, then established the sector leading, regional social enterprise, Higher Rhythm, in 2001.

Steve has led and built partnerships with a wide range of bodies, from S.M.E.’s to multi-national organisations and government bodies, and has an expert knowledge of social enterprise and the creative / cultural / digital industries. Steve has also achieved many awards personally and for Higher Rhythm, most notably:

Doncaster Business Person of the Year
BETT Award, UK winner of BECTA ICT in Practice
Doncaster Social Enterprise of the Year

Appointed 2nd January 2013 - reviewed annually in the December AGM

Sally Lockey

Sally Lockey is Project Director for Right Up Our Street, a Creative People and Place project for Doncaster. She is responsible for overseeing the delivery of the wider programme, working with a consortium of arts organisation and community ambassadors to ensure that projects meet the needs and interests of the communities of Doncaster.

Sally has worked for a number of organisations in the past including Great North Run Culture, Arts Council England, Creative Partnerships, The Centre for Education and Learning at Sunderland University. Drawing from a range of education, her own arts practice and past project delivery, her passion lies in finding new and accessible approaches to arts engagement as well as her own continued professional development.

Appointed 15 December 2020 - reviewed annually in the December AGM

Doncaster Rotary, represented by Adrian Hattrell

Adrian qualified as a solicitor in 1970 and came to Doncaster the following year to join a local firm. During his career he specialised in commercial property and corporate transactions, retiring in 2009. During that time he served on the board of a number of local companies, including the Chamber of Commerce, was chairman of DonBAC (the enterprise agency), and in 1990 was president of Doncaster Law Society. He has been a member of Doncaster Choral Society for 50 years.

He joined the Rotary Club in 2013 and has just completed 3 years as secretary. He is due to be President in 2021/22, which is the club’s centenary. For the past year he has been a director of the company which is leading the Rotary response to the floods of November 2019.

On the sporting front he has played club hockey, rugby and cricket, and has been a keen skier. He now takes his exercise walking in the Peak District.

Appointed 31st October 2020 - reviewed annually in the December AGM

Michael Wilkinson

UK Managing Director, ClickView

ClickView is a video based teaching and learning company and world leading content publisher, working with over 4000 schools and colleges around the world to revolutionise how video can be utilised to increase student engagement and boost student outcomes.

In 2006, Michael founded i-education, best known as creators of the pioneering games based learning company ‘I am learning’. In the 6 years of running the company, I am learning provided engaging learning and assessment to over 12,000 schools around the world.

In 2012, Frog Education acquired i-education and Michael became Deputy Managing Director with commercial responsibility of the multi-award winning global educational technology company, transforming learning on a system wide level for over 12 million users across 24 countries.

Michael was President of Doncaster Chamber of Commerce, having served as a board member since 2014. He is a keen supporter of bridging the gap between business, education and the arts. He is is also a member of the newly formed Multi Academy Trust ‘Brighter Futures’, which is leading Doncaster’s new University Technical College.

Appointed 18th December 2019 - reviewed annually in the December AGM

Liam Scully

CEO, Lincoln City

Liam Scully is the CEO of Lincoln City FC and was the Chief Operating Officer at Club Doncaster. The Club Doncaster group incorporates; Doncaster Rovers, Doncaster Rugby League, Club Doncaster Foundation, Club Doncaster Sports College & The Keepmoat Stadium.

Gwyn, Andy & Liam first combined during the building of the temporary XP school site which was based within the Keepmoat Stadium. Since then, the partnership between XP & Club Doncaster has grown from strength to strength and both parties look forward to continued collaboration for the benefits of XP pupils, and the wider community.

Away from Club Doncaster, Liam is also the Independent Chair of the Team Doncaster Fairness and Inclusion Forum which aims to increase understanding of the challenges related to inclusion and fairness in Doncaster as well as a remit to develop appropriate working arrangements and community pathways to enable Doncaster’s diverse voices to be heard.

In 2013 Liam was also proudly inducted, alongside Gordon Ramsay and Alan Titchmarsh into the National Apprenticeship Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame recognised outstanding achievement in enterprise and business from those who started off their working life through an apprenticeship scheme.

Appointed 24 November 2021 - reviewed annually in the Autumn Term Board meeting

Sue O'Brien

Sue is head of the Sheffield Institute of Education which is the home to approximately 1500 students and 130 staff and covers a range of courses from foundation to doctoral study. It covers all areas of education from early years to post 16 and works in partnership with over 600 schools, colleges ,early years settings and other educational settings across 25 local authorities regionally and nationally. It is home to a thriving TESOL centre and Autism team who are recognised nationally and internationally for their expertise . Over 1,000 new teachers graduate from the Sheffield Institute of Education each year to join the Hallam teacher network.

Sue is a former primary school teacher who has worked for a number of years in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) for universities in Birmingham, Lincoln and Sheffield. At SHU she has previously held the position of Head of Academic Development for Teacher Education, Programme Leader for Primary ITE (3-7 and 5-11 provision), Quality Lead for Teacher Education and course leader for the Maths Specialist Teacher programme.