Meet the new Head of School Team for the 2024/25 academic year
Meet the new Head of School Team for the 2024/25 academic year
(left to right) Miss Katie Belcher, Mr Glenn Martin, Mrs Lucy Conley, Mrs Jemma Curson and Mrs Kath Kilby
We are pleased to announce that from September 2024, there will be some exciting changes within the current Head of School team at South Lincolnshire Academies Trust. This will enable us to embed our outstanding practice and to further accelerate the progress made across all of our schools.
The Head of School team from September 2024 will be:
Cowley Academy
Mrs Kath Kilby
(current Interim Head of School at Bourne Academy)
Spalding Academy
Mr Glenn Martin
(current Head of School at Cowley Academy)
Bourne Academy
Mrs Jemma Curson
(current Head of School at Spalding Academy)
Giles Academy
Miss Katie Belcher
(will remain Head of School at Giles Academy)
Bourne Academy and Spalding Academy will continue to benefit from highly skilled school leaders who are vastly experienced, with a proven track record of success already attained in South Lincolnshire Academies Trust, and also as school leaders across wider local and regional schools.
Whilst Bourne Academy and Spalding Academy are both schools of a similar size, Mrs Jemma Curson has led Spalding Academy exceptionally for over two years and driven much improvement. Mrs Curson has the exacting standards needed to lead Bourne Academy and she will bring her wealth of knowledge to further improve the school, including extensive prior experience of Sixth Form strategy from previous roles before joining the Trust, which will enhance our ever-expanding Sixth Form.
Mr Glenn Martin will be a great asset to Spalding Academy as in the last two years, he has expertly managed the smooth transition of Cowley Academy into the Trust. Due to having previous experience within a significantly larger school setting, Mr Martin will transfer the experience needed to lead Spalding Academy and maintain the excellent standard of education provided for the learners.
We are delighted that Mrs Kath Kilby will be joining the Head of School team permanently in her new role at Cowley Academy. Mrs Kilby is an extremely experienced and proven school leader who has been working within our Trust for over 10 years as a Trust Education Executive Director and previously as an Assistant Headteacher. Most recently, she has been the Interim Head of School at Bourne Academy, where she has secured progress and success for learners and staff at the school. Mrs Kilby will maintain the remarkable progress Cowley Academy has made under Mr Martin’s leadership.
There will be no change to the Head of School at Giles Academy, where Miss Katie Belcher has done an incredible job along with her staff since the school joined the Trust in September 2020, and the school will continue to benefit from her outstanding leadership.
The Heads of School work together closely as a team along with Mrs Lucy Conley, Trust Chief Executive Officer and her proven and highly successful educational improvement leadership team of Deputy CEOs: Miss Elizabeth Dyer; Mr James Hind; Mr Tom Martin, Mr Brett Sinclair and Mrs Jemma Curson, as they continue to work collaboratively and share best practice. The Deputy CEOs and Mrs Conley, along with the wider Trust Executive and Associate Education Directors, will continue to work across and be based at all four schools in the Trust to fully support them.
These changes signify the exceptionally strong leadership team at South Lincolnshire Academies Trust and the opportunities for progression where the Trust develops and nurtures leaders from within. Whilst the Trust have explored the option of recruiting externally, this has only reinforced the exceptional talent already within the Trust.
These changes will be implemented permanently from September 2024 rather than mid-year to ensure continuity as the schools approach the important exam season. During this time, the new Heads of School will be visiting their new schools in preparation for the 2024/25 academic year.
Head of School Profiles
Mrs Kath Kilby is an established school leader. Having worked at South Lincolnshire Academies Trust for over ten years in roles including Head of the Trust Maths Faculty, Assistant Headteacher at both Bourne Academy and Spalding Academy and most recently as a Trust Executive Education Director, where she has been the Interim Head of School at Bourne Academy for this academic year. Mrs Kilby’s vision is to demonstrate a consistent approach to teaching and learning in order for all students to be successful whatever their ability.
Mrs Kilby has also held wider school leadership responsibilities, including for the pupil premium strategy and in quality assurance of teaching and learning. This work has positively impacted our students being able to fulfil their potential whatever their background or their circumstances are. Additionally, Mrs Kilby supports all colleagues and has worked on the development of the SLAT Staff Wellbeing & Welfare Agenda, which has been a successful and effective addition to the Trust.
Mrs Kilby’s journey into education commenced after gaining a degree in Mathematics and Education from Loughborough University, where she then started her teaching career as a Mathematics teacher in Rutland prior to joining South Lincolnshire Academies Trust in 2013.
Mrs Kilby now looks forward to new challenges and the next phase of her career as she prepares to take on the role as Head of School at Cowley Academy from September 2024.
Mr Glenn Martin is a highly experienced school leader, with extensive experience working within schools in Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire. With over two decades of school leadership experience in both the comprehensive and non-selective secondary sectors, he has knowledge of all areas of education, including the leadership of Ofsted; behaviour management; teaching and learning; school finance and SEND to name a few. Prior to joining the Trust, Mr Martin worked at Manor School in Northamptonshire, where he was Co-Principal. Throughout his career, Mr Martin has consistently demonstrated developing a culture of pastoral and academic excellence.
Mr Martin is incredibly proud to become the Head of School of Spalding Academy. This follows two years as Head of School at Cowley Academy, when South Lincolnshire Academy Trust transferred the school to the Trust. Under his dedicated leadership, Cowley Academy has been through an amazing transformational journey, and Mr Martin has been the key part of leading positive change at the school under the direction, leadership and guidance of the Trust.
Mr Martin has family roots in South Holland, where his family are still very much part of the local community. He has witnessed the incredible journey of Spalding Academy and is looking forward to being part of the team to continue driving the school forwards. Mr Martin holds the strong belief that all young people deserve to go to a school they can be proud of and has high aspiration for all learners, so they can achieve their dreams and reach their goals.
Mr Martin now looks forward to new challenges and the next phase of his career as he prepares to take on the role as Head of School at Spalding Academy from September 2024. He is passionate about ensuring that the parents and carers of the school are confident that their children are safe, happy and valued.
Mrs Jemma Curson is a highly experienced school leader, with extensive experience working within schools in Lincolnshire. Having over a decade of school leadership experience in both the selective and non-selective secondary sectors, she has knowledge of all areas of education, including the leadership of a successful large Sixth Form; Ofsted; teaching and learning; behaviour management and school finance to name a few. Throughout her career, Mrs Curson has consistently demonstrated a profound commitment to enhancing the education of young people in Lincolnshire, whilst fostering a culture of academic excellence.
Mrs Curson’s journey into education initially commenced with a professional teaching career as a History teacher. Her passion for education and unwavering dedication to student success quickly propelled her into school leadership roles. Mrs Curson’s leadership journey began in her appointment as Deputy Headteacher at Boston High School which had the largest Sixth Form in the Boston area, and most recently as Head of School, at Spalding Academy from April 2022, where she has had significant impact on raising standards and attainment. As well as being Head of School, Mrs Curson is also one of the Trust Deputy Chief Executive Officers.
Mrs Curson now looks forward to new challenges and the next phase of her career as she prepares to take on the role as Head of School at Bourne Academy from September 2024.
Miss Katie Belcher was proud to have been appointed as the Head of School at Giles Academy following South Lincolnshire Academy Trust taking over the school in September 2020. She is now entering her second decade of working at Giles Academy, having initially joined the school as Head of Music before being promoted to Assistant Headteacher and Head of School. Miss Belcher is the Designated Safeguarding Lead at the school and this is her wider leadership role across the Trust, where she leads on safeguarding training, practice and the national agenda.
In this time Miss Belcher has managed positive change, most notably during the period since the school transferred into the South Lincolnshire Academies Trust in January 2020, with the school dramatically improving over this time.
The values and ethos of the Trust are one which Miss Belcher holds in high regard, having witnessed young people thriving educationally and socially at Giles Academy once again. Miss Belcher’s leadership vision is to create an environment where all students can reach their potential both academically and socially. She is passionate about ensuring that parents and carers are confident that their children are safe, happy and valued, not only in their school environment but within their communities and the wider world we live in.
Miss Belcher now looks forward to the next exciting phase of school development as the Head of School at Giles Academy. With the school having achieved an Ofsted grading of Good with Outstanding leadership in 2023, she is keen to secure all areas of the school to Outstanding in the next inspection.