Mark Randall: Chief Executive Officer

Mark took up post as Chief Executive Officer in January 2021.  Previously, he held the post of Assistant Director: Education and Inclusion with Calderdale Council.  As part of this role, he acted as the lead professional for education and inclusion; leading on the Council’s strategy for education and inclusion, in all areas of the sector, from early years to post 16 and Special Educational Needs,  He also led the Council’s statutory obligations to report on school performance, monitor school standards and broker support for schools identified as requiring additional support to improve standards.

Mark is an educational professional with a proven track record of school improvement gained through a wide range of senior leadership roles.

Mark led Snapethorpe Primary School in Wakefield and Hillcrest Academy in inner-city Leeds to Ofsted judgements of Outstanding.  He has also worked as Executive Principal of four primary schools within a cross phase Multi Academy Trust in Leeds.

Mark has significant experience working with schools as a school improvement adviser as well as previously leading inspections on behalf of Ofsted.

Lisa Hutton: Chief Financial Officer

Lisa joined the Trust in January 2020 as Chief Financial Officer. Having completed a BSC (Hons) in Accounting and Management Information systems she worked within an accountancy practice for 25 years and qualified as an accountant in 2000 and have since specialised in audit and taxation.

Before joining the education sector, Lisa specialised in Academy external and internal audits for many years, and this enabled her to make the decision to move into this field. Working within the public sector and in particular with children allows Lisa to give something back into society that will allow the pupils in our Trust to achieve their potential.

As CFO Lisa works closely with our dedicated Heads and School Business Managers and ensure that schools remain financially viable and compliant at all times, together with working closely with the Trust team to ensure that the Trust infrastructure, staffing and Health & Safety are compliant.

James Walshaw: Estates Manager

James is a passionate and dedicated education professional committed to transforming the learning environment across Enhance Academy Trust. With a wealth of experience in the education sector, James brings significant leadership and management expertise in both operational and estates capacities.

James leads the Trust’s Estates Strategy with specialist knowledge in facilities and estates management, health and safety, project management and finance.

James excels at creating a safe and effective learning environment, supporting the broader mission of fostering a thriving educational community across our Trust.

Clare Simister: Finance and Operations Manager

Clare has recently taken on a new role within the Trust as Executive Business Manager.  Clare was one of our School Business Managers working at St Botolph’s CE Academy and joined them in September 2013.  Clare has many years’ experience within a school leading on Finance, HR, Procurement/Contract Management and all aspects of Premises Management. 

Clare brings a wealth of knowledge to our Central Team and is supporting our Academies and making a difference across the Trust.

Claire Lawless: HR Advisor

Claire began her HR career in 2008.  She completed her Postgraduate Degree in Human Resource Management in 2016 while working within a Multi-Academy Trust. 

Before joining Enhance in September 2023 Claire worked within the Children and Young People services at Wakefield Local Authority. 

Claire has significant HR experience working within safeguarding settings which supports her role at the Trust.

Christina Jackson: Senior Finance and Admin Officer

Christina joined the Trust in September 2022 as Finance and Administration Officer. Before joining Enhance, Christina worked for 10 years within Marketing for a Further Education College.  

Christina also has extensive administrative experience working within education, retail, engineering and the NHS.

Anthony Grey: Educational Psychologist

Anthony joined the trust in February 2024 after training and working as a local authority Educational Psychologist (EP) since September 2018. Prior to becoming an EP, he worked in various educational and community based roles in Yorkshire and London. These roles involved working with underrepresented and marginalised communities, across all age ranges, with the ultimate aim of improving life trajectories and outcomes by providing /improving access to education, community care and training through holistic support. Anthony's work has focused on opposing systemic practice and practises that traditionally oppressed, ostracized, discriminated against and stereotyped those in need and the most vulnerable within our society.  Multi-agency working with partners such as CAMHS, Serious Crime Units, NHS, Social Care, Barnardos, The Mayor of London’s Office, Community Safety, Housing, and many others provided him with an insight to the complexities of challenging, and affecting change on, issues such as Special Educational Needs & Disabilities, social justice, organised crime, race, and child exploitation etc.

Simon McCarthy: Director of Education

Simon joined the trust in April 2023. He is an educational professional with significant leadership experience across a range of schools and in various positions. He has a strong track record of improving schools in a variety of contexts.

Simon was the Headteacher at Thorpe Primary School before moving to Morley Newlands Academy in Leeds. Under Simon’s leadership, Morley Newlands secured an Ofsted judgement of Outstanding.

Simon also worked as Executive Principal of four primary schools and an alternative provision within a cross phase Multi Academy Trust in Leeds. During his time there, the primary schools in the Trust were ranked as the highest performing in the country.

Simon has significant experience of accountability frameworks and inspection processes.

Carl Sugden: External Consultant

Carl leads our Annual External Reviews. He has considerable leadership experience as a Headteacher in two schools, including as an Executive Headteacher involved in school improvement.  Carl has particular expertise in leadership and management, and subject specialisms in history, the humanities and government and politics.  Carl has significant experience of accountability frameworks and inspection processes.

Lee Swift: Lead Headteacher (School Improvement)

Lee has been teaching in Wakefield for 19 years, 11 of which in various senior leader roles, including 5 as a Headteacher. Under his leadership, the school completely transformed all aspects of school life to ensure that children achieved highly. This was evidenced by Ofsted in September 2022 where the school achieved Good in all areas.

Lee is passionate about children being able to socially and academically thrive in order to ensure that they are well prepared for the next stage of their education.

Lee believes that reading is the gateway to education.  In his previous school, he dedicated huge investment in the Early Years and in particular early reading and phonics. He also prioritised early language acquisition skills through exemplary learning environments and interactions between children and adults. 

Lee has experience of accountability frameworks and inspection processes and was previously a Literacy Specialist for Jerry Clay English Hub where he worked intensively with five schools. In the past, he has supported schools through his work with a Teaching School and as a Lead Teacher for the Local Authority.

Jonathan Sharp: Lead Headteacher (School Improvement)

Joe Mitchell:  Lead Headteacher (Leadership Development)

Joe joined the Trust in September 2023 having been a Headteacher and leader in a number of schools across the Yorkshire region. His experience as a school leader has been built in both Academy Trusts and Local Authority Schools. He has over twenty years' experience of working in schools and a track record of delivering on varying aspects of school improvement in different settings.

Joe is Headteacher at Overthorpe C of E Academy and his Trust wide role, in the current academic year, is working with an NPQ provider in order to shape and deliver leadership development accreditations across the Trust. Through doing so, we will be able to secure effective succession planning across our Trust whilst providing school leaders with CPD opportunities to enable them to flourish in their roles.  Joe also provides mentoring support to new Headteachers in the Trust.

He is passionate about all children's life chances being maximised through ensuring their entitlement to high quality teaching and learning, day in and day out.

Karen Wood-Stones: Governance & Compliance Professional

Karen graduated from Loughborough University with a degree in Information and Management before joining HBOS on the graduate programme. During her time within the finance industry Karen was responsible for governance and compliance oversight of a range of multinational IT projects across the sector. The nature of the programme saw Karen rotate across governance, internal auditing, resource management and management information to gain a broad understanding of the business and compliance requirements. Her role developed in the IT sector, with a growing interest in Risk Management, financial oversight and compliance. 

Yasmin Knight: Governance & Compliance Officer

Having graduated from York St John university in 2015, Yasmin worked in outreach and support roles within the Wakefield Council from 2016. For several years Yasmin worked as a Local Authority Governor Support Officer within the Children and Young People Directorate. Yasmin offered bespoke governance support to maintained schools, single academy trusts and multi academy trusts and developed a thorough knowledge and understanding of education governance . Yasmin supported boards to understand their governance roles within their respective settings and ensured compliance with statutory duties as well as supporting boards to operate strategically. 

Yasmin now supports our Local Academy Boards with their governance effectiveness and compliance, ensuring that local tier governance adheres to good practice and meets all statutory and regulatory requirements in line with the Enhance Academy Trust Scheme of Delegation. 

Emma Johnson: Education Welfare Officer

Emma has an undeniable passion for ensuring that attendance does not become a barrier for pupils’ educational successes. Emma strongly believes that all pupils have the potential to experience academic success, where she believes strong attendance and positive pastoral support forms the foundations. It is this enthusiasm and drive that has led Emma to work in the role of Education Welfare Officer.

Emma has experienced working in many different roles within pastoral education, with roles including Attendance and Behaviour Officer and Learning Mentor. With her rigorous approaches to tackling poor attendance and desire for imparting her knowledge and expertise onto others, Emma works with leaders across the trust, a network of Attendance Officers and individual families to make a difference to the attendance of pupils across the Multi-Academy Trust.