Our Members
Susan Darbyshire
Member
Sue Darbyshire is CEO at Community First Academy Trust. Sue is also a National Leader of Education and supports school improvement nationwide. She started teaching in 1992 and has been in leadership positions for over twenty years, seventeen of these have been as Headteacher or Executive Headteacher.
Sue is the founder of Westbridge Teaching School Alliance and CEO of Kingsbridge EIP SCITT; an outstanding provider of initial teacher training for both primary and secondary trainees. Sue is totally committed to raising standards and to providing all pupils, staff and trainee teachers with opportunities to excel.
Sue successfully amalgamated two failing schools into a new primary school and took it to ‘Good’ in 12 months and ‘Outstanding’ in its next inspection. She specialises in schools within disadvantaged areas.
Sue delivers middle and senior leadership training locally, nationally and internationally to both primary and secondary colleagues. She is a qualified coach and NLP practitioner. Sue has completed the UCL MAT Leaders programme and The Future Leaders Trust’s Executive Educators Programme. She has a Master qualification in Educational Studies.
Sue continues to work with her Local Authority at a strategic advisory level, serving on the Wigan Education Partnership Board, the System Leadership Group and as a School Improvement Lead on the School Improvement Board.
In 2018 Sue served as an Interim Executive Board member for a school that was placed in special measures focusing on strategic direction, school improvement and providing a sustainable future for the pupils at the school. The school made exceptional progress and HMI praised the school for a series of rapid improvements.
Philip Thompson
Trustee, Member
Phil joined Waterloo Primary Academy as a parent governor over nine years ago and has been involved in a number of school initiatives and improvements. Phil was Chair of Governors for Waterloo for a number of years supporting the school through two ‘good’ OFSTED graded inspections ands Chair Zest’s board of Trustees until 2024.
Phil has a wealth of education experience, his teaching career starting in early 2000s and he has held a number of teaching and leadership positions across the education sector. Phil has experience in teaching secondary and post 16 education including Further and Higher Education.
As well as being a qualified teacher, Phil has post graduate qualifications is Engineering, Human Resource Management and has a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership and Management specialising in SEND. Phil brings a significant amount of education experience around pastoral care, safeguarding and SEND to the board and was the Head of SEND for a local council before working internationally.
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