The Two Counties Trust is very lucky to have a growing team working behind the scenes, striving to make the Trust the best we can be. At the Trust, we focus on working with the teachers, the leadership teams and the students, across all our academies, to do the best they can. We are there to aid the teachers and leadership in providing a first-class education for every student at The Two Counties Trust.
Wesley joined The Two Counties Trust in the role of Chief Executive Officer in January 2021.
He works closely with leaders across the Trust to continually improve the outcomes of our students in order to ensure they have improved life chances and choices once they have left our care.Wesley also ensures that Trust has a clear operating model which is both healthy and efficient to deliver the Trust’s vision.
Prior to joining the Trust, Wesley was an Executive Principal at Dixons Academies Trust where he enjoyed a highly successful career spanning almost 20 years. He was part of three different outstanding academy leadership teams and has led on all areas of school leadership. Wesley has a wealth of experience and credibility having led his own school to an outstanding Ofsted judgement along with supporting various schools to secure improvements.
Wesley is a Theology and Sociology graduate from the Leeds University where he studied a variety of religions with a particular focus on Islam and the philosophy of religion. He has led various Religious Education networks, examined to A level standard, spoken at various conferences and been a guest lecturer on PGCE courses. Wesley remains passionate about ensuring high quality experiences for all students.
Graham joined The Two Counties Trust in the role of Executive Headteacher in April 2022. He works in collaboration with the Trust’s executive team, contributing to a culture of continuous school improvement and in providing support, guidance and challenge to school leaders within the Trust.
After graduating with a BA Hons Degree in English Literary Studies, he began teaching at a school in Wakefield in the late 1990s where he went on to become a successful middle leader, senior leader and then Deputy Headteacher in the school which was judged outstanding in three consecutive Ofsted inspections under three differing frameworks, between 2005 and 2013. The school’s transformative journey helped secure exceptional outcomes for students. Graham then became Senior Director of Education and Lead Headteacher for a large MAT based in West Yorkshire, supporting a number of schools, before joining Delta Academies Trust as Principal, leading a secondary school in Hull to its best ever progress and attainment, two years running, which culminated in a highly positive Ofsted report.
Graham feels a great sense of pride in being part of The Two Counties Trust and its mission, to enhance students’ life choices, and its core values of Ambition, Teamwork and Honesty, resonate greatly with him. A key driver that is important to Graham is ensuring that all students and staff within the Trust feel empowered to maximise their potential and to succeed through striving for excellence.
Debbie joined The Two Counties Trust in April 2017. Initially responsible for establishing the Human Resources function, she now fulfils the role of Operational Resources Director.
She is the Executive Team lead for a range of business functions including Human Resources, Payroll, Marketing, ICT, Governance and the Trading Company’s Nursery.
Prior to joining the Trust, Debbie held the role of Vice Principal for Organisational Development at Central College Nottingham where she enjoyed a successful career. As part of the senior leadership team she led a range of areas including Human Resources, Quality Assurance, Training and Development & Learning Technologies. As the Ofsted nominee she led the College from Requires Improvement to Good prior to joining the Trust.
Debbie is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development from Nottingham Trent University. She has worked in the education sector for over 20 years in both Secondary and Further Education, specialising in the field of Human Resources in large employers for over 30 years. One of Debbie’s key drivers is to ensure that she delivers high quality, customer focussed business solutions through her teams.
Deb joined The Two Counties Trust in the role of Pastoral Director in September 2021. She supports and coaches school leaders to develop and embed high-quality pastoral systems including SEND, safeguarding, behaviour and attendance, PSHE curriculum and careers. She is passionate about inclusion and ensuring that all students’ needs are met and benefit from a range of support and positive relationships.
Prior to joining the Trust, Deb worked for LEAP Trust in Rotherham leading on behaviour and attendance, safeguarding, SEND and inclusion as a Deputy Headteacher. She developed a range of SEMH interventions and established an inclusion resource base to re-engage the disengaged students and to give all students the tools to access mainstream school in a positive way. Deb graduated from Sheffield Hallam University in Urban Studies and completed her PGCE at the University of Leeds in Geography.
Deb’s key driver is inclusion and supporting students, families, and communities to ensure that students achieve their very best.
Jon joined The Two Counties Trust in the role of Professional Development Director in June 2022.
He is responsible for ensuring that the Trust’s strategic anchor of Putting People First is a reality. He works in collaboration with colleagues across the Trust, and outside it, to provide outstanding professional development opportunities for all TTCT staff. Jon ensures that talent within the organisation is developed and can flourish, so that the students in our care receive the best education and experiences possible.
Jon holds a BA(hons) in Philosophy and Theology and a Masters in Theological Research, both from the University of Durham. Prior to joining the Trust, Jon worked for over a decade as an RE, Philosophy, Ethics and Sociology teacher at Dixons Academies Trust. He worked in three separate outstanding schools within the Trust and on the senior teams of two of them, latterly as All-through Vice Principal of Dixons Trinity Chapeltown in Leeds. His main areas of responsibility as a senior leader have been teaching and learning and professional development. Jon has made contributions to a number of national teaching and leadership professional development programmes including the Exemplary Leadership Programme, the Coaching Collective and the Star Institute Instructional Coaching course with Jesse Corburn.
Jon is very proud to be the Trust’s first Professional Development Director and, as characterised by his legacy sentence ‘He helped me to get better’, he is driven by the belief that, as professionals, we can all get a little bit better every single day.
Natalie joined The Two Counties Trust in the role of Director of Finance in March 2020. As Corporate Services Director she is responsible for Finance, Health and Safety, Procurement, Estates Management and is the Executive Team lead for the Trading Company Leisure Operations.
Prior to joining the Trust, Natalie was Director of Compliance and Technical Services and latterly Director of Operational Finance at a large Social Housing provider where she led large scale operational change projects across their Supported Housing and Property offerings. Natalie is an International Management graduate from the University of Manchester as well as a Chartered Management Accountant. Before joining the Education sector, she has worked across Health, Social Care and Housing in a variety of business partnering roles in finance, property and health and safety.
Natalie enjoys sharing her wide commercial experience with all departments across an organisation to deliver value while maintaining high quality customer outcomes.
Marie joined The Two Counties Trust in the role of Curriculum Director in September 2020. She supports and coaches school leaders to raise standards of attainment, teaching and learning in the classroom and school effectiveness. Her aim is to ensure that all students achieve their full potential.
Prior to joining the Trust, Marie was an Assistant Principal and Teacher of business and mathematics at Outwood Grange Academies Trust. She enjoyed belonging to a successful leadership team for over 8 years and headed many areas of school leadership including teaching and learning, curriculum development, attainment and progress. Marie is a Administrative Management graduate from the University of Humberside where she studied business, finance, economics and law.
Prior to teaching, Marie worked in the financial services industry for 18 years, mainly in the role of developing and delivering training for professional and technical qualifications in line with strategic national initiatives. Marie brings a diverse range of transferable skills and knowledge to her role, ensuring that students receive the best quality education.
Phil has worked for The Two Counties Trust since 2016, initially this role was part time for 2 days with the other 3 days working for Ashfield School as an Assistant Headteacher. His current role is looking at the strategic use of assessment and data systems to ensure schools are able to identify and maximise the achievement of all students.
Phil comes from an Engineering background, with his degree being in mechanical engineering, during which time he undertook projects for both rail and aerospace companies. In 2003 Phil qualified as a Maths teacher through a PGCE at Nottingham Trent University. His passion for the use of data comes from the time he spent as head of Maths at Ashfield School, where he transformed the outcomes of the faculty from achieving 38% A*-C grades in 2008 to 75% in 2012. He realised during this role and his role as Assistant Headteacher the importance of high quality assessment and the use of this to improve teaching and ultimately outcomes for students.
Phil’s main strength is problem solving, and he has a very simple goal which is to ensure that data and assessment systems drive continuous improvements across our schools.
Mitchell joined The Two Counties Trust in April 2021. In that time, he has established the department from scratch and completely overhauled the entire Two Counties brand. As well as leading on marketing and communications at a Trust level, Mitchell works closely with school leaders, improving the quality and consistency of their marketing output in order to promote the values of ‘one trust’.
Prior to joining the Trust, Mitchell worked as a social media manager, working to develop the digital presence of a number of high-profile brands in the East Midlands. Having a first-class degree in Education and even a teaching qualification, Mitchell has a deep understanding of the wider education sector.
Claire joined The Two Counties Trust in the role of HR Officer at Ashfield School in March 2019. She is the HR Manager responsible for leading the Human Resources function.
Prior to joining the Trust Claire worked in a HR Business Partner role in further education and the care sector. Whilst working in further education Claire supported the merging of two Colleges and support leadership in harmonising terms and conditions, and creating a positive culture. Since joining TTCT Claire has worked with leaders within schools to ensure a high quality HR service is delivered. Claire is fully qualified and holds the Level 7 HR Diploma in Human Resources Management.
One of Claire’s drivers is her belief that delivering a first class HR service will support the success of The Two Counties Trust and by working in partnership with Headteachers and Senior Leaders TTCT can be an employer of choice.
Graham joined The Two Counties Trust in the role of Head of Procurement and Supplier Management in April 2022. His key role is to manage procurement and compliance on behalf of the Trust.
Prior to joining the Trust, Graham was Procurement Manager at Loughborough College and latterly, Procurement & Contracts Manager at L.E.A.D. Academy Trust, where he was responsible for the procurement at 25 academies. Graham is a Business Studies graduate, holds a PgDip in Business Administration from the University of Nottingham and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) since 2003. Graham has had a successful procurement career, spanning over 20 years, having developed his skills and experience at several high-profile organisations in the UK and Australia, including Alliance Boots, ESPO, DfE, NHS, Telstra Corp and Jones Lang LaSalle. Graham is experienced in managing multi-client tenders for a diverse range of goods and services, developing procurement strategy, sourcing and category plans and for managing a team of procurement professionals in demanding work environments.
Graham’s key driver is sharing his wide commercial experience with all departments across the Trust, to deliver maximum added value while maintaining high quality customer focussed outcomes
Martin joined The Two Counties Trust in April 2018 as Premises and Estates Manager to deliver and support all capital & refurbishment projects and to assist School Site Managers with all aspects of site maintenance including replacement of plant and equipment.
For the previous 25 years Martin occupied a leadership role at Ashfield School as School Business Manager, where his responsibilities included budgeting and finance HR and payroll, Site Management and the management of external contractors.
Throughout his career Martin has successfully undertaken relevant training & qualifications to ensure that he maintains and extends his own personal skills and develops the necessary understanding and knowledge to meet the changing and expanding demands of the teaching and learning environment.
His main focus was, and still is, to provide quality teaching and learning environments for all users and to update and expand existing provision to meet the changing needs of students.
Liz joined The Two Counties Trust in November 2021 as Head of Finance and is responsible for ensuring Financial compliance and sustainability together with the strategic direction and overall financial performance of the Trust.
Liz is a qualified Management Accountant with over 25 years of solid experience in roles spanning all sectors. After starting her career in practice at Deloittes she moved into industry, enjoying successes in various roles, from Financial Controller in manufacturing to Group Accountant for a large construction firm. Her key successes have been devising new accounting systems and practices at the Clegg Group to enable accurate project and profit analysis and working directly with HMRC to agree the correct VAT procedure for Crowd Funding projects.
Liz prides herself on her honesty and integrity and whilst bringing a breadth of experience to the TTCT team, is also passionate about demystifying finance, developing innovative practices and empowering leaders to become the best versions of themselves in pursuit of high quality learning experiences for all children and young people.
Louise joined The Two Counties Trust in the role of Finance Manager in May 2022. She is responsible for financial controls, operations, planning and analysis, and developing the management accounts and budgeting function across the Trust.
Prior to joining the trust, Louise worked for 5 years in the higher education sector at the Imperial College London. She held a variety of roles across the University, from Senior Finance Officer of Chemistry and Life Sciences departments, where she managed the finance functions, to Financial Analyst in central finance, where she conducted management reporting, budgeting and analysis of the whole University. She also completed an internship at IBM focusing on technical accounting and controls.
Louise is a fully qualified Chartered Global Management Accountant (ACMA, CGMA) and graduated from Sheffield Hallam University with a first-class BA(Hons) in Accounting and Finance.
Louise prides herself on her positive attitude and continuous improvement approach. Her key focus is ensuring the Trust understands and efficiently utilises and maximises their financial resources to be able to fulfil the Trust’s overarching mission and vision.
Jordan joined The Two Counties Trust in May 2022 as Head of ICT. He holds the responsibility for determining the ICT strategy and leading our team of experienced ICT support professionals across the Trust to deliver a high-quality service.
Jordan has worked in education throughout his career; joining a school in Doncaster as an IT Apprentice in 2007, before being offered a permanent contract in 2008. In 2012 he moved to a school in Leicester as Network Manager, and in 2018 joined another Multi Academy Trust as a Regional IT Manager.
During this time Jordan studied with The Open University to graduate with a 2:1 degree with honours in Computing and IT, and has since taken further qualifications to enhance his expertise including PRINCE2 and ITIL, and Leadership and Management.
Jordan prides himself on outstanding customer service. The reason why we are here is clear; to provide the best possible opportunities, experiences and outcomes to young people, and so the level of service we provide needs to fully support this.
Sue joined The Two Counties Trust in 2017 as Payroll Manager. Sue manages all of the Trust payroll via a payroll bureau and is responsible for ensuring that payroll, pay-overs and returns are correct.
Alongside the Human Resources Team Sue is responsible for assisting the payroll bureau in improving the service they deliver to the Trust and its Employees.
Prior to joining the Trust, Sue was employed by Ashfield School in the role of HR Manager where her responsibilities included recruitment, contracts and payroll. Sue worked closely with the Head Teacher and SLT on staffing budgets.
Sue was responsible for the setup of the Sage payroll system in house at Ashfield and also the Edupay payroll system and staffing budgets at the Trust.
Sue prides herself on ensuring that everyone is paid correctly, on time, every time. As a member of the management team, Sue works closely with a range of colleagues within the central team, particularly Finance and Human Resources.
Clare Stockdale joined The Two Counties Trust in the role of Health and Safety Manager in November 2018 progressing to Head of Health, Safety and Risk in July 2021.
She is the Trust lead responsible for providing professional health and safety leadership and risk management advice within the Trust at all levels. Prior to joining the Trust, Clare was Environment, Risk and Health and Safety Manager at Manor Academy. During this time she was responsible for the facilities management of the site, statutory compliance, health and safety and was involved in major building and refurbishment projects.
Clare has a deep understanding of legal health and safety regulations along with experience in operational workplace safety and implementing safety programs. Qualifications to date, NEBOSH National General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety and is due to complete NEBOSH National Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety in November 2021. Clare brings a wide range of skills to the Trust which will assist her to deliver and maintain a health and safety change programme to embed and drive a positive safety culture across the organisation
