Meet The Academy Committee Members

Louise Thorndycraft - Principal

   

Dean Clark - Interim Chair

Dean has been Chair of the LEO Academy Trust since September 2018 having been on the board since January 2017.

He has over 40 years investment banking experience at an executive level and has been the Director of a risk management consultancy for over twenty years  His clients have included some of the largest global names in financial services and he has managed many assignments in the UK and overseas locations including New York, Chicago, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Prague and Singapore. Dean specialises in providing control and risk management solutions throughout the business processing cycle.

In addition Dean is currently interim Chair of Governors at West Ashtead Primary Academy and Hurst Park Primary Academy.

He serves on the board of the  LEO Foundation CIO, a charity established in 2023 to improve the lives of children and families by supporting their access to quality education and enriching extracurricular experiences.

Dean is Member for Olive Academes, a Trust comprising of five alternative provision academies in London and East England, providing education to children and young people aged between 7 and 16.

He is Trustee and Treasurer for the Chris Donovan Trust, a Restorative Justice education charity helping people understand the power of Restorative Justice.

Dean is also a governor for The Limes College, an alternative provision school. This school works with children and young people who have found themselves in some way unable to access mainstream education.  This may be through unmet needs, sometimes referred to as Special Educational Needs (SEN), or complex life circumstances.

    

Jason Ford - Co-Opted Academy Committee Member

"My name is Jason Ford and I am a co-opted governor here at Hurst Park Academy.  I have lived in Molesey for the last four years and both my children attend Hurst Park Academy.  Professionally, I am Deputy Head at Hampton Prep School, part of the Hampton Trust, and have taught in 4 schools over the last 15 years or so, predominantly in the Surrey area. I teach afternoon sport alongside language-based subjects in the classroom."

Rachael Culverhouse-Wainwright - Co-Opted Academy Committee Member

Rachael Culverhouse-Wainwright is an in-house barrister and Head of Legal at the Professional Standards Authority, which oversees the 10 statutory bodies that regulate health and care professionals. Rachael has worked in health and social care regulation and professional disciplinary law for 10 years. Rachael is passionate about young people, having previously been a community youth work volunteer with a charity that supports disadvantaged young people growing up in inner-city London estates, and with local churches.
 
Rachael is an Academy Committee Member and Safeguarding Link for Hurst Park Primary School.

Tessa Waller - Parent / Academy Committee Member

My name is Tessa Waller and I am a Parent Academy Committee Member.  I have 2 children, both of whom have attended Hurst Park, one now in Year 6 and my eldest who is now at secondary school. As a family we are actively involved in local sports via Molesey Juniors and East Molesey Cricket Club where I co-manage an age group team. I work for ODEON Cinemas as an Events Operations Manager in Central London, and I have worked in various roles in the business for over 25 years.

   

Andrew Grant - Parent / Academy Committee Member

 My name is Andrew Grant, parent academy committee member. I live very local to Hurst Park and have done so for the last ten years. I have one child at Hurst Park, and one who has just left for secondary school. Professionally I am a Training Captain with easyJet where I have been for seventeen years. Outside of work I coach age grade rugby and cricket.