Our Local Governing Committee
LOCAL GOVERNING COMMITTEE
Wayne Edwards
Executive Principal
Wayne Edwards
Executive Principal
Wayne started his journey with STEM focused education in 2013, helping to found UTC Reading with Jo Harper, our Trust’s CEO. He moved on sabbatical to what would become UTC Heathrow as Vice Principal in 2017, becoming its Principal when it became UTC Heathrow in 2018 and joined the Trust. Prior to this, Wayne worked in other education settings since he started teaching in 1998 as an Advanced Skills Teacher, Head of Faculty and Head of Department. Wayne returned to UTC Reading in March 2023 as Executive Principal: the school has a special place in his heart and is part of his community, having lived locally for over 26 years. His vision for the school is ensure that every student enjoys and feels safe at school, that they get the most enriching and effective experiences, and start to gain the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in the world of work. He is immensely proud to be Executive Principal of both schools and to help ALET schools deliver their vision of Transforming Lives Through Learning.
Jonathan Adams
Chair
Jonathan Adams
Chair
Jon is one of Activate Learning’s Executive Directors, with responsibility for Business development. He is responsible for the growth of our organisation, especially commercial income, international work, Higher Education, and our stakeholder engagement strategy.
Spending the first twelve years of his career in the welfare to work sector, Jon worked to help long-term unemployed people back into work. Starting out as an Employment Advisor, Jon progressed through various management roles with Ingeus UK (a private provider of employment support services), to become Director of Operations and subsequently Director of Business Development. In 2015 Jon was appointed as CEO of ATG Training, which became part of Activate Learning in 2017 and has since been fully integrated into the organisation.
Jon enjoys working for an organisation that aspires to provide more than just technical training and education, but instead seeks to prepare people for successful careers. He is especially proud of Activate Learning’s work with many young people who have not previously had a positive experience of education. Jon has always been passionate about providing services that make a positive difference to people’s lives, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
John Watts
Vice Chair
John Watts
Vice Chair
I’ve been involved with UTC Reading since I retired in 2019 and Chair of the Local Governing Committee since September 2021. My interest in technical education relates to my career in the energy industries where I ran oil and gas production facilities and power stations. A strong grounding in STEM subjects is a great starting point for a career in industry and the UTC philosophy is directed towards meeting that need and providing students with guidance and support in relation to personal development and career choices.At UTC Reading we have an active and engaged group of governors and we work together to monitor and challenge the performance of the Executive team and work with them to develop options and plans for the future of the school.
Anna Holm-Charlton
Governor – Parent
Anna Holm-Charlton
Governor - Parent
Dates for our LCG meetings and minutes from meetings can be requested by emailing clerk@alet.org.uk
Fancy joining our mission to Transform Lives through Learning?
If you want to make a difference in your community and develop your own professional skills, come and volunteer as a school governor and you can do both. We all want the best for children and for our local schools: governors play a key role in leading, supporting and improving these schools, and becoming one can be a very rewarding experience. Plus it may not be as time consuming as you think, and we offer lots of training and support to help you.
It doesn’t matter whether you have children or not, what role you have in an organisation or whether you know anything about education: everyone brings a unique perspective and can have a truly transformative impact on outcomes for children and for local communities. All you have to be is aged over 18 and possess the necessary skills, attributes, and time to positively impact our learners.
What do school governors do?
School governors play a key role in leading our schools. They set the strategic vision and direction, approve budgets, support staff recruitment, monitor school performance, approve school
policies and procedures, and hold the senior leadership team to account.
Why become a school governor?
The benefits of being a governor are immense, both personally and professionally. And it may not be as a big a time commitment as you imagine – governors meet on average around twice a term.
As a governor you will:
- Have a genuine, positive impact on the lives and education outcomes for children and young people
- Use and develop your professional skills and experience in areas such as strategic planning, leadership, financial planning, good practice, and team working – skills that feed back directly into your own career and personal development
- Build relationships and networks in your locality
- Gain satisfaction knowing that your input directly supports young people and the wider community served by the school
- Being part of a multi-academy trust also enables your knowledge to be shared across other schools to provide support to more teachers and students
What you need to commit to
- Take part in regular governors’ meetings, usually 4 times per year with additional committee meetings as required.
- Spend time on training and getting to know the school through termly link governor visits.
- Occasionally sit on appointments panels or panels that handle staff or student discipline issues or complaints against the school.
What do our current governors say?
“It is always illuminating to see at first hand the hard work and commitment. It often makes me reflect on and evaluate what best practice looks like in my own work setting – I definitely take away as much as I put in”
“I love how I get to play a part in helping my local school to improve and develop, but my biggest reason for serving is the opportunity it gives me to encourage and champion the great work that is already being done by such a hard-working group of staff and teachers”
Want to know more?
If you’d like to know more about becoming a governor, please contact Heledd Walker, Head of Governance and Compliance via email Clerk@alet.org.uk. We’ll be thrilled to hear from you.
APPLY FOR
Year 10
APPLY FOR
Year 12
Our Partners
