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.
Executive Principal
Christian Wilcocks
Executive Principal - White Rose Academies Trust
As a Deputy Headteacher, Mr Wilcocks worked closely with Executive Principal Mr Whitaker to transform learning and behaviour at Todmorden High School; taking the school from the bottom 5% of schools nationally, to the top 15% within a three-year period. From September 2014, Mr Wilcocks was Principal of Colne Valley High School, leading the school through a period of significant cultural change and improvement...
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
Acting 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...
Sarah Carrie
Principal - Leeds East Academy
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 ...
Kate Rhodes
Principal - Mill Field Primary Academy
Kate Rhodes 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
Chris Reynolds
Vice Principal - The White Rose Academies Trust
Chris Reynolds graduated from York St John’s University in Sports Studies and Physical Education, before going on to complete his Masters in Physical Education at Leeds Metropolitan University. Chris completed his teacher training...
Jeanne Rogers
Group Vice Principal for Quality Teaching and Learning
Jeanne Rogers has worked with children and young people for over 30 years. Beginning her career in Children’s Centres in East Leeds, she then went on to teach students that aspired to be childcare practitioners. Jeanne started teaching at Croydon College, before moving back to the North....
Rachel Hassall
Vice Principal - Executive Director of Professional and Organisational Development
From September 2019, Rachel has led the strategic action plan for staff retention and development, in her new role as Vice Principal (Executive Director of Professional and Organisational Development). In addition, Rachel will continue to support the Principals of each academy with a range of key projects, focused on school improvement....
Nicola Widnall
Vice Principal - Acting Director for Professional and Organisational Development
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...
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...
Assistant Principal
Alicia Manners
Assistant Principal
Alicia has worked in education for over 15 years! She originally was employed by Parklands Girls High School which transitioned to a coeducational school and then evolved into the White Rose Academies Trust.
Associate Assistant Principal
Lee Garner
Associate Assistant Principal - The White Rose Academies Trust
Lee is a former Police Officer and joined the British Transport Police in 2009. He worked in a variety of uniformed roles, including a period of time as an Acting Sergeant responsible for raising standards within Territorial Policing...