The Trust Central Team

Introduction

The Trust central team is an experienced group of professionals covering both educational and non-educational aspects. We have one thing in common: that is that we are all committed to working as one team to support all of our staff and students across Nene Education Trust schools to achieve their potential.

Chief Executive Officer: Chris Hill

Deputy Chief Executive Officer: Matt Coleman

Director of Operations: Malcolm Johnston

Chief Finance Officer: Laura Kerrison

Head of Finance: Hannah Turvey

Governance Manager: Alison Woodward

Full Biographies

Chris Hill - Chief Executive Officer

Chris has been CEO of Nene Education Trust since September 2018 and is extremely proud of the achievements that have been made in a very short space of time. Under Chris' leadership the Trust has grown to 8 schools, which has enabled significant investment into the schools’ facilities as well as growing the capacity of the school improvement and operational teams.

Chris has led and worked in a range of schools and educational organisations. With a wealth of skills and knowledge, he has a successful track record in every role he has undertaken. Chris has also occupied senior positions in other multi academy trusts, working with groups of schools to achieve significant improvements in school performance and outcomes for pupils.

Previously a Local Leader of Education and an expert in Pupil Premium, Chris has undertaken extensive review projects across both primary and secondary schools. He is currently studying for his Masters in Education Management for the benefit of the development of the Trust.

Matt Coleman – Deputy Chief Executive Officer

Matt Coleman (NPQEL, BA Hons PGCE), is Deputy Chief Executive Officer for Nene Education Trust. A highly influential and well-respected leader within education, Matt has a proven track record of helping to improve schools and impacting positively on outcomes for all children.

Experienced in working with a range of colleagues, setting up coaching and mentoring cycles for teachers and leaders in schools and also working closely with other school leaders to improve their impact on outcomes, Matt possesses excellent interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to develop and maintain mutually beneficial internal and external relationships. He enjoys being part of, as well as leading, managing, motivating and training, a successful and productive team of professionals, and thrives in highly pressured and challenging working environments.

Matt has a keen desire to affect change within education, both formal education (schools) and other forms of education (sports coaching e.g.) and is a trustee of community interest company Spautism (Sport Autism), which aims to provide a platform that will improve the quality of the experience for autistic people (be they competing, spectating or working) by sharing their stories and celebrating the positive impact of sport. Matt is also a trustee of local youth counselling charity Service Six, a charity which specialises in providing mental health and wellbeing support for children and young people, and their families.

Always busy, Matt is also a board member for the National Institute of Teaching and Education (University of Coventry) and a founding member of the NSBA (Northamptonshire School & Business Alliance).

Laura Kerrison - Chief Finance Officer

Laura joined the Trust in November 2023, following an extensive career in educational finance and business management. She previously held senior leadership roles in both single and multi-academy trusts, bringing a high level of expertise to the CFO role.

Laura is currently working towards the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Diploma Level 7 in School Financial and Operational Leadership, in addition to holding School Business Management qualifications.

Through developing effective financial strategy and clear purposeful leadership, Laura aspires to play a pivotal role in supporting and enabling the delivery of educational excellence throughout Nene Education Trust. As an advocate for collaborative and cohesive working Laura wishes to actively build on existing and new partnerships that recognise and celebrate ambition for growth, sustainability, and achievement.

Malcolm Johnston - Director of Operations

Malcolm joined Nene Education Trust in June 2023, having come from a standalone Academy, where he was the Business Manager and named Chief Financial Officer.

Previously, Malcolm was Business Development Manager at a Multi-Academy Trust, responsible for the strategic business development of 11 schools. Malcolm holds a Level 7 qualification in School Financial and Operational Leadership from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy (CIPFA), along with a BA (Hons) Professional Studies degree, focused on Business Administration and Management from the University of East Anglia.

Malcolm is an experienced Senior Leader with a demonstrated history of working across primary and secondary education providers in a variety of roles. Malcolm has a vast knowledge of school business operations, including Financial, Human Resources, Administration, ICT, Catering and Estates (Health & Safety) management. Malcolm also has extensive knowledge and understanding of strategic business development, partnership development, fundraising, bid writing and events management.

Hannah Turvey – Head of Finance

As Trust Finance Manager, Hannah supports the finance staff at the schools with queries and reporting. Having previously worked in a large Trust and finance team, this has given Hannah the knowledge and understanding to be able to improve the efficiencies of the finance operations within our growing Trust.

Alison Woodward – Governance Manager

As a qualified governance professional, Alison supports the Members, Trust Board and local committees with advice and guidance to enable them to fulfil their roles, and supports the CEO by acting as a conduit between the governance and executive functions of the Trust.

Alison has extensive public and private sector experience, having started as a civil service management trainee after university and working in various government departments in policy and operations management roles for over 16 years. After that she worked in management roles in law firms before moving into education and she has worked for Nene Education Trust for the past 5 years.