Network Support Team

Gary is responsible for all aspects of the Trust operation. He works closely with members, trustees and local governors to ensure high quality governance. Gary leads all members of the Executive Team in delivering the Trust’s vision and performance against key performance indicators. He works across the south west region in a commissioned role for both Ofsted and the Department for Education.

Lynne is the appointed Chief Finance Officer for the Trust and has oversight and responsibility for the financial management of the Trust and line management of the Finance team. Her objective is to create a financially sustainable environment in which the Trust is able to deliver the best outcomes for children.

As Head of Financial Accounting, Bridget works closely with the CFO to oversee the financial management of the Trust. Taking an overarching lead on technical financial accounting, compliance and accountability. Providing monitoring and reporting of the organisation’s finances.

Libby assists with the delivery of the Employee Services provision for the Trust by providing support to the Employee Services Lead, Head of Financial Accounting, Director of Finance, Directors of School Improvement and the HR Business Partner. Her day-to-day responsibilities include supervising all HR admin processes for the Trust, along with supervising the administration of the Trust’s recruitment process.

Chris leads on the strategic and operational development of the Ventrus Training School. She works alongside the Executive Team in developing the vision, scope and remit of the Training School, increasing partners and partnerships and to expand the client base.

As Head of Management Accounts Charlotte is lead on all aspects of budget planning and monitoring, providing timely and accurate reporting to facilitate strategic decision making for the organisation. She works closely with the schools and other colleagues in the central team to optimise financial performance in order to support teaching and learning.

Kay supports the Executive Leadership Team and works closely with the Board of Trustees to ensure the effective and compliant execution of their statutory roles. Kay leads on governance for the Trust and line manages the Clerks to the Local Governing Bodies. She is also responsible for the maintenance of the Ventrus website as well as playing a key part in Trust communications.

Melissa handles invoices which includes liaising with suppliers, handling enquiries, running weekly BACS runs and sending out remittance advice. She also handles incoming calls to the central office and diverts appropriately. Melissa enters income on to the system and works closely with payroll as well as dealing with staff expense and travel claims and ordering stock for the central office.

Jon’s day to day responsibility is for payroll and the input of changes, calculation of maternity/paternity/shared maternity pay, overtime and supply claims, redundancy and redeployment calculations, administering the childcare voucher scheme, Teachers and Local Government pension administration and tax and National Insurance compliance.

Megan provides administrative support to the Employee Services Team and wider Network Support Team. This involves working closely with the Employee Services Supervisor, Training School, Senior Executive Assistant and Finance Team. Her day-to-day responsibilities include processing documents relating to HR i.e. personnel information, absence monitoring and reporting and administering the Trust's recruitment process.

Christine ensures an efficient catering service within Ventrus by supporting the day-to-day management of catering provision across the Trust, including staff training, menu planning to ensure conformity to the Food Standard Agency requirements, food production, and the sourcing of good quality produce. Christine's focus is on the provision of high-quality, nutritious, well-balanced food within a hygienic, safe, compliant environment across Ventrus schools.

Richard provides financial accounting support to the Trust and acts as main point of contact for statutory compliance matters e.g. year-end accounts production and audit etc. He co-ordinates the production of monthly management accounts, performs key control account reconciliations and oversees the payroll process.

Sam provides support and management of all premises related matters across the Trust so as to provide a healthy, safe, secure environment. Sam oversees delivery of maintenance and project works for all our schools, whilst working closely with our Headteachers across the Trust to ensure Statutory Compliance is met.

Andrew is responsible for the strategic development of IT within the Trust. Andrew works closely with the Senior Leadership Team and the individual schools to support their IT development plans, ensuring that they incorporate the schools' needs and the Trust-wide IT strategy. On a day-to-day basis, Andrew works alongside a small, experienced IT team who provide support for the Trust’s schools, staff and students.

Maria has over 15 years of school’s finance experience. Maria is embedded in the finance team and undertakes key tasks such as the banking for the Trust. Maria provides a “Finance Business Partner” service to the schools and is routinely out onsite as part of a “Finance Friday” initiative. Maria also coordinates access to the accounting product PSF issuing logins and passwords.

Sharon is our main point of contact for Executive and Senior leaders across the Trust in terms of HR advice on policies, processes and more complex HR issues. She is also involved in working in partnership with other colleagues from finance, premises and elsewhere to ensure that all support for schools is delivered in a co-ordinated fashion. Sharon ensures the HR strategy is implemented and maintained consistently across the Trust.

Shannon supports the Trust with premises related matters and ensuring Statutory Compliance is met, working closely with colleagues within the schools to offer support and guidance.
Shannon also assists with the Ventrus Training School supporting the Trust Lead to plan and manage the various events held throughout the year.