Gavin Ball

Gavin is one of Somerset’s leading educationalists.

Retiring in August 2026 he was founding  Chief Executive of the Wessex Learning Trust, with 23 academy’s across the Southwest, educating children and young people up to nineteen. Under Gavin’s leadership the Trust was grounded in hope, belief and aspiration, and in developing the whole child alongside outstanding academic outcomes for every young person, regardless of background or ability.

A graduate of Aberystwyth University, Gavin has spent his career in primary and secondary education, first as a principal and then building a multi-academy trust from the ground up, with a particular interest in coaching and in the use of technology in learning. As Chief Executive he brought Sound Vision’s early interventions into Wessex Learning Trust schools, where the work has grown because it works.

“Sound Vision is about giving disaffected young people a voice. It is about inclusion. It is about empowering them when they feel locked out.”

On the board, Gavin brings a rare understanding of how schools and trusts decide what to commission, what they are held accountable for, and the language that makes sense to them. He has been instrumental in developing Sound Vision’s offer to schools as creative re-engagement delivered by an external partner, keeping our early interventions aligned with educational priorities, and in opening conversations with school and trust leaders across Somerset and beyond.

“When you have a hook that brings a child into school then they are going to attend Maths and English.”

Gavin’s experience adds real depth to the education expertise on the Sound Vision board at a time when the charity’s work in schools is growing across Somerset, Bath & Northeast Somerset and London.