Bullers Wood Multi Academy Trust
BULLERS WOOD MULTI-ACADEMY TRUST
TRUSTEES
Chair of Trust’s Introduction:
Welcome to the Bullers Wood Multi Academy Trust (BWMAT), a newly formed MAT created to facilitate the arrival of the Bullers Wood School for Boys, signifying the exciting beginning of the Bullers Wood family of schools. We are currently formed through our recently signed new funding agreement with the DFE to operate two secondary comprehensive single sex schools, the Boys School operating from Years 7 – 11 and the Girls School from Years 7 – 13. The Girls’ Sixth Form of Years 12 and 13 is a mixed co-educational offering and it is hoped that many of our boys will enter.
Our desire from the outset in 2014 when our application to create the Boys School went to the DfE was to provide the same high level of education achieved at Bullers Wood Girls for the many young boys locally whose parents they felt were not catered for. Parents of our girls were the catalyst and the desire to develop a school for local boys that was part of the concept of families sending their children to sibling schools with the same ethos, objectives and commitment to a broadly academic education for students of all abilities with a relentless focus on quality to teaching and learning as the driver to success for all.
The Trust Board has the over-arching responsibility for both schools with regard to strategic development, financial efficiency, educational outcomes, vision and ethos and safeguarding always with the objective of achieving the optimum and most secure future for all of our students, staff and stakeholders. Each school has its own local Governing Body with parental and staff representation. Details of Trustees and Members can be found on our web-site.
We are beginning what promises to be an exciting time as the BWMAT consolidates its position and the Board will be aiming to ensure that alongside this we also consider opportunities to expand our Trust where these complement our overall ethos and objectives.
Isobel Cattermole – Chair of BWMAT
TRUSTEES
Isobel Cattermole (Chair)
Isobel is the Independent Chair of the London Borough of Bromley Governance Improvement Board, which oversees and monitors progress and performance of the Ofsted Improvement Plan across all partnerships involved with Children and Education Services.
Isobel’s recent responsibilities include:
- Interim Deputy Chief Executive London Borough of Havering.
- Interim Consultant to Development Specialist in School Place Planning
- Technical advisory roles for recruitment of senior & chief officer appointments, assessment interviewing and report writing to final interview stages.
- Extensive investigation for the Chief Executive of a London Borough involving relationships with Headteachers and teaching trade unions & elected members.
- Interim Corporate Director of Children & Families City of Bristol & Interim Director of People
- Executive Director, Education, Social Care and Wellbeing, London Borough of Tower Hamlets (Adults, Children’s and Health Services)
Isobel’s career spans thirty years in both public and private sectors, focusing much of the past ten years in education, children’s and adult services. Gaining strong specialist leadership at chief officer level has enabled Isobel to achieve a strong record of improved transformation and leadership in an area of work in East London, which had many demanding social challenges, poverty, overcrowding and deprivation.
More recently, Isobel has advised several organisations in developing school and early years’ provision using her expertise in school place planning, development of shared facilities with health and third sector organisations and using her extensive knowledge of community engagement to ensure developments meet the needs of local communities and statutory planning regulations.
David Hullah
David spent thirty years working in the City before becoming a Director of a renewable energy company.
David was Governor of Bullers Wood School for four years and has also served as Chair of Governors of the Bullers Wood School for Boys.
Julia Mahoney
Terry Millar
Terry is the Chief Executive Officer of BWMAT, and works as the Executive Headteacher across all schools in the Trust. Prior to this he built up a wealth of experience across a number of schools in the state sector, including mixed, single sex, comprehensive, selective and non-selective settings. Terry is passionate about raising aspirations and ensuring everyone has high expectations, so that all students receive the same opportunities regardless of their backgrounds or starting points. He is a serving Ofsted Inspector and Local Leader of Education.
Lisa Morris
Lisa has more than thirty years of education experience. She has spent most of her career in Primary schools in Lewisham and Bexley Local Authorities as a teacher, a senior leader and has been a headteacher at schools in both boroughs.
More recently, Lisa has been lecturing teachers in training at Greenwich University. She also works for an education charity, working in partnerships with schools, supporting leadership teams to improve outcomes for all children and young people.
Dame Erica Pienaar DBE BA MBA FRSA
Dame Erica is an educationalist with extensive experience of leadership and development in maintained schools. She has been a contributor to local policy making in Lewisham LA and national policy through the Department of Education’s Secondary Headteachers’ Review Group.
Dame Erica was awarded the status of National Leader of Education and had an active role as part of the London Challenge initiative supporting school improvement. She subsequently led a federation of three schools in Lewisham as the Executive Head Teacher.
She was a member of the City of London’s Education Review Group and led part of the policy resulting from this research. She was recognised for her service to education by the award of Freedom to the Borough of Lewisham in 2013 and a DBE in 2014.
Jeffrey Ward
Jeff is a chartered accountant and works as financial controller and company secretary of a group of telecommunication software companies.
He was a governor of Bullers Wood Girls School from 2001 until he was elected as a Trustee of the Bullers Wood MAT in 2018.
Bruce Walker (Vice-Chair)
Bruce has enjoyed a career in the property development industry spanning 40 years. He served as Main Board Director of a PLC housebuilder prior to starting a development company with his business partner in 2002 which, following a successful period of growth, has recently been sold. Bruce is semi-retired and now chairs a small development/asset management business.
He has been actively involved in the Bromley community for many years. He has helped with fundraising for children’s charities and has a keen interest in healthcare and education having served two 4 year terms on the Bromley Hospitals Trust Board in the mid-1990s. He has also served as a school governor for nearly 30 years. He has a keen interest in aviation, holds a private pilot’s licence and regularly flies from Biggin Hill.
Bruce lives in Chislehurst with his wife and three young children.
BULLERS WOOD MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
MEMBERS
Elizabeth Allen CBE
From her first teaching post in 1967, Liz has managed curriculum initiatives that open up opportunities for young people to aspire to high personal achievement. In her first headship (1993-2001), in a Church Of England Comprehensive School, Liz worked on national guidelines for School Improvement, formative assessment and target setting.
Headteacher of Newstead Wood School from 2001-2012, Liz encouraged students and teachers to work creatively and to lead the development of innovative and challenging educational practice. Newstead became a leading Specialist School and a National Support School: both students and staff were encouraged to take every opportunity to engage in local, national and international education initiatives.
Liz is a National Leader of Education, supporting schools nationally and internationally in their drive for excellence in teaching and leadership, including three years as Director of Secondary Education for a MAT in the North West, building the capacity of senior leaders and recruiting teachers who were able subject specialists.
Since 2011, Liz has served on The Academic Steering Group of The Prince’s Teaching Institute, advising on its strategic objectives and having responsibility for the design and delivery of subject-specific CPD for Secondary NQTs subject specialists.
A Trustee of NACE (The National Association For Able Children In Education), Liz is actively engaged in research. Continued work as a consultant and researcher keeps her up to date with development in national education strategies and gives the opportunity to contribute to the Education Debate.
From her experience as a Headteacher, Trustee and Governor, Liz understands the vital importance of building the right relationship between the board and senior leaders. At the heart of the relationship, there is a shared vision and a deep trust in each other’s commitment to the best learning experience and life chances for all young people and a shared duty of care for the well-being and professional advancement of the staff.
Alan Le Fort
Alan lives locally and has over 40 years’ experience of advising clients in the areas of business start-ups, tax planning to Income Tax, Corporation Tax, Inheritance Tax, Value Added Tax, Development Land Tax, communicating with Government Agencies such as HM Revenue & Customs, Companies House and the Central Office of Statistics. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant (FCA) with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales in 1970, and with The Chartered Association of Certified Accountants (FCCA) in 1980. Alan commenced his own business in 1976 and currently maintains a successful Practice.
Christine Patrick
Chris is a freelance business researcher, and concurrently a Trustee of the Condor Trust, an educational charity which works in Ecuador.
Chris has all-round business management skills, including strategic planning, leadership and teamwork. She is very familiar with financial reports and accounts, and is well equipped to approach them in a critical but positive way. Chris speaks a number of languages (French, German, Spanish and Japanese).
Chris first became involved in Bullers Wood when she helped organise “Japanese Days” for some of the students. She was a Governor from 1996 to 2008 and then Chair of Governors from 2008 to 2011. Chris has always been impressed by the enthusiasm, competence and effectiveness of the staff and Governors, and is totally sympathetic to the ethos and principles on which the Multi-Academy Trust is based.
Christopher Rees
Chris is a solicitor with a London law firm and works as a specialist planning and environmental lawyer. After five years inside local authorities, he has spent the last 34 years in private practice.
Most of Chris’s professional life has been spent promoting development proposals. These have included schools universities and colleges – usually as a result of enabling developments. He is good at structuring planning deals and negotiating the best possible outcomes for clients, who include land owners, institutions, developers, housing associations, banks and local authorities (including education authorities).
Chris has a good working knowledge of the education acts so far as they relate to planning matters, and has a strong professional and personal interest in the ever changing education system and the challenges and opportunities it presents.
Lorraine Sansom
Lorraine is an Education Consultant and Pathway Tutor (Secondary Phase) for Bromley Schools’ Collegiate. Now a retired Physics Teacher, with 25 years teaching experience at Bullers Wood, Lorraine continues to be passionate about Education and establishing a safe and inspiring learning environment where all students can flourish. Helping students to develop resilience and a love of learning as they deepen their knowledge and understanding were core principals demonstrated throughout her career. These factors and her ability to motivate and convey positivity to her students were reflected in the increase in the number of students choosing to take Physics at Advanced Level and beyond including degree qualifications in a range of STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Lorraine has also been recognised as an expert in her field through a number of teaching/teachers’ awards from the DfE and other external agencies such as the Royal Society of London and the Institute of Physics.
Lorraine also has years of managerial and leadership experience. As Assistant Headteacher for Teaching and Learning, she introduced new initiatives and led a team overseeing implementation of policies; quality assuring teaching and learning and devising CPD opportunities for all staff. As a Senior Mentor and Induction Tutor, Lorraine was involved in the recruitment, training and assessment of numerous cohorts of trainees and newly qualified teachers.
Lorraine is a lifelong learner and educator who is committed to high quality education for all, regardless of background. As a Member of the BWMAT she is delighted to work with all stakeholders to ensure that the ethos and core values of Bullers Wood are maintained and effectively conveyed to staff and students.