Academy Leadership
Andrew Whitaker
CEO - The White Rose Academies Trust
Andrew joined the White Rose Academies Trust in September 2016 as Executive Principal, securing the role of Chief Executive Officer in December 2019. From the outset, his ambitions have been made clear to his staff: ensure that our academies provide high quality education throughout the incredible communities they serve. Andrew is also a member of the Executive Leadership Team for Luminate Education Group, a Fellow of the Institute of School Business Leadership, and acts as a Trustee for the community charity Hamara. In 2018, he was awarded with a Churchill Fellowship which he will use to fund a fact-finding mission and research Charter Schools in America.
Sarah Carrie
Executive Principal
Sarah Carrie’s ambition from a young age was to become a professional dancer. She achieved this ambition after training at the highly acclaimed Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds, graduating with a Bachelor of Performing Arts Degree in Dance. During her career as a dancer she was fortunate enough to work with ...
Principals
Richard Chattoe
Principal - Leeds City Academy
Prior to commencing his role as Principal at Leeds City Academy in March 2019, Richard worked as Vice Principal at Leeds West Academy, with responsibility for the improvement in the quality of Teaching, Learning and Assessment across the school. Richard was delighted to have played such a significant role in establishing a range of innovative and highly impactful strategies...
Dan Whieldon
Principal - Leeds West Academy
Dan Whieldon began teaching at West Leeds High School in 2002 after a number of years working in television production at ITV in Manchester following his graduation from Staffordshire University in English, Media and Cultural Studies. After working as intervention lead and Head of Media Studies at West Leeds...
Danny Bullock
Principal - Leeds East Academy
After joining the Trust in 2013 as a Computer Science Teacher at Leeds West Academy, Danny soon found himself supporting academy improvements as Assistant Principal. In 2019, Danny moved to Leeds East Academy as Vice Principal...
Kate Burton
Principal - Alder Tree Primary
Kate Burton began teaching in Manchester at Old Trafford Primary in 2003 and as her career progressed she moved across to Bradford. She has worked at Bowling Park Primary School since 2008 as an Assistant Head for EYFS, Deputy Head and more recently Head of School...
Vice Principals
Rachel Sharples
Vice Principal
Rachel Sharples is delighted to join the White Rose Academies Trust as Vice Principal focusing on Academy improvement. Prior to her appointment, Rachel was Assistant Principal with responsibility for driving the quality of Teaching and Learning at Darton Academy, part of the Delta Academies Trust...
Nicola Widnall
Vice Principal - White Rose Academies Trust
Vice Principal - Teaching and Learning Strategic Priority 1 Luminate Education Group
Hailing originally from the Brecon Beacons in South Wales, Nicola Widnall graduated from Leeds University in 2005 with a BA Hons in Spanish Language and Literature. It was during her year studying in Granada in the south of Spain as part of her degree that she realised she wanted to pursue a career in education...