Our Governors

Acle Academy is committed to delivering an exceptional education for its young people. All aspects of our provision need to be of the highest standards. Our expert governance ensures that we will achieve our aspirational vision.

Acle Academy is part of the Wensum Trust family of schools. The overall strategic direction of all schools in the Trust is the responsibility of the Board of Trustees, whose pen portraits and details are available to view on the Wensum Trust website. Each school however, has a Local Advisory Board (LAB) which has powers according to the Scheme of Delegation. The Wensum Trust operates a system of “Earned Autonomy” i.e. the better the school, the lighter the touch from the Trust is.

The Local Advisory Board of Acle Academy has recently been appointed by the trustees. It consists of several of the newer governors who have been responsible, along with the excellent Principal and new Leadership Team, in ensuring the school is making effective progress to the removal of the school from special measures. In addition the LGB now has two parent governors and a staff governor.

Governor Pen Portraits

Mr. Matthew Arrowsmith Brown

Chair of Governors

Matthew has lived in South Walsham since 1979. He is a business coach, and before that he was a solicitor and a partner in Mills & Reeve.

He is married with two daughters and one grandson.

Mrs. Tracy Scott

Vice Chair of Governors and Parent Governor

Tracy has lived in Norfolk for 13 years with her husband, James, and their daughter.

She has a degree in applied chemistry and has worked in a variety of sectors, including pharmaceuticals, HM Prison Service, construction, the NHS and, most recently, a local homeless charity.

Tracy is involved in a local church and likes to sing, listen to music, crochet and read. She also loves to whizz along the promenade by the sea in her wheelchair.

Tracy is thrilled to have been elected as a governor and is looking forward to seeing students and the school continue to thrive.

Mrs. Jane Bryant

Staff Governor

Jane joined Acle Academy as Attendance Manager six years ago after a short period of self-employment. Prior to that, she worked for the Broads Authority for 22 years, latterly in HR. She has lived in Acle for over 30 years and has two children who both thrived at Acle Academy. One is at BCU studying Sports Science and the other has just started at Isaac Newton Sixth Form studying A Levels in Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Chemistry.

Jane had a long and very active involvement with Acle Primary School both on the PTA and also as Chair of Governors. She is delighted to be able to bring her experiences to the Academy and can be relied upon to support and challenge the leadership team.

Mr Andy Davies

Andy has lived in Acle for 6 years and outside of work his time is predominantly spent on a never-ending house renovation and chasing after his 2 (soon to be 3) young children.

Andy heads up the service delivery and logistics divisions of an online retail business and hopes his experience with engaging and inspiring people will add value. He is immensely proud to be a governor and support the school going forward to benefit the futures of his children and the community as a whole.

Mr Mark Walker

Mark is an education specialist with a background of teaching and senior management in the Further and Higher Education sector. Currently the Skills Policy Manager (Norfolk County Council) and Strategic Hub Lead of the Careers Hub (Norfolk/Suffolk), key deliverables include shaping an inclusive and fit-for-purpose regional skills system and ensuring our young people are well prepared to maximise their full potential. A Consistent trend across all roles has been employer engagement.

An experienced college governor, other career highlights include retail & marketing management and a lead author role across the Hodder Education Functional Skills Platform.

Originally from the Midlands (but now adopted Norfolk), family includes a first grandchild and beach loving labrador. Key life aspirations centre on giving something back to the local community and making a difference to the next generation.

Governance Structure & Responsibilities

Name	Gov. Category	Responsibility	Date Appointed	Term of Office
Matthew Arrowsmith-Brown	Chair of Governors Appointed	Leadership and Management	27/03/17	27/03/17 - 25/02/29
Tracy Scott	Vice Chair of Governors Parent	SEND LAC Vulnerable Groups	02/12/24	23/01/25-22/01/29
Helen Watts	Principal	School Principal	01/09/16	01/09/16 - n/a
Jane Bryant	Staff	Emotion Coaching	07/10/24	07/10/24 - 06/10/28
Andy Davies	Appointed	Attendance Behaviour and Attitudes	26.04.23	26.04.23 - 26.04.27
Mark Walker	Appointed	Safeguarding	20.10.25	20.10.25-19.10.29

Governors Business, Material & Pecuniary Interests

Name	Responsibility	Nature of Interest
Matthew Arrowsmith-Brown	Leadership & management
Helen Watts	School Principal	Principal at Acle Academy
Jane Bryant	School Staff	Attendance Manager at Acle Academy
Andy Davies	Attendance Behaviour and Attitudes
Mark Walker	Safeguarding

Governors Attendance Record

Y = Attended, N = Apologies Accepted, Res = Resigned, Blank = Not Required

Governor	30.09.22	25.11.22	27.01.23	17.03.23	12.05.23	30.06.23
Matthew Arrowsmith-Brown (appointed)	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y
Lisa Frary (staff)	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
Helen Watts (Principal)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Andy Davies (appointed)						Y

Contact Details

Role	Name	Email Address
Chair of Governors	Matthew Arrowsmith-Brown	chairofgovernors@acle.norfolk.sch.uk
Vice Chair of Governors	Mrs. Tracy Scott	tscott@acle.norfolk.sch.uk
Staff Governor	Mrs. Jane Bryant	jbryant@acle.norfolk.sch.uk
Governors	Mr. Andy Davies Mr. Mark Walker	info@acle.norfolk.sch.uk