Academy Council
| Academy Council | Role |
| Andrea Wills | Chair of Academy Council, Trustee |
| Craig Abbs | Head Teacher, Soundwell |
| Peter Hitchman | Vice Chair of Academy Council |
| Ali Cade | Councillor |
| Martyn Hinan | Councillor |
| Sandie Davis | Local Authority Councillor |
| Emily Currant | Teaching Staff Representative |
| Leanne Bush | Support Staff Representative |
| Bob Taylor | Parent/Carer Representative |
| Kelly Field | Parent/Carer Representative |
| Stephen Bradshaw | Interim Chief Executive Officer, Learn@ MAT |
| Learn@ MAT | Role |
| Rebecca Watkins | Chief Finance and Operations Officer |
| Louise Shepherd | Clerk |
To contact the Clerk to the Governing Body, please telephone 0117 456 6513 x 2224 or email using louise.shepherd@learnmat.uk
The Chair of the Academy Council, Andrea Wills can be contacted using
| Soundwell Academy Link Councillor Roles | |
| Role | Name |
| Chair | Andrea Wills |
| Vice Chair | Peter Hitchman |
| Children in Care / Young Carers Councillor | Alison Cade |
| Finance Councillor | Martyn Hinam |
| Health & Safety Councillor | Martyn Hinam |
| MAT Trustee | Andrea Wills |
| Parent Representative | Kelly Field |
| Bob Taylor | |
| Pupil Premium Councillor | Alison Cade |
| Safeguarding Councillor | Peter Hitchman |
| Special Educational Needs & Disability Councillor | Sandie Davis |
| Support Staff Representative | Leanne Bush |
| Teaching Staff Representative | Emily Currant |
| LEAP (Learn@ Easton Alternative Provision) | Alison Cade |
MEET THE ACADEMY COUNCIL
Craig Abbs, Headteacher
Craig has been in teaching for 12 years and is passionate about teaching, learning and the social and emotional development of the students and recognises and values the opportunities provided by a collocated specialist SEMH and SLCN provision with a short break (respite) residential facility.
For 10 of those years, Craig has taught in Alternative Provision and Special schools. He is passionate about the pupils getting local high-quality provisions that will meet their needs He has held Leadership roles for 7 years in a variety of provisions.
He has lived in South Gloucestershire for much of his life and previously worked in Bristol and Bath and North East Somerset.
Craig will often be out running, cycling or walking the dog. He is keen on sports, recently completing the Cotswold 70.3 Triathlon.
Andrea Wills, Chair of Soundwell Academy Council
Vice-Chair Board of Trustees, Chair of Quality and Standards Committee and Whistleblowing Trustee
Committee: Quality and Standards
Andrea lives in South Gloucestershire and is vice-chair of the Learn@ MAT Board and chair of its Quality and Standards Committee. She has extensive governance experience with specialist knowledge of broadcasting regulation, standard setting, and the investigation of serious editorial failings in the UK and Australia. She was Independent Editorial Adviser to the BBC Trust and investigated complex complaints over the decade it existed. She began her career as a journalist at BBC Radio Bristol, a TV producer in the Natural History Unit, and finally Chief Adviser with the BBC’s Editorial Policy team. Andrea is on the Appeals Panel for the Video Standards Council Rating Board and is on the Board of the press regulator, IMPRESS, and is chair of its Standards Code Committee.
Peter Hitchman, Vice-Chair of Soundwell Academy Council
Peter trained as a teacher at St. Paul’s College in Cheltenham back in the 1970s. In 1976, he got my first teaching job as a science teacher at Merrywood Boy’s School in Knowle West. In 1983, he became the first male teacher at Pen Park Girls’ School in Southmead and the following year he was promoted to Head of Science there.
In 1991, Peter moved to Head of Science at Patchway High School where he remained until 2012 when he retired from school teaching.
He now owns the franchise for a photography company, in the West of England and South Wales. Peter is married and has two sons, one who is married with a little boy and the other who is living and working in Munich.
Martyn Hinam, Academy Councillor
Martyn Hinam is the manager of Kingswood Active Lifestyle Centre and enjoys developing his team to create a great environment for staff and customers.
The community is of great importance to Martyn, where he has created several initiatives to help adults and children with abilities and disabilities to become physically and mentally healthier.
He has been working in the leisure industry for over 25 year, where he has gained a wealth of experience from a wide range of areas.
Martyn enjoys spending time with his family and two children, especially outdoors in the fresh air. In his spare time, he is a tai chi instructor, who has over the last 16 years worked with a variety of people and groups including Choices 4 U, The Priory, health clubs and leisure centres.
​​Emily Currant, Teaching Staff Representative
Emily trained at the University of Gloucestershire specialising in Mathematics and Art. She then moved to Bath where she taught Year 1 for 2 years and headed PSHE. She endeavours to make every lesson creative and engaging using art as a means of doing this. When Emily is not teaching she enjoys baking and ice skating.
Leanne Bush, Support Staff Representative
Leanne has worked for Learn@MAT for 3 years, first in the Pastoral Team, she learnt many skills on how to work with different children when they are in crisis. She then became a Learning Facilitator in Key Stage 3, working closely with the young people ensuring that I supported their daily learning and social needs.
Since coming to Soundwell Academy Leanne has become an HLTA working with individual children to help them manage their behaviour and ensure that they are aware of the personalised steps they can take when they feel like they are in danger of escalating.
Previously Leanne worked in a mainstream school looking after SEND students and the behaviour of other children within the setting.
Alison Cade, Academy Councillor
Ali Cade has been a foster carer and encourager for eight years. She loves cooking, baking and crafting.
Ali wants to see young people achieve the best they can in life through education and life skills.
Through her experience and training in fostering she hopes she can make a difference for the young people at Soundwell academy
Sandie Davis, Academy Councillor
Sandie has been a foster carer for 38 years specialising in the care of children who have disabilities or additional needs, usually on a permanent basis, also adopting twice. Throughout this time it has been evident that good quality, appropriate education has been vital for the well-being of her children.　 All six of her adult children and their children live in South Glos and keep Sandie grounded but busy.　　
One of her grandchildren has ASD and unfortunately, no South Glos school could offer him a place, he was out of school for almost a year before being placed at an Independent school out of our LA. Sandie saw first hand the trauma and worry this had on the whole family but particularly on the child. She desperately wants to see more local provisions being offered and saw Soundwell Academy being part of this. In 2019 Sandie became a councillor in the New Cheltenham Ward where Soundwell Academy is placed and was very pleased to be asked to serve on the Academy Council
Bob Taylor, Parent/Carer Support Representative
My wife Sue and I have been foster carers for the past 7 years. I worked for the Post Office in various roles for 25 years before finishing with them in 2014. I sat on the board of Sovereign Housing Association for 2 years as a tenant governor until 2016.
We currently have two foster children who both attend specialist education, one is at Soundwell.
I enjoy going out for walks with the children and our dog. We are lucky enough to live by the docks, Ashton Court and Bristol City FC, so we are out as much as we can be.
Kelly Field, Parent/Carer Support Representative
After noticing differences and the struggles her youngest son was having, he was put on the pathway to an autism diagnosis. It has been a steep learning curve and Kelly wants to do what she can to ensure young people are not misunderstood and have the difficult experiences her son did in education.
Working in the food and drink sector in marketing, education is a welcome change full of new learnings!
Outside of working and looking after her two boys Kelly loves getting out for walks, enjoying animals and nature, but also watching basketball and rugby when she is allowed!
With the recent lockdowns, Kelly took up running which is almost unheard of for her!
Stephen Bradshaw (MSc in Education; BPhil in Autism)
Interim Chief Executive Officer
Married with five children and nine grandchildren, Stephen has dedicated his life to education and opened the first specialist College for Asperger's Syndrome at Farleigh Hungerford in September 1996. He followed this with the first specialist post 16 FE College in 2000. Stephen has since been the Director of Schools Development for the Priory, where his success led to him being offered a seat on the Board of Priory as Director of Education and Development and later Managing Director of Priory Education Services. He went on to lead them in opening special schools around the World, including Boston, USA, and Singapore. After being the Managing Director of the Cambian Schools between 2013 -15, he was a co-founder of 'The Aurora Group', which he built up to 13 provisions by 2018. He has since stepped down from this demanding work and offers coaching to school leaders. His book, 'Asperger's Syndrome, That Explains Everything', was published in 2012 and highlights his model of successfully running schools for young people with Autism.