Full name: Miss Rachael Howell
Date of appointment: 30/06/2017
Term of office expires: 31/08/24
Appointed by: School Staff
Relevant business and pecuniary interests: None
Governance roles in other educational institutions: None
Relationships between other governors or school staff: Close family member (Mrs J Howell) employed at Sturry CE Primary School
Attendance record at Directors meetings over academic year 2021/22: 6/6
Attendance record at Directors meetings over academic year 2022/23: 6/6

Rachael Howell is the CEO of The Stour Academy Trust.  Appointed as a class teacher in 2005, Rachael Howell has a long and diverse history with the Trust, having undertaken most roles within its structures.  As a teacher in the sponsor school, Rachael led RE, English and Safeguarding whilst developing teaching strategies and approaches to improve the quality of education offered across the school.  Her role as lead for data and assessment emerged when the sponsor school federated with Hersden which led to her appointment of assistant Headteacher of the Sponsor school.  In 2012, Rachael moved into headship and was part of the successful team to secure an outstanding judgement for the school and SIAMs in 2015.  She began her current role in September 2015 and is currently undertaking the Executive Educators training for future CEOs.

Full name: Natalie Ralph
Date of appointment: 21/11/22
Term of office expires: 20/11/25
Appointed by: Academy Members
Relevant business and pecuniary interests: Schools Officer at Diocese of Canterbury
Governance roles in other educational institutions: None
Relationships between other governors or school staff: None
Attendance record at Directors meetings over academic year 2022/23: 2/4

Natalie is the Schools Officer focused on Christian Character for the Diocese of Canterbury and works in a team focused on ministry with children, schools and young people.  Her role in the diocese is to lead on Religious Education, Collective Worship and the Christian distinctiveness of Church of England schools. Day to day, this means visiting, supporting, encouraging, improving, resourcing and training 104 schools across the diocese. Over the last 15 years, Natalie has taught every year group across the Primary age range and has particular expertise in EYFS and KS1.

Full name: Victoria Louise Richmond
Date of appointment: 02/03/23
Term of office expires: 02/03/27
Appointed by: Academy Members
Relevant business and pecuniary interests: 
Governance roles in other educational institutions: Director at INSPIRE SCHOOLS EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION
Relationships between other governors or school staff: None
Attendance record at Directors meetings over academic year 2022/23: 2/3

I began my career much earlier than when I began working schools. In previous employment I worked within a young offender’s institution and later helped young soldiers achieve literacy and numeracy qualifications. From these two roles the impact of not having access to quality education became very clear to me.  Thinking about how these individuals had found themselves in situations where they felt they had limited choices was very closely linked to their educational experiences. Listening to their experiences, often involving very early exclusion from school posed the question ‘what if?’. What if they had been supported when experiencing difficulties at a young age, what if the trauma they had experienced had been identified and the impact on them recognised, what if someone had been their ‘good adult’ and offered guidance and support?

As a result of this contemplation, I decided to become part of the solution and to train to teach. I began as a teaching assistant and had the opportunity to learn from strong practitioners. I then progressed to achieve the Higher-Level Teaching Assistant status and finally completed my degree in Early Childhood Studies. My training was undertaken at Richmond Primary in Swale and later at Saxon Way Primary in Medway.  In 2012 I secured my first teaching position at Regis Manor Primary School in Swale and remained with the school until 2017 progressing to the post of Assistant Headteacher. It was not an easy decision to leave a school where I had been supported and developed however, I felt I needed to experience other schools to progress my professional knowledge and experience. This saw me beginning the new academic year in 2017 at Barnsole Primary School in Medway.  During the time at Barnsole I learnt many leadership lessons and felt ready to make the leap to Deputy Principal when the post at Oasis Academy Skinner Street was advertised.

I began my first Deputy post in 2018 and completed 1 year and 3 days before being asked to step up as Interim Principal in 2019. This was a period of rapid growth for me and with excellent support from the Trust I began to change the Academy to meet the needs of all pupils. In February 2020 I was made substantive in post, just in time for COVID to arrive in March.

As a new Principal leading an Academy through such an unprecedented time, I was able to learn how to lead in a time of crisis. The whole Academy community pulled together, and we were able to introduce iPad’s as part of the Horizons project and therefore provide high quality remote learning to our pupils. The reopening process, health and safety requirements and replanning of the Academy day provided challenges and opportunities and some of the adaptions remain as they supported the development of the Academy.

In 2022 in the first term of the new academic year Ofsted visited the academy and recognised the work that has been undertaken here and how the Academy has a clear vision and is firmly on a path of continued improvement. Securing a good judgement was a satisfying moment of my career and I am now moving towards the securing of an Outstanding judgement in the future.

Full name: Jovy Sargeant
Date of appointment: 30/03/23
Term of office expires: 30/03/27
Appointed by: Academy Members
Relevant business and pecuniary interests: 
Governance roles in other educational institutions: None
Relationships between other governors or school staff: None
Attendance record at Directors meetings over academic year 2022/23: 1/1

Jovy Sargeant, holds a deep passion for education and believes in enabling the potential of future generations. The opportunity to contribute to children’s development and prepare them for the challenges of the 21st century is particularly appealing to Jovy, as it aligns with his lifelong dedication to education.

In terms of capability, Jovy brings a wealth of professional experience to the table. His background includes roles as an account manager for GL Assessment and Capita SIMS, where they used ed-tech to improve student and academy outcomes. He has also worked as a managing consultant at BRAC University, where they designed and expanded the curriculum to empower students with vocational skills and effective routes into employment. At Capita Consulting, Jovy led a large public sector Agile transformation, delivered key projects for the BBC, designed and built educational products, and collaborated with senior executives to operationalize Capita’s strategy and governance model for better client outcomes.

Full name:Rakel Morenike Eseku
Date of appointment: 09/06/23
Term of office expires: 08/06/25
Appointed by: Academy Members
Relevant business and pecuniary interests: 
Governance roles in other educational institutions: None
Relationships between other governors or school staff: None
Attendance record at Directors meetings over academic year 2022/23: 1/1

Rakel Eseku is a UK trained Registered Learning Disabilities Nurse and a Mental Health practitioner with extensive experience working across Children services, Mental Health and Forensic settings. Currently working as a Senior Mental Health Practitioner assessing Children with Autism Disorder Spectrum and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Rakel has expertise in the assessment needs of different populations especially children services. She has worked across the lifespan and is able to provide clients with a comprehensive understanding of their presenting difficulties.

Rakel graduated with a BSc in Nursing ( Learning Disabilities) from the University of Greenwich where she obtained a First Class. She is trained in The Autism Diagnostic Interview- Revised (ADI-R) and Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule- Second Edition (ADOS-2).

Since completion of her studies, she has worked with different population including children and their families within Children and Mental health Services (CAMHS), people with learning disabilities, people with mental health issues, inpatients and outpatients working within the NHS as well as the private sector. Working within the wider health industry has given her a broad and wide understanding of complex needs and presentations which allows her to draw on a variety of experiences to provide the most comprehensive psychologically informed perspective.

Rakel is passionate about enabling young people live meaningful lives. She has a special interest in the assessment and support of young people with neurodevelopmental difficulties such as autism spectrum disorder. Rakel also has extensive experience in working with children and young people who have been affected by different difficulties such as emotional and behavioural difficulties, difficulties at school, issues with anxiety and low mood.

Rakel understands the challenge families usually face in getting the right support for a child or young person who is experiencing a difficulty in their life. She believes that a positive relationship with the clinician conducting the assessment is vital and welcomes contact from families or young people who are seeking support, but may wish to discuss this first.

Full name: Joseph Anthony
Date of appointment: 16/06/23
Term of office expires: 15/06/25
Appointed by: Academy Members
Relevant business and pecuniary interests: 
Governance roles in other educational institutions: None
Relationships between other governors or school staff: None
Attendance record at Directors meetings over academic year 2022/23: 1/1

Joe Anthony graduated from Canterbury Christchurch University with a 1st (Hons) Degree in Policing, before completing a Master’s degree at Cambridge University in Applied Leadership and Criminology. Joe has over 14 years’ experience working in a number of roles across the public sector and has recently taken up post as a Superintendent working for His Majesties Inspectorate of Constabulary Fire & Rescue Services, which focuses on improving community safety, by ensuring Police Forces & Fire Services in England & Wales are effective, efficient and operate with legitimacy alongside their statutory partners (i.e., Health, Education & Criminal Justice Agencies). Joe has a wealth of experience in leading large portfolios focusing on threat / harm / risk, alongside leading large transformational programmes to improve wider organisational strategy and governance frameworks. Joe has in-depth experience implementing new technology solutions & target operating models to deliver significant improvements to large & complex public sector organisations. Joe is passionate about sharing organisational learning to build an effective evidence-base to allow public sector organisations to focus on ‘what works’ in order to deliver for our communities.