Trustees and I are keen to ensure there is a smooth handover to the new Trust Lead (CEO) and we have been preparing for this.
I will continue to work closely with the Board and will do so with the new appointee too. However, to ensure continuity for our primary schools, Trustees offered a secondment opportunity and following an internal advert and interview process, I am pleased to confirm Emma Morrogh-Ryan, Headteacher of Kemble Primary School, has been seconded for the equivalent of two days a week to the post of Director of Education (Primary) from 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2026.
This is a new temporary role within the Trust and it is intended to create capacity in the short term. Emma will be working her hours flexibly. She is currently shadowing me in my line management meetings with our primary heads and, from November (Term 2), she will take responsibility for the line management of three of our primary headteachers and from January 2026 (Term 3), she will line manage them all. This will ensure continuity and provide stability, especially if the Trust Lead (CEO) designate cannot start until April 2026. We will be making additional temporary provision at Kemble Primary School, to ensure the school, staff and pupils, continue to thrive. This will be a further secondment opportunity for a colleague to gain wider school leadership experience.
Emma is a highly respected school leader locally and she is committed to our values. She will also have some curriculum oversight and she will work closely with Rachael Scott, our School Improvement Lead (Primary). This year, both of them are keen to work with Cirencester Deer Park School on key transition projects.
As a successful headteacher in London, prior to taking up her role at Kemble, Emma has a wealth of experience. She co-ordinated and facilitated our primary peer review cycle in 2024-25 which involved our primary schools and six other local schools. This partnership activity is continuing this year. Emma also led our collaborative primary ‘Embedding Vocabulary’ project for which she secured £10,000 from the local authority to help all primary staff support our under-resourced children.
‘I am really pleased to be seconded to the CET team as Director of Education (Primary). I am looking forward to working alongside our Headteachers, contributing at a Trust-wide leadership level, and playing a strategic role in bringing the Trust’s vision to life for every primary school and every child.’ Emma Morrogh-Ryan
Chiquita Henson
Trust Lead (CEO)
October 2025
