Leadership

Andrew Whitaker
Chief Executive Officer - 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.

Senior Leadership Team

Richard Chattoe

Principal

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...

Simon Ford
Vice Principal

Simon graduated from Leeds Metropolitan University in 2002 with BA (Hons) in Physical Education. He spent his first six years teaching PE in his hometown of Scunthorpe where he became the Head of PE at the Specialist Sports College...

Vicki Morris
Co-Vice Principal

Vicki graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in Chemistry in 2011. Whilst studying, she worked as a mentor for Looked After Children and as a relief child support worker and so it seemed like a natural progression when she began working as an unqualified teacher at Royds School in Leeds...

Gemma Edwards

Assistant Principal

Gemma was raised within a military family living in Germany and Cyprus before being educated in Lancashire, England. She gained a BA Honours degree in Human Geography at Nottingham Trent University, before moving to Leeds where she qualified in 2002 as a Geography teacher in secondary education...

	Kelly Allchin Assistant Principal Kelly gained a BSc Honours degree in Psychology and Education Studies at Worcester University before moving to Bristol to complete her PGCE specialising in citizenship education. She began her career working for the local council within the Children Services department with the remit of supporting all primary, secondary and special schools within Telford & Wrekin with their Citizenship & PSHE provision... Read more >>
	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... Read more >>
	Marcia Gunson Assistant Principal Marcia left sixth form and went straight into employment, working with unemployed adults delivering employability skills training. Following this, she started volunteering in a youth centre where she developed her passion for working with disadvantaged, young people. She then went onto study... Read more >>
	Liz Armstrong Business and Operations Liz Armstrong has extensive leadership and management experience both in an educational and a commercial setting. Liz worked for a major engineering company for 20 years, latterly as a Project Accountant monitoring and reporting on a £1.6 Billion contract. Liz gained valuable experience in managing... Read more >>
	Alicia Roberts Assistant Principal Alicia studied BA (hons) degree in Performance at Bretton Hall and then went on to complete a PGCE in Performing Arts... Read more >>
	Trevor Lester Assistant Principal Trevor has been teaching Mathematics to students in West Yorkshire for over 20 years and prior to joining Leeds City Academy he has taught at four inclusive comprehensive schools in the Halifax and Leeds areas... Read more >>