Gordon Smith

Gordon has high-quality and wide-ranging experience in educational governance and leadership. As Chair of Croydon College for seven years he led the Board through the journey from requires improvement to good with OFSTED, significant capital changes, and through the takeover through merger of a local sixth form college. At the same time, he moved from being a principal in a very large 11-18 secondary school to setting up a multi-academy trust of two 11-18 schools and five primary schools. Gordon’s wider governance work has included five years as Chair of the Board of a commercial school improvement company. Therefore, he has a vast range of governance and leadership experience and insight. Following his retirement in August 2022 Gordon continued to sit for a time as an independent member of the Finance Committee of the country’s largest exam board, and now provides wide-ranging consultancy and coaching support to schools, trusts, colleges, and local authorities.