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Board Of Directors

Members

Mark Simpson

Mark is retired and formally held a number of senior positions in the logistics sector. Mark has extensive experience in HR, finance, logistics and resource management. He was a company director and senior manager and as such has had many years experience of successfully running medium sized organisations. He has 25 years experience as a school Governor and 8 years concurrent experience as a Multi-Academy Trust Director.

Brett Field

Brett is a Director of the Inspired Thinking Group, a Midlands based technology led marketing resources management company, who provide a range of marketing, creative, artwork and print services via a market leading technology platform for an array of well-known brands including M&S, VW group, Boots, Morrisons, Sainsburys, Halfords to name a few. ITG were recently accredited in the Times Tech Track top 100 businesses, and are now a 500 strong £100m business.

Brett is responsible for ITG’s agency services, managing one of the UK’s largest studios, and prior to this role, had spent 20 years at Cadbury managing packaging design through to print. During this time he has gained experience of developing close links with a variety of education establishments, managing extensive work experience programmes, internships and developing new talent in the graphics industry.

Derek Baillie

Derek Baillie is a Chartered Financial Planner who specialises in investment and pension planning for individuals, business owners and charities. He has over 30 years experience of working within the insurance and investment marketplace and he will be able to utilise his business financial management experience to good effect within the Trust to ensure probity, sustainability and the best possible use of financial resources.

Diane Morrison

Coming Soon...

Directors

Rebecca Cox 

Rebecca is currently the CEO at Hales Valley Trust. Rebecca has been part of the evolution of the Trust since its inception in 2017, the Director of Hales Valley Teaching School, the Headteacher of the lead school for 10 years and the Director of Education for 3 years prior to becoming CEO. Rebecca has been the chair of the Black Country Teaching Schools Alliance and successfully wrote one of the 2 round 1 SSIF bids for £500,000 to improve the outcomes for over 2000 EYFS children across the 4 Black Country Authorities over a 2 year period - which was a huge success.  She has worked in a range of schools in a range of roles from Advanced Skills Teacher, to Assistant Headteacher then moving onto headteacher and National Leader of Education.

Rebecca has been the chair of Dudley Primary Forum and is a current member of Dudley Schools Forum which brings all areas of the education and council sector together across the borough. Rebecca continues to engage with the latest CPD and has recently completed her NPQEL qualification and is a facilitator of the new specialist NPQLBC qualification. Rebecca works closely with Olevi and a school in her Trust is the regional coaching centre of excellence. She is a Founding Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching and enjoys engaging with the CCT in discussions and debates around a number of national and regional issues.

Rebecca is a huge believer in coaching as a way to enable a team to deliver results and develop sustainable thinking long term. She is a trained professional coach and has enjoyed spreading her passion for coaching throughout her Trust and beyond so that others can benefit from the 'Power of Coaching'. She has worked with IRIS connect to develop the use of video technology to improve the quality of teaching and used this as her masters study focus to consider the impact it has improving quality first teaching. Rebecca has spoken at regional and national level including being part of a panel discussion at the Academies show Autumn 2021 and the National data conference in Spring 2022.

Mark Simpson

Mark is currently the Transport and Management Systems Manager for MMX Communications Services Ltd. Mark has extensive experience in staff, logistics and resources management. Mark is a company director and as such has had many years experience of successfully running a medium sized organisation.

Robert Gregory

Robert is a semi-retired solicitor based in Halesowen. He has a wealth of legal expertise and experience and has strong links within the local business community which he will be able to draw upon in developing the profile of the Trust across the region.

Gill Harper

Gill is an experienced and successful school leader. She was the Headteacher of Withymoor Primary School until her retirement in 2017. Gill has worked in both the primary and secondary sector. She has extensive experience working at a senior level and a proven track record in improving outcomes for children.

Sarah Moore

Sarah has 25 years’ experience in family support, currently Family Hub Manager, co-ordinating support for expectant parents and families with children up to age of 18 years old. Sarah has an in-depth knowledge of the borough of Dudley, linking with a range of services from Education, Health, Police, and the Voluntary Sector to ensure families have the right level of support.

Background in specialising in Early Years and Family Support but more recently having experience in Youth Justice and Children in Care, Sarah qualified with a Nursery Nurse qualification in 1995 and has since completed degrees in Early Years and Social Work.

Sarah has worked in leadership and management posts for 20 years, working in early intervention projects, these include Sure Start Children’s Centres and Family Centres, developing high quality services for children and families and holds a postgraduate qualification in Leadership and Management of Children’s Services.

Sarah is passionate about children meeting their full potential and will bring her experience in working within her leadership roles and family support to assist her in the trustee role. Sarah has worked in the Dudley borough for 16 years and is committed to supporting children locally.  

Wendy Jackson

Wendy is a serving Headteacher in Dudley, with over 20 years of dedicated experience in primary education. As a qualified SENDCO (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator), Wendy is deeply invested in ensuring that every child receives the support and resources they need to thrive academically and emotionally. Additionally, her role as a qualified coach, backed by over 15 years of experience in educational coaching, has enabled her to support a range of professionals both locally, and nationally, to develop

Wendy holds an MA in Special Educational Needs and Educational Leadership, which has equipped her a comprehensive understanding of the complexities of inclusive education. As a qualified counsellor, She is passionate about promoting mental health awareness and providing support to individuals within our educational community.

New Trustee coming soon...

Coming soon...