Ian Valvona

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT IAN VALVONA

Senior leader in education, skills and children\'s social care with experience in central and local government. Experienced Further Education College Chair. I have strengths in corporate governance, policy delivery, communications and influencing.I left the civil service in mid 2023 after 21 years and in late 2023 I was appointed by the government to drive improvement at Croydon College as their college Chair. Croydon College is a c. £36 million income college serving over students in south London and its surrounding areas. From Ofsted Inadequate in early 2023 Croydon College is now Ofsted Good.In late 2023 and early 2024 I worked as a consultant in the UK Government Relations team at Pearson (see Recommendations on profile).In Children\'s Social Care I led Department for Education interventions in local authority child protection services between 2013 and 2018 setting up the first ever Children\'s Services Trust in Doncaster. This radical new way of safeguarding vulnerable children and young people was followed by further Trusts in Slough, Sunderland and Birmingham which I delivered on time and on budget for ministers.In other Further Education posts I was the last Chair of Richmond upon Thames College before it merged in 2023 with Harrow College and Uxbridge College creating one of England\'s largest Further Education groups (HRUC) with a c. £80 million income, providing outstanding education and training to over students across London and its surrounding counties.In the wake of the Grenfell tragedy I was Chair of Kensington and Chelsea College before it merged in 2020 with Morley College London creating London\'s largest adult education institute:\"Since his appointment to chair, he has demonstrated an open and transparent style of board leadership which has been welcomed by staff. He has very competently and sensitively steered the board and the college through very challenging times.\" Department for Education Further Education Commissioner Monitoring visit report: Kensington and Chelsea College (October 2019).I met the required Senior Civil Service standard following open competition and held several Senior Civil Service positions since 2009.