Trust Members & Trustees

Member

Rob is Executive Headteacher of St. Austin's and St Ignatius Primary Schools and the Trust Standards Officer for the Bishop Konstant Catholic Academy Trust (BKCAT). Prior to this, Rob was Headteacher of St Joseph's Catholic Primary School in Dewsbury. Before qualifying as a teacher in 2010, Rob held a number of interesting roles, namely as the Organ Scholar at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Dunedin, New Zealand and latterly as a Lay Clerk at Wakefield Cathedral. Rob’s passion for music has been central to his work in schools and believes that all children should have the opportunity to access high quality education in areas of the curriculum which have too often been squeezed out of the school day.

Member

Simon is currently the Deputy Headteacher at a primary academy within the Bishop Konstant Catholic Academy Trust (BKCAT). He has over 20 years experience within education undertaking various roles. Simon’s passion for education led him to become a Specialist Leader of Education (SLE) supporting other schools in the subject of maths. He has extensive experience of being a school governor with a keen interest in Standards and Curriculum.

With his wide range of experience in primary education, he is very pleased to be able to help in the development of Inspire Partnership Multi-Academy Trust.

Member

With over 20 years of expertise in school leadership and transformation, Anne-Marie is a highly qualified professional holding an NPQH, a PGCE, and a legal background as a solicitor. Her career is defined by successfully navigating "challenging circumstances," from leading a PRU out of Special Measures to achieving top 2% national APS scores.

An experienced Executive Leader and former CEO of a DfE turnaround pilot, I specialize in de-risking complex schools and driving school improvement. Additionally, I am an expert in operational governance and compliance, having served as a DPO and overseen numerous academy conversions.

Member

John North led three West Yorkshire primary schools as Headteacher for 26 years, becoming a National Leader of Education and leading two schools as Executive Head. He worked as a Primary Education Consultant following Headship, working in a number of schools on school improvement issues, also leading training for staff and governors. As National Consultant for the Trust and Foundation School Partnership, he led seminars across the country for schools interested in becoming foundation schools and took groups of schools through the process to become foundation schools within trusts. His background and experience led to his appointment as Chair of the Interim Executive Board at a West Yorkshire primary school which was in special measures. Holding this position and his work developing governor training courses led him to be appointed as a Facilitator for the National College’s Chair of Governor Training Programme. With his wide range of experience in primary education, he is very pleased to be able to help in the development of Inspire Partnership Multi-Academy Trust.

Chair of Trust Board

John has worked in the private sector supporting public sector projects for many years and these have included a number of PFI projects involving schools and the leisure industry. John’s had had a range of roles with major companies and has a strong understanding of business practice and the challenges relating to Financial Management. He has served as a school governor and a trustee with an academy trust in the past and he has worked on various subcommittees, including a chair of finance role. John currently is on the local governing board of a Leeds secondary academy.

Trustee

Rebecca is the Director of Improvement and Performance for Enquire Learning Trust which has 32 schools. Her school improvement role is to work alongside principals to develop depth of leadership within each academy and offers coaching and challenging support to leaders in designing effective whole school provision. Rebecca also supports curriculum leaders in designing progressive and coherent curriculum plans so that pupils develop a wealth of connected knowledge and skills that prepares them for their next stage of education. She is passionate about maths and is the strategic lead for the Trust and is also part of the targeted support team for the NCETM. Rebecca is responsibility for assessment and data analysis and as part of her role, she analyses trust performance and supports leaders in developing robust systems for gap analysis.

She is now looking to use her knowledge and experience to support Inspire Partnership Multi Academy Trust.

Trustee

Rachel is a local business owner and experienced mortgage and protection broker. She often says to her clients that she has spent more than half her life being a broker: over 23 years in the financial services industry. Starting at Leeds Building Society and then working for a number of leading estate agents, she has experienced the job in all its facets and has developed her own broker firm on the foundation of a successful career in the mortgage and protection industry. Her passion lies in building client relationships and applying her analytical mindset to finding the most suitable solution to her clients’ needs. And the business reputation has developed over the last seven years through a clear strategic approach to operational procedures, customer service and building business to business links. As her work is routed in community relationships: she is proud to support local charities and have contributed to local school events to develop knowledge and aspirations in young people, and whether it be in her role as an adviser or Managing Director of HomeLife’s team, she has a clear focus on business culture and performance which she is looking forward applying to the role of trustee at Inspire Partnership Multi-Academy Trust.

Trustee (Chair of Finance, Audit & Risk Committee)

Karen is a communications professional with a passion for education and engagement. She has many years’ experience in the financial services industry, originally in accountancy, with twenty years helping organisations communicate financial wellbeing.

In explaining the complexities of pensions and finances to employees worldwide, Karen became increasingly interested in how people of all ages learn, and the importance of excellent teaching for all children at the start of their educational journey. Having previously served as a governor with a Wakefield primary school, she is thrilled to be a part of the Inspire MAT governance team, initially as a Member and now a Trustee.

Trustee (Chair of People Committee and Chair of Quality of Education Committee)

Karen is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development and has nearly 40 years working in a further education college, university and a local authority in the North of England.

Karen has extensive experience working at a senior management level and has had responsibility for Human Resources; Safeguarding; Organisational Development; and Governance. Karen hopes to use the skills and experience that she has to benefit the Trust and impact positively on the lives of the children it helps educate.

Trustee

Jane has been an operations professional in the private sector since 2013. Her responsibilities have included helping businesses to meet performance targets, manage budgets, develop policies and procedures, comply with data protection legislation and achieve ISO accreditations in quality and information security.

Previously, Jane worked as a communications consultant, advising corporate clients on financial education for their employees.

Jane is looking forward to utilising her skills in the Trustee role, for the benefit of the children, families and communities that IPMAT serves.

Trustee (Vice Chair of Quality of Education Committee)

Lorna is the Assistant Head Teacher at Enrich Academy, part of the Ethos Academy Trust. Enrich Academy is a Key Stage 4 Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) that supports 14–16-year-olds who have been excluded from mainstream secondary schools across Wakefield.
Lorna brings extensive experience from various education roles, including work in mainstream schools, alternative provisions, and voluntary organisations. She has also collaborated with social care and child protection professionals in both England and Australia.
Lorna has significant expertise in implementing therapeutic interventions and developing innovative, trauma-informed strategies to engage children with diverse needs. Her work has included providing trauma-informed educational support to children in care, supporting students at risk of disengaging from education, and designing intervention programs to accelerate literacy development for students below their chronological reading age.
Lorna is passionate about removing barriers to learning and believes educators should use a range of strategies to re-engage young people in their education journey.