Headteachers and Principals

Mark began his teaching career in Newham, East London in 1998 after after he successfully graduated from St. Martin’s University, Lancaster, where he studied for a Bachelor of Arts, with Hons, in Primary Teaching.

Mark taught in both mainstream and special schools in London where he gained valuable experience as a subject leader for Maths, ICT, PE, Design & Technology, as well as leading on Teaching and Learning. Mark then became a Deputy Head of another mainstream school in Waltham Forest, before relocating with his young family to sunny St Ives, Cambridgeshire in 2013.

This new chapter in his career has enabled him to gain further leadership experiences by working in a large primary school in Cambridge and having responsibilities for KS2, Pupil Premium and EAL. Mark was briefly Acting Headteacher at this school before securing his first headship at Fen Ditton Community Primary School in April 2016.

Before Mark went into teaching he qualified as an electrician and worked for 7 years in the shipyard in Barrow-In-Furness, working on nuclear submarines. He often looks back at fondness of his time in the yard and the journey he has been on to get to where he now finds himself. Mark is a sports enthusiast and this has been a big part in his life, with cricket being his main love.

Mark feels privileged to now be Headteacher of Bottisham Community Primary and is determined to help the school to become the best it can be.

Alison Weir grew up in Scotland and has been in primary education for 20 years. She graduated from Edinburgh University with an MA in Modern European Languages and completed a PGCE at the University of Strathclyde. She taught in various schools in Scotland as class teacher and principal teacher, before moving south to Cambridgeshire. She has lead on English, PHSE, RE and Health and wellbeing, with a remit for a healthy schools project in conjunction with the NHS. She was involved in national projects on Assessment for Learning.

In her time at The Meadow Primary School, Alison was SENCo and on the Senior Leadership team. Over the years, she has taught a variety of different stages, specialising in Special Educational Needs. With an MSc in Chartered Teacher studies, she was also a SLE for SEN and has led school to school support work locally. Alison took up the post of Deputy Head and then Head at Howard Community Academy, moving across to Suffolk.

Alison has an interest in research and has completed a Farmington scholarship looking at the role of dialogic talk in RE in the primary classroom. From there, she has continued her research interests in the field of mental health.

She is passionate about access for all, mental health and wellbeing and English. Keen to continually develop and support staff, she understands the importance of valuing each and every member of the school community and strives to make learning irresistible for all.

After qualifying as a teacher with a BA(ed) honours degree Education and Mathematics at Christchurch College, Canterbury, Diane started her teaching career in East London. Working in the London Borough of Newham she taught across Key Stage 2 for five years across two primary schools.

With a keen interest in how children learn maths, Diane became a Numeracy Consultant supporting a number of schools in Newham and Waltham Forest implementing the National Numeracy Strategy. This work involved running training programmes on specific areas of maths, working with subject leaders to develop maths across the primary phase and modelling lessons to teachers and planning lessons.

With the development of the Numeracy and Literacy Strategies, her role evolved to supporting underperforming schools. Her focus changed to working closely with Leadership Teams to ensure teaching and learning improved and attainment accelerated.

Following a family relocation to Cambridgeshire she was keen to change her focus from multi-school support to working in one school as a senior leader. In 2009, she joined our Trust in a leadership role and gained experience of being a Head of School and Head of the Teaching School. Her more recent school leadership roles have focused on the development of the curriculum and working with subject leaders to implement knowledge-based skills.

A lot of her experience has focused on school improvement as she is passionate about children receiving an exciting education and gaining the necessary skills to help them on their journey through the education system and beyond. She also enjoys helping to develop teachers and non-teaching staff, encouraging career growth and broadening horizons.

James studied German at Bristol University, before progressing to a career in retail in a number of store and area managerial positions. Having become a teacher in 2006, he has worked in a variety of senior leadership positions in various schools across Essex, Hertfordshire and now Cambridgeshire, including an acting headship in Saffron Walden at R A Butler School. He has greatly enjoyed the last six years in which he has been Headteacher of Linton Heights Junior School.

With an experienced and motivated school team, he ensures that all pupils achieve the very best of their ability in a caring and supportive environment. Linton Heights Junior School joined Anglian Learning in April 2020 and has benefited enormously from the Trust’s dynamic ethos and collaborative approach and we have greatly appreciated the spread of best practice between Anglian Learning’s schools.

Originally from the North East, Nichola’s family made the move south in the late 80’s. Apart from her time studying at university, it is where she has stayed since.

Nichola graduated from Bishop Grosseteste in Lincoln with a BA Hons in Religious Education with QTS in 2002 and began teaching at a two-form entry infant school in Saffron Walden, Essex that year. Here she became a senior teacher and a Leading Teacher for ICT for Essex County Council, supporting other schools to develop their ICT provision and use online learning platforms.

She then moved to a three-form entry infant and nursery school in Braintree, Essex. For the 5 years she was here Nichola was Head of KS1, Assessment and a member of the Senior Leadership Team.

Nichola then moved to The Meadow Primary School in 2011 where she took up the role as Deputy Headteacher. After an Ofsted inspection that saw the Meadow placed in special measures, she took up the Headteacher post in September 2013. Since then the school has gone from strength to strength, with the most recent report from January 2023, confirming the school remains a Good school.

Nichola is passionate about professional development for all staff and has supported other schools and leaders through her role as a Local Leader of Education. She has also worked closely with the primary schools in her previous Trust in her role as the Primary Executive Headteacher. Nichola also works as a Senior Tutor for CTSN SCITT supporting new teachers into the profession. She is also an Ofsted Inspector.

Nichola feels privileged to be the Executive Headteacher at The Meadow Primary School and Wimbish Primary Academy. Her colleagues, the children and parents and carers make them very special places to be.

Emily began her teaching career in Grendon Underwood, Buckinghamshire as a Year 5 teacher following her graduation from York St John, University of Leeds where she studied Bachelor of Arts with Hons in Primary Teaching and English. Having always had teaching as her aspiration she enjoyed teaching in the village community her first school offered.

At Grendon Underwood Combined School she gained experience in teaching across KS1 and KS2 and began her leadership journey in subject leadership, achieved her NPQML and then Deputy Headteacher. A new school being built in neighbouring Aylesbury, on a new housing estate, required leadership capacity to support the development of this school community and Emily felt very lucky to contribute to this challenge. Here she led pupil premium, safeguarding, SEN and gained her SENCO qualification. As Deputy Headteacher Emily enjoyed contributing to the school’s growth to reach its full capacity of 420 pupils and particularly supporting the school to embed within the new estate’s community.

A relocation to Northamptonshire was timed along with a new role as Executive Deputy for an academy trust who were taking on a hub of schools in Wellingborough. The next career chapter led Emily into the independent sector where she led a Junior School of an all through, all girls independent school in Northampton.

Emily is a keen swimmer and whilst open water sessions do occasionally feature she does prefer a pool! She enjoys being creative, be that musically or artistically and this passion ensures the co-curricular offer her schools provide is broad and exciting as she values her early opportunities in these areas sparked her life long passions.

Looking to move back to Executive Headship, Emily took on the role of Executive Headteacher for Marleigh Primary Academy and Fen Ditton Primary School in November 2024 where she is working with the Executive leadership team across the two schools to guide the schools to be the best version of themselves for the children. .

Kerry Darby is originally from Leicestershire and has worked in Primary Education for over 28 years and has been a senior leader for over 26 years.

Kerry graduated from the University of Cambridge with a B.Ed in English Literature and has also completed an Advanced Diploma in Children’s Language and Literature. She has worked in a variety of schools, from a small village primary to two large culturally diverse inner city schools and has held various leadership positions including; KS1 Coordinator, KS2 Coordinator, Inclusion Coordinator and Designated Safeguarding Lead. Kerry completed her National Professional Qualification for Headship in 2003.

Kerry is passionate about developing high quality continuous professional development for all staff. Originally she was appointed as a Leading Teacher for Cambridgeshire Local Authority before becoming a Senior Leader for Education (SLE) in 2015.

When The Pines Primary School opened in September 2018, Kerry was privileged to become the school’s first Headteacher and is extremely proud of the inspirational learning ethos which aims to prepare children well for their futures.

Laura is a local girl having attended Oakington Primary School and then Impington Village College where she completed International Baccalaureate. She graduated from University of Cambridge with a BA in Education Studies and Biological Sciences and qualified as a Middle Years Science Teacher with a PGCE from Cambridge University in 2002, where she also completed a Masters in 2010.

Laura began her teaching career in a Middle School (Years 5 to 8) and was a member of the National Middle Schools Steering Committee for a number of years. She was seconded to The University of Cambridge as a Lecturer and Tutor on the Primary and Middle Years Teacher Training programmes for five years and, having completed her NPQH in 2011, she took on the Headship of a Hertfordshire Middle School. This led to working as an Executive Headteacher across two Middle schools and in 2017 leading the transformation of the two middle schools and the upper school to merge the three schools to create one All-Through school offering education from Years 5 to 13.

Laura’s Masters in Education focused on leading teaching and learning and she is particularly interested in the role of quality of talk and its impact on educational outcomes, including talk in the home. Passionate about the impact professional development opportunities can have, she believes the potential insight and the impetus for change are rooted in schools.

Laura feels privileged to be leading Stapleford Community Primary School which lies at the heart of its local community and feels the caring and ambitious vision for the school is palpable when you visit.