Governance

Find out more about local governor recruitment here

The Trust Board adheres to the Articles of Association of the Trust and each sub-committee to the Trust Board has specific Terms of Reference that ensure good governance practice at all levels. Each school has a ‘School Board’, which is one of the sub-committees, and as such reports to the Trust Board of Trustees. At the bottom of the page you will find documents pertaining to the work of the Trust Board.

The diagram below outlines the current structure and lines of communication:

Our members and trustees are a committed and talented group who bring a wealth of experience with which to support the Trust. 

Below you will find further details. Those members and trustees marked with an asterisk are also trustees of the Holborn Estate Charity (HEC).

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Members of Danes Educational Trust

HEC appointees:

Linda Clarkson MBE Chair of Members
Education & Management
Chair of St Clement Danes Academy Trust since opening in June 2011. Vice Chair of St Clement Danes School Charitable Foundation from 2007 – 2014.            

Mike Bruce
Finance & Management
A former trustee, appointed as a member in 2019. Now retired, was formerly the Director of Information Technology at Moore Stephens LLP a firm of chartered accountants in London.

Rosemary Hadfield MBE   
Education      
20 years teaching in the UK and abroad in the primary sector. 30 years association with St Clement Danes as a parent, governor and formerly chair of governors. HEC Trustee.  

Rachel Gauke
Legal & Regulatory
Lawyer with a background working as a solicitor in City law firms, specialising in corporate tax law. Experience in tax policy work for an industry body and as a judge in the First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber).      

Kath Unger
Human Resources
30 years in HR within the civil service before moving to the private sector in 2010 as HR Manager for a Hertfordshire based insurance broker. Associated with St Clement Danes School as a parent and then a governor from 1998 to 2012.

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Danes Educational Trust Board 

Martin Day, Chair of DET Board Whistleblowing chair@danesedtrust.org.uk
Martin is a semi-retired non-executive director and business consultant. After a long career in the finance industry, he moved to the education sector, building international partnerships for Henley Business School and then developing provision of banking degrees at the former Chartered Institute of Bankers, where he was Managing Director.  He is currently a Board member of learning providers, where he chairs the audit and compliance committees. He has been a committee member of public bodies regulating the banking and higher education sectors and currently serves as an elected Town Councillor.

Edward Crowson
To follow.

Gareth Davies
Gareth has been Headteacher of Ruislip High School for seven years, leading the school through its December 2023 inspection where it was judged ‘Outstanding’ in all areas. Alongside his headship, he serves as an executive leader within Vanguard Learning Trust, where he oversees digital strategy and works across financial and curriculum planning.

Gareth completed the National Professional Qualification in Executive Leadership (NPQEL) in 2024. He has a strong interest in educational inclusion, chairing Hillingdon’s In-Year Fair Access panel and serving on Hillingdon local authority's High Needs strategy group. He has twenty five years of experience in secondary education, system leadership, and curriculum design and is passionate about the transformative power of education to change lives.

Leon Jones
Leon is a senior public-sector leader with two decades of experience in institutional accountability, performance governance and race-equity reform. A father of six and recipient of two Commissioner’s Commendations for exceptional service, he brings deep professional experience and a personal commitment to everything he takes on.

Leon has board-level experience in public service. As a leader, executive coach and trusted critical friend across the public and voluntary sectors, he is passionate about transformational change and has a sharp eye for the gap between where organisations are and where they need to be.

Leon has a particular interest in equality and inclusion. He brings to the board honest challenge, analytical depth and a genuine commitment to making equality of opportunity real for every child and young person across the Trust.

Abolade Odunsi - Vice chair of DET Board
Abolade is a senior procurement professional working within the manufacturing industry. She holds a degree in Business and Enterprise Management, complemented by a Diploma from the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply. She has chaired Ascot Road School Board for four years, having been a governor in the Trust for six years. She is bringing her safeguarding governance expertise to the trust board. 

Claire Robins OBE
Claire taught at a number of schools in Hertfordshire before becoming head of Sir John Lawes School in 2006. In 2008, Sir John Lawes became a National Support School and Claire was made a National Leader of Education, since when she has led on school to school support work with a number of schools, leading to the setting up of the Scholars’ Education Trust in 2011. In September 2022, she stepped down as head of SJL and became full-time CEO of the Trust.

Claire sat on the Regional Schools’ Commissioner’s Head Teacher Board for the NWLSC region for 8 years and is also a founder director of the Harpenden Secondary Schools’ Trust, which was established to promote wider educational opportunities across the town. She is a Member of the Harpenden Secondary Education Trust, the governing body for Katherine Warington School, a free school which opened in Harpenden in 2019, and also a trustee of the Atlas Academies Trust and The Kemnal Academies Trust. Claire was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List in June 2018 for Services to Education, is a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching, and an honorary fellow of Worcester College, Oxford University. In March 2023 Claire became an Ofsted Inspector.

Neesha Rai
Neesha began her career in financial services, spending over seven years in banking, asset management and commodity brokerage services in London and Singapore, before pivoting into higher education, where she has worked for the past twelve years.

She is now Associate Programme Director for a Masters programme at the London School of Economics (LSE), where she also acts as academic mentor. She is responsible for the programme's strategy, marketing and admissions, and supports around 90 students on academic, pastoral and careers matters. Student mental health has been a significant part of that work, and she is a trained Mental Health First Aider.

Neesha joined the Trust Board in 2026. Much of her working life involves student wellbeing and support, and she wanted to bring that experience to schools.

Stefan Simons

Stefan brings 25 years of experience in financial services, with a background spanning investment management, banking, hedge funds and the pensions sector. He is currently a senior technology leader at an international financial services organisation, where he works across business-critical platforms and leads specialist technology teams.

Throughout his career, Stefan has combined technical expertise with experience of governance, risk management, regulation and strategic decision-making. He brings this perspective to the Trust Board, with a particular interest in how strong leadership, effective systems and clear accountability can support better outcomes for pupils, staff and the wider Trust.

Stefan was appointed as a trustee of Danes Educational Trust in 2026, having previously served as a co-opted governor at St Clement Danes School, where he was the link governor for careers. He is a father of four children at different stages of education, from primary school through to university. Outside work, Stefan enjoys most sports, particularly football.

Louise Soden
Louise started her career teaching and managing English. She became an advisory teacher and, subsequently, a lecturer at Sussex University before becoming a deputy headteacher. She went on to join the advisory service of a new unitary authority, moving to become an assistant director in another newly established authority.

Louise was head of a school in Richmond upon Thames before joining Her Majesty’s Inspectorate (HMI). Following this, Louise joined the DfE as part of the team implementing school improvement partners (SIPs).

She returned to Richmond as Deputy Director and then became an adviser for the DfE. She returned to Ofsted as Regional Director for the East Midlands and National Director for local authorities. Since leaving Ofsted, Louise has been a senior adviser for the DfE and a number of academy trusts. She has been a consultant to the Independent Schools Inspectorate and also served as a trustee for varied Academy Trusts.

Louise is a governor of Bryanston School and The Brit School for the Performing Arts. She is the safeguarding trustee for the Gabrieli Consort with oversight of their national education Programme. In addition, she chairs IABs for Danes Educational Trust at both Chancellor’s School and The John Warner School.  

Jan Stevens

Jan is the link trustee for safeguarding. Jan worked in education for nearly 40 years, starting work as a biology teacher for the London Borough of Barnet.  Designated as an SLE for Science Jan worked with schools supporting Heads of Science to improve outcomes for young people at GCSE. She was a co- founder of a highly effective Pastoral Leads group in South West Hertfordshire, working collaboratively with pastoral leaders from a number of schools. Before retiring in 2020, she was the deputy head an outstanding secondary school in south west Hertfordshire and also served for one term as an interim headteacher at the same school.

Jan has a particular interest in the education of disadvantaged students and currently she works as a part time professional partner for Hertfordshire Virtual School which oversees the education of children in care. She has been a governor with the Trust since 2020, serving as both deputy chair and chair of De Havilland Primary School Board. Additionally Jan has supported another trust school by serving on an Interim Action Board.

 

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Chairs of Danes Educational Trust School Boards

Sarah Asher, Ascot Road Primary School Board 

Jan Buoy, Chancellor's School Board

Murray Bruce (interim), Cranbourne Primary School Board and Roselands Primary School Board

Paul Bateson, Croxley Danes School Board

Dora Hotzi, De Havilland Primary School Board

Lewis Barton, Elstree Screen Arts Academy School Board

Clare Charlton, Jupiter Primary School Board

Philippa Desiderio, Lanchester Primary School School Board 

Catherine Rendell, Onslow St Audrey's School Board

Felicity Poole, The Beaconsfield School Board

Hannah Stolton, The John Warner School Board

Steve Clarke, St Clement Danes School Board