Executive Leadership Team (ID 1001)

• Paul Skipp
  CEO
  Paul Skipp

  Paul is the CEO of EQUA Mead Learning Trust. He started working in schools almost 25 years ago as a teacher and since then has been part of leadership teams for almost 20 years. In that time, he has been a successful Headteacher of three different schools at both secondary and primary level in Bristol, South Gloucestershire and most recently in Wiltshire. Paul is a leader with a wide range of strategic and operational experience to provide the vision and leadership required to ensure EQUA Mead is a high performing Trust. He has a proven track record in quickly raising standards in all areas of school life, with a history in rapidly improving schools. A leader with drive, integrity, clarity and vision, all mixed with a strong sense of moral purpose, Paul has high expectations and an in-depth knowledge of school improvement and system leadership which has led to high achievement outcomes across his schools. Paul regularly delivers CPD at scale and is a facilitator and coach on the NPQ program. He is a level 7 executive mentor and coach and works with a range of executives at all levels to ensure they are continually self-reflecting and solution focussed.

• Lyssy Bolton
  Deputy CEO
  Lyssy Bolton

  Lyssy has 30 years of leadership experience, including 15 years as Headteacher across 3 schools, and 11 years as CEO of a Sponsor Trust. She established an outstanding school from first principles, where she secured Ofsted outstanding judgements in 2007, 2011 and 2014, and in Early Years and English survey inspections. Lyssy has provided system leadership, sharing best practice and helping underperforming schools to improve; mooring alongside schools in challenging circumstances since 2007 as leader of a National Support School then as Leader of a Cohort 1 Teaching School. She has a successful track record of school to school support delivering NLE support on behalf of the DfE, Diocese and local authority, latterly through the Trust School Improvement offer. Lyssy demonstrates confident leadership of transformational change and sustained improvements over time and is a member of Ofsted’s Early Years National Consultative Forum and the DfE’s Early Years Stakeholder Group, where her contribution during Covid was recognised by an invitation to Downing Street. Lyssy engages locally in SEND / Alternative Provision workstreams and the Wiltshire Schools Forum. She has extensive experience of leading ITE, coordinating the delivery of regional conferences and CPD at scale and establishing professional networks including Wiltshire’s Leading SENCO network. Lyssy has provided facilitation for several NPQEL cohorts.

• Nigel Reeves
  Chief Finance Officer
  Nigel Reeves

  Nigel has worked in education Finance for 33 years including as an Accounting Technician with Wiltshire Council, working with schools to provide a full range of financial support. Nigel spent time at Swindon Borough Council before returning to join Wiltshire Council and then joined a local secondary school as a Director of Finance. Nigel was involved in setting up a Multi Academy Trust before joining EQUA as the CFO in May 2023. He is Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) qualified.

• Ellie Green
  HR Director
  Ellie Green

  Ellie achieved Chartered CIPD status in 1999. She was employed by the local authority for nearly 25 years, largely working with education teams and spent five years acting as a consultant supporting school Governing Bodies, including complex HR issues, providing development opportunities for local Chairs of Governors and inducting new Governors, having also previously been Chair of Governors herself in a large primary school in Wiltshire. Ellie was the HR Manager within John of Gaunt School for six years prior to joining EQUA as HR Director in April 2023.

Central Team (ID 1002)

• Daniela De Cet
  Governance Professional
  Daniela De Cet

  Daniela has an educational background working in secondary schools for 35 years. She held a number of posts including Head of English and Deputy Headteacher where she was responsible for safeguarding. She worked in a team to establish a new secondary school and has worked with many collaborative groups over her career, including chairing the West Wiltshire Behaviour and Attendance Group. She has a post graduate Diploma in Action-Research and NPQH and was a senior examiner for English Literature.

• Jenny Nicholls
  Central Administrator
  Jenny Nicholls

  Jenny has a background in marketing and communication and holds a Professional Diploma in Marketing. Her role within the Central administration team is to support the communication and marketing for the Trust. Jenny also supports the work of the School Improvement team.

• Sarah Gray
  Senior HR Partner
  Sarah Gray

  Sarah was employed within in the Civil Service for 20 years and held a variety of positions across several different functions including Human Resources, Health and Safety, Resource Management and Facilities Management.

  Sarah is an experienced Human Resources professional and has enjoyed 11 years working within this field; 4 years of which was spent as a HR Advisor supporting line managers through complex HR issues.

  During her time as a Learning and Development manager, Sarah was responsible for the delivery of training courses and managing the departmental mandatory training requirements. She obtained a Level 3 Award in Training and Education..

  Sarah is also an experienced Health and Safety practitioner and has obtained a NEBOSH Level 3 qualification.

• Emily Fullick
  Administration and HR Assistant
  Emily Fullick

  Emily has over 13 years of experience working in Human Resources, covering all aspects of HR and Training.

  Emily’s speciality in this role was recruitment and the new employee induction programme, organising and assisting with the training and HR requirements for all new employees. Emily also has experience in Health and Safety, assisting with managing company compliance with all aspects of legal and mandatory training.

  Emily joins EQUA Mead to support the trust with its recruitment activity and general HR support.

• Mel Jacob
  Cluster Business Manager (West)
  Mel Jacob

  Mel has worked in a range of industry sectors including contract catering, cable communications and motor manufacturing, specialising in Human Resources, Training and Operations. She has a Business Studies Degree and is a graduate in Human Resource Management CIPD, and more recently an MBA. She was a school governor and trustee for The Mead Trust and loves working in the education sector. She is also a Level 3 Forest School Leader and a local Councillor.

• Louise Williams
  Cluster Business Manager (East)
  Louise Williams

  Louise has worked in schools for the past 12 years as a finance officer, office manager and school business manager. Her role as Cluster Business Manager is to support schools with facilities, estates, IT, catering and health and safety alongside general business management.

• Stuart Tate
  Estates Manager
  Stuart Tate

  Stuart has 10+ years of Facilities Management experience in a multi-site education setting. He is IOSH qualified in Health & Safety and has managed a number of major projects including a new nursery build. He has a clear understanding of good school estates management based on regular local authority inspections

• Matt Doughty
  Estates Manager
  Matt Doughty

  Matt is an experienced Site Manager dealing with all aspects of the day to day running of school estates, including mandatory compliance checks, planning projects, bids, contract works, site security, health and safeety, COSHH, risk assessments and Evolve trip assessments.

School Improvement Team (ID 1003)

• Paul Skipp
  CEO
  Paul Skipp

  Paul is the CEO of EQUA Mead Learning Trust. He started working in schools almost 25 years ago as a teacher and since then has been part of leadership teams for almost 20 years. In that time, he has been a successful Headteacher of three different schools at both secondary and primary level in Bristol, South Gloucestershire and most recently in Wiltshire. Paul is a leader with a wide range of strategic and operational experience to provide the vision and leadership required to ensure EQUA Mead is a high performing Trust. He has a proven track record in quickly raising standards in all areas of school life, with a history in rapidly improving schools. A leader with drive, integrity, clarity and vision, all mixed with a strong sense of moral purpose, Paul has high expectations and an in-depth knowledge of school improvement and system leadership which has led to high achievement outcomes across his schools. Paul regularly delivers CPD at scale and is a facilitator and coach on the NPQ program. He is a level 7 executive mentor and coach and works with a range of executives at all levels to ensure they are continually self-reflecting and solution focussed.

• Lyssy Bolton
  Deputy CEO
  Lyssy Bolton

  Lyssy has 30 years of leadership experience, including 15 years as Headteacher across 3 schools, and 11 years as CEO of a Sponsor Trust. She established an outstanding school from first principles, where she secured Ofsted outstanding judgements in 2007, 2011 and 2014, and in Early Years and English survey inspections. Lyssy has provided system leadership, sharing best practice and helping underperforming schools to improve; mooring alongside schools in challenging circumstances since 2007 as leader of a National Support School then as Leader of a Cohort 1 Teaching School. She has a successful track record of school to school support delivering NLE support on behalf of the DfE, Diocese and local authority, latterly through the Trust School Improvement offer. Lyssy demonstrates confident leadership of transformational change and sustained improvements over time and is a member of Ofsted’s Early Years National Consultative Forum and the DfE’s Early Years Stakeholder Group, where her contribution during Covid was recognised by an invitation to Downing Street. Lyssy engages locally in SEND / Alternative Provision workstreams and the Wiltshire Schools Forum. She has extensive experience of leading ITE, coordinating the delivery of regional conferences and CPD at scale and establishing professional networks including Wiltshire’s Leading SENCO network. Lyssy has provided facilitation for several NPQEL cohorts.

• Alex Hamilton
  School Improvement Lead (Secondary)
  Alex Hamilton

  Alex has worked in the education sector for 10 years, beginning her training through the Teach First programme, moving quickly on to having a particular focus on school improvement and teaching and learning. As an experienced examiner and practitioner, Alex has delivered evidence-informed CPD to multiple audiences and coached colleagues to improve practice and leadership. She has completed her NPQSL and as such, is a qualified facilitator for NPQs as well as mentor to ECT and ITT participants.

• Amy Eyers
  School Improvement Lead (Secondary)
  Amy Eyers

  Amyhas worked in the education sector for 15 years and has enjoyed success in a variety of leadership roles, including Director of Learning, Literacy Lead and Assistant Headteacher. As a Specialist Leader of Education and experienced examiner,Amyhas facilitated strategic cross-phase collaborative work with local partnerships and Trusts and delivered CPLD at scale.Amyis a trained coach for the Outstanding Leaders Partnership and facilitator and coach for NPQ programmes. Amyis currently working towards Chartered Teacher status on the leadership pathway and NPQH.

• Zoe Telford
  School Improvement Lead (Secondary)
  Zoe Telford

  Having been in education for over 20 years, Zoe has enjoyed success in a wide variety of roles within schools including, Head of Department, Head of Sixth Form, Assistant Headteacher and Vice Principal. Zoe has worked in a consultancy capacity at county level and has experience of working at a strategic level to enable different Trusts to work collaboratively with each other. Qualifications include NPQH, Chartered College Certificate in Evidence Informed Practice and a facilitator and coach for NPQs.

• Sally Bevan
  School Improvement Lead (Primary)
  Sally Bevan

  Sally has been teaching for over 30 years in both Surrey and Wiltshire in a range of settings as a teacher and music specialist. As an SLE she has devised and delivered bespoke, evidence-informed CPD for a variety of schools and settings and coached colleagues to develop and model good practice and effective leadership.She is a MAT maths leader, driving forward improvement across the Trust; mentoring and developing subject leaders and curricula leading to sustained school improvement.Sally is a trained coach and facilitator for NPQs.

• Anna Pemberton
  School Improvement Lead (Primary)
  Anna Pemberton

  Anna has worked in the education sector within Wiltshire for 30 years and has enjoyed a variety of highly successful leadership roles, including English Lead, Early Reading and Phonics Lead, ECT Mentoring Lead, Deputy Headteacher, Designated Safeguarding Lead and Headteacher. Over the years Anna has supported with the development of strategic work within local partnerships encouraging schools to work collaboratively together, building trusting relationships to enhance strong and creative practice. Anna is passionate about purposeful school improvement that has the children at its heart and believes that cultivating a culture where teaching and leadership can flourish ensures our children really do have every chance to succeed.

• Jayne Bullock
  School Improvement Coordinator
  Jayne Bullock

  Jayne has 20 years’ experience in the education sector and developed the work of Collaborative Schools Ltd (CSL) teaching school alliance providing strategic overview, management and co-ordination of School Improvement, CPD, JPD, behaviour and inclusion, transition and pupil collaboration.Jayne is passionate about what can be achieved for school communities by building trusting relationships, sharing expertise, pooling resources and most importantly by keeping learners in the forefront of decision making.

Finance Team (ID 1004)

• Gina Shanahan
  Finance Partner
  Gina Shanahan

  Gina has spent most of her working life within the housing and education sectors where she has held administrative and financial roles. She has a BTEC in Business Studies and achieved the CSBM qualification. Gina has extensive experience in the education sector as a School Business Manager, before working as CFO and Central Finance Partner for The Mead Trust.

• Julie Gray
  Finance Officer
  Julie Gray

  Julie has worked in the Finance Office at John of Gaunt School for the last 10 years. She previously worked in both Accountants’ Practice and in industry. Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) qualified.

• Sharon Bembridge
  Senior Finance Partner
  Sharon Bembridge

  Sharon has many years of working within education Finance, for two Local Authorities and more recently within a Multi Academy Trust. Sharon is experienced in providing reliable and sound financial advice, budget support and financial training to senior leaders and to a wide range of schools including primary, secondary and special schools. Sharon is Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) qualified.

• Jan Peaty
  Finance Partner
  Jan Peaty

Members (ID 1010)

• Katie Fitsimmons
  Member (Foundation)
  Katie Fitsimmons

  Katie is a qualified teacher, and specialised in teacher development and school improvement, research into which led to her Masters in Educational Leadership. Katie is the Diocesan Director of Education for the Diocese of Salisbury and as CEO of their Board of Education provides strategic leadership and oversight to all Church of England schools and the Trusts which support them.

• Peter Finn
  Member (Foundation)
  Peter Finn

  Peter is a CIMA Chartered Management Accountant with over 30 years’ post qualification experience. He has extensive experience of managing budgets of up to £1.4bn as an experienced Senior Civil Servant with experience in various financial and corporate roles in the Ministry of Defence. He has operated at board level for large complex projects and led commercial, estates security and secretariat functions.

• Fergus Stewart
  Member (Foundation)
  Fergus Stewart

  Fergus is an experienced secondary teacher and Headteacher and has an in-depth understanding of Trust governance alongside the importance of church school distinctiveness. He has an awareness of the current issues affecting secondary age students and good local knowledge of Wiltshire education.

• Mike Haines
  Member (Non-foundation)
  Mike Haines

  Mike has been a Senior Inspector of Schools and Head of the Inspection Division for primary, secondary and Local Authorities (Estyn) in Wales. He is an experienced chair, school governor and Trustee.

• Tracey Wright
  Member (Non-foundation)
  Tracey Wright

  Tracey has a good working knowledge of the education system alongside her skills as a lawyer. She is familiar with the legal aspects of Trusts and has previously been a school governor and Trustee.

• Charles Nettlefold
  Member (Non-foundation)
  Charles Nettlefold

  Charles has considerable experience in setting up, leading and managing financial organisations and providing advice to small and medium companies.

• John Barber
  Member (Non-foundation)
  John Barber

  Jon has been a primary Headteacher and has a wealth of experience and knowledge in key aspects of education including standards, safeguarding and school improvement in the local area.

Trustees (ID 1011)

• Roger Townsend
  Chair of Board of Trustees (Non-foundation)
  Roger Townsend

  Roger has worked at the highest level in a range of financial services and technology organisations in the UK, leading strategic change and managing large teams. Roger is a Trustee for a number of local charities.

• Patrick Hazlewood
  Trustee (Foundation)
  Patrick Hazlewood

  Patrick has a background of 42 years in secondary education, 25 years as a Headteacher of large secondaries and 6 years as CEO of a Trust of 11 schools (4 secondary, 7 primaries). Patrick was an Ofsted Inspector for 5 years and has a Doctorate in Strategic Leadership in Education.

• Christopher Branford White
  Trustee (Foundation)
  Christopher Branford White

  Christopher has worked in Higher Education holding posts in Canada, St Andrews, Oxford, Bath, Plymouth, London, Havana/Cuba and Shanghai. He holds three professorships and remains engaged in research and pedagogy in London, China, Iran and Latin America.

• John Evans
  Trustee (Foundation)
  John Evans

  John has extensive P&L, general management, marketing & advertising, and programme management experience with a background in both B2B and consumer marketing and sales. A strategic thinker, with a track record of delivering profitable customer growth in the UK and Europe, John has combined driving cost efficiency with business improvements in organisations

• Caroline Martin
  Trustee (Foundation)
  Caroline Martin

  Caroline has a background in media, communications and administration and is a director of a video production company. She has extensive experience of local governance and leading improvement in standards and community engagement.

• Alison Bennett
  Trustee (Foundation)
  Alison Bennett

  Alison is an experienced HR practitioner with expertise in executive coaching, conflict resolution and skills development workshops in effective leadership and management. She is Director and owner of two businesses providing clients with these services and is a Lay Church Leader for Kingfisher Church.

• Anne Millin
  Trustee (Non-foundation)
  Anne Millin

  Anne has worked creating and delivering trust school improvement models, driving improvement in schools at risk, and developing and leading training for school leadership teams. Anne has significant experience of putting the charitable object of advancing education at the heart of the governance community in two Trusts.

• Bob Quick
  Trustee (Non-foundation)
  Bob Quick

  Bob worked for the UK Ministry of Defence initially on aircraft flight testing and development. Bob moved onto managing major UK aircraft projects, ICT project management and was responsible for multi-million-pound projects in the UK and Australia.Bob is an experienced governor and Trustee.

• Paul Skipp
  Trustee (Non-foundation)
  Paul Skipp

  Paul is the CEO of EQUA Mead Learning Trust. He started working in schools almost 25 years ago as a teacher and since then has been part of leadership teams for almost 20 years. In that time, he has been a successful Headteacher of three different schools at both secondary and primary level in Bristol, South Gloucestershire and most recently in Wiltshire. Paul is a leader with a wide range of strategic and operational experience to provide the vision and leadership required to ensure EQUA Mead is a high performing Trust. He has a proven track record in quickly raising standards in all areas of school life, with a history in rapidly improving schools. A leader with drive, integrity, clarity and vision, all mixed with a strong sense of moral purpose, Paul has high expectations and an in-depth knowledge of school improvement and system leadership which has led to high achievement outcomes across his schools. Paul regularly delivers CPD at scale and is a facilitator and coach on the NPQ program. He is a level

• Jo Trigg
  Trustee (Non-foundation)
  Jo Trigg

  Jo has worked in marketing and been responsible for both functional leadership and leading during periods of rapid change. She has led work to improve both customer experience and business profitability. More recently, Jo has become a Wiltshire and Town Councillor and sits on the board of a number of local charities.

• David Whewell
  Trustee (Non-foundation)
  David Whewell

  David is a resourceful and reliable leader with both the vision and the ability to think and operate strategically. David has worked in a range of roles in Young People’s Services and sits on the boards of a number of local charities and as a school governor and Trustee.

• Paul White
  Trustee (Non-foundation)
  Paul White

  Paul has worked in various financial roles at Senior Level throughout his career. He has been a Trustee on the board of a number of Trusts and has experience of leading change and growth in commercial and public sector organisations.

• Mike Thomas
  Trustee (Non-foundation)
  Mike Thomas

  Mike is the Director of Education for Brunel MAT. Previously he was the Headteacher of Springfields Academy in Calne. Mike has considerable experience in successful special school leadership and has been a key player in the growth and diversification of specialist provision across the Southwest. Mike is a current serving Ofsted Inspector. Mike works closely with local authorities to strategically develop SEND provision to meet the complex and diverse needs of SEND cohorts.

• Bridget A Lucas
  Trustee (Non-foundation)
  Bridget A Lucas

  Bridget is a barrister who brings legal and governance experience to the Board of Trustees. She practices principally in the areas of commercial and company law with a particular focus on director’s duties and boardroom issues. She is a QC, a qualified mediator, and a Chairman of the Competition Appeal Tribunal.