Central Team
Phil Reynolds
Chief Finance Officer
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I trained, qualified and progressed with an accountancy firm, spending 21 years with a top 25 practice based across the South East and London working across various services in the practice before settling into the audit service line for approximately 15 years, ultimately as a Senior Manager and Head of Internal Audit. This experience has enabled me to develop and broaden my client care skills, my commercial awareness, and my understanding of effective governance and business advice. My former firm’s specialism in advising the education sector opened a new door for me and in particular the movement of the academies regime here in the UK. My enthusiasm for the sector led to me soon becoming a Governor at my former primary school supporting its academy conversion process leading to joining a local multi-academy trust. I joined The Island Learning Trust in March 2022 as Chief Financial Officer and look forward to helping the Trust continue to develop and grow.
Paula Cruickshank
Trust Finance Manager
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I started working in schools in September 1995 originally in the capacity of a Teaching Assistant. In 1997 I moved into the school office as the School Secretary, a role that I particularly enjoyed. Within five years, I progressed to the position of School Bursar having gained my AAT NVQ. I joined Minster in Sheppey Primary School in November 2014 as a Finance and Personnel Officer before becoming the Finance Manager for The Island Learning Trust in 2020, working as part of the central team.
Hayley Chambers
Trust HR Manager
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After completing my A Levels, I left school and joined HSBC Bank in London where I worked as a cashier. I then joined a local branch of Barclays as a Personal Banker for four years. Following this, I worked for HMRC as a VAT Assurance Officer. During my time with HMRC, I undertook my BTEC Level 3 in VAT Assurance and continued to work there for sixteen years before taking redundancy at the end of December 2020, due to the re-location of my office. In February 2021, I joined the TILT central team as the Finance and HR Officer.
Stacey Huish
Trust HR Officer
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I started my career working as a Customer Adviser for a major bank. My duties included completing customer financial transactions and dealing with customer enquiries, in addition to maintaining and servicing self-service channels. During my career I was able to work in a number of local branches, where I progressed to the position of Branch Manager. My responsibilities included motivating, supporting and managing a team whilst ensuring customer service demands were met. After 22 years of service, I took redundancy and having a young family, I saw this as an opportunity to change my career path so I joined The Island Learning Trust in January 2022. I have a busy role providing admin support to the HR Manager.
Claire Beavington
Trust Finance Officer
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My career began in banking, incorporating a range of back office roles. I moved into training and mentoring new employees before becoming a Customer Service Officer and Complaint Handler, investigating complaints and finding resolution whilst working within FSA guidelines. I then moved into the position of Deputy Team Leader with responsibility for a team of 12 colleagues. After starting a family, I worked part-time to gain a better work-life balance and decided to change my career and work in a primary school. I have worked in the main school office of a one form entry school for the past 11 years, a role I have particularly enjoyed. I joined The Island Learning Trust as they expanded their central team where I provide admin support for the Finance function of the Trust.
Felicity Walsh
Trust SENDCo
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I am the SENDCo for The Island Learning Trust where my primary role is to provide leadership in SEND across our Trust. I work closely with our SENDCos at Sunny Bank Primary and Minster Primary to lead the Trust's strategic approach to provision through appropriate implementation of Trust policies for children with additional needs and SEND to ensure they make good progress. I work collaboratively with our SENDCos to oversee and monitor the assessment, evaluation and support for SEND children within our Trust. I am a qualified teacher with a BA (Hons) Primary Education and taught at Halfway for 8 years. I hold the National Award for SEN Co-ordination and I am the DSL and Designated Teacher for LAC. I have been a SENDCo since September 2015 at Halfway Houses Primary School before becoming the Trust SENDCo in September 2020.
Jemma Tate
Director of Safeguarding
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I have worked across a range of education settings in Kent and Medway for over 15 years; ranging from Secondary, Primary, and Alternative Provision and within the charity sector where I designed and delivered European Social Funded projects. My particular areas of interest are mental health, family engagement and the safeguarding of children, having worked in a range of settings with high need in these areas. My primary role at The Island Learning Trust is to provide leadership and a strategic approach in Safeguarding and Attendance across all schools within the trust, ensuring the best outcomes for all children.
Dave Cooper
Trust Estates Manager
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I worked in the motor trade for a number of years and in 2007 I started work at Halfway Houses Primary School in the capacity of Caretaker and then moved into the position of Site Manager. In 2016, I supported the transition of moving our old school to our new premises where I began to put new protocols in place. In 2020 I became Estates Manager for the Trust, managing a small team of Caretakers. My primary role is to oversee the facilities management of our schools, ensuring compliance in areas including Health and Safety, Risk Assessment and Contracts Management.
Our Central Services are delivered by a dedicated and talented team who administer the needs of the schools enabling school based teams to focus wholly on teaching and learning thereby delivering an outstanding education for our pupils.
Using experts we support our schools in all areas;
- School Improvement,
- Inclusion,
- Attendance,
- HR,
- Finance,
- Health and Safety,
- Procurement and IT.