Trust Leaders

Ash started his career in 2003 as a History, Politics, and Advanced Skills teacher at Coombe Girls’ School in New Malden. He joined Grey Court School in 2008, moving from Assistant Headteacher to Deputy Headteacher, part of the leadership team that took Grey Court from ‘satisfactory’ to ‘Outstanding’ in 2013. He then became the Sixth Form Development Manager for the London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames leading the successful and collaborative development of Post 16 provision at school level across Richmond.  In 2015, Ash became the Headteacher of Chessington School, with a much-needed financial turnaround the school moved from a small number of first choices (and only 51 students in Year 7), for Year 7 places full on 1st choices for an expanded year group of 155. Student progress outcomes changed significantly from below to above national averages and quickly Chessington became the school of choice for the community. Ash became CEO of the Every Child Every Day Academy Trust in 2020, leading three schools in Richmond & Kingston with Good or Outstanding Ofsted inspections. Ash is also the Chair of the Kingston Schools Forum.

NPQEL (Current) 

Masters in Education - Leading Innovation and Change 

Paul has 30 years experience of working in schools and serving on SLT. As a Business Manager, he was responsible for all non-curriculum areas of secondary school life with experience in assessing and addressing its administrative needs to improve its profile, efficiency and cost-effectiveness. He has always had an active role in school leadership. His initial background was in structural and civil engineering presenting a broad scope of management opportunities, including multi-storey construction plus the day-to-day administration and running of a company and partnership. Paul is now the Director of Finance and Operations for the Trust and leads the Finance, HR, IT, Facilities and Compliance teams. Paul is able to deliver a number of services across the Bronze, Silver, and Gold agreements supported by the Trust’s Operations Teams and Premium Partners.

TES School Business Manager of The Year Finalist 2021

I have worked with Chessington School senior leadership team with a previous employer undertaking school support services. I also worked with and have known the Business Manager (Paul Moralee) for over 20 years who is a trusted colleague and ‘knows what he wants’. I found the leadership proactive, dynamic, forward-thinking and open to honest and frank discussions/ideas just as you would expect from a modern thinking academy supporting our future generations of learners. Achieving the ‘very best’ outcome for the school funding and services to enable the pupils to reach their full potential is always at the forefront of any discussions.

Working with Paul to support ECEDAT with data protection has been a professional positive experience. The trust is forward-focused and strives for the highest standards while maintaining a warm and welcoming approach.

In my role of HR Consultant, I have had the pleasure of working with Paul Moralee for over 20 years in the variety of roles he has had and most recently at Every Child Every Day Academy Trust. He has so much experience to draw from that it makes my role of supporting him very easy and particularly given his balanced and fair approach to some complex HR issues. He always has the individual in mind whilst at the same time ensuring the necessary standards are in place and ultimately the needs of the school/s.

I have known and worked with Paul for the last 25 years. Paul was always easy to work with then and in fact had a high level of technical knowledge himself which was always very useful when trying to explain the current IT issue to me. Paul was very hands-on and liked to understand what was happening with his network and school in order to be able to better make the decisions about upgrades and changes going forward. When I moved into Management, I continued to build a good working relationship with Paul and our regular communications enabled me to to assign the right level of technical support to his school to ensure any issues were resolved first time and with the level of technical expertise needed .I changed employment and moved to Turn IT On. Paul agreed to come over to TIO and allow us to provide IT Support to Chessington School with their IT Manager. I have continued to work very closely with Paul as we now provide IT Support and Services to the other two secondary schools in the ECEDAT.

Amy is Headteacher at Hollyfield School and has been in the post for four years. Amy studied for a degree in Chemistry at the University of East Anglia (UEA), which she followed with a PGCE in secondary science. She began her teaching career in North Suffolk, where she taught Chemistry and was later Head of Chemistry. She moved to the South and eventually became Head of Science at Grey Court in 2010. Amy was a pivotal part of the team that moved Grey Court from a satisfactory school to a truly outstanding one and was a key part of their SLT until 2020, holding roles of Assistant Headteacher: learning and teaching, and Deputy Headteacher. 

In 2013 Amy qualified as an Ofsted inspector and more recently as a lead inspector. She has led inspections across all phases of school and continues to do so. A key aspect of Amy’s role is supporting other schools in their journeys towards outstanding. She worked alongside the previous Headteacher at Grey Court in her work as a School Improvement Partner and more recently has worked with schools in Richmond, Kingston, Hounslow, Suffolk, Surrey, and Wandsworth on quality of education, leadership and management, and SEND.  Amy is passionate about teacher development and leads the trust senior leadership team meetings as well as the National Professional Qualification for Senior Leaders (NPQSL) for aspiring leaders across West London. She is also committed to building relationships with primary colleagues and champions the vision of all educational colleagues working together to improve the experience of young people. She leads the Surbiton primary/secondary cluster which focuses on just that. 

Since becoming Headteacher at Hollyfield, Amy has overseen a middle leader restructure, the introduction of a new behaviour system, a marked improvement in student outcomes at GCSE, and a range of site developments including the building of a brand new music block, outdoor gym and complete IT overhaul. Amy is the parent of two adopted children, one of whom has a diagnosis of autism. Consequently, provision for young people who have had time in care or with a SEN/D is a particular area of interest for her.

Emma Francis, Chair of Governors Hollyfield School

Since joining Hollyfield in 2020, Amy has had an incredibly positive impact on the school. She led the school through the COVID period, working incredibly hard to support the students through this very difficult time. Amy is a collaborative leader, working with her staff team to ensure the best possible outcomes for the students, both academically and pastorally. This is reflected in the grades that the students have achieved, but also in the P8 value add score that puts Hollyfield in the top 20% of schools nationally. 

Amy is a lead Ofsted inspector, supporting other schools to be better as well as bringing the best practices she sees in other schools back to the Every Child Every Day Trust. She is also Chair of the Surbiton Group of Schools, where local headteachers come together to discuss topical issues and agree on a local strategy where appropriate. 

Amy works very well with the governing body, always welcoming challenges and suggestions. She works collaboratively with the governing body to ensure the best possible outcomes for students and the best possible working environment for staff.  

Amy cultivates a diverse and inclusive school, where SEN and disadvantaged students are key areas of focus and support, as well as celebrating cultural, social and religious diversity. Hollyfield has a fantastic performing arts provision and an incredibly varied extra-curricular offer, including many sports. 

The Hollyfield governing body has been thrilled at the progress Amy and her team have made over the four years since she joined, and we are confident that the school will go on to even greater things under her leadership. 

Shaun Common, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Gippeswyk Community Educational Trust

Amy is a highly successful, experienced Headteacher who has demonstrated substantial impact at Hollyfield School in Surbiton. Amy is also a vastly experienced Lead Ofsted Inspector and has provided the schools in our Trust with School Improvement support. Amy is incredibly thorough and professional and is able to comprehensively review the performance of a school and provide key areas for development ensuring that school improvement is rapid and sustained.

Chris Rhodes is Headteacher at Grey Court School, which has an enviable reputation as being one of the leading state schools in the country.  Most recently, he led the school to retain its Ofsted outstanding accreditation. He is also an active member of the ECED trust’s headteacher management group. As part of the ECED trust team he reports to Ash Ali, the CEO.  Chris has taken on certain areas of responsibility for the ECED trust. As part of the distributed leadership team this includes his role as prime lead for raising academic standards.  

Chris joined Grey Court as a teacher of modern languages after graduating from Durham. He also spent time travelling and working in a number of Francophone locations across the world.  After joining Grey Court, Chris rapidly progressed through the various levels of the school. His thirst for knowledge, and willingness to take on additional management duties, saw him progress to numerous positions of responsibility including gifted and talented coordinator, head of year, phase leader KS3, head of MFL, assistant headteacher, and deputy headteacher.  He also worked on a secondment basis at another trust school where he led the raising standards programme and taught some underperforming groups of students.  Chris was instrumental in the school’s improved Ofsted rating and then returned full-time to Grey Court.

Under the previous headteacher, Chris was recognised as someone who was adaptable and able to make clear and intelligent decisions, whilst also multitasking in a demanding educational and operational environment. He swiftly rose through to assistant head and deputy head. He became an invaluable member of the senior leadership team (SLT). He worked with curriculum and key stage leaders to improve the educational provision to students and gained the respect of teaching and support staff. Chris is articulate and numerate and took on many duties related to the coordination of academic results and financial planning.

The school policy was to interchange SLT members, allowing Chris to gain an understanding of the broad operating spectrum of Grey Court.  As the school progressed to multi-academy trust, Chris, along with the rest of SLT, was a key member of the management team, ensuring a smooth transition. Grey Court was the lead driver in the process.  

Chris took on the role of headteacher following the departure of the longstanding previous incumbent. While the school was outstanding, there were several challenges in terms of budget management, integrating with the community, developing the ECED trust, and embedding a significantly different leadership team. He also recognised the challenge of recruiting, training, and retaining qualified staff in a relatively expensive part of the country, all at a time when DfE budgets were tightened and associated resources highly limited. 

Chris mentors other senior leaders within the trust and welcomes a variety of other educationalists to Grey Court.  While the school is close to capacity in terms of numbers, and space and buildings to develop, Chris has shown initiative and creativity in increasing the number of classrooms. The sixth-form building has been expanded under his leadership, which bodes well for the future of the school.

• BA (Hons) French and European Studies - Durham University

• MA in Education - Leading Innovation and Change - St Mary's University

• National Professional Qualification for Headteachers

Julian Knott – Chair of Governors

In a short space of time, Chris has established himself as a leading headteacher in the area. He sits on several panels and leads the Richmond cluster of schools that work with the NHS and the associated mental health support teams.  As chair of governors, I have developed a close working relationship with Chris. This allows us to be open and frank. It also ensures we can work together to support the school. As governors we can challenge and demand evidence of best practice. Chris’ leadership style recognises the importance of good governance and the need to prove effectiveness, with timely reports and presentations.  He is totally student and staff focused, and recognises that ultimately he has responsibility and accountability for 1600 students and 380 staff. His diligence and hard-working attitude are recognised by all.

Chris’ leadership of one of the largest schools in the area has been exemplary. This was reflected in our recent Ofsted report in which the school maintained its outstanding status.

A clear strength of Chris is his wide-ranging knowledge of all aspects of Grey Court, and his attention to detail – which ensures the school is managed efficiently and effectively. Equally, teacher, parent and student feedback has improved (from an already high base), demonstrating his ability to communicate, and connect, with all stakeholders in the school.

Results are an important measure of success and Chris has continued to increase the school’s achievement and progress score. Most recently the school has achieved the status of being one of the top four schools in London when measured against other non-selective comprehensives. Equally, the pastoral care and wellbeing aspects of the school have seen greater investment and support.

Chris has developed an even stronger, inclusive and diverse school. This manifests not simply in cultural, social and religious diversity, but also in the manner in which results for SEN and disadvantaged students have progressed over the years.

He is also someone who is competitive on the sports field, and that reflects in the healthy focus on sporting achievements at Grey Court, to build pride and honour in the school.

Chris has also built on the very strong creative arts, music and performing arts curricula, and has introduced a scholarship programme to celebrate the arts. It has been a pleasure working with Chris over a number of years.

Sarah's main role is developing excellent curricula and delivery of Maths across the trust and teaching at Grey Court School.  Sarah has 15 years of teaching experience from key stage 2 upwards with a variety of leadership roles including head of maths, lead practitioner, teaching and learning lead, CPD lead, and Early career professional tutor.

• Distinction - Operations and Departmental Manager Level 5

• NPQSL

• BSc Bangor North Wales

Shreeji Doan, Acting Deputy Headteacher, Mosaic Primary School

It has been very beneficial working with Sarah from ECED to further enhance the teaching and learning of maths across the school. During the initial review, she provided clear, structured feedback that highlighted areas of best practise and areas that could be further developed. During the follow-up visit, Sarah reviewed the progress that had been made from the first review and was very positive with sharing the successes and working with the Maths lead to highlight potential next steps for the following academic year. 

Junaid Khan, ECT Grey Court School

During my first Ofsted inspection as an ECT, Sarah's support was invaluable, and I truly couldn't of got through OFSTED without her outstanding coaching and support. The curriculum planning and resources she develops have changed my work-life balance completely. I can now focus my time on high-quality lesson delivery, rather than hours spent looking for resources.

Sophie has a split role, for part of the week she works at Hollyfield School as Deputy Head leading on Safeguarding and the other part as the Primary Lead for The Trust. Her experience spans 24 years, 21 of which were spent in primary education culminating in a successful Headship at Meadlands Primary School in Ham. As well as this Sophie has grown expertise in developing school culture, leadership coaching and safeguarding; she leads on school reviews and subsequent INSET, coaches new Headteachers and has been seconded to schools to help develop senior and middle leaders. In addition to this she is a guest lecturer at St Mary’s University and has presented for SWLSEP and the National College.         

Sophie is able to offer a number of Trust services at silver and bronze level. Such packages are often bespoke reflecting the needs in the school and therefore we would encourage you to contact Sophie to discuss your priorities.

Pearsons Headteacher of the Year award: silver finalist 2021

• Post Grad in Psychology Attachment Theory & Research, Roehampton  

• Post Grad in Education, Institute of Education, London 

• BA Hons Psychology, Newcastle University 

Harry Page, Headteacher, East Sheen Primary School

Stepping into a new role as headteacher is an exciting, but equally daunting, task. Sophie was instrumental in supporting a smooth transition to my new role. Her expertise was shared in a coaching and supportive manner, and her guidance on complex human resourcing matters, safeguarding procedures and the importance of looking after wellbeing as school leaders was invaluable. She worked with curriculum leaders, allowing them to reflect on their own development, action plans and practice. Our leaders found this incredibly helpful, and I noticed the boost in confidence and effectiveness, which resulted in distributed leadership across the school where all areas moved forward. Most importantly, Sophie’s passion and enthusiasm for primary education and school leadership was infectious. Her warm, positive and fun manner allowed me to ask questions openly and reflect on the wonderful opportunities we have to improve children’s lives. I thoroughly enjoyed working with Sophie and the Trust, and will forever be grateful to her for her support and guidance in my role as a primary school leader.

Wendy Hughes, Senior Lecturer. St. Mary's University, Faculty of Education, Theology and the Arts.

We have been extremely fortunate in the Faculty of Education at St. Mary`s University to have Sophie work alongside us to enhance our provision. To date, Sophie has supported Final Year students on Primary Undergraduate, PGCE and  Work- based  route programmes both during Best Practice and Exit Day sessions. Themes covered have ranged from First Appointments to the E.C.T. Years from a Headteacher perspective. All presentations have been large lecture audiences and presented with both humour, knowledge and experience and charisma. A recent feedback comment from a Final Year Undergraduate student was: ` It feels as though Sophie really knows us and we really appreciate the fact that she has taken the time and completed the research to plan and deliver exactly what we need to know. She is an inspiration to us.` Sophie continues to have a major impact on our students and she has become a firm part of our provision. We look forward to our continued partnership.

 Jess Bunker, DSL and Deputy Headteacher, Albemarle Primary School, Wandsworth 

With a new leadership team in post and OFSTED inspection on the horizon, we really wanted to assess the effectiveness of our safeguarding systems and procedures, as well as of the staff team's understanding of safeguarding. Sophie (Primary and Safeguarding Lead at ECED Trust) initially spent a day in school completing a safeguarding audit/review, which included work with the DSL team and meetings or informal conversations with staff, governors, parents and children. She provided a proposed structure for the day in advance, but was also responsive to our needs and suggestions, which made it all the more helpful. I (as DSL) learnt a lot from the review process itself, and Sophie also shared a comprehensive report following her visit, outlining her findings including clear next steps for the school. She also offered a follow up visit, which allowed us to review progress made and create a safeguarding action plan.  Sophie's experience and expertise in safeguarding, as well as in primary education/leadership generally, was really evident. She has been a great support to our school, and her work has enabled us to make huge amounts of progress, as well as developing my confidence as a safeguarding lead. We hope to work with Sophie and the ECED Trust team again in the future.

Rhoda McPherson began her career in 2000 as an English teacher at Haydon School in Pinner. She then took a year’s sabbatical to teach in an international school in Japan, before returning to sunny Brent to continue her career moving rapidly through twelve years at St Gregory’s where she progressed through the ‘ranks’ to Assistant Headteacher as part of the founding senior leadership team at Ark in Wembley, to Deputy Headteacher at Capital City Academy, to Headteacher at Queen Elizabeth School - putting together a turnaround team taking the school back to the great place it needed to be for the young people. Queen Elizabeth School was described by Ofsted as being ‘not the same place it used to be a few years ago’ under Rhoda’s leadership.  Rhoda has worked with several local authorities and led on key strategic working parties surrounding safeguarding and SEND. She has also sat on the Brent LSCB as a representative for Education. She also works across several schools to review, implement and embed systems and routines. Rhoda coaches and mentors Headteachers and senior leaders and supports in the professional development of other colleagues.

• NPQEL
• NPQSL
• NPQML
• BA (Hons) English
• PGCE Secondary English (oxon