Governance
Open Academy Governors 2026/2027
The Local Governance Committee operates as a sub-committee of the trust board, with specific devolved responsibility as laid out in the Trust scheme of delegation.
Our role is to work with school leaders to monitor the performance of the school in key areas, which include safeguarding, SEN, the school website, and the support offered by the school for careers. We also support the wellbeing of school leaders.
As a church school it is important that local governors hold the school to account for the provision of collective worship and religious education. We do this by speaking with school leaders, ensuring the curriculum is appropriate, and in ensuring that the school vision and values match the needs of the community the school serves.
The list of governors as of March 2026 is set out below.
The chair of governors Mr Bruce Gordon and the clerk, Mrs Michelle Shorten can be contacted through the clerk to the governing body. michelle.shorten@open-academy.org.uk
The policies that the governing body review and approve are set out by selecting ‘Policies’. Key responsibilities of the governing body relate to safeguarding and to the use of funds allocated for specific groups of students. Separate reports on these are available by selecting ‘Safeguarding Children’ and ‘Pupil Premium’. The governing body’s monitoring of Special Educational Needs and student behaviour are carried out in relation to the relevant policies set out under ‘Policies’.
Bruce Gordon
Trust appointed Governor - Chair / Safeguarding /Website Compliance and Careers.
I am the Chair of the Local Governance Committee. I work for the company that supports the trust that runs Open Academy, I do have a child in the school. I am married, living in the east of the county, and have two other, adult children. I have been involved in school governance for 15 years, initially as a volunteer, and more recently as a paid governance support officer for the Diocesan trusts.
Dan Bagshaw
Principal
Caroline Hutton
DNEAT Member
My name is Caroline Hutton, I am a governor here at Open and the Chair of Governors of the Kingfisher Federation in South Norfolk. I am a Vicars wife with 3 teenage children and work for my husbands church as the schools worker. I support 4 schools with Collective worship, vision, values and ethos. I enjoy working with schools to help children and staff to flourish.
Callum Perry
SEND Governor
Norwich has been my home since birth. I was born in the old hospital, now flats, and attended local schools, sixth form and now am undertaking my Bachelor's Degree in Education Studies. From an early age I was a keen learner in the classroom but school was not always easy for me. As I developed academically and socially at school, I embraced leadership positions and was head boy at my sixth form. School was a place which I enjoyed and it also encouraged me to pursue a career in the same field.
Since then, I have been actively involved in community youth work in local catchment areas and have worked closely with young people on various funding boards such as YAB and YNAF. Most recently, I have undertaken a sabbatical from studies to lead UEA Students' Union as the Undergraduate Education Officer; focusing on curriculum standards, quality assurance and student voice across the learning community. As well as this, I have had extensive training and experience of chairing our charity trustee board and managing our CEO. Performance and data are important aspects of understanding success , but what really matters to me is understanding the students and getting a feel for the school.
Our community is a huge part of our identity and OPEN Academy is no exception to this. With huge opportunities for collaboration and joint work, we can enhance our understanding of educational excellence and also enhance the experience for our students at the points of entry, retention and success, and progression and transition. I have always been an active member of service and so I very much hope that staff, students and parents will feel my presence around the school and I hope to bring a fresh and innovative approach to governance at OPEN.
Duncan Anderson-Brown
DNEAT Trustee
Rachael Judd
DNEAT Deputy CEO
Sue Smith
Academy Executive Group Principal
Sarah Napthen
Staff Governor
Michelle Shorten
Clerk to the Governors
