Board and Members

Claire Heald

Chair of Trustees

Claire is the Chief Executive of the Cam Academy Trust, a multi-academy trust in Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire. She is a Trustee at educational charity, The Difference. Before that, she was National Director of Education at Academies Enterprise Trust, one of the country’s largest MATs. She is also a fellow at the Centre for Education and Youth. She is passionate about educational equity and an expert in school improvement, particularly curriculum, assessment, teaching and inclusion.

Jackie Cutchey

Jackie has been involved in education for more than forty years, beginning her career as a primary school teacher in a London Borough. Having held a variety of middle leader roles before gaining promotion to deputy headship in Lowestoft. Jackie was asked to be acting headteacher after eighteen months, subsequently becoming headteacher for the first time in 1997. Jackie has led schools through Ofsted inspections a total of five times with good outcomes each time.

Steve Purdy

Steve has had a successful career in business which included roles as UK Managing Director for a Fortune 500 company in the IT sector and UK Managing Director for a Global FTSE 250 company in the Services sector. Steve now runs his own business providing Performance Consulting, Executive Coaching and Leadership Development to clients looking to improve their performance within their professional and personal lives.

Toni Kittle

Toni is a Director of Education at Unity Schools Partnership and works within the executive team who support 33 schools, including primary, secondary and special. Toni has been a headteacher and executive headteacher within Suffolk and has a proven track record of transforming schools. Toni is a trustee for Essex and Suffolk Children's University, where she advocates for the most disadvantaged pupils. She has a particular interest in RSHE.

John Irwin

David Hughes

Melanie Gardner

Indrajit Dey

Claire Heald

Member

Claire is the Chief Executive of the Cam Academy Trust, a multi-academy trust in Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire. She is a Trustee at educational charity, The Difference. Before that, she was National Director of Education at Academies Enterprise Trust, one of the country’s largest MATs. She is also a fellow at the Centre for Education and Youth. She is passionate about educational equity and an expert in school improvement, particularly curriculum, assessment, teaching and inclusion.

Helen Capron

Member

Helen Capron has explored education from a variety of angles: as a researcher, teacher, chair of governors and parent. She believes in high quality education for all and seeks to ensure this is being offered across all the Active Learning Trust schools.