Fifteen Headteachers put themselves forward in our region, for the four seats on the regional board. Ms Paul is the only successful candidate from a Sheffield based Multi-Academy Trust.

She was formerly the Headteacher of Silverdale School, leading it to an Ofsted rating of ‘Outstanding’ in 2014’ and then established Silverdale Multi-Academy Trust in 2016, which was this year renamed Chorus Education Trust.

The Trust is currently providing leadership support to Westfield School in Sheffield, with the aim of the school joining the Trust in the new year. Several other schools, both primaries and secondaries, are currently in discussions with Chorus about joining the Trust.

The full results of the election can be found at: https://pre.ukevote.uk/dfe/results

Ms Paul said:

“I put myself forward for this role because I believe all young people are entitled to an outstanding education and, whilst the changes in the education landscape may not be to everyone’s liking, we need to ensure that the decisions made about schools are the right ones and in students’ interests.

“That means ensuring that Trust growth is sustainable, equitable and makes good use of public funds, and that schools are given the support they need when they need it. There is a lot of excellent practice taking place in schools across our region, and we need to ensure that all our young people can benefit from this.

“Thank you to everyone who supported me. I will work hard to be accessible to colleagues, sharing the experience I gain from this role, and giving Headteachers a voice in the region”.

The HTB  works with the Regional Schools Commissioner in his work to raise standards, provide advice, and take action in underperforming schools. HTB members provide advice, scrutiny and challenge to the RSC’s decision making. RSCs take decisions, within the scope of their responsibilities, in the name of the Secretary of State (SoS) for Education, and they should be informed by the views of their HTB who bring local expertise and knowledge to the system to advise the RSC on the issues.

HTB members provide an important additional check and balance to the RSCs’ decision making process. If an RSC intended to take a decision which did not accord with the majority advice from HTB members, the RSC would have to report this to the National Schools Commissioner and to the minister.