THE CENTRAL SERVICES TEAM

Our Central Services Team provides the staff and senior leaders within our schools with an invaluable range of specialist expertise and high-quality challenge and support.

Adrian Rogers - Chief Executive

Experience

Adrian has been CEO of the Chiltern Learning Trust since July 2015. Prior to that, he was Headteacher for thirteen years at the three times outstanding Robert Bloomfield Academy and Executive Principal in a Multi Academy Trust. Since 2005, Adrian has also been an Executive Head and a National Leader of Education. Adrian also established and led the innovative Central Beds Teaching School that grew to 138 school partners.

Strengths

Strategy development, senior leadership, and school improvement.

Areas of responsibility

Strategic leadership, the growth and development of the Trust and maintaining our high standards.

Mary Ellis - PA to CEO

Experience

Mary has worked in the education sector for six years in both mainstream and special educational settings. She has previously worked in engineering and manufacturing. She has over 20 years experience in marketing and administration.

Strengths

Administration, clerical, customer service, streamlining processes, problem solving, administration management and marketing. 

Areas of responsibility

Supporting the CEO and Trustees. Central point of contact and support for Headteacher's within the Trust and sharing best practice. Clerk to Board of Trustees.

Rob Parsons - Director of Operations

Experience

Rob was previously the Head of School Organisation, Admissions and Capital Planning for Central Bedfordshire Council. He has worked in this senior capacity at Central Beds since its inception in 2008 and prior to this held a management post in Mid-Bedfordshire Council, looking after buildings, planning and project management. Rob has vast experience in working with schools, in delivering new schools and in the effective delivery of new educational provision. Rob is highly regarded by the schools across the county and region and has worked closely with the DfE, local authorities and other stakeholders. Rob has expertise in the areas of compliance, risk and the strategic growth of schools and trusts.

Strengths

Operational management, strategic planning, project management, strategic liaison with the DfE and local authorities and the opening of new educational provision.

Areas of responsibility

Admissions, facilities management, health and safety, risk management and the strategic growth of our estate and buildings. 

Teresa Kelly - Finance Director and Compliance

Experience

Teresa has led and managed the operational, compliance and governance functions in Denbigh High School for the last 15 years and she has been instrumental in taking the school through academy conversion, sponsoring a local primary school and setting up the Chiltern Learning Trust, which included planning and creation of an effective governance structure for the MAT.

Teresa has been the company secretary for the Trust since 2013, ensuring the governing reporting structure is effective and timely to meet statutory legislation.

During this time, the Trust has increased its teaching excellence, student numbers, financial strength, value for money and employee relations.

Teresa also has strong links with local businesses, which gives her an insight into educational business management from a different perspective.

Strengths

Finance, governance, school business management, and operations.

Areas of responsibility

The strategic development and operational implementation of governance, compliance, and finance. 

Lorraine Hughes - Director of Education

Experience

Lorraine was previously a Deputy Headteacher for 8 years where she was instrumental in transforming school standards. She has gained significant experience through a range of leadership roles and from teaching for twenty years across different Luton and Hertfordshire schools.

Strengths

Formulating and implementing a strategic vision, school improvement, working in partnership, senior leadership.

Areas of responsibility

Maintaining high standards across the Trust, leading the CTSA including all school-to-school support and leading a team of SLEs. 

Jean Leech - Finance Manager

Experience

Jean is a qualified member of the Association of Accounting Technicians and joined Denbigh High School as Finance and HR Manager in June 2008. Since this time Jean has overseen the financial management of Denbigh High School through its various times of change including its soft federation status with Challney High School for Boys, Academisation in November 2010, an introduction of the teaching school in 2011 and becoming a Multi Academy Trust in July 2013.

Jean has extensive experience in management accounts and consolidation of year-end statutory accounts as well as the changes and challenges of recruitment within schools and the requirements to look more creatively at staffing.

Strengths

• Financial management and accounting.
• Staffing and HR planning and management.

Areas of responsibility

• Year-end procedures.
• Compiling statutory accounts.
• Lead induction/training and support for finance staff.
• Management and administration of the monthly CLT financial management systems for each school.
• Analysing monthly finance reports.
• VAT - reconciling control accounts.
• Standardising practices across the Trust to ensure efficiency and clarity of reporting.
• Budget setting and monitoring. 

Emma Gough - ICT Contract and Operations Project Manager

Experience

Emma is an experienced team manager specialising in service delivery, contract and project management; with a strong emphasis on customer service.  

Working in education for over 11 years Emma has been responsible for facilities, operations, ICT and procurement at both school and Trust level. In industry Emma worked as an Executive Assistant at Board level supporting complex project delivery. 

Strengths

Systems, processes, structural reforms and organisation.

Areas of responsibility

Managing our ICT contract  and supporting our Director of Operations.

Julian Axford - Director of School Improvement

Experience

Julian has been teaching for 34 years, and most recently was Principal of the successful Robert Bloomfield Academy, and BEST Teaching School. He has helped deliver a number of its leadership courses over the last few years and has carried out support work with schools focusing on curriculum and assessment.

Strengths

Leadership in a variety of roles, curriculum and assessment expertise, school improvement strategies.

Areas of responsibility

Maintaining high standards across the Trust, supporting schools with improvement planning, leading a team of SLEs and supporting the work of CTG. 

Sufian Sadiq - Director of Teaching School

Experience

Sufian is a talented teacher with extensive management experience within the further education sector. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors and holds various roles with awarding bodies, specialising in quality assurance, examination and assessment. He is experienced in curriculum planning and design, standards and training.

Strengths

Quality assurance, staff development, project management, leadership.

Areas of responsibility

Teaching School, Continuous Professional and Leadership Development, School-to-School Support and SLEs. 

Lydia Braisher - Admissions Manager

Experience

Lydia has over 15 years of experience working in the education support sector and was Admissions Manager at Central Bedfordshire Council prior to joining the Chiltern Learning Trust. In this role, she managed a team of staff and the admission allocations for over 130 academies and schools in Central Bedfordshire and was responsible for consulting on and determining the admission arrangements for community and voluntary controlled schools and providing advice to academies and own admission authority schools on all admission related matters. In addition, Lydia was the lead person in preparing and presenting school admissions appeals for the community and voluntary controlled schools and those academies and schools who bought back the service.

Strengths

Operational and strategic management of the admissions and appeals process and policy.

Areas of responsibility

• To formulate, develop and review the Trust's policies and practices on admissions.

• Managing the evaluation of statistical information and comparative data to enable analysis of key trends on an academy or area basis to inform admission policies.

• Researching, preparing and presenting the case for Academies in the Trust at admission appeals. 

Steven Tingey – Estates Manager

Experience

Steve has 18 years of experience working within schools and leisure services in the public sector. He has performed the role of clerk of works delivering a range of capital programmes from minor refurbishments to major capital schemes including new schools. Among the various partners, he has worked are the Football Foundation and Sport England who have been key in delivering community schemes and enhancing Sport provision. He has worked with a range of local and national construction and facilities management companies and has an in depth knowledge of procurement processes. Steve also has experience in delivering a number of Civil Engineering schemes and has been responsible for various facilities management contracts.

Strengths

Steve has a well established track record of working closely with Schools and their leadership teams and he has an in depth appreciation of the challenges facing schools and school environments. He is very effective at delivering efficiencies and driving improvements in performance of contracts and learning environments.

Areas of Responsibility

Steve supports and assists school Facility Managers across the Trust and advises on Health and Safety and statutory compliance. He gives specific advice on building development and maintenance programmes within the Trust schools and contract manages Trust wide Cleaning and Catering contracts. 

Julie Gearey - Operations Manager

Experience

Julie has over 25 years of experience in Education, working in the primary, secondary and tertiary sector. Julie joined Denbigh High School in 2010 as they became an Academy and has been instrumental implementing new systems and working practices to ensure a smooth transition to the Chiltern Learning Trust and a growing MAT.

Strengths

• Financial planning

• Scrutiny

• Compliance

• Procurement

Areas of responsibility

Supporting schools to be efficient and to be supported by services that are procured to provide best value and managed centrally to release teachers and senior leaders to focus on teaching and learning.

James Searle - Deputy Director CTSH

Experience

Deputy Director of the Chiltern Teaching School Hub, prior to this he was a SLE for Computer Science in the Chiltern Learning Trust at Denbigh High School. He has lead department heads and ensured curriculum rigour drawing on his experience as a senior examiner.

Strengths

• Systems
• Processes 
• Technology
• Innovation

Areas of responsibility

The day to day running of the Teaching School Hub, communication and liaison with head teachers across our two hubs.

Helen Masters - Director of SEND & Safeguarding

Experience

Helen was a SENCo for 21 years of which 5 of these latter years were spent as Assistant Head Teacher for Inclusion. She has held responsibility for Looked After Children, In Year Fair Access Protocol, Alternative Provisions and mental health and well-being, as well as being Designated Safeguarding Lead.

She has teaching experience in both middle and secondary school with her specialism in music, but has experience of teaching a variety of subjects from Key Stage 2 to 4.

Strengths

• Collaborative cross agency working
• Self organisation
• Working within legislative constraints

Areas of responsibility

Maintaining high standards for inclusion and safeguarding within the Trust, through quality assuring compliance, inclusive teaching and learning and providing strategic leadership in these areas.

Dr Simon Wathen - CTSH & CTG Programme Lead

Experience

Simon has a wide range of experience in both the industry and education sectors. Simon is excellent at data analysis, systems, processes, and also in educational leadership. Somon is a trained Geography teacher and has been a highly successful Assistant Head (data and assessment) in an Outstanding school.

Strengths

• Data
• Assessment
• Spreadsheets
• School leadership 

Areas of responsibility

Simon will oversee, monitor & evaluate and plan & deliver our Programmes and NPQ’s for our teaching school hubs. 

Nadine Cotton - Deputy Director Teaching and Learning

Experience

Nadine was a secondary school Assistant Headteacher and is a leading figure on Teaching and Learning and pedagogy. Nadine is our Deputy Director for Teaching and Learning and works across our Trust, developing practice and supporting leaders.

Strengths

• Teaching and Learning
• Professional development
• Research

Areas of responsibility

• Teaching and learning
• Pupil outcomes
• Curriculum development
• Professional development

Neil Mills - Deputy Director School Improvement

Experience

Neil taught in an outstanding middle school and received several internal promotions and was the Director of Pastoral Care. Neil has a degree in German and is primary trained, with secondary teaching experience. He is our Deputy Director and oversees our pastoral systems, our character development and enrichment across the Trust.

Strengths

• Pastoral systems
• Residential visits
• Change management

Areas of responsibility

• Primary school liaison
• Character development
• Pastoral support
• Out of classroom provision

Flora Burt - School Improvement Lead - Middle/Secondary

Experience

Flora has taught at an outstanding middle school for several years, holding the role of Senior Assistant Principal, taking the lead on curriculum, teacher training and CPD. Prior to this, Flora held the position of Head of Department for a number of years. In addition to this, Flora was the subject course lead for the PGCE Secondary history lead and is a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching. 

Strengths

• Curriculum
• Teaching and Learning
• Professional development and research

Areas of responsibility

• Teaching and Learning
• School Improvement
• Professional development

Kerry Ward - School Improvement Lead - Primary

Experience

Kerry has worked within the education sector for over ten years, most recently as Interim Head of School. She is a qualified SENCo and has led on pupil premium, EAL and LAC; improving the outcomes for all disadvantaged learners. She has a wealth of experience supporting the teaching and learning across key stage 2 and Early Career Teachers. She is also an SLE for PSHE and RSE.

Strengths

• SEND
• Key Stage 2 teaching and learning
• Curriculum design
• Early Career Teacher development

Areas of responsibility

• Primary School Improvement
• SEND

Sue Teague - Primary School Improvement

Experience

For the last 13 years, Sue has been an Executive Head in primary schools and a local leader in education. Sue has supported schools across Central Bedfordshire. Prior to this, Sue helped lead a middle school to outstanding status and taught secondary science in our Luton schools at the start of her career. Sue is our Primary School Improvement Lead.

Strengths

• Standards
• School leadership
• Primary curriculum
• Assessment

Areas of responsibility

Primary school improvement

Angela Tattersall - Data Manager

Experience

Angela has worked for the Chiltern Learning Trust since 2019.  Previously, she was a Teacher of Mathematics in an outstanding middle school and had a management role as Senior Teacher.  She has a degree in Mathematics and also has previous work experience of administration, data entry and bookkeeping.

Strengths

• Organisation
• Attention to detail
• Using spreadsheets
• Analysing data

Areas of responsibility

Angela works with the Director of Education, The Central Team and other school leaders across the Trust to develop systems which: provide data, to bring about school improvement; support the schools operationally; and ensure compliance. Her responsibilities include:

• Local Governing Body reports
• Academic performance target setting for schools
• School data analysis
• GDPR

Emma Darcy - Director of Technology for Learning

Experience

Emma spent ten years as Manager of elearning@luton, Luton's City Learning Centre where she worked with staff and pupils from every infant, junior, a primary and secondary school in Luton, using cutting-edge technology to improve engagement and outcomes. She is an Apple Distinguished Educator and was shortlisted for a NAACE Impact Award.

Strengths

The use of new technologies to improve pupil engagement and outcomes and the development and management of associated learning programmes.

Areas of responsibility

Supporting teachers with their use of technology across the curriculum to enhance learning and raise attainment.

The development and delivery of Technology for Learning strategies to maximize the use of existing hardware and software and help schools plan for the future.

The delivery of technology-based enhancement and enrichment activities for pupils such as the Digital Leader and Apps for Good programmes. 

Anna Rogers - CTG Manager

Experience

Anna has worked in education for 18 years. She has been involved in leadership since 2005, working to transform standards in the schools she has worked in. Her last role was a Headteacher of a larger lower school. Anna is passionate about development and training needs and especially enjoys working with people to support them becoming the best they can be.

Strengths

Leadership in a range of areas, teaching and learning, development and improvement, people management.

Areas of responsibility

Leading and managing the primary ITT provision for CTG to include recruitment and selection, training and assessment as well as the management and quality assurance of our training programme. 

Caroline Hatcher - Finance Officer

Experience

Caroline previously has 14 years of experience working in retail within HR, Finance and Customer Service management. She joined Denbigh High School as a Finance Officer in November 2015 and took on work assisting other schools in the Trust, becoming a member of the Central finance team in 2017.

Strengths

• Organised and hard-working 

• Ability to implement and adhere to procedures that work in line with the Trust Finance Manual
• Strong understanding of systems and processes

Area of responsibility

• Provide a bursary service to Putteridge High School, Chiltern Training Group and Chiltern Teaching School Alliance

• Support other schools in the Trust with processing of orders and payments when required

• Train all new starters to the Central Finance team to use our chosen finance packages and support with implementing required processes

• Support Finance Officers in new Trust schools to learn and embed Trust systems and processes 

Tom Bellwood - Behaviour Hub Lead

Experience

Prior to his current role, Tom was a SLE for Behaviour & Attendance. He has held previous roles of Assistant Headteacher,  Department Head & Head of Year/House. He is also currently a Behaviour School Partnership Lead for The Department of Education.

Strengths

• Culture & Ethos
• Systems
• Processes
• Staff Training
• School Improvement

Areas of responsibility

The day to day running of the Behaviour Hubs, school to school support and coaching of CEOs and Headteachers in MAT/School improvement.

Laura Townsend - HR Manager

Experience

Laura has worked within the HR sector since 2007 and has a post graduate diploma in Human Resources Management. She has spent over 10 working within the education sector (previously working within a local authority) providing HR support and advice to Headteachers; Governors as well as Multi Academy Trusts on a wide range of complex HR matters. She has extensive knowledge and experience in employee relations particularly sickness absence management and also staff wellbeing.

Strengths

•  Fairness
• Process-driven
• Communication skills
• Organisation
• HR generalist

Areas of responsibility

• Provide HR support for Headteachers during complex HR school issues
• Lisaise with Headteachers, and the cental team over complex HR issues
• Support Headteachers in employment procedures facilitating performance management, and sickness absence

Rachael Rochester - HR Officer

Experience

Rachael has spent most of her working years carrying out various administration roles coming to the Trust from a local nursery school.

Strengths

Administration and organisation skills.

Areas of responsibility

HR administration.

Cheryl Abbiss - ECF & AB Lead

Experience

Cheryl is our lead on Early Careers Framework and Appropriate Body. Prior to this, Cheryl, was a SLE for Pupil Premium and she also teaches at Denbigh High School. 

Strengths

A national expert on the ECF and Pupil Premium

Areas of responsibility

The ECF, delivering on Appropriate Body and liaising with schools within our two hubs.

Clare McGivern - CTSH Delivery Lead

Experience

Prior to joining us, Clare held a variety of roles in a four times outstanding secondary school. Clare was a Deputy Head, lead on the set-up of one of the first 50 teaching schools and also has run an excellent SCITT. Clare, works across our Teaching School Hub and our initial teacher training (CTG) as Delivery Lead.

Strengths

• Initial teacher training
• School to school support
• Curriculum development
• School leadership

Areas of responsibility

CTG strategy and Quality Assurance. Delivery lead in Bedford and MK for our Teaching School Hub.

Catherine Giles - Administration Assistant

Experience

Catherine joined the Chiltern Learning Trust in September 2019. Previously she worked in a finance and admin role for Total UK Ltd for 14 years.

Strengths

Administration, organisation skills, diary management and clerical.

Areas of responsibility

Admin support to the Director of Operations, Director of Education and the PA to the CEO. 

Liane Blades - Senior Finance Officer

Experience

Liane trained and worked in Dentistry for 30 years, of which the last 10 years were as an Accounts assistant for a large dental group. Liane joined the Chiltern Learning Trust in June this year as Senior Finance Officer to the Chiltern Teaching School Hub.

Strengths

• Financial management

• Organisation skills

• Good attention to detail

• Works well in a team

Areas of responsibility

• Financial management of the Chiltern Teaching School Hub 
• Provide a bursary service to the Chiltern Training Group
• Record keeping and compliance of core grant 

Emma Grisaffi - Finance Officer

Experience

 Emma has over 20 years of experience in finance, working mainly in the private sector. She joined the Central Team as a Finance Officer in 2019.

Strengths

• Organised
• Hard-working
• Financial management
• Accounting

Areas of responsibility

• Inter-company accounts
• The financial management of the Chiltern Learning Trust.

Holly Gladwell - Marketing and Communications Officer

Experience

Holly joined us in September 2021 following her previous role as a Social Media and Marketing Executive at MyNewTerm. She also has achieved a degree in Journalism after studying for 3 years at Brunel University. 

Strengths

• Knowledge of Social Media and other platforms of communication.
• Planning and delivering marketing campaigns.

Areas of responsibility

• Responsible for planning, developing and executing marketing communication campaigns across digital platforms and print media.

• Tracking and reporting on the effectiveness of campaigns (including marketing spend) to optimise current and future marketing activities 

Jodie Mackerness - Design & Marketing Assistant

Experience

Jodie graduated from Falmouth University in 2019 in Fashion Design. Since then she has had roles in both social media and design which included working for Tala, a sustainable women's activewear brand. 

Strengths 

• Digital Art & Communications
• Organisation 
• Attention to detail

Areas of responsibility 

• Digital and Print Marketing materials for Chiltern Learning Trust

• Supporting schools and the Marketing & Communications Officer with design publications and marketing support