St Laurence Education Trust

Mr James O'Neill, is a member of the St Laurence Education Trust and member of its Education Committee, has been involved in education for more than forty years. He has taught in state schools in Sheffield, Chelsea, and Bexleyheath, and from 1987-1993 was Deputy Headteacher at All Saints' RC Comprehensive School in Mansfield. From there he became Principal of Carmel College, Darlington, a post he held until 2009. He was a National Leader of Education: in this role he supported other schools facing difficulties with performance outcomes. Current educational roles also include Director of Leadership Links Ltd., Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Education Village Multi-Academy Trust, Former Chair of the Sponsors' Monitoring Group for the St Aidan's CofE Academy, Darlington, and Regional Director and Leadership Development Adviser for the North-East for The Future Leaders Trust. He is a trustee of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Middlesbrough.

Mr Matthew Craston was a student at Ampleforth College and a graduate from Oxford University and has worked in London's financial sector for more than 30 years. He began in banking at Chase Manhattan where he spent the 1980s. Through the 1990s he worked in the corporate finance department of SBC and SBC Warburg, and then as a managing director in the leveraged finance group when the bank became UBS Investment Bank. In 2004 he switched to the fund management business, managing credit funds at at European Credit Management Limited for ten years. He has recently set up his own company, Finance Map, to provide students and others with an understanding of the financial world through one-to-one tutorials. Matthew is Chair of the St Laurence Education Trust Planning and Finance Committee and a member of the Ampleforth Abbey Trust Investment Committee.

Mrs Elizabeth Berner's professional life has been spent in teaching, particularly working for the Girls' Day School Trust over the course of thirty years.  In some of the Trust's SW London schools roles have included Head of a History Dept, Sixth Form Careers Adviser as well as undertaking subject and general Oxbridge preparation. She has also been a tutor in higher education in HM Prison Wandsworth.  Additionally she has held non-executive directorships in the NHS in the 1990s and currently sits on the boards of various voluntary sector organisations.  Her connection with Ampleforth arises from both her husband and son having been educated at the College, the latter also at the prep school at Gilling Castle, as well as from participation in some of the Lourdes pilgrimages and various retreats at the Abbey.

Mr Christopher Adams studied Mathematics at Cambridge University and trained as an accountant, eventually becoming a Partner at Armitage & Norton Chartered Accountants. From there he moved to KPMG, where he became Head of Charities in the North of England, before joining Saffery Champness in 2003. He remained a Partner there until 2012. He is now a self-employed Chartered Accountant, acting in a personal capacity as a trustee and board member for a small number of commercial companies, family trusts and charities. He is a member of the St Laurence Education Trust Planning and Finance Committee and Chair of the Ampleforth Abbey Trust Audit and Risk Management Committee.

Rachel Fletcher worked at Ampleforth College for 23 years, initially as a Teacher of English. She later joined the Senior Leadership Team as Director of Professional Development before taking up the post of Director of Admissions until her retirement in 2014.  She has served as a Governor at St Benedict's RC Primary, Ampleforth, St Martin's Prep School, Nawton and St Mary's Girls' School, Baldersby.  She was also previously a Trustee of St Martin's Ampleforth Prep School.

Mr Robin Burdell was educated at Ampleforth College (1969-1976) and is currently Head of Finance and Marketing Appointments for RSAcademics Ltd. Previous posts include Director of Finance and Operations for Worth School and Finance Director for Worth Abbey; Business Director and Secretary to the Board of Truro School; Director of Finance and Estates at Nottingham High School; and Head of Finance and Administration and Company Secretary at Stanford Hall Enterprises Ltd. He has served on the Independent School Bursars’ Association (ISBA) Executive Committee, Chairman of the ISBA General Purposes Committee, and on the Board of the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI). Robin Burdell is a qualified Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (FCMA) and a Member of Chartered Global Management Accountants (CGMA).

John Sykes was educated at Ampleforth College and went on to study Business Administration at Herriot Watt University, Edinburgh, followed by a Masters in EC Competition Law at Kings College, London. He qualified as a solicitor in 1984 and worked as a partner at law firm DLA, and then at Lupton Fawcett from 1992-2017. He is now working as a consultant and is a director of Mohun Intellectual Property Limited, a patent attorney firm.  John Sykes is a member of the Intellectual Property Committee of the Law Society of England and Wales and an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys. From 2008-2017 he was governor at Leeds Trinity University.

Sr Frances Orchard CJ has spent her entire career in senior education and brings extensive knowledge of Catholic education, and the transition from religious to lay leadership in Catholic schools. She was the headmistress of St Mary’s Ascot and General Secretary of the Catholic Independent Schools Conference (CISC). Since retiring from teaching, she has taken up several school governor posts in schools across the country. She is currently the Provincial Superior of the Congregation of Jesus, Chair of Trustees of the Congregation of Jesus Trust and Chair of Trustees of the Bar Convent Trust York.