One of England’s biggest MATs has appointed Tom Rees as its new chief executive officer.
Mr Rees joins the Ormiston Academies Trust (OAT) from the teacher-training provider Ambition Institute, where he has been executive director of programmes.
OAT has 43 academies, comprising 32 secondary schools, six primary schools, four alternative-provision schools and one special school.
He will join OAT in September and replaces Nick Hudson, the current chief executive who is retiring at the end of the current academic year.
Before working as executive director of programmes, Mr Rees was executive director of school leadership at Ambition.
Mr Rees has worked in education for 25 years, working across a range of roles including 10 years as a headteacher and seven years in executive roles.
And before his four years at Ambition, Mr Rees worked as education director and executive headteacher at Northampton Primary Academy Trust.
Mr Rees has also served as a member of a regional headteacher board, was a member of the Department for Education’s Headteacher Standards Review Group, has been a commissioner on the NAHT school leaders’ union’s School Improvement Commission, and was recently appointed to the panel of CST’s inquiry into trust improvement.
Earlier in his career, Mr Rees worked as a headteacher and teacher at a number of schools, including Kings’ School in Dubai.
Commenting on the move, Mr Rees said he was excited to be joining OAT and was “looking forward to working with staff across the trust and to serving the children and families of Ormiston’s schools”.
He added: “I am very proud of what we have achieved at Ambition over these last four years, and grateful for the opportunity to work in a different part of the education system and to learn from this experience. Professional development is at the heart of a system where teachers and leaders keep getting better, and where every child gets a chance to thrive.
“I’m looking forward to taking this experience back into a school trust and excited about getting to work at Ormiston ahead of next academic year.”
Julius Weinberg, the chair of Ormiston Academies Trust, said: “While we are very sad that Nick is leaving us, I am confident that we have made a great appointment in Tom. We had a strong field and Tom was the stand-out candidate.”
Hilary Spencer, the chief executive of Ambition Institute, said: “Tom has made a huge contribution to the development of Ambition Institute over his four years here. Under his leadership, our programmes have helped tens of thousands of teachers and school leaders to keep getting better.
“We are of course sad to see him leaving Ambition, but we are delighted for him, and offer him our warmest congratulations on being appointed to the role.
“All of us at Ambition look forward to seeing the impact Tom will have at Ormiston Academies Trust, continuing to work towards a vision that we all share: that every child has the opportunity to succeed, no matter what their background.”
