As CEO, Annie is also a trustee for Aquila

Sue has a life-long interest and involvement in children’s education. Starting as a primary teacher,  then deputy headteacher, she went on to be Headteacher of an outer London primary school for 10 years. Moving on she left to start a career with an Education Advisory Service supporting leadership teams and leading training for governors, teachers and support staff. Sue qualified as both a Primary and a Secondary School Improvement Partner and as an Ofsted Inspector. She went on to lead the Learning and Achievement Service and ultimately worked as a Director of Children’s Services before retiring. In all that time Sue has retained her passion for ensuring children and young people have every opportunity to succeed in life and learning. She is a firm believer in children getting the best possible start in life through well-coordinated support for families and excellent early years provision.

Elaine Rose has worked in social care specialising in mental health throughout her career.  She is a practising Child and Family Psychotherapist working with young people and adults and also works for the Ministry of Justice on a regular basis. For many years she was the safeguarding lead for Canterbury Cathedral and the Diocese of Canterbury. With a keen interest in research, evidenced based practice and outcomes, Elaine also works as an expert witness in care proceedings and has published academic papers in the last two years.

Elaine lives on Romney Marsh, she has a flock of sheep, a lot of chickens, three English Setter dogs and is, by necessity, a very keen gardener. She is a devoted grandmother, tandem rider and a very slow runner.

Andrew has taught in both KS1 and KS2 in schools in Kent and Thurrock followed by roles with KCC's Advisory Service, where he trained in OfSTED Inspection Skills.  He returned to front line teaching as a DHT of a large Primary school in Kent which was in Serious Weaknesses. As a result of the work he did alongside the HT the school achieved a Good judgement after only a short time.  Following this Andrew was utilised by the Local Authority as an Interim Head of School or Interim Headteacher of schools causing concern or in crisis to stabilise them and begin the process of moving the school forward to enable a suitable Substantive HT to take on. He left LA work to work as a Consultant Interim HT and led two schools in Somerset until his retirement in 2018.

Glenn joined the Aquila Trust Board in May 2021. He was born in Kent and educated at Lincoln College, University of Oxford where he obtained a B.A. (Hons) in Mathematics. He has spent 30 plus years in financial services, specifically within the asset management industry working for a number of large global organisations. Most recently he was Chief Operating Officer Asia for HSBC Global Asset Management, based in Hong Kong. Indeed the bulk of his career has been in Asia, working in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan. On his departure from Hong Kong he has returned to Kent and in addition to his responsibilities  for Aquila is still providing consultancy services to the asset management industry.

Apart from his own experience with education (multiple decade ago), he and his wife have three children who were educated both in Asia and in Kent.

As a former employee of Ofsted, and then as a senior inspector for Ofsted’s contractor ‘Tribal’, most of her work has involved evaluating the effectiveness of schools and children’s centres throughout the United Kingdom. Additionally, she has taken a lead role in training inspectors, monitoring report writing, and leading on new curricular developments. Currently, she works as an educational consultant monitoring and supporting schools in challenging circumstances. This includes being Chair of the interim Executive Board of a school that has made fast progress in being removed from Special Measures. Wendy has specialist expertise and passions for Primary education, including the Early Years Foundation Stage. Additionally, she has a wide range of experiences with Academies and education within high performing Independent Schools and several newly formed Free Schools. Above all, the needs and achievements of emotionally and socially vulnerable children drive her commitment to education, including those with disabilities and/or special educational needs. In the past she was a Headteacher in Inner London Schools, also working at London University, Goldsmiths College and the Institute of Education.

David has been involved in school governance for at least 35 years. This has involved being a Chair and Vice-chair but also supporting as lead governor for panel hearings and grievance issues.  He has been a National Leader of Governance which was a nationally recognised governance standard and supported a similar approach to improving governance in Kent as a Local Leader of Governance. Having reached these recognised standards, he was involved in supporting and improving schools in challenging circumstances and often as a member and also as the appointed Chair of Interim Executive Boards.  David has been specifically cited in a number of Ofsted Reports for his contribution to governance and school improvement/outcomes.  He has an in-depth knowledge of the challenges facing Schools in Kent and the benefits of collaboration having set up local collaborative partnerships.

Information to follow 

Nigel joined the Aquila Trust Board in November 2023. He was born in Kent and educated at Kent College, Canterbury and Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge where he obtained an M.A. in History. He started work as a quantity surveyor with a London practice in 1986, principally involved with fit-outs for C&A stores and refurbishments and upgrades of telephone exchanges for British Telecom, along with some projects for the London Dockland Development Corporation. He then relocated back to Kent and qualified as a Chartered Surveyor in 1992. Initially, he worked for a small private practice involved with projects at Dover Harbour and for Christchurch College (as it then was) in Canterbury. When the firm closed, he moved to Moreton and Padmore and his projects for the next few years were principally for Southern Water, giving him experience of civil engineering works, including pipelines, pumping stations, outfalls and wastewater treatment plants. During this time, he became an associate at the firm. When Moreton and Padmore was sold to a larger national practice, he took the opportunity, along with another associate of the firm, to set up his own practice, Woodley Coles LLP which started in 2001. Initially, just the two partners, the firm came to have 20 members of staff by the time of his retirement in 2018. During the 17 years that he ran the firm, he worked extensively with the Canterbury Diocesan Board of Education on many school extensions, refurbishments and new build projects, looking after all aspects of the construction process from initial budgets through procurement, construction and agreement of final accounts. He also acted as Employer’s Agent for a series of projects for City University, London where, as well as the normal services, he became involved in procurement and supervision of design consultants. He retired in 2018 but have maintained his status as a Chartered Surveyor. From 2005 to 2011, he was on the Governing Body of Elham CE (Aided) Primary School, initially as a parent governor and subsequently as a PCC governor. During his time as a governor, he was Chairman of the Property and Resources Committee, overseeing the school budget and maintenance programme. He also oversaw the acquisition and conversion of an additional building to provide a new Year 3 classroom.

Adrian spent his career working in education policy and administration including 20 years at the Department for Education on a range of roles including school funding, school capital investment, schools in difficulty, the national curriculum, school partnerships and system change.  He followed that with seven years working in two local authorities leading work on school admissions, place planning, capital building, school funding, the establishment of sponsored academies, early years and data analysis.  For the last 15 years he has worked as an independent consultant supporting schools and academy trusts with conversion to academy status; including with Aquila.   Adrian is committed to working with schools and trusts to find the most cost effective ways of ensuring that children have every opportunity to fulfil their potential.