Trustees

Trustees hold the legal powers and responsibilities of the Trust. As a group, the Board of Trustees sets the overall strategic direction of the Trust and is accountable to the Secretary of State. The Board determines the level of delegation to our schools’ Local Governing Committees so that these can be as effective as possible.

The EFSPT Board of Trustees has overall responsibility and ultimate decision-making authority for all the work of the Trust. Our Trust has 10 Trustees, one of whom is the CEO.

There are currently four Committees of the Trust Board: Finance Committee; Audit and Risk Assurance Committee; HR Committee; and Education and Standards Committee.

• Christopher White
  Chair
  Christopher 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 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.

• Sue Sunderland
  Diocese Trustee & Vice Chair
  Sue Sunderland

  Sue is retired from her role as an HR Consultant in a large global company where she undertook a number of operational roles before specialising in HR. Sue brings to the Trustee role her background in Employment Law, Training and Performance Management alongside her knowledge of organisational structure. Sue also has a good understanding of the educational system having begun her career teaching Biology and Science and serving as a Foundation Governor at St John's C of E Primary School for the past 15 years. She is currently Chair of the Local Governing Body at St John's and is therefore involved in governance at both Academy and Trust level. Sue feels privileged to represent the Diocese of Chelmsford as a Trustee and is committed to our aim of 'Unlocking the Potential of Collaboration' Â to improve pupil outcomes whilst still allowing each Academy to preserve its individual identity.

• Graham Clifford
  CEO
  Graham Clifford

  Graham Clifford is CEO of Epping Forest Schools Partnership Trust. He has over twenty years' experience of teaching and leading in schools in Waltham Forest, Newham and Tower Hamlets. Graham has held multiple senior leadership positions including Head of Primary, Head of Secondary with Sixth Form as well as consultancy work for a Pupil Referral Unit and for schools preparing for Ofsted.
  Graham holds both NPQH and NPQEL and is an advocate for the arts and Philosophy for Children (P4C). He was chair of the Stepney Partnership, a collaborative network of primary and secondary schools, and is driven by a deeply held belief in the power of education to positively impact society.

• Lesley Duffin
  Trustee
  Lesley Duffin

  Lesley Duffin M.A.(Ed), B.Ed (Cantab)

  Lesley is recently retired following a forty one year career in Primary Education, over half of that time being spent at Senior Leadership level. She is passionate about the delivery of excellent education at primary level through the delivery of a creative, stimulating and rigorous curriculum which engages young minds and equips them for their future role in society. Over the last 30 years Lesley has served on several governing bodies in different capacities - teacher governor, parent governor, community governor and is currently Chair of a local governing body. Experiences at this level have given her a thorough understanding of strong school management and how it is supported by ensuring financial stability, accountability and clear strategic planning. She is familiar with the work of local schools and fully supports their collaborative ethos as a route to outstanding provision for all children.

• George Yerosimou
  Trustee
  George Yerosimou

  George Yerosimou is a retired Secondary School Headteacher, having served successfully as Headteacher at Epping St John's, overseeing the planning and building of a new school, which opened in September 2013. He worked in education for 38 years and served as a Senior Leader for 20 of those years. He was a Local Leader in Education and trained and qualified as an OFSTED Inspector. He has a wife and 3 children, all of whom have followed him into the teaching profession. He continues to serve on Essex Admissions  and Exclusion Review Panels. He is still active and enjoys exercising and referees in adult football.

• Vivienne Hole
  Trustee
  Vivienne Hole

  Vivienne's background is in international financial services, having held senior roles at Reuters, London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE) and Cofunds.
  She has also served as a Non-Executive Director for the Welsh Assembly Government and has provided coaching for charity and not for profit organisation boards.
  Vivienne is a Freeman of the City of London and was educated at the London School of Economics and Cardiff University. She holds a Diploma in Company Direction and is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development).
  Vivienne is also a Trustee of the Donkey Sanctuary and lives locally.

• Pervina Saunders
  Trustee
  Pervina Saunders

  Pav has experience of teaching in several schools, which includes secondary, middle, junior and primary. She is particularly interested in school improvement, leadership and management, staff development, teaching and learning and early years. Pav has been the headteacher of an outstanding primary school. She was successful in becoming a National leader of Education (NLE) and has done school to school support work in schools facing challenging circumstances. She has been an executive headteacher and has extensive experience of leading Ofsted Inspections. She is an ILM level 5 qualified coach and has experience of being a governor of a primary school. Pav is now an independent education consultant.
  Pav strongly believes that everyone learns something new every day and ‘learning for life' became her own school motto. She is very passionate about guiding schools to become centres of excellence which enable all children and young adults to achieve their best.

• Samantha Davies
  Foundation Trustee, Trustee
  Samantha Davies

  ,

• Heena Bhadresa
  Trustee
  Heena Bhadresa

  Heena is a Chartered Accountant with 4 years of experience in financial audit, now specialising in Sustainability Assurance. Sustainability is an area that is deeply important to her, specifically the escalating effects of climate change. Heena firmly believes we should be doing our best to safeguard our planet's future for current and future generations. She volunteers as a STEM Ambassador, which has involved supporting a school in launching a climate-related project. Her background in financial audit has equipped her with strong skills in scrutinising financial statements and effectively challenging management.

  Having attended school and lived in Epping Forest for most of her life, Heena maintains a strong connection to the local community. She enjoys staying active through activities such as swimming and scuba diving.