Dean Ashton

Education and schools have been my professional focus and passion for 38-years. During that time, I have served as a secondary teacher, school leader, Local Authority leader and MAT CEO. I have also been an academy governor and MAT Trustee. I have had the privilege to support the foundation and successful growth of a number of academies and academy trusts. That has included Reach South Academy Trust in the South West as well as successful larger MATs in other regions. These experiences have taught me what works in developing and growing academy trusts. Perhaps more importantly, it has also taught me what is not likely to work.
My motivation for standing for election is to bring my own experience to support other colleagues, through the RSC Advisory Board process, seeking to develop their Trusts to benefit more pupils. I bring to the process my experience of both school improvement and sustainable MAT development. I believe strongly in the power of collaboration to build capacity. I believe that we must respect and celebrate the different approaches taken by different trusts in delivering great learning outcomes for their pupils and students, while also building on our commonalities to develop impactful partnerships.