Academy Council Members
Mitchell Gosling
Type of Academy Councillor: Chair of Academy Council, Chair of Standards sub-committee
Last Date of Office: 26th November 2025
Record of Full Meeting Attendance: See download below
Pecuniary Interests: See download below
Julie Wood
Type of Academy Councillor: Principal
Record of Full Meeting Attendance: See download below
Pecuniary Interests: See download below
Elizabeth Pohl
Type of Academy Councillor: Academy Councillor + Responsible of safeguarding, LAC and residential education
Last Date of Office: 24th September 2024
Record of Full Meeting Attendance: see download below
Pecuniary Interests: See download below
Alex Steer
Type of Academy Councillor: Academy Councillor (Teaching Staff)
Last Date of Office: 02/03/2027
Record of Full Meeting Attendance:
Pecuniary Interests: See download below
Michala Bagnall
Type of Academy Councillor: Academy Councillor (Support Staff)
Last Date of Office: 20th November 2024
Record of Full Meeting Attendance: See download below
Pecuniary Interests: See download below
Keith Winstanley
Type of Academy Councillor: Vice chair, chair of Resources committee and academy councillor for health and safety
Last Date of Office: 24th April 2028
Record of Full Meeting Attendance: See download below
Pecuniary Interests: See download below
“We continually work to develop a culture of diversity, equality and inclusion, in which all those connected to Shaw Education Trust feel proud of their identity and ability to participate fully in school life. In our current structure, governance roles at our academy are composed of approximately 100% white British and 0% minority ethnic background.* Please note that councillors are able to opt out of sharing this information so percentages can only be seen as an approximation.
Local Academy Councils
Accountability is a key part of our values and, as such, our local governance model is vital to this. We have two models operating across our schools as follows:
Academy Councils (ACs)
Interim Executive Boards (IEBs)
Academy Councils offer a more traditional model of local governance, with an appointed membership board working regularly with schools under our scheme of delegation. Academy Councils work to a standardised agenda produced by SET, which covers a wide range of school business to ensure the school is meeting the needs of its pupils and the local community. As such, the Academy Council will have 2 parents as members.
IEBs are an interim measure put in place when SET judges a school to require rapid impact. IEBs are made up of education and support services professionals from within the Trust who have the expertise to challenge and support the school to succeed. Once the school has achieved improvement expectations, the IEB will transition into an Academy Council.
Within Shaw Education Trust our function of governance at local level is:
“To be responsible for supporting and challenging our Academy and Trust leaders, ensuring that decisions made at a local level are for the benefit of pupils, and directly linked to the strategic vision of the Academy and Trust. To ensure these decisions consider the views of our other stakeholders (parents, staff and local community) and effective communication exists between all. These decisions centre mainly around areas of educational standards & provision, and operational functions, as detailed in the Scheme of Delegation.”
Walton Hall Academy currently works with an Academy Council.
Statutory Information Updated May 2024
