Richard Bettsworth
Chair of Trustees
Good governance is at the heart of delivering educational excellence.
Richard is Director of Public Affairs at the Association of School and College Leaders, a professional association and trade union which is based in Leicester and represents 19,000 leaders in schools and colleges across the UK. He was previously the Editor of the Leicester Mercury, and prior to that Deputy Editor and Head of News. He trained as a journalist at the University of Cardiff and the Portsmouth News, and worked in Portsmouth as defence correspondent, political editor and deputy news editor before joining the Leicester Mercury in 2000.
Richard joined the Discovery Trust Board in 2017 serves on the Human Resources Committee and Education Standards Committee of which he chairs.
Chris is the newest recruit to the Discovery Board and will have a particular focus on special educational needs and disability.
Chris has worked in the SEND sector for 40 years and is committed to social justice and the rights of children and young people. Chris is dedicated to ensuring the education system and partners fully support and improve outcomes for all children and young people, particularly those with SEND.
Chris is a strong advocate for personalised and child centric approaches and a curriculum which enables young people to fulfil their potential and aspirations.
Having originally trained and practiced as a special needs teacher in the 80s & 90s, Chris spent many years in senior SEND focused positions within Leicestershire County Council. He now works for the University of Derby as a senior lecturer in SEND.
With the development of the SEND Cluster and special school growth, Chris will brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the Trust Board on this important area.
David brings the experience gained from twenty years leading a range of secondary schools and as a former National Leader in Education to the Trust.
David has board experience of another multi academy trust being a trustee on the Truro and Penwith Academy Trust in Cornwall. When not supporting education, David chairs Magistrate courts in Leicestershire on a regular basis and mentors new Justices of the Peace as part of this role.
The challenges associated with these roles and community-based developments such as planning for and taking control of local libraries, has allowed David to gain an appreciation of the extraordinary and vital part individual volunteers and volunteer organisations play in the development and delivery of services within our communities.
Ed has a PhD in marine biology and has spent all of his career teaching (in further education), research, policy and conservation of nature. The past 15 years has been with UK charities working to conserve and restore wildlife in Leicestershire, Derbyshire and currently as CEO of the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust. In this role Ed is also a Non-Executive Director of Middlemarch Environmental Ltd, one of the UK’s largest ecological consultancies.
Ed has been involved with Discovery Schools from the outset as he was originally a governor of Kibworth Primary School, a founding school of the Trust. Ed currently chairs the Partnership & Governance Committee.
Gary qualied as an accountant with KPMG and has 10 years’ experience operating at Board level in both Executive and Non-Executive roles within the private, public and third sectors. A seasoned professional, he has a proven track record in leading major transformational change and developing enterprise wide risk and control frameworks. After over 23 years working in Financial Services he established Venturezen in 2018 to support growing SMEs.
Gary is a non-executive director to a portfolio of companies and charitable trusts in the justice, housing and education sectors.
Jonathan is the Human Resources Vice President of Hitachi Rail working across Europe, Middle East and Africa. Having worked in senior HR roles for the last 20 years, Jonathan is able to advise the board on all matters relating to employee relations, recruitment, retention, pay and benets.
Jonathan has been involved with Discovery Schools from the outset as he was originally a governor of Kibworth Primary School, a founding school of the Trust. Jonathan currently chairs the Human Resources Committee.
Maggie has a passion to see children achieve academically and pastorally, regardless of background, ability or challenge.
Maggie’s background is in education and she specialises in inclusion and home education.
Maggie has been involved with her local school Barwell CofE Academy for over twenty-five years as both a governor and latterly as Chair of Governors.
She joined the board in 2014 and chairs the Education Standards Committee.
Mihir brings a uniquely diverse skill set, having gained experience in different industries (banking, technology, manufacturing, local government) delivering global multi-million-pound change initiatives.
He has managed global teams delivering regulatory change across US, APAC and EMEA for an investment bank, worked across 23 local authorities improving their annual £1.5+ billion yearly spend on adult social care, managed outsourcing IT teams (process mapping, TUPE, global infrastructure delivery, etc).
Mihir graduated from Loughborough university with an honours degree in chemical engineering and believes in continued lifelong learning, gaining a further honours degree in Psychology, followed by certicates in Philosophy, ancient Greek, macroeconomics and computer science.
Paul is the CEO and Accounting Officer of the Trust, having been its founding Headteacher in 2012. His tenure at Kibworth CE saw the school moving from Ofsted satisfactory to outstanding in two years and gaining Teaching School status as in the first round of designations. He also lead the schools designation as a National Support School.
Paul achieved National Leader of Education (NLE) status in 2010 and set up a School Centred Initial Teacher Training Centre in 2014 which was designated as outstanding by Ofsted in 2017. He is currently a member of the Regional School Comissioner’s Midlands and Humber Headteacher Board.
Raj joined the Discovery Board in 2021 having supported the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee as a co-opted member.
Raj is a passionate advocate of education and the transformative effect it can have. He firmly believes in social responsibility and ‘giving back’ to society to enable a more enriching, stimulating and technology-led learning environment to ensure young people have the very best opportunity to develop their natural curiosity.
As the Director of Commercial & Strategic Partnerships for a global healthcare organisation, Raj is well placed to support the strategic development of Discovery. He also brings a valuable insight from a range of organisations including large multinational, smaller mid -sized to start up’s.
Raj currently supports two other schools as a local governor as well as acting as a charity Trustee for the Marlene Reid Community Charity in Coalville.
Ruth is passionate about all children being given the best opportunities to learn, grow and be the best they can – by providing not only good learning – but allowing them to explore what can be achieved for themselves.
With over 25 years supporting schools both as a governor and volunteer, Ruth has considerable experience to bring to the board. She has been involved in governance at several schools within the trust since 2012. Ruth is currently the chair of the advisory board at Captains Close, Asfordby and also a member of the School Improvement Committee.
Ruth is excited to now take on the role of trustee. She wants to ensure that at all levels – children come first – and our priority is enabling them to become the best version of themselves.
Ruth brings a broad skills set to the board gained working in the financial sector for over 30 years within a variety of roles – accountancy, technical support, IT security, procurement and now a governance role within IT Risk and Compliance.
In her spare time, Ruth is an active member of the local community and is involved in various charitable activities – most recent being supporting the last two Asha trips – taken by the Trust.
Shane is a commercially focused managing and non-executive director with extensive experience of working in the private & public sectors, providing goods and services to consumers and businesses.
Shane also has experience of strategically developing businesses and implementing transformational change, Shane supports and expertise in in strategic business development, financial oversight and growth potential.
As well as his full-time role and commitments Shane also works with the Department of Justice, recruiting and promoting magistrates, Chair of Swimzi Ltd – a leisurewear brand for swimming. Shane joined the Discovery Trust Board in 2017 and serves on the Human Resources and Finance Committee.
Richard is Director of Public Affairs at the Association of School and College Leaders, a professional association and trade union which is based in Leicester and represents 19,000 leaders in schools and colleges across the UK. He was previously the Editor of the Leicester Mercury, and prior to that Deputy Editor and Head of News. He trained as a journalist at the University of Cardiff and the Portsmouth News, and worked in Portsmouth as defence correspondent, political editor and deputy news editor before joining the Leicester Mercury in 2000.
Richard joined the Discovery Trust Board in 2017 serves on the Human Resources Committee and Education Standards Committee of which he chairs.
