The United Learning Way - secondary academies

Leon

Secondary Regional Director

Leon is a part-time Regional Director and part-time Executive Head at The Elms and The Hurlingham Academies. Leon works with schools across London and his strategic priority is Year 11 Standards.

Catherine

Head of Music and Performing Arts

Catherine is the Head of Music and Performing Arts in United Learning. Alongside supporting and advising teachers in the Group, she also leads Group-wide performance events, such as ‘Zimbe’ and ‘Wassail!’ – recently recognised at the Music Teachers Awards as ‘Best Classical Music Education Initiative 2018’.

Catherine has played a leading role in developing the groupwide cultural festival and the groupwide KS3 curriculum for music. Prior to joining United Learning, Catherine led performing arts faculties in Outstanding inner London schools: at Mossbourne Community Academy in Hackney and Sacred Heart RC Secondary School in Camberwell, where she began her career as the first Teach First music teacher. Catherine was a scholar at the Royal Academy of Music and Trinity College, Cambridge, and has performed extensively, including on Radio 3 and professional recordings.

Shaun

Head of Sport

Shaun is Head of Sport at United Learning. His role is to support schools in improving the quality of their PE and school sport and how they use the power of sport to raise standards across the school.

Shaun is a former Head of PE and Director of Specialism (sport) who progressed to Vice-Principal roles in two secondary schools. Having trained at what was then the West Sussex Institute of Higher Education, Shaun later gained his MA(Ed) from Southampton University and his NPQH. Having taken a national role with the Youth Sport Trust, Shaun was given the opportunity to deliver some teacher training in Iraq as part of an EU-funded contract with the British Council.

In 2013 Shaun appeared before the Education Select Committee to give evidence on ‘School Sport following London 2012’. In 2014 United Learning published ‘The A-Z of School Improvement through PE and Sport’ which Shaun produced and co-edited. He sits on the Board of Trustees for Sports Leaders UK, the Board of Directors for the Adur Outdoor Activities Centre and the Education Board for Apex2100. Shaun is an experienced coach, being Head Coach at his local triathlon club and having achieved his Level 7 Executive Coaching and Mentoring qualification with the Institute of Leadership and Management.

Ben

Director of Secondary Science

Ben has worked in education for over 20 years, as a secondary school science teacher, Advanced Skills Teacher, senior leader and adviser. He joined United Learning as the Science Adviser in January 2016, before becoming Senior Science Advisor in 2018.

Ben has worked in several schools on developing science teaching, both as an AST and as a local authority adviser, as well as leading on teaching and learning across a whole school. Ben also has a MA in Education, with a focus in the impact of feedback on students learning.

Amanda

Director of Maths

Amanda has worked in education for over fifteen years. She started her career by joining the Teach First programme after receiving a first-class honours degree in Mathematics. Amanda joined United Learning in 2012 and worked as a lead practitioner, SLE, head of department and Assistant Principal. Amanda is now the Director of Maths working across all United Learning schools.

Steve

Secondary Regional Director

Steve works as a Regional Director with United Learning schools in Cambridge and London. Before taking up this post, Steve established United Learning’s team of subject and specialist advisers and led the team’s curriculum work which accelerated during the pandemic. In 2018, Steve was part of the team that led the introduction of the Rosenshine Principles to United Learning schools.

Steve joined United Learning in 2015 following senior leadership positions in two London schools. He has a Masters in Education Management and recently completed the National Professional Qualification for Executive Leadership. Steve enjoys reading and running, and playing football with his son while he still has the upper hand. He lives in east London with his wife and son. 

Benjamin

Director of Secondary Academies and Regional Director for Paddington Academy

Ben Antell currently works as Director of Secondary Academies in United Learning. Before taking up this post, Ben worked for four years as a Secondary Regional Director supporting schools across the country.

Ben has previously held Executive Principal and Principal posts in a number of schools before his appointment as Regional Director. Ben holds an honours degree from the University of Exeter. His wider interests include keeping fit, playing a variety of sports and providing a taxi service to his two teenage sons. 

Charly

Strategic Careers Lead

Charly Barrett has worked for United Learning for over ten years. Charly began her career as an  English teacher at Glenmoor and Winton Academies before moving into the role of Head of English and then onto the Senior Leadership Team leading on Raising Standards.

Charly now works as the Strategic Career Lead across United Learning supporting both our primary and secondary schools with their Careers provision. Charly has completed her Level 6 Career Leaders training, a Postgraduate in Careers Leadership through the University of Warwick and has recently obtained her Chartered Manager status in conjunction with her Level 7 Senior Leadership qualification.

Dana

Secondary Maths Adviser

Dana joined the Secondary Maths Advisers team for United Learning in September 2019. In addition to teaching maths across key stages 3 to 5 for eight years, her previous roles have included Assistant Headteacher (Pupil Premium) at Blenheim High School in Epsom, where she played a key role in moving the school from Requires Improvement to Good in April 2019.  Prior to this she was as Head of Maths at United Learning’s Lambeth Academy in Clapham, now known as The Elms Academy.

Rachel

PE / Sport Subject Adviser (North)

Chris

Secondary Regional Director

Chris recently joined the Regional Director team for Secondaries and is working with schools in the East Midlands. Chris remains Principal of Northampton Academy where he has been for the last six years. In that time, the school has moved to now be recognised as a national leader in character education and achieved a strong Ofsted outcome in March 2023.

Outside of school he is kept very busy with two little kids, but when he gets a chance, he is an avid sports fan. His two passions are Scotland Rugby team and Dundee United Football Club. They both test his character on a regular basis.

Dino

Secondary Regional Director

Dino works primarily with schools in the Midlands and Swindon. He also holds the position of Principal at Kettering Buccleuch Academy, an all-through school which has improved rapidly under his leadership and has won a Pearson Silver Award this year for Secondary School Of The Year: Making A Difference. Alongside his other roles, Dino has guided many of United Learning’s aspiring leaders through the completion of the group’s NPQH programme.

Adriano

Secondary Art Curriculum Adviser

Lucy

Secondary English Adviser

Katie

Secondary Regional Director

Katie is a part-time Regional Director and joint Principal of Paddington Academy. Katie works with schools in South-East London and her strategic priority is United Teaching.

Caroline

Secondary MFL Adviser

Caroline has been a teacher of French and Spanish for over ten years, teaching from KS2 to KS4 in both state and independent sectors. Caroline spent most of her career working in an outstanding central London academy, starting out as an Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) teacher but along the way holding the positions of KS3 coordinator and Head of MFL before joining the academic Senior Leadership Team. In 2021, Caroline joined United Learning as an MFL Curriculum Writer before becoming a Subject Adviser later that year.

Edward

Secondary English Adviser

Tony

Senior Secondary Geography Adviser

Tony started teaching in 2004 as a geography teacher and joined United Learning as the Geography Adviser in September 2016. Tony has worked in a number of different roles, including Head of Geography, Head of Humanities, Assistant Principal, Director of Humanities for another trust, and Lead Practitioner for Teaching and Learning. Tony started examining in 2006 and also became an SLE for teaching and learning in 2015 for the Cambridge Teaching network.

Furthermore, Tony secured the geography accreditation for his department from the Geographical Association in 2013. In 2015 Tony was one of only three people to receive a joint award from the SSAT and the Geographical Association, as recognition for his ‘leadership and outstanding expertise in geography education.’

Sarah

Inclusion Adviser

Sarah has over 13 years of experience working in secondary education in the South of the country. After starting as a geography teacher in 2010, she moved into middle leadership through a Head of Geography and then a Head of Humanities role.  In 2015, Sarah moved into the sphere of special education needs and was a SENDCo for over 8 years and held an Assistant Principal position. She has worked for United Learning for over 10 years.

Sarah currently works as the Director of SEND in our Secondary Academies, which she initially began in 2021. She is passionate about providing strategic guidance and support to schools nationally on effective SEND provision, to reduce the attainment gap and ensure students with SEND thrive in the present and in their future.

Mariu

Senior Modern Languages Adviser

Mariu has over 15 years of experience as Head of Department and a total of 19 years as a languages teacher of Spanish and German to A Level, French and Latin to GCSE. The departments she has led have improved outcomes in public exams and increased uptake at both KS4 and KS5.

She is an examiner for both Edexcel (A level) and AQA (GCSE) and has an MEd in Educational Leadership and School Improvement from the University of Cambridge.

Mariu was appointed to her current role in January 2019, but she has been working for United Learning, as Head of Department, since 2015.

Stuart

Secondary Regional Director

Stuart is a full-time Regional Director and works with schools in Salford, Bournemouth and Poole and the south. Stuart’s strategic responsibilities are Data and Assessment and Behaviour and Suspensions. Stuart has worked in the group since 2015 where he started at Glenmoor and Winton Academies in Bournemouth. His interests include coaching at his local cricket club and being an active parent for his three children.

Lucy

Secondary RE Adviser

Lucy received a BA from the University of Exeter and works as the South Coast Adviser alongside the role of classroom teacher. She previously held the roles of Lead Practitioner and Head of Department at Glenmoor & Winton Academies.

Lucy has several years' experience as a KS4 examiner and in 2023 completed the Leadership Programme (Stage 1) through Culham St Gabriel's with a focus on Religion and Worldviews. Lucy has presented on curriculum and teacher development at education conferences and has also published several reading lists through RETeach to enhance the subject knowledge of practitioners.

Anila

Secondary Science Adviser

Sally

Senior Subject Adviser - History

Sally retrained from a business background as a history teacher in 2008, completing a PGCE at Liverpool Hope University. Returning to London as an NQT, she began teaching at Ashcroft Technology Academy and became second in charge of Humanities; she delivered the IB, A Level and GCSE history and KS3 humanities. Whilst at ATA, the academy moved from Ofsted Good to Outstanding. In 2013 Sally moved to Burlington Danes Academy as Head of History and then subsequently as Head of Humanities.

Ofsted recognised BDA as Outstanding in 2014 whilst she was Head of Department and she became recognised as a teacher of excellence by ARK. Sally also planned and led history CPD across the ARK academies between 2015-2017 supporting teachers and strengthening history provision in the network. She also managed an Education NGO, EdUKaid, in Tanzania and is dedicated to improving education for all young people she encounters, wherever they are, to reach their potential.

James

Music Adviser

James McEvoy-Stevenson is a Music Adviser at United Learning. He began his career with Teach First at the Totteridge Academy, where he was Head of Music. After working in one of the country’s top performing grammar schools, he went on to lead a large Creative Arts faculty in North London. He studied music at the University of Oxford, where he was both a choral and academic scholar. In the classroom, he regularly draws on his experience of singing and conducting in the professional sphere. He has performed throughout the UK and abroad, on Radio 3 and in professional recordings. His formative experiences as a chorister growing up in Liverpool underpin his drive to harness the potential of music to change life chances of young people, as it did for him.

Ian

Secondary RE Adviser

Ian has worked with United Learning for seven years. Ian used to lead Religious Studies at Paddington Academy where he developed the curriculum and led the transition to whole cohort GCSE entry, securing outstanding outcomes for pupils at the school. He then began working on a part-time basis, writing and resourcing the United Learning Religious Studies curriculum which is now implemented nationally across our schools. Alongside that work, Ian also taught at Accrington Academy in Lancashire. As of September 2023, Ian now works as a full-time adviser for Religious Studies, working to support Religious Studies provision across United Learning.

Laura

Secondary Regional Director

Laura is a full-time Regional Director and works with schools in Yorkshire and Manchester. Laura’s strategic responsibility is Disadvantaged and Pupil Premium. Before taking up this post, Laura worked as a Principal of a secondary school in Leeds. Her wider interests include visiting galleries, arts and crafts, walking and keeping her 5-year-old daughter entertained.

Ben

Secondary Geography Adviser

Zubair

Secondary Maths Adviser

Zubair joined United Learning in 2022 as a maths adviser based in the North of England. He started his career with Teach First as a maths teacher based in East London. Zubair has worked with several schools in London and Manchester since then as a middle and senior leader with a record of securing strong outcomes for students.

Zubair now works alongside Amanda, Alec and Dana as part of the secondary maths adviser team.

Christine

Secondary Regional Director

Chris is a secondary Regional Director for academies in the south. She joined United Learning in September 2017 following 7 years working for Ofsted as one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors. For her last three years with Ofsted, Chris was a senior HMI, working in the South West, overseeing and quality-assuring inspection throughout the region. She is an experienced secondary senior leader, working in schools and local authorities in two London authorities and, since 2005, in Hampshire, where she lives.

Lindsey

Secondary MFL Adviser

Alicia

condary History Adviser

Alicia joined United Learning as a History Adviser in 2021, offering direct support to schools in the North of England. She has a keen interest in the education sector which resulted in her completing her BA Hons degree in History and Education Studies and led to her developing this further by completing an MA in Education. Alicia has worked in several roles throughout her career so far including Head of History, Head of Humanities and Lead Practitioner with whole school teaching and learning responsibilities. During the pandemic she also supported remote learning for all pupils nationally by creating and recording lessons for Oak Academy.

Nicola

Secondary Subject Adviser - Science