At Stour Vale our central team is fully committed to creating a positive difference in the lives of children and young people by keeping those children and young people at the heart of all decision-making. Skilled and knowledgeable in their individual roles, together they provide a comprehensive range of services and expertise to all member schools and settings.
Executive Team
Rachel Salter
Chief Executive Officer
Rachel has led the growth and development of Stour Vale Academy Trust as CEO since 2021 and has been part of the trust’s Executive Leadership Team since 2018. Rachel has had two successful primary headships, the most recent of which was at Olive Hill Primary School, where she led the school’s improvement journey from January 2012 to September 2018. Rachel also serves as a trustee at Heart of Mercia multi-academy trust.
Jamie Fox
Deputy CEO
Jamie was Headteacher at The Earls High School from 2018 until July 2025 and part of the leadership team from 2008. As a Deputy Headteacher he was responsible for curriculum and raising achievement and was part of the team that secured an Outstanding OFSTED judgement for the school in 2012. In the most recent inspection in January 2020, the school was assessed as Good in all areas with significant strengths identified in Personal Development and Leadership.
Throughout his career he has supported other schools as training facilitator for OLEVI International’s teaching programmes, as reviewer for Challenge Partners, taking part in peer reviews across the country and designing and delivering bespoke training for schools and their governors.
Phil Shackleton
Deputy CEO
Phil was appointed as one of two Deputy CEOs of our trust in July 2025. Previously, he worked on the central team as a full-time Executive Leader for Schools from September 2024. Prior to this, he held the role for two years while also leading Oldbury Academy as Headteacher. Before starting his headship in January 2016, Phil had been a senior leader, Advanced Skills Teacher, and Head of Physical Education in schools across the West Midlands.
Lara Stone
Executive Leader
Before joining Stour Vale, Lara was a headteacher in Sandwell for 9 years. She began her teaching career in Essex and has worked in a range of different primary settings.
John Bates
Executive Leader
John is an experienced school leader with over 19 years of experience as Headteacher in schools that have improved. He has successfully led on the amalgamation of two primary schools. He also holds the NPQH. In addition, he is an Ofsted Inspector and has extensive experience of inspecting primary schools. As a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors, he has strengths in assessment and leadership. He is a qualified teacher with Masters degrees in educational leadership and management and learning. He has also supported many schools on their school improvement journey.
Paul Ramage
Safeguarding and Inclusion Leader
Paul has served on multiple school leadership teams since 2007 and has been a Designated Safeguarding Lead since 2016. In recent years, alongside his role as Senior Deputy Head at The Earls High School, he has led both the SEND and Safeguarding Professional Learning Groups across Stour Vale Academy Trust.
Paul is a qualified teacher of science, holds an NPQH, a Master’s in Business Management and has recently completely a Post Graduate Certificate in School Mental Health Leadership.
Steve Ralph
Chief Finance Officer
Steve is a Fellow of the ICAEW and has responsibility over the strategic, financial, HR and business operations for Stour Vale Academy Trust. He spent 18 years working in audit services before transferring to the Academy sector in 2014.
Louise Broxton
Chief Operations Officer
Louise is Chief Operations Officer at Stour Vale. She moved into the Central Team from one of the founding member schools in 2017 following several years spent working in the translation and localisation industry as a senior translator and editor for government and commercial clients.
Leaders for Teacher Training and Development
Andy Burton
Senior Leader for Teacher Training and Development and School Improvement Leader for Mathematics
Andy is the School Improvement Leader for Maths at Stour Vale. Andy has previously been a successful Head of Department and Senior Leader in different schools and is now focusing his passion for developing mathematics within the cross-phase Trust and through the local authority. Andy is part of the Secondary Maths Mastery Specialist cohort and also works with Pearson as a Senior Assessment Associate at both Key Stage 2 and GCSE.
Tom Holder
Senior Leader for Teacher Training and Development
Tom leads on teacher training and development at Stour Vale, working with a range of schools and HE providers to coordinate and deliver high-quality professional development for both trainee and experienced teachers. He has taught and led across EYFS, KS1 and KS2 in a variety of Dudley primary schools, having most recently been Assistant Headteacher at Olive Hill Primary Academy. Tom is also a Maths Mastery Specialist for the Central Maths Hub where he supports primary teachers and schools to develop their practice.
Vikki Harper
Lead for Teacher Training and Development
Vikki has worked as part of the Stour Vale ITT programme as Senior Mentor. She is currently a history teacher at Ridgewood High School and is Assistant Team Leader for Learning and Teaching. Vikki successfully completed her NPQ for Leading Teacher Development and is a trained Teacher Educator.
Operations Team
Alison Jones
Head of People Services
Alison joined Stour Vale in 2024 as Head of HR. Alison’s previous roles include a senior HR role with a MAT in the South West, HR consultancy for the Education Sector as well as HR roles in the Charity and Defence sectors. Alison is a Chartered Member of the CIPD and accredited Safer Recruitment Trainer.
Satty Bhogal
HR Recruitment and Transactions Partner
Satty started work at Wolverhampton City Council in 1997, where alongside work she continued to study to gain her CIPD qualification. In 2005 Satty moved to working in Education within HR roles; she worked in a SEN school and in three large secondary schools before moving to the Central Team.
Adele Wilden
HR Advisory Partner
Adele joined Stour Vale Academy Trust in October 2025 as HR Advisory Partner, having previously worked at one of the member schools, Oldbury Academy, as Headteacher’s PA/Office Manager since September 2015. Previous to this, Adele worked as a Legal Secretary at a firm of solicitors in Edgbaston.
Dean Brittle
Trust Estates and Health and Safety Lead
Dean has been working in secondary education for just over 15 years. For the last 5 years Dean has been the Operations Manager at one of our trust schools, Oldbury Academy. Dean has held a number of roles throughout his 15 years ranging from Learning Support Assistant to Non-Teaching Head of House. As Trust Estates and Procurement Lead Dean is responsible for ensuring all of the school sites are safe, sustainable and suitable for different learner needs. Using his knowledge of the different operations in education, Dean is able to ensure the buildings and services are tailored to each school need and also help develop the learners in them.
Dean is dedicated to working with staff, students and governors to ensure that the buildings we use to deliver outstanding teaching also enhance the learner experience.
Donna Thorneycroft
Executive PA
Donna joined Stour Vale in September 2021, providing administrative support to the Executive Leadership Team. Prior to that, Donna held a number of administrative and business support roles in public sector bodies including the Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Dudley Children’s Safeguarding Board and the National Probation Service.
Kelly Glass
Trust Administrator
Kelly joined Stour Vale in May 2023, providing administrative support to the operations team and the Initial Teacher Training programme. Prior to that, Kelly worked as a bank manager in branches across the West Midlands.
Emma Chapman
Administrative Assistant
Emma joined the central team in November 2024, having previously worked at one of the member schools, Huntingtree Primary School. Prior to that, Emma worked in a variety of sales administration and export roles.
Viren Patel
ICT Technician
Viren brings vast experience to his role, having worked as an ICT technician in two of our member primary schools since 2007. Over the years, he has supported both teachers and pupils with hardware and software to enhance teaching and learning. He has experience configuring a range of devices and working with cloud services and MIS systems.
In his current role, Viren supports the central team, contributing to the development of the Trust’s IT systems.
Finance Team
Johanna Griffin
Head of Finance
Jo is the Head of Finance at Stour Vale Academy Trust. She is a Chartered Accountant, originally qualifying with one of the Big 4 accounting firms. Jo worked in the insurance industry for 17 years, before moving into education. Jo supports the CFO in determining the strategic financial direction and management of financial operations of the academies within the Trust and member schools. She also works with the school business managers and others within schools to provide financial support.
Laura Braznell
Trust Business Lead
Laura has worked in the education sector in further education and primary and secondary schools for 18 years. For the past 12 years she has worked at Moat Farm Junior School Trust, a large four form entry school in Oldbury, in the role of School Business Director. Her responsibilities included the financial running of the school’s £2.5 million budget, along with the management of HR, premises and safeguarding.
Over the past few years Laura has completed various qualifications associated with finance and school business management to develop her role as a key senior leader at Moat Farm Junior School. She is currently undertaking the CIPFA Diploma in school financial and operational leadership.
Laura was a member of the Board of Trustees at Stour Vale for five years, only stepping down when Moat Farm Junior School became a Trust member school. Laura’s role now is to support Stour Vale member schools in their finance and business function.
Vic Slinger
Trust Finance Manager
Vic joined Stour Vale in February 2025 as the Trust Finance Manager, having previously worked as the Finance Team Leader at an IT company based in Worcestershire. Prior to this she worked as an Insolvency Examiner at The Insolvency Service.
Claire Heath
Trust Finance Officer
Claire joined Stour Vale in 2019 as a Finance Assistant at Ridgewood High School before moving to the Central Team in May 2022 as Trust Finance Assistant. Prior to that, Claire held finance positions in the automotive and retail sectors.