Ian has been been a school governor for over thirty years. For much of that time he has served on the Governing Body of Fulford School, an outstanding secondary in York that was awarded ‘Comprehensive School of the Decade’ in the Sunday Times Awards in 2020.

In addition I became a Local Leader of Governance in York – this role involves providing support to Governing Bodies where there is a lack of capacity or experience. In this role I became Chair of a small primary school in York which was in the process of converting to Academy status and forming a Multi Academy Trust with two other primaries and a secondary. This became the Pathfinder MAT in 2016 and I joined the Pathfinder Board as a Trustee. In 2017 Fulford was a founder member of South York Multi-Academy Trust, including two other primary schools, and I was appointed as one of the Trustees of the new MAT.

I served as chair of the Standards, Curriculum and Governance sub committee and have extensive experience in all aspects of school and Trust governance including strategy, finance, HR, curriculum, estates, SEN and safeguarding. I was elected Chair of the MAT from September 2021 until the merger with STAR to form the new Yorkshire Learning Trust.