Members
Nigel Spraggins
Appointing Body - Cathedral Chapter
Nigel has a background in church leadership, having served for 13 years as the Diocesan Chief Executive of the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham.
He also has experience through his prior employment as a leading member of the finance and business team of a local multi-academy trust.
In 2021 Nigel was appointed as a member of Southwell Minster Cathedral Chapter
Roger Merryweather
Appointing Body - Other Appointed Member
Roger is a prominent local businessman and ex-High Sheriff of Nottingham. He is Director of the Southwell Heritage Trust and has been a long-standing governor at Lowes Wong Infants School. Roger's family have a long and historically significant association with the town of Southwell, being the first to cultivate the Bramley Apple on a larger scale in the 19th Century.
Chair of Board of Trustees (currently Nigel Turner)
Appointing Body - Ex-Officio
Nigel is a Chartered Accountant (recently retired) with 35 years' experience in general practice, the last 15 being managing partner of the Practice. His role encompassed all aspects of directing a team for mutual support and success. Nigel has been involved in the 'not for profit' and charity sectors for 27 years, affording him extensive experience in husbanding scarce resources including public funds.
Nigel was a governor of Minster School for 15 years the latter 10 of which were as Chair. Prior to his Chair position he headed the Governor team that delivered the £34M new school buildings on time and in budget.
Chair of Diocesan Board of Education (Mark Tanner)
Appointing Body - Ex-Officio
Mark is the Vicar of Radcliffe on Trent with Shelford and appointed by the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham as Interim Chair of the Diocesan Board of Education. He has been a school Governor in the Dioceses of Southwell and Nottingham and Winchester for over 20 years.
Prior to moving to Winchester Diocese, Mark was a Governor at the Minster School and in 2008 Chaired the Interim Executive Board at the Magnus School in Newark. He retains a key interest in school improvement and desire to see Church Schools as centres of excellence.
Corporate Member - Diocesan Board of Finance
Trustees
Nigel Turner
Trust Role - Chair of Board
See above for further information.
Sam Dennis
Trust Role - Children and Safeguarding Trustee
Sam is the Deputy Diocesan Director of Education for Southwell and Nottingham. Sam supports Church of England Schools and Academies across Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire. Working with both primary and secondary partners Sam provides support in all areas such as leadership, school improvement, safeguarding, governance and Christian distinctiveness. Previously she was the headteacher of a VC school in North Warwickshire. Sam has also worked in Church of England Schools, and the ethos and culture in these schools is something she feels privileged to be able to promote.
Sam has been involved in school governance for about 20 years, and has been the Chair of Trustees for a small trust local to her home – Sam remains a Member of this trust. She is currently a governor at a Church Academy in Newark which is needing rapid improvement. Her role involves a substantial amount of governor support and includes an induction programme for foundation governors to Southwell & Nottingham Church of England Schools.
Sam is an ordained priest in the Diocese of Derby and is currently serving her curacy in the parish of Sawley.
Moira Hepworth
Trust Role - Policy Trustee
Moira is the Head of Law and Research for the UK’s professional Institute for local taxation matters. She has worked in this field for over 25 years. She manages a number of boards and committees, bringing together often disparate views from these groups in order to convey a clear professional response to government initiatives and consultations.
Moira frequently writes for in-house magazines on technical topics, with her work increasingly involved in consultancy projects for local and central government clients. She has a BA (Hons) degree in Public Administration and served as a Parent Governor at the Minster School for five years.
Meg Maunder
Trust Role - Schools and Education Trustee
Meg has been a leader in educational leadership for a number of years and held significant roles at the National College for School Leadership (NCSL). She was Assistant Director of NCSL, with particular responsibility for developing National and International Leadership Programmes and their quality assurance. Meg was responsible for the College’s strategic role with governors and their associations, Equal Opportunities, the Black Pupil Achievement Programme and the Women’s Leadership Programme. She also represented the College at the Cabinet Office on leadership for diversity across all public service sectors.
Meg continues to undertake various roles in education as an independent consultant. She co-founded of Women into School Headship initiative and is a member of ASCL Senior Leadership Appointment Service.
Matthew Parris
Trust Role - Chief Executive Officer
Matthew is the strategic leader of the Minster Trust for Education and established the Trust in 2018. He was, until the end of the 2019-20 academic year, the Head Teacher of The Minster School and prior to that the Head of Rushey Mead Academy in Leicester. Both schools are highly successful National Teaching Schools with Outstanding Ofsted judgements.
Matthew is a National Leader of Education with a proven track record of successful school leadership and supporting others in their individual settings. He is committed to ensuring every child in the trust receives the highest quality of education in all its facets: academic; spiritual and experiential.
Diana Poole
Trust Role - Local Governance Trustee
Diana has a Masters Degree in Education. She is a member of the Nottinghamshire Governors Support Service and is often deployed to support governing bodies in their development of the very best practice.
Diana was longstanding Chairperson of Halam Primary School governing body and as such has been key in several successful Ofsted inspections, each of which (in the reports) has included positive reflections on the effectiveness of governance.
Dean Nicola Sullivan
Trust Role - Christian Distinctiveness Trustee
Nicola is the Dean of Southwell and as such is responsible for the oversight of all aspects of day to day life at the Cathedral Church of Our Blessed Virgin Mary (Southwell Minster), including worship.
She was Vice Chair of the Minster School before taking up her position on the Board of the Minster Trust for Education.
Tony Walker
Trust Role - School Improvement Trustee
Tony worked in Nottinghamshire schools for thirty-five years. Twenty of those as a head teacher. His first headship was in a small, high performing village school. This was followed by a thirteen-year tenure at Farnsfield St Michael’s C of E Primary School, a medium sized school set in a rural location. He joined the school when it was in special measures and on his retirement in December 2019 the school was judged by Ofsted to be good with outstanding features.
Throughout his time in teaching, Tony taught all ages within the primary range apart from Foundation. From 2013 until his retirement, he was a member of the Southwell and Nottingham Diocesan Board of Education. He also served on the strategic board of the East Midlands East Maths Hub.
In the last few years leading up to his retirement, Tony undertook national training to be a Church of England Siams inspector and carried out several Church School inspections within the Southwell and Nottingham Diocese.
Katrina Proctor
Trust Role - Finance Trustee
Katrina has been the Finance Director at the Diocese of Southwell and Nottinghamshire since July 2023, where she works with the senior leadership team to ensure the financial health and stability of the Diocese. Prior to this, she had a successful career in finance in the private industry.
She brings many skills to the board of the Minster Trust for Education including financial planning, budgeting, management reporting and cost and efficiency savings initiatives.
Katrina has a keen interest in understanding how faith is introduced and shared with young people within a school setting and how this impacts the lives of the younger generation.