Our Trustees (ID 1037)

• Neal Misell
  Chair
  Neal Misell

  Neal is a qualified accountant and has held a variety of senior leadership roles in the government services industry covering emergency services, defence and education. Consequently he has experience of working with several UK Government departments as well as with national and regional governments across Europe. Neal was born in Rochford and currently lives in Leigh on Sea. He is married with three adult sons.

• Sandra Johnson
  Vice Chair
  Sandra Johnson

  Sandra has over 40 years experience in education having retired as an Independent School Consultant where she supported schools preparing for Ofsted in addition to training and reviewing governance. Prior to this Sandra was Quadrant Commissioner for Essex County Council and held advisory roles in School Improvement and Curriculum Development. Sandra stepped down as Director of Board at Benfleet Schools Trust in July 2022 and is a Board member of N-Act and an Ambassador for the David Randall Foundation.

• Lesley Brooking
  Lesley Brooking

  Lesley has enjoyed a varied and exciting career, spanning over 45 years in schools and academies, both nationally and internationally. After 25 years in teaching and leadership roles in Primary and Secondary Schools, she became a Senior Strategic Manager within the Essex Children and Young People’s SEN and Psychology Service and then an adviser and consultant to schools and academies, working for the DfE, Edison Learning, Taleem Edison Learning (Abu Dhabi) and finally running her own consultancy business.

  Lesley is excited to provide support to children in her local area.

• Julie Hardy
  Julie Hardy

  Julie is a CIPD qualified Senior Human Resources professional with over 20 years’ experience working with senior leaders in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. Her current assignment is with a Local Authority on the south coast as their Strategic HR Lead.

  Julie has held a number of HR roles in the education sector, most recently with Anglia Ruskin University in Essex. She was also a Parent Governor at a local Primary School in Shoebury.

  She is passionate about giving young people every opportunity to achieve their full potential and has taken part in a number of careers and interview days for students at local High Schools to support this. She also participates in the CIPD Steps Ahead mentoring scheme which provides advice and support to young people taking their first steps into the workplace.

• Melissa Heatherson
  Melissa Heatherson

  Melissa was previously Headteacher at Hockley Primary School from 2010, leading it from satisfactory to outstanding in 2016, and retaining its outstanding status in 2021. From 2019 she was Executive Principal at two primary schools, Hockley and Westerings and from 2021, she also took on responsibility for Plumberow, driving school improvement across all three schools. She has considerable experience in advising schools, with specialisms in EYFS and English and has Chaired the local Headteachers group and led the Specialist Leaders in Education team for the Rochford District. Since September 2021 she has been Regional Education Director for the South East primaries at the Academies Enterprise Trust. She now leads the Primary East Region which has also incorporated two Special Schools.

• Rachel Nolan
  Rachel Nolan

  Rachel Nolan is an Assistant Chief Constable in Essex Police.

  Rachel joined Essex Police in 1998 and has had a variety of different roles, ranging from Neighbourhood Policing to Criminal Justice to Roads Policing, through to working at the National Police Coordination Centre (NPoCC) where she coordinated the operational policing response to Brexit preparations on behalf of UK Policing. She’s been a member of the chief officer team since 2020 and is an experienced firearms and public order commander.

  Rachel enjoys working collaboratively and has previous experience of being an academy trustee. She is a trained mentor and has a passion for encouraging others to recognise their potential.

• Hassan Shami
  Hassan Shami

  Hassan has worked in the public sector for most of his career in various roles in education, the civil service, and local authority. He began his career in Further Education (FE) where he managed Student Support Services and Marketing for a number of years. Subsequent to that, he worked as a Partnership Director for the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) as well as the local FE College and various national apprenticeship providers. He is currently a Commissioner for Skills and Employment at Essex County Council where he works with partner organisations to promote, commission and manage Skills, Employment and Economic Growth in the County. Hassan is also a Governor of a Pupil Referral Unit in Suffolk.

• Amanda Solomons
  Amanda Solomons

  Amanda is a former senior retail banking leader, with over twenty years’ experience of school governance, as both a governor and trustee across primary and secondary phases. She was chair of governors for four years at Westcliff High School for Girls, stepping down in September 2022. A company secretary and director, Amanda also consults with businesses, supporting them with finance and project delivery.

  While raising her two children, now grown, she was active in the charity sector, supporting families and working alongside education settings. She also wrote and delivered workshops for working parents within corporate organisations in the City.

• Dale Spiby
  Dale Spiby

  Dale is currently the Chief Executive Officer at Southend United Community and Educational Trust, prior to which he was Head of Community at Rotherham United Community Sports Trust. Dale is the Chairman of both Southend Diving and Southend United Ladies and is passionate about using sport to address community development issues. Over a 28-year career, Dale has lead organisations to acquire, and deliver community initiatives across areas such as education, community cohesion, equality, discrimination, inclusion, sport and health.