Members

The Trust does not have shareholders, but it does have Members who provide the highest tier of non-executive oversight; they are the guardians of the company. Their key role is to appoint the Trustees and hold them to account for the successful governance of the Trust. We have five Members, one of whom is the Chair of the Trustees.

• David Kennedy
  Member
  David Kennedy

  After a long career in education, culminating in Headship and the Foundation of a school Trust, David’s focus has shifted towards the Charity Sector. He has held a number of directorships and has served on the board of three major charities. David has served as Chair of Audit and as a member of the Governing Council of a major UK university.
  David has had a long-term interest in financial education for young people. His work in this area has included speeches at international conferences and the giving of evidence to All Party Parliamentary Groups. David’s other interest has been the teaching of modern languages, and he has worked as a leadership consultant to the Prince’s Teaching Institute and to the Goethe Institute. In 2018 he was one of the Founding Fellows of the Chartered College of Teaching. He also has wide experience of governance in a number of settings.
  David is also a member of a London Livery Company where he chairs the Education Committee leading him to work with schools and colleges throughout the south-east of England. He is also a Freeman of the City of London.

• Peter Tidmarsh
  Member
  Peter Tidmarsh

  Peter was born and raised in the Epping Forest District and, after an extended period of travelling, began his teaching career in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham.
  In 2000, Peter became Headmaster of St John's C of E Primary School in Buckhurst Hill.
  Peter enjoyed every minute of the 17 years of headship and was proud to lead a school that celebrated achievement in every aspect of school life whilst giving the children a rich and rounded curriculum. As the school became a designated Teaching School as well as a SCITT (School-Centred Initial Teacher Training), Peter was appointed a National Leader of Education.
  During his time as Headmaster, St John's was an active member of the Epping Forest Schools Consortium. Along with his other Headteacher colleagues, Peter recognised the value and support the Consortium gave to the schools.
  It was this framework that provided the schools with the opportunity to establish the Epping Forest Schools Partnership Trust, a Multi-Academy Trust of 16 schools and 1 associate member school. Peter spent most of 2017 presenting the concept of closer collaboration to staff, Governors and parents; in April 2018, the Trust was established and Peter was appointed CEO until his retirement in August 2024.

• Chris White
  Member
  Chris White

  Chris qualified as an accountant in 1990 and has spent his career in large global businesses. These include Honeywell Inc, World Fuel Services Inc and currently the Sumitomo Corporation of Japan.
  He has held several Board positions for highly successful international divisions of those businesses for the last 20 years, serving as Finance Director and Chief Financial Officer. He brings considerable experience in Finance, Financial Reporting, Accounting, Risk and Compliance.
  Chris has lived in the Epping Forest area since 1996.

• Brenda Jarvis
  Member
  Brenda Jarvis

  Brenda trained as a Social Worker and for over 15 years held Senior Management positions in Social Care with both a County Council and London Borough. In these roles, she provided strategic leadership, direction and vision to teams of staff, managed performance, staff development and dealt with a range of HR issues. Brenda also has experience of managing budgets, grants, commissioning services and extensive experience of investigating safeguarding concerns.
  In her retirement, Brenda has been a Governor at Hereward Primary School and was, until March 2022, one of our founding Trustees. She feels passionate about the rights of all children to have access to high-quality education and has herself recently completed a BA Honours degree with the Open University.

• Chelmsford Diocese Educational Trust
  Member
  Chelmsford Diocese Educational Trust

  Chelmsford Diocese Educational Trust (CDET) is the incorporated company through which the Diocesan Board of Education manages it relationships with its Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) partners.
  CDET is the Diocesan Corporate Member (DCM) of any MAT which includes a Chelmsford Diocese Board of Education Church School.