Primary

Since January 2012, Jon Coles has been Group Chief Executive of United Learning.

Catherine joined United learning in September 2014 as a Deputy Head Teacher. Since then, she has worked as Principal at Hunningley Primary Academy taking the school to an Outstanding Ofsted judgement, as an Executive Head Teacher and now as a Regional Director and lead for Education with Character.

Catherine is also a Senior Leader of Education, a Chair of Governors, has trained as a school Kagan facilitator and has undertaken Conscious Discipline training with Dr. Becky Baily in America.

Catherine is passionate about supporting schools in challenging circumstances to bring about the best possible educational experience for children. She achieves this through the implementation and leadership of a high-quality curriculum, investing in people and leadership at all levels and developing a school family culture where all feel valued.

Lindi Nejrup is Primary Regional Director at United Learning, leading on attendance across the Trust’s primary schools. She is an experienced educational leader with over ten years’ experience of headship, including executive headship, where she has successfully guided schools out of special measures and supported leaders to drive rapid and sustainable improvement.

Trained in coaching, Kagan, and Conscious Discipline, Lindi is passionate about ensuring every child attends school every day to access highest quality of education so the child thrives and succeeds.

Fiona became Director of Independent Schools in September 2022. She originally joined the organisation in 1995 when it was the Church Schools Company; it later became United Learning. She was Head of Guildford High School from 2002 – 2022. Guildford High became a Teaching School in 2013 and Fiona was appointed an NLE, leading the United Learning Teaching School Alliance from 2013 - 2020.

She has a variety of Governance roles; she is an Associate Director of Cumbria University (since 01.06.21), she is on the Governing body of Epsom College (since 01.11.09) and she is a member of the ‘Learning Partners Academy Trust’. Fiona is on the Advisory Board of the School Partnerships Alliance and she has helped to establish the West Surrey Partnership of all the state and independent schools in the Guildford area. She was Chair of HMC in 2019-2020, and on the Advisory Council of the Institute for Ethical AI in Education (IEAIED) (2018 – 2021). In 2023, Fiona was awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours list for services to education.

Jen joined United Learning in 2018 and has worked in Primary Education for over 30 years, much of the time combining teaching with other roles. Jen is a former English Advisor for the CAM Academy Trust and facilitated writing moderation with large clusters of schools throughout Cambridgeshire sharing her work at Beyond Levels conferences. She is also a former English Adviser for Cambridgeshire and tutor on the PGCE and GTP at the Faculty of Education, Cambridge University. Jen has researched several areas of children's literacy, including gender differences in responding to texts and has written guest blogs for The Chartered College and No More Marking on the use of Comparative Judgement to assess writing. She was a researcher on the Cambridge University government funded project, ‘Raising Boys’ Achievement’, specifically researching the role of drama and talk to develop writing.

Keynote: Leading from the start: building habits that drive impact

Author, speaker, former headteacher, director at the National College for School Leadership, and managing director at United Learning, Andy subsequently founded Leadership Matters, BASIC4schools and Cadogan Press. Andy also chairs the L.E.A.D. Academy Trust. 

A geography teacher by trade, Andy went on to become a headteacher for thirteen years at two schools in east London.  In his second headship, his school was judged outstanding and he was designated a National Leader of Education.  In 2009, he was appointed as a director at the National College for School Leadership and in 2012 was appointed as the managing director of academies at United Learning, one of the largest academy groups in the UK.   

He has written nine books on leadership and coaching, including the best-selling Leadership Matters, BASIC Coaching and BASIC Leadership. In 2018, Andy was invited to become a Founding Fellow of the College of Teaching and in 2019 he established a small independent publishing company, Cadogan Press. 

Mark joined the Primary team at United Learning in September 2019 as Maths Advisor supporting schools mainly in the South and the Midlands. Prior to joining the Primary team, Mark was a primary school teacher and maths subject lead for over 10 years in schools in Westminster and Hammersmith & Fulham, one of which was Langford Primary School, which is also part of the group. Mark has completed the NPQSL and is accredited as both an NCETM Professional Development Lead, and School Development Lead.

Lucy is Senior Primary Curriculum Lead at United Learning, overseeing the development and implementation of the primary curriculum to ensure coherence, alignment with evidence-informed teaching practices and the right support for our teachers. She also specifically works on the History curriculum for primary. Lucy is passionate about curriculum design and educational research and, prior to joining United Learning in 2022, held senior leadership roles at primary schools in Bristol and London. As a Deputy Headteacher, she led many areas including SEND, teaching and learning, and professional development, and seeks to draw on these experiences as much as possible in her current role. 

Bruce’s career in educational technology has spanned over 25 years. He used technology in the classroom as a teacher and has led on its deployment as a middle and then senior leader in schools in both the UK and New Zealand. He gained valuable commercial experience whilst working for a leading technology supplier on new school builds and after a brief spell back in school following his period in industry, he joined United Learning 11 years ago. He played a major role in the Group’s ‘Shift to the Cloud’ project, leading on the work to deploy cloud MIS across all the Group’s primary and secondary Academies as well as supporting their moves to Microsoft 365. He has supported community education and sport outside the Group as a Chair of Governors for a local primary school and as head coach and safeguarding lead for his sons’ grass roots rugby club. Bruce is currently Head of Educational Technology and is specifically leading the work to support schools to develop their own digital strategies, including more recently, the strategic use of AI tools in our schools.

Osi Ejiofor is an experienced education expert with over two decades in the field. Starting
as a teaching assistant, he quickly advanced to roles such as teacher, middle leader, and
Assistant Headteacher, specializing in ICT/computing and STEM education in various
London schools. He has made a significant impact in Newham, Redbridge, and Barking
and Dagenham.
Driven by a desire to assist more institutions, Osi founded Osi's Tech Tips, offering expert
advice and training on integrating technology in education. He works with primary,
secondary schools, sixth forms, and independent schools across the UK and globally. As
an Educational Technologist at United Learning, he helps schools in the trust develop
strategies to reduce teacher workload and enhance student learning through technology.
Osi is dedicated to improving educational quality for both students and teachers, helping
them make the most of the technology they already have.

Victoria joined Langford Primary School in 2015 and is currently the Head of School. As well as leading Langford, Victoria runs the ECT programme for the Central London Teaching School Hub, facilitating the Early Career Framework for over 400 ECTs in last three years. 

Victoria has 20 years of experience in Primary Schools, including five years teaching internationally in Vietnam, but is particularly passionate about providing high quality education to disadvantaged communities in London.

Steve taught History in three London academies, including two senior leadership roles. He has now been with United Learning for nearly 10 years, initially leading on curriculum and subject support and now as a Regional Director. Steve is also an Ofsted inspector. Steve has a Master’s in Education Management and has recently gained the National Professional Qualification for Executive Leadership.  Steve loves working for United Learning because it provides the chance to visit schools up and down the country and work towards ensuring that all pupils get a great deal when they step through our doors.

Suzanne joined United Learning in 2012, having previously worked at the Department for Education. She is passionate about creating development opportunities for all staff in schools, and nurturing an inclusive environment, where diverse teams can flourish.