Jane Owens MBE
Member

Jane is a highly experienced governor and the Chair of Governors. She is on the board as chair of the Peninsula Trust and the chair of the board at The Oak Trees MAT. She is also Chair of Governors at a local Special School, an Academy in Liverpool and the Chair of the board at Edsential, a community interest company formed between Wirral and Cheshire West and Chester councils who provide a wide range of services to schools.

Jane was one of the first to be appointed as National Leaders of Governance in 2012. In this capacity she helped support the National College of Teaching and Leadership to develop the External Reviews of Governance (ERG) process which was in response to the drive towards more effective governance. As an NLG Jane also supports and mentors local and national Chairs of Governors. She works locally and nationally completing External Reviews of Governance(ERG), Health Checks and Performance and Impact Reviews and holds the firm belief that strong effective governance improves the quality of experience and education that all children deserve regardless of their starting point. ERGs and Health Checks have been successfully completed across the Primary, Secondary and Special School sectors including Multi Academy Trusts.

Jane chaired a Statement of Action Committee, similar to an Interim Executive Board, for 12 months for a school within a Multi-Academy Trust and worked, on a consultancy basis, with a national Multi-Academy Trust as they developed their governance structures. She has worked as a consultant for 12 months during the trial period when the National Governors’ Association were developing their training and consultancy service and she also acts as a telephone consultant for The Key for School Governors and The Key for School Leaders. Jane is also mentoring several chairs of governors across the North and Midlands as they complete an accredited training programme.

In 2016 Jane received an MBE in The Queen’s Birthday Honours List for ‘services to education in Wirral’ and in 2018 was nominated for the prestigious Wirral Award 2018 for her voluntary involvement with schools and education in Wirral.