Meet the Executive Team
The Executive Team report to the Chief Executive (who has the delegated responsibility of operations). Each member of the executive team (known as Directors) is responsible for a management function which directs the Central Team and supports the family of schools. Please see the Governance page for more information.
Chief Executive
Tim is Chief Executive of Unity Schools Partnership. He was previously a headteacher in London, national director of the national numeracy strategy, director of education for Essex County Council and a Regional Schools Commissioner.
Executive Director of Secondary
Stephen joined the trust in September 2018 as a Primary Director of Education. Previously Executive Headteacher of two coastal primary schools in Norfolk, Stephen has held senior leadership roles in both primary and secondary schools across Lancashire and Norfolk.
Director of HR
Angela is Director of HR at Unity Schools Partnership and has worked for our Trust since September 2018. Prior to joining Unity Schools Partnership, she worked as a School Business Manager and has over 13 years of experience working in specialist education HR roles, supporting schools across Suffolk.
Director of SEND
Lucie joined the trust in June 2020 and supports SEND across special schools, specialist SEND units and mainstream provision. Lucie has opened and led a successful all-age (nursery to Year 14) special school and had Ofsted experience, inspecting special schools, mainstream secondary schools and children’s centres.
Her particular interest is in meeting the emotional and mental health needs of pupils with complex needs.
Executive Director of Primary
Darren joined the trust in January 2015. Previously the Headteacher a primary school in Kedington for 8 years, and an LLE for Suffolk, Darren has worked in several schools across Hertfordshire, Essex and Suffolk.
Executive Director of SEND
George joined the Trust in 2013 as the first headteacher of Churchill Special school successfully opening it and leading it through two outstanding Ofsted inspections. Prior to this she has been headteacher at a mainstream primary school which hosted a specialist dyslexia unit. In her role George supports SEND across specialist SEND units, special schools and mainstream provision.
Director of Primary
Matthew joined the trust in January 2017, working as Headteacher of Woodhall Primary School, Sudbury. Previously headteacher of a junior school in Essex, Matthew has over 20-years experience working in education including a period at the Department for Education.
Deputy CEO and Director of Finance
Sarah joined Unity Schools partnership in 2017 as our Trust Director of Finance and HR. Prior to joining UnitySP, Sarah worked within the Care Sector, as Finance Director for The Holmes Care Group and Essex Cares (ECL) and supporting two very worthy charities, VoiceAbility and The Eve Appeal. Sarah got the bug for Education when volunteering as a school Governor and later as a Trustee within a smaller MAT.
Director of Primary
Toni joined the trust in September 2019, working as Headteacher of Westfield Primary Academy, where she is currently Executive Headteacher. Prior to that, she worked as a Headteacher in Great Cornard. Toni has 21 years of experience working in schools across London, Essex and Suffolk.
Director of Secondary Education
Rosemary is Director of Education focused on our Secondary Schools. For many years she led schools in London and Essex latterly using this experience to contribute to Ofsted as a school based inspector. She then moved to lead the Secondary Advisor team at Essex County Council before spending time leading and managing the East of England and London Education Advisors for the DfE.
Andy is Director of Unity Research School and Unity Professional Development.
Director of Primary Education
Director of Unity Institute
Director of Operations
Following a career in banking Debbie joined Samuel Ward Academy in 2008 as School Business Manager. In 2010, Samuel Ward became one of the first schools in Suffolk to convert to Academy status. In her role Debbie was integral to the successful conversion. As Director of Operations for Unity Schools Partnership Debbie oversees the operations of existing schools, assists with conversions and project manages the new school building programmes.
Trust Secretary
After beginning her career in the hotel industry, Lisa has worked in schools for over 30 years, both primary and secondary. As Trust Secretary, her main responsibilities are to support the Executive team and the Trust Board.
Our Staff
Please click on the headings below to view more details about some of our staff.
Lisa Taylor – Trust Secretary
Vicki Lanceman – Administration Assistant
Anna Tapper – Primary Maths Advisor
Ben Godsal – Secondary English Subject Lead
Alison Johns – Secondary Maths Subject Lead
Jennifer Beattie – Secondary MFL Subject Lead
Chris Allen – Secondary Science Subject Lead
James Chapman – Secondary Lead on Behaviour & Culture
Kevin Blakey – Executive Headteacher and Secondary Raising Standards Lead
Sherise Daly – Early Years Leader
Paula Ashwood – Data Manager
Jade Wheeler – Data Administrator
Sarah Garner – Director of Finance
Trish Townsend – Head of Finance
Michelle Curtis – Senior Finance Officer
Sharon Spurrier – Senior Finance Officer
Helen Wright – Finance Manager
Cath Anderson – Finance Business Partner
Nicky Cant – Finance Business Partner
Jo Gent – Finance Business Partner
Angie Harrison – Finance Business Partner
Kathryn Hewett – Finance Business Partner
Della Morris – Finance Business Partner
Lucy Smythe – Finance Business Partner
Vicky Ramdhanie – Finance Business Partner
Becky Poynter – Head of Governance
Jo Edwards – Governance Assistant
Emma Adams – Associate HR Business Partner
Jude Saward – Associate HR Business Partner
Emma Brown – Associate HR Business Partner
Claire Havers – HR Business Partner
Anne-Marie Shropshire – HR Business Partner
Jake Wright – HR Advisor
Mike Vaughan – Head of IT & Data Protection Lead
Pete McCarthy – Head of IT Operations
Ben Shread – Head of IT Operations
Ian Messal – IT Network Manager
Ian Price – IT Network Manager
Richard Hughes – Network Manager
Ryan McClean – Network Manager
Nigel Bashford – Network Engineer
Dave Johnson – Network Engineer
Chris Goddard – IT Service Desk Manager
Lorraine Lever – IT Service Desk Assistant
Lee Mills – Primary Lead Technician
Steve Abbott – Primary Lead Technician
Lynsey Jolland – Payroll Manager
Nicky Hind – Payroll Assistant
Kate Maxwell – Payroll Assistant
Susan Kingham – Payroll Assistant
Emily Vigor – Head of Procurement
Nicola Atkins – Procurement Assistant
Debbie Willson – Director of Operations
Chris Brown – Head of Operations
Ashley Newman – Estates Manager
Jon Millard – Site Manager
James Hopkins – Site Manager
Jemma Lynch – Safeguarding Lead
Steve Watts – Safeguarding Lead
Holly Walker – Data Protection & Safeguarding Coordinator
Jo Francis – ECT Programme Coordinator
Celia Moore – Appropriate Body Lead
Helen Main – Appropriate Body and NPQ Manager
Karen Sheargold – ECT/NPQ Facilitator
Alex Bedford – Curriculum Development Director
Lauren Meadows – Curriculum Development Literacy
Emma Williams – CUSP Operations Manager
Claire Kilgour – Curriculum Implementation Advisor
Rachel O’Halleron – Director of Institute
Andy Samways – Director of Teaching School & Research School
Marc Rowland – Pupil Premium & Vulnerable Learners Advisor
Vanessa Bally – Research School Coordinator
Meet The Trust Board
The Trustees
The trustees are the charity trustees (within the terms of section 177(1) of the Charities Act 2011) and are responsible for the general control and management of the administration of the trust in accordance with the provisions set out in the memorandum and articles of association. The board of trustees is the accountable body for the performance of all schools within the trust and as such must: – Ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction – Hold the executive to account for the educational performance of the schools and their pupils, and the performance management of staff – Oversee the financial performance of the trust and make sure its money is well spent Because trustees are bound by both charity and company law, the terms ‘trustees’ and ‘directors’ are often used interchangeably. We use the term trustee as it avoids the possible confusion caused when executive leaders are called directors but are not company directors and trustees.
Roger is a former Royal Marine, economist and has worked in business for most of his professional life. Formed public policy consultancy in the 1980s of which he is currently a non-executive director. Been Chair of West Suffolk Hospital for the last 10 years, prior to which he was a director of a large property company. Has been Chair of the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds for the past year and until recently was a trustee of Emmaus Suffolk, a homeless charity.
Gordon Jones is a qualified Chartered Accountant, he worked as a Finance Director in the City of London. He has been chair of the Suffolk Governors Forum and a member of the School’s Forum. In his business life he controlled and managed service companies as both client and provider.
In 2013 Gordon was elected to Suffolk County Council as the member for the Stamford division and was immediately appointed Deputy Portfolio Holder for CYP services. In the recent SCC reshuffle he was promoted to cabinet as the Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services. He also sits on the Suffolk Health and Well being Board, Suffolk Safeguarding Board, Layham Quarry Liaison Group and Tattingstone Quarry Liaison Group.
A civil servant for over 30 years, Ian has worked on policy development and delivery across a number of departmental agendas, including Home Office, Communities and Local Government and Education. He has held roles within the Department for Education including Free Schools policy and implementation, Education and Skills Funding Agency regulation and currently works within DFE’s Regions Group, which is responsible for oversight of the academies programme. This work has enabled him to develop skills and experience in academy trust financial management, legal frameworks and governance. His current role includes providing oversight and ensuring compliance with statutory safeguarding requirements by academy trusts. Ian is the trust’s named trustee for safeguarding.
Dean is currently Operations Director for Inchape PLC with responsibility for their Emerging Markets business for the Asia Pacific region. His career has encompassed a varety of senior leadersip positions in multi-site businesses that have ranged from his current automotive role to banking, telecoms and leisure.
Laura was educated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and read Natural Sciences before completing a PhD in biochemistry. After this she qualified as a chartered accountant and spent 10 years at EY including a secondment to Palo Alto, California. She then had a variety of roles in industry including at Rio Tinto, the global mining company, Travelex and Avon Products Inc. Laura is currently the Group Financial Controller for National Grid plc.
Andrew worked in banking for over 30 years in Tokyo and London. His career included a number of senior leadership positions, most recently at Lloyds Bank. He has extensive experience of running and managing large teams in complex business environments, with a deep appreciation of how to work within a highly regulated environment, strategic business planning and the importance of building effective teams.
Lloyd is an experienced HR Director, predominantly in Financial Services FTSE top 20. His career has a distinctive combination of early operational and line management experience in banking, combined with progressively more senior HR roles, both generalist and the full range of specialist areas. Latterly Lloyd has completed a number of varied interim and consultancy assignments, across a range of sectors including, Healthcare, FMCG and Public Sector. Previously he was a Trustee Board Member of the Bank Workers Charity (BWC) – a UK Charity dedicated to supporting all bank workers and their families.
Tim is Chief Executive of Unity Schools Partnership. He was previously a headteacher in London, national director of the national numeracy strategy, director of education for Essex County Council and a Regional Schools Commissioner.
Chair of the Trust & Member
Born in Manchester, Chris studied English at Leeds. She remained in Leeds as a secondary English teacher, teaching in two schools. She moved to Birmingham to take up the post of Head of Year at Ninestiles School. She became a deputy head there and then, as part of the Ninestiles Federation, became headteacher of two schools leading their improvement. She returned to Ninestiles as Head in 2004, became Principal in 2007, and led its conversion to an academy in 2011. By the time she left there in 2016, it was part of a multi academy trust of four primary schools, three secondary schools with a sixth form college about to join. She retired as Regional Schools Commissioner for West Midlands in 2019.
Janet has a portfolio career within the education sector working in several sectors including international schools, EdTech, assessment, Higher Education and English language. She has a broad business background with experience in senior leadership roles in aviation, international education, publishing and professional services.
Janet’s most recent, permanent role was as a Director of Cambridge International Education which provides education programmes and qualifications to schools around the world.
The Members
The members of the trust have a different status to trustees. The members appoint trustees to ensure that the trust’s charitable object is carried out and so must be able to remove trustees if they fail to fulfil this responsibility. Members are responsible for approving any amendments made to the trust’s articles of association. In order to retain a degree of separation of powers between the members and the trust board, and in line with DfE expectations, the chair of the trust board is the only trustee who is also a member. Members are not permitted to be employees of the academy trust.
Lesley Birch has worked in education for over 30 years in primary, middle and secondary schools and is now Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Meridian Trust and a Member of Unity Schools Partnership Trust.
As an NLE, Lesley worked with many schools across East Anglia offering a menu of support from which she has learnt a lot about the many challenges in schools across the sector, including Opportunity Areas, rural, city and coastal schools. She is a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching, keeps up to date with educational research and practice and was a member of the Ethical Leadership Framework Committee.
Recruiting, training, and developing staff is at the centre of all her work, in partnership with SCITTs, Curriculum Hubs, Research Schools, LAs, RSCs, DfE, MATs and Dioceses. Lesley is the strategic lead for the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Teaching School Hub and she is a member of the Teaching School Hubs Council, which enables her to contribute more widely to the school system, advocating for a great education for every pupil.
Paul retired from the Police Service in 2014 following a 34 year career with the Suffolk Constabulary reaching the rank of Deputy Chief Constable. In 2015 he was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal for distinguished police service.
On retirement he was appointed an an Independent Chair of School Improvement Boards holding Head Teachers, Chairs of Governors and the Local Authority to account for rapid and sustainable improvements in pupil outcomes. This led to other roles within education including being appointed as a chair of Interim Executive Boards, supporting and strengthening Governing Bodies and advising on the performance of Head Teachers. Since 2016 he has run his own management consultancy business.
In his spare time Paul is the Chair of Governors at Norton CEVC Primary School and a Trustee of a charity linked to the Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) in Suffolk. He has lived in Suffolk all his life.
Chair of the Trust & Member
Born in Manchester, Chris studied English at Leeds. She remained in Leeds as a secondary English teacher, teaching in two schools. She moved to Birmingham to take up the post of Head of Year at Ninestiles School. She became a deputy head there and then, as part of the Ninestiles Federation, became headteacher of two schools leading their improvement. She returned to Ninestiles as Head in 2004, became Principal in 2007, and led its conversion to an academy in 2011. By the time she left there in 2016, it was part of a multi academy trust of four primary schools, three secondary schools with a sixth form college about to join. She retired as Regional Schools Commissioner for West Midlands in 2019.
Biography to follow