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Gloucestershire Learning Alliance

Address Tobyfield Road, Bishop's Cleeve,
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL52 8NN

Telephone 01242 358017

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Our teams

As a Trust across all our schools we employ 420 people.  This includes our central teams which you can find out more about here. For school specific teams, please visit their website. 

Senior Executive Team

Senior Executive Team (ID 1052)

  • Claire Savory
    CEO

    Claire Savory

    Claire is the CEO at the GLA, a multi-academy Trust of 9 primary schools. Prior to this role she was the Director of Academies in the Trust, leading on School Improvement and new Free School Projects.

    Claire has been an Executive Head teacher across 3 primary schools and was the Head teacher at one of the GLA’s founding schools, Rowanfield Junior School since 2005. Under Claire’s leadership, Rowanfield achieved an ‘outstanding’ OFSTED judgement in 3 consecutive inspections.

    Claire was a National Leader of Education for 12 years providing system leadership regionally in failing schools. She provides executive coaching for the NPQEL and is an experienced facilitator for the NPQH. She is a Trustee for the Futura Learning Partnership.

  • Lisa Harford
    Director of Education

    Lisa Harford

  • Laura Spence
    Director of Research & Development

    Laura Spence

    Laura leads the GLA School Improvement Team (SIT) and is Director of the EEF Gloucestershire Research School, the first of it's kind in the county. She has extensive experience of trust wide implementation, including leading ELS phonics across the trust. Laura also leads on NPQ facilitation and is an accredited BASIC coach facilitator. She is a leader of evidence-led teaching and learning and has supported many schools to bring evidence to life in the classroom both within the trust and externally.

  • Hannah Dell
    Chief Operations Officer

    Hannah Dell

    Hannah joined the Trust in November 2022 as the Chief Operations Officer, a role which incorporates the Chief Financial Officer responsibilities. She is a highly experienced, dynamic School Business Leader who is committed to facilitating the best possible educational outcomes. Prior to joining the GLA, she was School Business Manager in a large secondary SAT in Buckinghamshire and has a CIPFA Level 7 Certificate in School Financial and Operational Leadership.

    As Chief Operations Officer, she is responsible for leading all of the Trust’s operational and administrative services in support of our vision, mission, values and strategy. This includes supporting and leading on HR, Estates and Facilities Management, Finance, Governance, ICT, Marketing and Communications, and GDPR. She is also the Company Secretary of the Trust.

 

 

 Executive Team

Executive Team (ID 1054)

 

 

 School Improvement Team

School Improvement Team (ID 1058)

  • Danny Barthorpe
    The GLA Trust Behaviour and Operational Safeguarding Manager

    Danny Barthorpe

    13 years of teaching and leadership experience across Primary, Secondary, Further Education, University and Alternative Provision sectors. Supported in a variety of national schools with school improvement and Ofsted preparations. TES Author for behaviour.

  • Cariad Comfort
    Deputy Director of the Odyssey Teaching Hub (Secondment)

    Cariad Comfort

    Completed 15 years in education with 7 years' experience in Senior Leadership and Headship (NPQH). An SLE for ITT and the Primary Lead in the Odyssey Teaching School Hub. Experience in supporting schools in various roles and is a qualified coach.

  • Jess Hutchison
    School Improvement Team

    Jess Hutchison

    17 years' experience in education including senior leadership, headship and DfE English Hub. Experienced in curriculum development with expertise in early reading and foundation curriculum subjects.

  • Jenn Sills
    School Improvement Team

    Jenn Sills

    18 years' experience in education and senior leadership. Experience supporting teams to improve the quality of teaching and learning. A drive for improving whole school outcomes for disadvantaged pupils including Pupil Premium.

  • Laura Spence
    School Improvement Team Lead

    Laura Spence

    16 years' experience in education including senior leadership. Experience implementing trust wide strategies, developing impactful teams, leading on CPD and supporting external NLE work. Accredited in BASIC coaching with a passion for the EEF implementation strategy, teacher development and teaching and learning pedagogies such as Rosenshine's Principles.

  • Melody Thomas
    School Improvement Team

    Melody Thomas

    Extensive experience in leadership overseeing curriculum development and redesign, school-wide Oracy programmes, leadership culture and monitoring systems. Professional tutor for the SCITT programme, PGCE and Bed programmes.

 

 

 Trustees 

GLA Trustees (ID 1056)

  • Helen Morris
    Chair to the Board of Trustees

    Helen Morris

    Helen joined the Trust board in January 2020, became Vice Chair in October 2021 and Chair in September 2023. She trained as a chartered accountant with Ernst & Young in London. Soon after qualifying she moved into industry and gained financial accounting, treasury and tax experience with a number of listed companies. In 1994 she joined Kraft Foods in Cheltenham where she remained until 2012.

    During this time her roles included Head of Tax, Payroll and Pensions and most recently Associate Director Pensions. She brings many years of finance and governance experience, having been a Trustee Director and Secretary to the Trustees of the Kraft Foods Pension Scheme, a Trustee and member of the Presidents Group and Chair of the Investment Committee of a large charitable organisation, and is currently Chair of Governors at a primary school in Cheltenham.

  • Jonathan Wilson
    Vice-Chair to Board of Trustees

    Jonathan Wilson

    Jon started out working in customer services for the NatWest bank, where he was involved heavily in their shift from paper based systems to, what was then, the more modern computer systems.

    During this time he also worked towards his early qualifications in banking and finance and this promoted him to reconsider his decision to leave his studies at the end of secondary school.

    Having decided on a change of direction for his career, he left work and studied full time at UMIST gaining a degree in Computation, before moving straight into the civil service to pursue a career in Project Management. This has seen him manage a number of multi million pound projects across a wide range of disciplines from software development to building construction and international relations. Within this, he has worked extensively with foreign partners gaining a good understanding of working across both physical and cultural divides.

    Alongside his work he has also become a full member both the Association for Project Management and the Institute for Engineering and Technology, the latter awarding him the status of Chartered Engineer. During his career he has also taken time aside to complete an LLB with Nottingham Law School to compliment his other qualifications. Away from work, Jon is a father of a young son who attends Springbank Primary Academy and has been a member of the local governing body for the past year. Coming from a family of teachers, he has a keen interest in all aspects of education but particularly in how pupils with special needs are catered for and how education can be inclusive for all.

  • Colin Foster
    Chair of Finance & Audit Committee

    Colin Foster

    Colin joined the Board in September 2021. He is a retired accountant and management consultant.

    After training and working as an accountant in local government in the North East, Colin joined Coopers and Lybrand (now PWC) as a management consultant before returning to the public sector to spend 14 years in senior finance roles in the NHS. His last position in the NHS was Director of a Primary Care Trust.

    In 2005 Colin returned to consultancy with accountancy firm PKF (later BDO). He advised public sector clients on a wide range of projects before specialising in education. He acted as a project manager for the DfE in establishing the early academies and free schools. From 2010 he focussed on schools converting to academies and setting up Multi Academy Trusts (MATs).

    Prior to retiring in 2020, Colin operated his own consultancy business working as a project manager establishing Regional Adoption Agencies in local government by merging existing services.

    As well as his background in setting-up academies, Colin brings direct experience of being a MAT Trustee as he was on the Board of the Sentamu Academy Learning Trust in Hull for 3 years prior to moving to Gloucestershire.

  • Robert Bromberg
    Trustee

    Robert Bromberg

    For nearly 45 years I have gained experience of teaching, leadership, and school improvement at a range of rural, urban primary and middle schools in Somerset, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Birmingham, Staffordshire, and Swindon. I was seconded to work for a Local Authority for two years in an Advisory role. This included working with a wide range of professionals within Primary, Secondary and Special schools and local colleges to produce implementation plans, training packages and recruit appropriately trained staff. In addition to my role as LA Adviser, I provided a wide range of advice, training and support for schools. As a result of this work, I was asked to take a school out of Special Measures and turned it around within fourteen months. This required rigorous analysis of data, combined with a determined approach to school improvement.

    I served as a Governor at most of the schools I worked in over more than 25 years. I had the opportunity to work on the Finance, Standards and Premises committees at all of these schools and developed the policies and practices for Local Management in Schools on behalf on the Governing Body when it was first introduced. As a result, I developed a course in strategic Financial Management for Headteachers that was delivered with the Head of Audit. The BBC also featured this work and made it into a national training course.

    I worked for nearly ten years in School Improvement for the charity ‘Achievement for All’ as an adviser until the charity folded at the end of the pandemic. Although, on the way to full retirement, since then I have worked as an independent consultant which has given me a range of experiences in school improvement where much of my work has been in working with headteachers to improve leadership, the curriculum, parental engagement, and standards at all levels. I am a qualified External Adviser to Governing Bodies and still work in assisting them to assess the performance of Headteachers.

  • Paul Clark
    Trustee

    Paul Clark

    Paul started his professional career as a design engineer at Smith Industries (now GE Aviation) in Bishops Cleeve back in 1985.

    After a short period as a consultant for ERA, one of the UK's leading research organisations, Paul moved into international business development where he has spent the last 30 plus years creating, building and managing marketing and sales organisations including leading the post-merger integration of two large telecoms companies in cross Europe, Middle East and Africa.

    Paul brings experience of organisational design, business strategy, change management, growth, and building teams. He has studied extensively in the UK and the US.

    Paul is a professional business mentor and leadership advisor in Gloucestershire, and manages a national sales and marketing consultancy.

    Paul has 3 grown up boys, and lives in The Park area of Cheltenham.

  • Daffyd Lawday
    Trustee

    Daffyd Lawday

    Daffyd has nearly 30 years of experience in education as a teacher and leader, and over 20 years of experience working within governance teams. He has worked in the South West, Wales, and the Midlands, within schools of varying strengths and challenges.

    As a Headteacher, Daffyd led a school from Special Measures to Outstanding and was fortunate to be involved in the development of a newly constructed Free School with additional KS1 ASD provision as Principal Designate. Upon opening, he became the Executive Headteacher of two schools.

    Daffyd is currently the Chief Executive Officer of a Multi Academy Trust in Worcestershire. During his tenure as CEO, the Trust has welcomed both sponsor and converter schools into their Trust family, growing from a two-school, primary-phase trust to a six-school, all-through mainstream and specialist SEND trust.

    Daffyd is a strong advocate of collaboration. He believes when schools are open and share best practices, they are stronger, and pupils benefit enormously.

  • Adam Lewis
    Trustee

    Adam Lewis

    Adam joined the Trust Board in November 2023, having previously served as Chair of Finance and Risk on the Churchdown Village Infant School (CVIS) Governing Board prior to CVIS joining the GLA. Adam attended CVIS 30 years ago, and lives in Churchdown with his wife and son, who is currently enjoying his time at the school.

    Adam was previously a founding trustee of the University of Bristol Students’ Union, having acted as one of the executive members who secured its charitable status. After graduating from the University of Bristol with a first-class degree in Accounting and Management, he joined the civil service in 2010. Adam specialises in high value, complex procurement programmes and is a chartered member of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply.

    Having held leadership roles within several significant defence programmes, Adam brings experience of strategy development and implementation, governance and policy, financial management, and building and developing strong teams. Adam is committed to supporting and challenging the vision and direction of the GLA Trust, ensuring that it continues to provide a supportive and safe environment to help our children develop across the family of schools.

  • Sarah Roxborough
    Trustee

    Sarah Roxborough

  • Jonathan Saunders
    Trustee

    Jonathan Saunders

    I love working, and relish new challenges. Core skills built over the last 30 years:
    Extensive board level experience across a diverse range of verticals. Ability to lead, plan, grow and manage teams and processes to deliver on company objectives. Strong organizational, sales, marketing and time-management skills with an ability to set priorities and meet deadlines.

  • Claire Savory
    Trustee (CEO)

    Claire Savory

    Claire is the CEO at the GLA, a multi-academy Trust of 9 primary schools. Prior to this role she was the Director of Academies in the Trust, leading on School Improvement and new Free School Projects.

    Claire has been an Executive Headteacher across 3 primary schools and was the Head teacher at one of the GLA’s founding schools, Rowanfield Junior School since 2005. Under Claire’s leadership, Rowanfield achieved an ‘outstanding’ OFSTED judgement in 3 consecutive inspections.

    Claire was a National Leader of Education for 12 years providing system leadership regionally in failing schools. She provides executive coaching for the NPQEL and is an experienced facilitator for the NPQH. She is a Trustee for the Futura Learning Partnership.

  • Gary Schlick
    Trustee

    Gary Schlick

    With 14 years headship experience in two secondary schools and executive leadership experience in other schools and specialist settings (including SEMH, alternative provision and studio schools), Gary has significant experience in school leadership and in raising achievement.

    Gary is currently Chief Executive Officer in a Trust with 26 schools: 20 primaries and 6 secondaries.

    Gary has been involved in training headteachers internationally including in Africa and the Middle East.

 

 Central Team

Business Services Team (ID 1053)


If you would like to join us, please see our recruitment pages here

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