Governance Information

Our Trustees

Samuel Quigley - Chair of Trustees

Sam was a governor at Tyldesley Primary School for over 14 years, originally elected as a Parent Governor, he was Vice Chair of governors and appointed to the original Trust in 2012. Sam is also Chair of Governors at Fred Longworth High School where he has served for over 5 years and was Chair to Wigan's Locality 5 Children's Centres and then Start Well Centre Advisory Board from 2012 to 2017. He is an experienced local businessman running his own company specialising in recruitment to the construction industry using his honours degree in Law and Human Resources.

Amy Newton - Vice Chair of Trustees

Amy was chair of governors at Carrwood Primary school for 9 years when the school joined Leading Learners MAT. Amy then joined as a trustee in April 2023. Amy is on the main trustee board but also supports the finance & resources committee as well. Amy has spent most of her career in the public sector working in Higher Education mainly. Amy is a senior leader in planning and operations and completed her MBA in 2017. Amy enjoys volunteering at a local horse and donkey sanctuary, eating out and spending time with her family, friends and cat!

Carole Gradwell - Trustee

Carole was appointed to the Trust Board in 2017 and brought with her a considerable experience of governorship, both in housing and in schools. She has been a governor of Fred Longworth High School for 20 years, originally as a Parent Governor. She has chaired committees and is the Vice Chair of governors. Carole had a career in public housing management for over 20 years before working freelance in training and consultancy for social housing organisations. Since 2009 she has managed her own company which works on governance and organisational development with Tenant Management Organisations, and she acts as an assessor of TMOs for the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Carole has a Diploma in Teaching for Lifelong Learning and tutors learners studying for professional qualifications with the Chartered Institute of Housing.

Chris Midgley - Trustee

Chris is currently a part-time Senior Lecturer in Leadership and Management and has forged an extensive career in leadership and educational management consultancy - which informs his teaching at MMU. Chris has also held lecturing roles within health and social care leadership, educational leadership and apprenticeships as a BSc, MSc and MBA programme leader.

Chris has a strong interest in public services leadership and senior leader development. He is passionate about the use of online learning technologies in developing and enhancing blended learning that is accessible and inclusive.

A former Army Officer within the Army Education and Training Services branch, Chris still works part-time as an Army Reservist and is very honoured to work within the Centre for Army Leadership where he is developing the Leader Development Competence Framework for the Army.

Mark Davies - Trustee

Having started out in teaching in 2013, Mark is now Head of Year and Geography Subject Lead at an independent secondary school based in Yorkshire. Mark holds two Masters qualifications in Urban and Rural Planning as well as Environmental Management.

As a lover of travel and the outdoors, Mark relocated from the North West home to Yorkshire and enjoys long walks in Calderdale and further afield with his wife and dog, Blue.

Catherine Walsh - Trustee

Catherine is an experienced schools business professional, working in education for over ten years. She has worked in several schools across Yorkshire and the South East, securing investment for and managing multi-million pound improvement projects.

Catherine holds a DSBM Level 5 Diploma in School Business Management, is strategically forward thinking and someone who constantly strives for improvement.

Alex Gallimore - Trustee

Alex is the Finance Director at Fred Longworth High School, where he has been a key member of the team since 2009. Before joining Fred Longworth, he served as the School’s Finance Manager at Wigan Local Authority from 2002, where he was responsible for managing the distribution of the school's budget to all sectors and provided guidance on all aspects of financial management to schools across the area.

Alex holds professional qualifications including Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) membership, Diploma of School Business Management (DSBM) and the CIPFA Certificate in Financial Reporting for Academies.

Alex played a pivotal role in guiding the school to become the first Academy in the Wigan Borough and has successfully secured £6 million in Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) funding, which contributed to a £24 million new build as part of the School Rebuilding Programme in 2023/24.

Leszek Iwaskow - Trustee

Leszek taught geography for 22 years in secondary schools in Co. Durham both as a teacher, head of department and head of faculty. During this period, he was seconded for three years to work as an advisory teacher cross phase on a curriculum development project "Education for All". He returned to the classroom before being seconded part-time for a year to promote assessment in geography throughout the County. He was also a chief examiner for Geography GCSE at its’ inception.

He took up post as Her Majesty’s Inspector - Specialist Adviser for Geography in January 2001 (later National Lead) and also held the brief for Education for Sustainable Development.

Leszek took partial retirement at the end of 2015 and relinquished his post as National lead. He remained as a HMI working mainly in the North-West where he actively supported schools in need of improvement as well as promoting geography. He retired in November 2016. He currently supports several schools as an educational consultant and provides support and advice on geography nationally as a consultant for the Geographical Association.

Samuel Quigley	Appointed by academy members	2nd July 2020 - 3rd July 2024
Amy Newton	Appointed by academy members	1st June 2023 - 31st May 2027
Carole Gradwell	Appointed by foundation/Trust	17th October 2017 - 16th October 2025
Christopher Midgley	Appointed by academy members	1st September 2023 - 31st August 2027
Mark Davies	Appointed by academy members	1st September 2023 - 31st August 2027