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.

• 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 the Deputy Chief Constable of Essex Police. She joined the force in 1998 and has held a wide range of roles, including local policing, specialist command, leading improvements to performance and tackling domestic abuse. In her current role she oversees all operational and organisational delivery across the force.

  She is passionate about leadership development, particularly for women in policing, and actively supports the force Women’s Forum and Men’s Forum, and enjoys developing partnership responses to issues, especially involving communities and young people.

  Rachel brings prior experience as an academy trustee and values collaborative working to support educational excellence.

• 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.