OUR CENTRAL STAFF

Rachel joined the Trust as its Chief Executive in July 2016. Prior to this, Rachel worked for Ofsted as an HMI.  Rachel spent 18 years as a teacher and then Headteacher both in the  North East and in Gloucestershire.  She has worked in schools in challenging circumstances and led her last school to be judged as outstanding by Ofsted.

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She has also held a number of additional roles, including, an Intervention Consultant for the local authority for schools causing concern, mentoring new headteachers and leading training for schools developing innovative curricula. Rachel has also worked with leadership teams to support the development of stronger and more robust leadership systems and worked with the National College to write guidance materials for leading change within the curriculum. More locally, Rachel has been Chair of both the Gloucester Association of Primary Headteachers and the Gloucester Schools Partnership.

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Rachel is a Trustee of the Viney Hill Christian Adventure Centre; a Christian community working to encourage and inspire personal social and spiritual development.

Helen joined the central team in September 2017 as Head of School Improvement and was appointed Deputy CEO in March 2019.  She is a qualified teacher with 30 years’ experience including 12 years as Headteacher, and Executive Headteacher, in schools across Gloucestershire, Essex, Thurrock, and Waltham Forest. She has worked in schools in challenging circumstances and has a strong track record of securing improvement such as leading her last school to be judged as Outstanding by both Ofsted and SIAMS.

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Helen has held several additional roles in education including being a school improvement partner working with leadership teams to improve outcomes for pupils, as well as acting as a mentor for new Headteachers and leading training for teachers including the NPQs. Helen is passionate about valuing all children through providing high quality teaching and learning in all our Trust schools.

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In 2017 her contribution to educational leadership was recognised when she was awarded the Teaching Times and Achievement for All's "inspiring leadership" award. She is a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching. Helen is a serving Ofsted and SIAMS Inspector.

Helen is proud to be a trustee of ISingPop, a Christian charity that seeks to empower children to find their voice and discover their potential as well as supporting schools and churches in creating inspirational collective worship.

Rob joined DGAT central team in March 2017 as Operations Manager and is now the Head of Business and Operations for the Trust.  Rob is responsible for the provision of the strategic oversight of the business and operational functions of the Trust.  He started his career in the public sector in 1991 working as a Social Worker in a variety of roles in children’s services.  He has worked in education since 2004 starting in the Local Management of Schools team at the London Borough of Hounslow, supporting schools in both the primary and secondary sector.  

Subsequently Rob was the Business Manager for a Gloucester secondary school overseeing the financial and premises management of the school and its public access sports centre. Whilst there Rob set up a local support Hub for four local Primary Schools providing premises, finance and IT support.  Prior to joining DGAT, Rob worked at a University Technical College in Bristol as Business Manager overseeing the finance, estates and contract management, ICT and HR functions. 

Laura joined DGAT in October 2024. She is a CIMA qualified management accountant, with 21 years finance experience across the private and public sector. She trained in the consumer goods industry, working for Unilever PLC for 12 years in a range of management and financial accounting roles.

Laura has worked in the Education Sector since 2017 and has held substantive and interim school trust CFO positions during this time. Further, Laura was a Trustee of a large multi-academy trust in the South-West for four years, assuming Finance & Audit Committee and Board responsibilities. She is an accredited School Resource Management Adviser. Within this role she has completed a large number of trust and local authority deployments for primary and secondary schools. Further she has experience mentoring newly appointed CFOs in the sector.

Nicki joined DGAT in January 2020, she has volunteered as a school governor since 2010 and has governed in maintained schools and academies. Prior to joining DGAT Nicki worked as Head of Governance for a large, national academy trust. Nicki contributes to governance on national basis through her work writing resources, speaking at conferences and delivering training and webinars. Nicki is also a local leader of governance through the Teaching School Council South West and is currently chair of governors in a local school.

Tonwen joined the trust in September 2024. She is a qualified teacher with over 30 years' experience including primary headship of both small Church rural schools and large schools in areas of deprivation. She currently coaches headteachers through the NPQEL. She is also a governor of a Church school. Previously, she has provided executive leadership to support schools in special measures across the country, and was lead for schools causing concern in a local authority. 

Tonwen was one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors for seven years and continues to lead inspections as an Ofsted Inspector. She has considerable experience and proven track record of school improvement and inspection work in primary schools, special schools, independent schools, maintained Nursery schools and alternative providers. 

Aisling is a qualified teacher with the National Professional Qualification for Headteachers (NPQH) and a proven track record across the primary phase in both small and large Church schools. Her extensive senior leadership experience includes successfully leading a school on the journey out of special measures. A passionate advocate for all pupils, Aisling thrives in fostering collaborative settings. She cultivates a positive environment where both colleagues and pupils can flourish. A committed collaborator, she actively works with educational partners to drive improvements and create opportunities for all, as evidenced by her role as Pupil Premium Champion for the Trust since 2016 and her membership in the SW Disadvantaged Network. Since 2021, she has served as a local Primary ECF Facilitator, further exemplifying this dedication to collaboration.

Richard joined DGAT in 2019 as an executive headteacher, before moving into the role of Regional Effectiveness Lead within the central team at the start of 2024. He loves working for DGAT and supporting all schools, teachers and leaders to flourish. He is a qualified teacher and experienced headteacher and executive headteacher of over 15 years who has successfully led three schools; one from good to outstanding and two from special measures back to good. He has a wide range of experience of school leadership at primary level, including 9-years as SENCo, as well as a wealth of teaching experience from Reception to Year 6. Previously, he led teacher training through a teaching school, focusing on developing leadership capacity, primary and secondary teacher training, initial teacher training and supporting excellence in teaching and learning across both primary and secondary settings. He has been a lead inspector for Ofsted for eight years. He recently passed the NPQEL and is currently an NPQEL coach. In his spare time, he plays the drums in lots of bands and attempts to play football.

Having relocated back to the area from Northamptonshire, Susanna joined DGAT in November 2020. Susanna has years of valuable experience as a School Business Manager for schools within PDET (Peterborough Diocese Education Trust), supporting the schools’ smooth transition from LA maintained to Academy status. Her broad experiences encompass all school finance operations, including budget setting, personnel, payroll and premises management. Alongside this, Susanna is proud to have achieved the Level 4 Diploma in School Business Management.
Most recently, Susanna gained experience of working in Secondary School with CMAT (Cambridge Meridian Academy Trust), supporting the general financial operations within the Academy.

Chris joined DGAT in November 2016.  He supports all finance functions for academies, including implementing and training on finance policies.
Chris is part-AAT qualified and last year completed a level 3 NVQ in Business and Administration.  He has close to 20 years experience of working in an accounts environment for a wide range of businesses ranging from care homes for the elderly to a manufacturer of vacuum cleaners.  
 

Claire joined the Diocese Academies Trust in January 2015 as a Finance Officer. Before joining the team, Claire gained her AAT Accountancy qualification from the Royal Forest of Dean College in August 2013 whilst working as an accounts technician within two small independent private accountancy practices based within Monmouthshire and the Forest of Dean. Claire brings to the Trust a wealth of experience in dealing with sole traders, partnerships and limited companies.
Claire supports many aspects of academy conversion, including the procurement of services, setting up financial systems and the implementation and training on financial policies and procedures. 
 

Lisa joined the DGAT central team in June 2023 as Finance Systems Lead. She graduated from the University of Reading in 1993 with a BSc (Hons) in Geography and spent many years working in the area of data analysis, data management and database systems, both in the private and public sector. Lisa worked as a Project Manager for Oxfordshire County Council Education Department for 10 years, specialising in data analysis and systems development projects. After a career break, Lisa returned to the Education sector where she worked in a Gloucestershire Secondary school for 5 years, supporting a range of financial operations within the school.

Steve joined DGAT central team in February 2017, supporting all finance functions for academies, including implementing and training on finance policies.
Steve is part-AAT qualified and has over 35 years’ experience of working in an accounts environment for a varied range of businesses including a local retail group, a local solicitors & more recently Gloucestershire County Council.  
 

Sharon joined the DGAT Central Team in November 2023, initially as Governance and People Administrator. Prior to joining the Trust, Sharon worked in administration for a number of years, before joining Greatfield Park Primary School, in Cheltenham, in 1993.

Sharon worked at Greatfield Park for over thirty years and in that time, she undertook a variety of roles including that of serving on the schools governing board. Through training, Sharon progressed to the role of Higher Level Teaching Assistant, gaining a BEd in Teaching and Learning, which enabled her to teach classes and deliver teacher PPA cover across the school. She was also instrumental in opening the Schools Breakfast and After school club in 2002, of which she remains a Director today.

After six years of working next door at the Bishop's office, Claire joined the DGAT central team in March 2023 as Executive Assistant to the DCEO.

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Claire supports the DCEO through various administrative duties, including arrangement of continuous professional development and learning (CPD&L) for teaching staff throughout the Trust. She approaches her everyday tasks with a cheerful and pragmatic attitude.

Vicki first joined DGAT in 2021 as a clerk for Longney CofE Primary Academy and became a DGAT central clerk in 2023 clerking for three other DGAT schools.  She is looking forward to working with the central team and supporting more schools across the Trust.

Steph joined the DGAT Central Team in 2024 and has been part of DGAT since 2014. She has been a School Business Manager in multiple schools in the Trust, most recently Winchcombe Abbey CE Primary School. Steph has been proactive in streamlining school business and administration processes and has shared these processes with other schools in the Trust. In addition, she has trained, mentored, and supported other DGAT School Business Managers for several years. Steph brings a wealth of school business, finance, and administration experience to the Central Team.

Daniel joined the DGAT Central Team in April 2024 as a Finance Apprentice. Previously he attended Marling Secondary School and Sixth Form, where he studied Chemistry, Biology and Business Studies.

Dan is currently studying for his AAT qualifications and is a Gloucestershire County ten pin bowler in his spare time.