Aquila School Improvement Support

All Aquila academies are supported through peer review and focussed improvement projects, as well as members of our school improvement team. Their role is to monitor the continued development of the school, to provide advice and challenge through their skills and expertise. All our improvement team are specially selected by the Trust for their experience and expertise in providing robust and sustained improvement in other schools and academies within the county and beyond.

Jenny Ashley-Jones - Head of Academy Improvement

Jenny Ashley Jones   Head of Academy Improvement

Jenny is a highly motivated and effective Head Teacher who is able to work as an effective partner with all our academies, building on the excellent progress that the trust has made to date across our successful schools and supporting those schools who have further challenges to overcome. She has many years of experience leading school improvement beyond her own school, including as an LA specialist maths teacher, leading cohorts of ‘Every Lesson Counts’ (designed to move teachers from RI to good, or better). More recently, She was accepted as a Kent Leader of Education and has supported leadership teams in non-Aquila schools through this role.

Louise Creane & Stephanie O Connor - School Improvement Subject Leaders for ART

Louise Creane

Louise is a Senior Leader and Primary Teacher with over 20 years of experience in education.   She has always had an interest in Art, graduating from Surrey University with a First Class Honours degree in this subject.  She became an Art Lead very early on in her career.  Louise firmly believes that schools have a responsibility to develop children’s abilities to express themselves through Art and Design.  Her core conviction is that to develop well balanced and happy individuals Art is key as it helps children to develop and maintain their own well-being.  Louise has worked on many art projects with children both locally and nationally, as well as supporting staff from her own and other schools to develop and strengthen their ‘Art offer’.  She endlessly works to develop a school site that is visually rich, that celebrates the ethos of the school and that helps children to use art to both express their own thoughts and to stimulate ideas.  She is also an artist with a particular interest in Textiles.  During the pandemic she worked with The Oak Academy to develop online lessons for pupils to use whilst homeschooling. 

Steph Wallace

Steph is an Inclusion Manager with a strongly held belief in equality of opportunity.  She has taught for over 25 years, including within the Oak Academy Primary Art team. Steph values the therapeutic power of Art and Design, both for pupils’ and teachers’ wellbeing. She has had extensive experience advising and coaching both within and outside of Aquila as well as 13 years as an Advanced Skills Teacher, specialising in Creativity.  Steph is a practising multi-disciplinary visual artist and has exhibited moving image, printmaking, drawings and textiles. She is co-founder of Dover Creative Network which enables the local creative community opportunities to collaborate and innovate. With two fellow artists, she organises Big Draw Dover annually.  Steph is a contributing practitioner with DAD (Dover Arts Development) and collaborates to promote creative community accessibility. She works closely with Artswork, the educational arm of Arts Council England, providing mentoring support in raising attainment through engagement in the Arts. Steph and Louise are both Arts Award assessors. 

Kate Riseley & Carrie Nichols - School Improvement Subject Leaders for Collective Worship

Kate Riseley

Following time working for the church and as an Outreach Engagement Officer for Canterbury Christ Church University, I realised my dream to become a teacher. After completing a degree in English Literature as a mature student, I undertook my teacher training at Kingsnorth School, Ashford and have taught there for the last five years.

Although new to the role of Collective Worship Lead for Kingsnorth School, I am excited to facilitate the Collective Worship Network Hub alongside Carrie. I endeavour to make the hub a place of connection and collaboration. A place we can share best practice, celebrate our successes and encourage each other to take risks.

Collective Worship is a time for our school communities to come together, reflect and celebrate all that we are and I look forward to supporting colleagues in developing their school’s heartbeat!

Carrie Nichols 

I took Theology as part of my teacher training degree and have been an RE leader for the last 15 years of my career, 13 of those in Kennington CE Academy. Our latest SIAMS was graded as excellent and we hold the Gold REQM.

I have led the Aquila RE hub for a number of years.  We meet 3 times a year to share updates, good practise, seek support and moderate work. 

I strongly believe that learning about other people, their faith and traditions is a core component in a school's curriculum to ensure that our children have respect for all God's people and can demonstrate this when they go out into the wider community. I believe RE has a huge part to play within this and I work to support others to ensure the teaching and learning of RE delivers a well balanced view of the world.

Within Kennington CE Academy, I have been able to explore ways to develop creative RE through ideas such as Godly Play, Prayer Days and Spiritual Arts and have worked alongside Canterbury Christ Church on their Nexus research projects around Spirituality at school and home.

Samantha Hoti - School Improvement Subject Leader for DT

I have worked at Kennington Academy for nearly three years and have been the Design Technology Lead for the past two. In the past year I have been leading the DT team at Aquila. I am have a passion for making, mending and finding out how things work, I think my parent’s belief in equality of education for all has given me a lifetime of experience. I was taught from a young age to make do and mend wherever possible and that a handmade gift can mean more than an expensive shop bought gift. My parents taught me to use saws, screwdrivers, hammers, needles, thread and ingredients to cook. As an adult I am often found making things from curtains to jewellery to shelves. I have a natural curiosity about what I can make and if I cannot do it yet, I will learn how.

I believe that every child should be taught these skills and have the opportunity to explore talents that don’t rely on academia for them to excel. I strongly believe that DT is essential to everyday life and even those that don’t possess natural talent can develop a good understanding of how things work.

Justin Clark - School Improvement Subject Leader for ENGLISH

My name is Justin Clark. I have been a teacher at Kingsnorth CEP for six years and I’m currently leading English. During my 10-year teaching career, I have had the pleasure of teaching year groups across both key stages.  I’ve been a KS1 County Moderator for many years and I have also led English Hub training on ‘Closing the Vocabulary Gap’.

Although my degree is in Commercial Music, I’m passionate about Reading and Writing and my vision for the subject is to be able to inspire lifelong fluent readers and passionate, competent writers.

Tom Bird - School Improvement Subject Leader for GEOGRAPHY

Tom Bird   Charing (1)

I have worked at Charing Primary since June 2018 and since then the curriculum has evolved a great deal . There is rightly now a greater emphasis on a fair coverage of all subjects to ensure that each child receives a "rounded" education. Consequently, Geography is a very important part of all the children's learning at Charing.

I took over the role of Geography "lead" in September 2020 and have worked with staff to ensure there is a comprehensive coverage of the Geography curriculum across all year groups. We have also ensured that there is progression in the learning of the subject knowledge and skills between each year groups.

The Geography leaders' group was formed in April 2022 with the objective of enabling Geography leaders across the schools to work together and share good practice with one another.

Holly Brinkley - School Improvement Subject Leader for HISTORY

My name is Holly Brinkley.  I have been teaching at All Souls' in Folkestone for over sixteen years, including phase leading in Key Stage 1 and Year 3 and 4.  I have always had a passion for History, studying Archaeology at degree level and a History specialism for my PGCE. As a History lead, I enjoy passing on my enthusiasm for the subject and deepening the children's understanding through an engaging curriculum with clear progression through the year groups, allowing a secure understanding of chronology and the key events that have shaped our country and beyond.   History is an integral part of our wider curriculum learning, across the Aquila schools, building on the cultural capital within our curriculum by taking into account the local environments each school is set in, through local history studies. I believe that an interactive and hands on approach can encourage a curiosity about our past and develop understanding of past events and how they shape our lives today. 

Hannah Jones & Dewi Watson - School Improvement Subject Leaders for MFL

Hannah Jones 

I first discovered my passion for languages as a year 5 pupil at primary school.  I enjoyed our weekly French lessons and links with a primary school in France.  My love of language continued at secondary school where I started to learn German, which I eventually went on to study for A - level and as part of my degree at university.  I was fortunate to spend a year in Germany working as an English Language Assistant in a German grammar school, which was a fantastic experience.  I trained on the 7-14 PGCE course with my specialist subject being MFL, which allowed me to gain experience of teaching MFL in a secondary school.  Since then, I have led MFL within primary schools on many occasions and is currently part of my role at St. Nicholas Primary Academy.  I really enjoy helping my pupils develop a love of languages and supporting staff in teaching it well.   

Dewi Watson 

I believe that primary school is where we can ignite a child’s life-long curiosity of the wider world and what better way to do that than by teaching them how to communicate in a foreign language. Having studied Spanish and French at A-level and then Japanese and Chinese at university, I have been able to live and work in several countries. Because of this I am excited when passing on my love for languages and exploring new places to the children and hope to encourage them to see that the world is theirs to discover. It gives me so much please when children greet and speak to me in Spanish but the joy and confidence I see in their faces when they speak to each other in Spanish is magical.  

Nick Sermon - School Improvement Subject Leader for MUSIC

Nick Sermon

Nick has had an extensive career within music following graduation from an MA at Leeds University. As a brass player, some of his professional highlights include performing in North America and conducting a military band at Twickenham stadium. 

As an educator, he has worked across all sectors as both lecturer and teacher of music. Additionally, he has been an external examiner, and he currently volunteers to support the British Dyslexia Association Music Committee.  

He advises schools across the MAT on Music and how to develop their curriculum and provide opportunities for all to participate in music. His knowledge has been used to write a curriculum that can be adapted by all schools. 

Nick is passionate in sharing his skills with as many young people as possible in the classroom. He believes exposure to a vibrant music education; can change lives. 

Carrie Nichols - School Improvement Subject Leader for RE

Carrie Nichols

I took Theology as part of my teacher training degree and have been an RE leader for the last 15 years of my career, 13 of those in Kennington CE Academy. Our latest SIAMS was graded as excellent and we hold the Gold REQM.

I have led the Aquila RE hub for a number of years.  We meet 3 times a year to share updates, good practise, seek support and moderate work. 

I strongly believe that learning about other people, their faith and traditions is a core component in a school's curriculum to ensure that our children have respect for all God's people and can demonstrate this when they go out into the wider community. I believe RE has a huge part to play within this and I work to support others to ensure the teaching and learning of RE delivers a well balanced view of the world.

Within Kennington CE Academy, I have been able to explore ways to develop creative RE through ideas such as Godly Play, Prayer Days and Spiritual Arts and have worked alongside Canterbury Christ Church on their Nexus research projects around Spirituality at school and home.

Rachael Williams - School Improvement Subject Leader for SCIENCE

Rachael Williams Teacher (002)

From a young age I have been interested in science and understanding the world around us. After graduating from Liverpool Johns Moores University with a combined degree in microbiology and biochemistry I joined Pfizer as a research scientist. I worked across a number of disciplines and projects for 15 years contributing to the development of medicines, discoveries and publications.

Teaching at Temple Ewell primary school has allowed me the opportunity to inspire the future generation of scientists. I believe that science is an inclusive subject where all children regardless of their SEN can be successful. Our children should be taught to question the world, answer those questions and form their own conclusions/ opinions. These skills will be useful for our children across all subjects and more importantly preparing them for secondary school and beyond.

Margo Barraclough - Moderation Leader

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Information to follow 

Elizabeth Pettersen - SIAMs Inspector

Liz Pettersen

Liz has recently retired from being Executive Headteacher of a federation of two small rural primary schools both of which achieved outstanding gradings in Ofsted and SIAMS under her leadership.  Liz has had a keen interest in the SIAMS process for the past 14 years.  She is totally passionate about developing the spiritual dimension of church schools both for pupils and staff. A key part of her practice was to ensure that pupils were fully engaged in worship, developing a high level of spiritual understanding and an ability to lead worship.

She has led staff training on spirituality as well as the creation of interactive reflection corners both inside and outside the classroom. These sessions have demonstrated, through practical and do-able activities, how to establish engaging reflection spaces during a busy school day.  Feedback from these sessions has been very positive with staff being inspired to develop this area of their classroom.  Liz has also supported schools in developing high-quality self-evaluation documentation prior to SIAMS and ensuring that the evidence base is strong to support a SIAMS grading. Other assistance has included leading workshops with classes on reflection corners linked to the school’s values and helping develop pupil leadership in worship.

While working with the Aquila MAT Liz has achieved the following successes  - Kennington achieved Good overall at SIAMS for the first time in the history of the school. Charing and Brenzett both achieved Good gradings, having self-assessed as satisfactory a few months before her involvement. St Nicholas achieved Good overall at SIAMS with Outstanding for Leadership.

Lorna Priddle

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As an Executive Headteacher in Kent, Lorna’s ability to transform failing schools into higher performers is proven by results: from special measures to requires improvement with leadership graded as good in 16 months (Archbishop Courtenay C.E. Primary School) from Notice to improve too good in two years (St Michaels C.E .Junior School) from cause for concern to outstanding in 4 years (St Michaels C.E. Infant School). In January 2014 her Infant school gained its third outstanding OFSTED in seven years.

Lorna achieved these results by having high expectations, mentoring and coaching staff to become good and outstanding classroom practitioners, having a passion and vision for excellence in education and growing leaders to enable sustainability throughout three schools that she has led. For example, four senior leaders from her former schools have gone onto headships and head of school in Kent schools. 

As a National Leader of Education from 2008-2015, she collaborated with schools across Kent Sussex and Surrey to improve standards of achievement and attainment. Classroom practitioners, Headteachers, and LA officers came to observe outstanding practice across the three schools but especially Key Stage one. She was also commissioned through the National College to go and support schools to improve standards. She supported leadership and management and teaching and learning in several schools over a period of 7 years. This required a high level of competence in interpreting data, the ability to hold challenging conversations with leaders in vulnerable schools, to conduct work scrutiny and lesson observations and be able to change a culture in a school to one of positivity and success.

Lorna has met with the DFE to discuss how to raise standards across the country and met with a previous Secretary of State, Michael Gove, regarding educational policy. In 2012, she completed the Pacific Institute Investment in Excellence facilitator training programme. This was an initiative by Kent to deliver a world-class programme for coaching and mentoring leaders in education. She successfully completed the programme and was able to put this into practice in training sessions across four schools in Kent.  

St Michael’s C.E. Schools Federation has been recognised nationally and internationally in a historic publication on the history of Parliament (2015). This book has been distributed to all members of the United Nations, UK and overseas embassies and Members of Parliament. This recognised the performance of the St Michaels C.E. Schools Federation and the role it played in leading by using the teachings of hope, faith and charity. St Michael’s was one of only 25 schools chosen to appear in this prestigious publication. It recognised excellence in education and the impact the school’s ethos and culture had on the community. 

As a School Improvement Partner for the Aquila she provide professional challenge and support for schools. She acts as a critical and professional friend to our schools, helping leadership teams to evaluate school performance, identify priorities for improvement and plan for effective change.