Meet Our Team
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David Silvester - CEO
David is a National Leader of Education who has led schools as Headteacher and Executive Headteacher in the area for 15 years. He has worked across the school system as a system leader, associate headteacher and in a mentoring capacity. He has a passion for education and believes that success is possible in any context, given the right ethos, management, systems and organisation.
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Alison Benbow - Deputy CEO
Alison has led schools as Headteacher and Executive Headteacher in the area for 15 years. She has worked across the school system as a champion for SEN and in a mentoring capacity. She has overseen the rapid improvement of a school in special measures,is an LLE (Local Leader of Education) and is recognised by Ofsted as an outstanding leader.
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Maxine Crawford – Deputy CEO
Maxine has led schools as Headteacher and Executive Headteacher in Brinsworth for 11 years. She is an Associate Head for the Arts with Rotherham School Improvement Service supporting schools with Artsmark. She has a passion for the curriculum, ensuring children learn through a diverse, though-provoking, creative, inspirational and soaked in memorable moments.
Karen Smith – Executive Headteacher Lead
Karen has been a Headteacher for ten years. She has turned around a Special Measures school, building a positive aspirational culture. Her school has won inclusion awards for their work with vulnerable children and she has been employed as an Associate Headteacher for school improvement across the Local Authority.
Jo Davenport - Teaching & Learning Lead
Jo has been a senior leader in an outstanding primary school as well as working as a Literacy consultant for Barnsley LA. She has worked across the school system as a consultant, driving up standards and empowering professionals to succeed.
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Helen Gill - Executive Inclusion Lead
Helen is a Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist with over 20 years experience working with the NHS and education in Rotherham. She is committed to ensuring that children and families are supported to achieve their full potential as well as supporting staff to feel equipped to manage a range of needs.
Peter Haynes - Chief Finance Officer (CFO)
Peter is a Chartered Public Financial Account with 17 years’ experience working in public services. He has extensive experience in Local Government, education and the National Health Service. His key areas of knowledge include public finance, education funding, financial systems and governance. Prior to joining JMAT Peter served a CFO in a large multi-academy trust and spent 10 years developing traded services for Rotherham MBC.
Jacqueline Oliver - Strategic Operations Lead
Jackie has worked in a range of capacities supporting the school system, from Co-operative Trust Secretary to Clerk to Governors and also as a Community driver of change. She has a passion for improving the life chances and aspirations of the community. She facilitates compliance for the Trust as well as the Teaching Hub.
Helen Johnson - Trust Finance Lead
Helen has worked in school administration and finance for over 20 years and previously in the banking industry. She is an accredited National College bursar and has led on financial regulation and compliance. She has a commitment in seeking Value for Money to ensure schools spend every penny as well as possible.
Jill Carr - Mentoring Lead
Jill has taught mostly in KS1 for over 30 years. She is a moderator for Y2 and has held a number of roles and responsibilities within her career. Literally, she has successfully mentored a number of students at various stages of learning.
Sarah Wood - Senior IT Lead
Sarah has supported Rotherham schools for many years. From servers, WiFi and email to laptops, robots and 3D printers, she oversees our schools ICT infrastructure. She has an comprehensive knowledge of MIS sytems and is always happy to help.
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Ian Hutchinson - Coding and ICT Champion
Ian has worked in education for over 20 years and throughout has had a passion for the power of technology in children's lives. He is a South Yorkshire consultant for Computers in Schools Association and is a lead practitioner and Vex IQ robotics champion.
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Natalie Wood - Communications Lead
Natalie provides internal and external communications, media relations, e-communications and social media support, to ensure the delivery of effective and efficient service.
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Sonia Gilbert - Systems Lead
Sonia has been a clerk for over 21 years and during this time she has seen many changes to governance / the role of the governing body. She will be the first port of call for support for the JMAT systems.
Dan Bennett - PE Lead
Dan has over 10 years teaching expertise promoting outstanding PE achievement in both primary and secondary environments. He is passionate about making sure that all pupils have the opportunity to excel in sport.
Deborah Whelan - Safeguarding Lead
Deborah has worked in various roles at Wath C of E for the past 17 years, including parent support and child protection. She is highly committed to achieving a consistent approach to safeguarding practice across the JMAT group of schools and seeks to develop and improve safeguarding training provided to staff at all levels.
Liz Woodcock- Finance Assistant
Liz is part of our schools finance team. She supports our academies with the day to day accounts administration
Amanda Booth- Finance Assistant
Amanda is part of our schools finance team. She supports our academies with the day to day accounts administration and is currently based at Brinsworth Howarth.