Members & Trustees
The HISP Multi-Academy Trust is governed by a board of trustees made up of business people and educational specialists. The board of trustees is responsible for monitoring and ensuring standards and achievement across the Trust’s schools; efficiency and effectiveness of executive leadership and services; and the strategic direction of the Trust as it responds to local and national demands and policy.
You can contact the Governors by emailing the Clerk, Diane Kaye (d.kaye@hispmat.org)
Richard Boden
Member (Chair)
Appointed by original (signatory) members from 02/01/2020
Sue Allen
Member
Appointed by academy members from 29/01/2020
Veronica Radford
Member
Appointed by original (signatory) members from 02/01/2020
Timothy Ricketts
Member
Appointed by original (signatory) members from 02/01/2020
Phil Sampson
Member
I am a qualified Chartered Management Accountant with considerable experience in Engineering, Construction, Business Services, Pharmaceutical, Publishing, Manufacturing and FMCG sectors. Having worked mainly in large FTSE100 companies early in my career, I moved 12 years ago to Finance Director roles in SMEs across a variety of industries. In addition to my financial management expertise, I bring a wide range of other skills and experience, including regulatory compliance and strategic planning.
I have lived in Hampshire for 15 years and have 2 late teenage children, both of whom attended Thornden. I was first elected a parent governor at Thornden in 2013 and then community governor in 2016, serving on the Finance and Curriculum committee during this time, before recently moving into the Trustee role on the MAT Board. I am also a Trustee and ex-Treasurer of the Age UK Southampton charity. In January 2023 I became a Member for the Trust
Andrew Parr
Chair of Trustees
I have lived in Hampshire for over 25 years and have 2 teenage children. I have worked in a number of large and smaller businesses, primarily designing solutions to business problems, leading teams and managing projects. I have been a freelance consultant since 2010 and specialise in leading and delivering business transformation initiatives across people, process and technology aspects. I first became a governor as a parent in 2018 and bring my professional experience into education to ensure that we, as governors and trustees, create the best environment to unlock the full potential of all our students. Outside of work, I enjoy gardening, good food and drink, and travelling. I am a keen skier but also enjoy walking and cycling closer to home.
Amanda Hunter
Deputy Chair of Trustees
I am Corporate Banking Manager with Handelsbanken, with more than 20 years’ experience in corporate finance. Originally from Ireland, I spent several years living in Asia and the US before settling in the UK.
I joined the governing body at Thornden School as a parent governor in 2017. I became a trustee of the multi academy trust at the beginning of 2020, and am currently Vice Chair of Trustees and a member of the Audit Committee.
Brendan Clark
Trustee
I joined the Trust Board in November 2020, and I am chair of the Audit & Risk Committee. I am a Chartered Accountant with over 20 years’ experience leading Finance and Risk Management teams across the Banking and Energy sectors. I am passionate about leveraging this experience to support the Trust in achieving its objectives, to the benefit of current and future pupils.
Monica Collings
Trustee
As an energetic, customer centric business leader, I have experience of leading change, innovation and sustainability in a range of customer markets. I decided to become a trustee as I am incredibly passionate about what a strong foundation in education can bring to enriching the lives of young people. I’m also incredibly excited about developing visions that support future growth and see an opportunity to bring those two things together here at the HISP MAT. With a career rooted in strategic development, communications and value creation, I intend to use my skills to enhance the Trust’s offering to its students and to academy communities, with effective steering and strong governance.
I am married, and a mother of two children, living in the heart of the glorious New Forest, which we all enjoy exploring by foot and bike. I am a keen gardener and enjoy painting in my spare time.
Jenny Hastings
Trustee
Shirley Ann Langran
Trustee
As a retired headteacher, I have been involved, and passionate about, education throughout my professional life. I believe that all children are entitled to the same high-quality educational experiences to enable them to attain the best possible outcomes.
As a teacher in London, Portsmouth and Southampton, I was involved in many initiatives relating to the teaching of literacy, and I wrote a number of non-fiction titles, for children and teachers.
Since my retirement, I have been a governor in the Thornhill and Weston communities and was instrumental in the development of the Hinkler Academy Trust. I am currently Chair of Governors of an outstanding primary special school. I am also a Trustee of the Charity ‘Simon Says’ that works with bereaved children, and I volunteer at CAB.
Mark Siswick
Trustee
Mark Siswick is the joint Executive Headteacher of the Wandle Learning Trust. Mark also heads up the Wandle Learning Partnership, which has strategic oversight of the work of the Wandle Teaching School Hub, Early Years Hub, English Hub and the South West London Maths Hub. Mark has advised the DfE on a range of topics including the reform of professional development frameworks in teaching and early reading strategies. His work to take synthetic phonics online as part of the Covid-19 emergency in 2020 was recognised in the 2020 Honours list, in which he was awarded an MBE for services to education.
Most recently, Mark has led the development of the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised Programme, a complete Systematic Synthetic Phonics Programme, which includes 400 online lessons for the teaching of Letters and Sounds Phonics.
Mark works as a National Leader of Education and is a member of the Teaching School Hubs Council.
Su Whelan
Trustee
As CEO of the Trust and a Trustee, I am driven by the importance of providing the best educational opportunities for all children and young people.
I have 30 years of experience working in schools from teacher through to Headteacher. At this point in time our MAT is in its infancy and we have started on an exciting journey.
It is important that our governance structure is strong, and I appreciate the support, challenge and commitment that our Members, Trustees and Local Governing Bodies offer in this respect.
I have previously been a Local Governing Body Governor for a school in Gosport and am currently a Trustee in a Surrey Multi Academy Trust and a Member in a Hampshire Multi Academy Trust.
Kathryn Woods-Townsend
Parent Trustee
I am originally a research scientist, but subsequently retrained as a secondary school science teacher, teaching at schools in Southampton and Hampshire. Since 2009, I have been at the University of Southampton, in the Southampton Education School, leading a programme called ‘LifeLab’. One of the main aims of LifeLab is to engage children and teenagers with understanding the science behind the health messages, giving them the opportunities to understand why the choices they make at a young age can impact their future health. I am also a passionate advocate for opening up the world of science to school students, giving them opportunities to learn about the wide range of possibilities for using science in their future careers.
Previously, I was a parent governor at a local infant school, and am currently a co-opted governor at a Junior School in Southampton and will bring this experience, along with my experience of working across the education communities in Southampton, Portsmouth and Hampshire to this role as parent trustee to support HISP MAT in providing the best possible educational experience for it’s children and young people.