Governing council

The National College has a governing council that works in partnership with the the College's Chief Executive and strategic leadership team to set the strategic direction and vision for the College.

Governing council members are drawn from a wide cross-section of the education community, including serving heads, public sector organisations and private business concerned with leadership development. The council also has strong international representation, underlining the government's aim for the National College to reflect the best practice worldwide.

Vanni Treves, Chair

As chair of the National College's governing council, Vanni Treves is instrumental in advising and guiding the College. For 30 years, he was a partner (for 12 of them senior partner) at Macfarlanes, a major City law firm, specialising in corporate law and international transactions.

He is now chairman of Korn/Ferry International and Intertek Group Plc, and has in the past been chairman of three other public companies and, until recently, of Channel 4 Television Corporation and of London Business School, of which he is an honorary fellow. He is a member of the Council for Industry and Higher Education, a governor of Sadler's Wells, a trustee of the J Paul Getty Charitable Trust and solicitor to The Royal Academy. He holds an MA in Jurisprudence and an LLM in International Law and writes and lectures regularly on boardroom topics, especially corporate governance.

Members

Deborah Absalom, Director of Children’s Services in Bexley
Helen Baker, Chair of Advance
Martin Callaghan OBE, formerly PricewaterhouseCoopers
John Coughlan CBE, Director of Children’s Services in Hampshire County Council
Dr John Dunford OBE, Former General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders
Pam Jervis, former Headteacher, Kirkby Sports College, Knowsley
Professor Ben Levin, Canada Research Chair in Educational Leadership and Policy, University of Toronto
Glynn Lowth, Past President, Chartered Institute of Management Accountants
Joan McVittie, Headteacher, Woodside High School, London
Andrew Middleton, Educational Consultant
Diana Ross, Former Director, Jobcentre Plus, South West Region
Andrew Seber CBE, Educational Consultant

Ex-officio appointments

David Bell, Permanent Secretary, Department for Education
Steve Munby, Chief Executive, National College
Gail Mortimer, Chair, General Teaching Council for England (GTC)

Observers

Marcus Bell, Director, Workforce Group, Department for Education
Michael Gibbons, Chief Executive, Richard Rose Federation
Richard Thornhill, Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) Governing Council