The Pennine Alliance Learning Trust (PALT)
We are a small Academy Trust in West Yorkshire currently made up of 5 schools, Burnley Road Academy, The Calder Learning Trust, Midgley Primary School, Old Town Primary School and Wainstalls School. With a shared vision to continue to raise local aspiration within our communities, our MAT provides an outstanding all-through academic and personal development pathway for West Calderdale’s children and young people.
It is our shared ambition to encourage our young people to aim high, to support them in developing their knowledge, skills and opportunities and to provide a range of pathways to fulfil their potential and realise their ambitions. Our strong trust provides an outstanding curriculum and personal development offer for our children and in doing will secure successful school communities for many years to come. We foster strong governance at a local level to provide a rigorous foundation for effective strategic Trust leadership. We value local governors’ connections with the communities they serve and their knowledge of where their schools’ strengths and areas for development are.
PALT is state-funded and the Trust is directly accountable to the Department for Education (DfE). The Trust has a highly skilled and experienced Board of Trustees that oversees and monitors the performance and success of the Trust.
Our long-term goal
To be the leading cross-phase MAT in Calderdale, synonymous with outstanding provision across all settings.
Our shared purpose
To provide excellence in education and a commitment to serve our communities.
Our shared mission
Combining our collective strength and valuing our unique differences, to provide excellence in education through collaboration, support and challenge. To develop staff efficacy and agency by investing in opportunities for professional growth and development, enabling success for all.
Our shared vision
To raise aspiration within our communities by providing an outstanding all-through academic and personal development pathway for West Calderdale’s children and young people from 4 to 16 and beyond…from Reception through to their launch into further education or training.
Our shared values
To ensure that all schools within our Trust share, promote and instil our core values of Opportunity, Integrity and Equity.
Anthony Guise
Chief Executive Officer/Executive Headteacher
Board of Trustees
A short biography for each of our Trustees can be found below.
Kathryn Loftus
Trustee – Chair
Kathryn’s career in all phases of education has focussed on supporting vulnerable young people. Kathryn has spent the last 24 years working in a variety of local authority roles in policy development, service delivery and programme management across Sheffield, Kirklees and Bradford.
Kathryn led the DfE’s Bradford Opportunity Area Programme from 2017- 2022 and now leads its legacy work through the Education Alliance for Life Chances charity. This is a partnership which connects schools to the key public sector organisations such as the local authority, the Police, the NHS and researchers and academics in order to bring about whole system change to improve outcomes for young people.
Kathryn’s extensive experience in leading top-level projects that transform children’s life chances and promote investment in young people, combined with her unique experience of purposefully uniting large organisations for the public good, make her a perfectly experienced Chair of the Board.
Anthony Guise
Trustee – CEO
Anthony has been Headteacher at The Calder Learning Trust since September 2013 bringing considerable experience in school improvement, deficit recovery and school restructuring having managed the transition from an 11-18 school to a 4-16 and amalgamating with a school at risk of closure.
Alongside his role as a senior leader, Anthony has worked for the National College on the development and delivery of leadership programmes including MLDP, NPQML and NPQSL and currently inspects for Ofsted.
Robert Jonathan (Bo) Scholefield
Trustee – Vice Chair
Robert (Bo) is currently Chair of iTrust, he has been involved with governance for over twenty-five years in a range of schools and academies across West and North Yorkshire. Bo has led iTrust, supporting the schools and both Principals through multiple challenges.
Bo is a farmer with extensive experience of working with Calderdale Local Authority, the Environment Agency and with private practice. He is a coach for the local girls’ rugby club, a club leader for Calderdale young farmers, a steering committee member for The South Pennine Fire Operations Group and founder of The South Pennines Famers’ Facilitation Group.
As a Chartered Surveyor, and with a Masters degree in Economics and Business management, Bo combines his expert knowledge of the local area with his commitment and passion for life-long learning, the environment and the local community.
Andy Bridger
Trustee
Andrew’s skill set and strengths lie in Health and Safety and Estates management. Andrew has twenty-five years’ experience in working on public sector estates projects within the health care sector.
Andrew is a school governor at Calder High School and has proven skills in finance management. He is experienced in dealing with construction contracts and will bring an invaluable skillset that complements and balances the Board.
Rob Freeth
Trustee
Rob has led primary schools in Calderdale, Bradford and internationally.
From 1999 to 2005 he led an international school in Uganda serving the diplomatic and expatriate community, delivering a British curriculum in a 3-16 through school. From 2005 to 2016 Rob led a Bradford school out of Fresh Start to become a successful three-form entry primary school in a disadvantaged inner-city area.
Rob was previously a Trustee and Chair of the Curriculum, Outcome and Accountability committee for Nurture Academy Trust and Vice- Chair of Governors at Old Town Primary school. He is currently Branch Secretary of the Calderdale branch of The National Association of Headteachers and has served as a member of Hebden Royd Town Council and as Mayor in 2021/22.
Rob brings a wealth of experience in senior leadership and education. He is deeply immersed in service to the local community. He has the passion and drive to improve standards for the young people of Calderdale.
Ben Hardy
Trustee
Ben is a chartered tax advisor with twenty years’ experience working with EY/PWC and a US headquarters global company.
Ben has been a governor at Midgley school for over eight years. He has the skills to oversee school finances. Ben brings his passion for education, his forensic knowledge of finances and his experiences as a parent to the board.
Steve Woodhead
Trustee
Steve is a Care Consultant for Childrens’ Services and has served as the Local Authority Senior Officer for Early Help and Care Services.
Steve is a governor at Burnley Road Academy where he chairs the finance committee. He has experience of serving on four other governing bodies and chairing several high- level boards for organisations in the local authority.
Steve brings his vast experience a consultant, his passion for education, his commitment to safeguarding and his drive to support the local community to the board.
Ashley Reed
Trustee
Ashley Reed is a seasoned financial expert with a wealth of experience in the education sector. Since 2012, he has served as the Chief Financial Officer, initially at Belle Vue Girls Academy and later with the Bradford Diocesan Academies Trust (BDAT). Under his financial stewardship, BDAT has expanded significantly, growing from just 4 academies to an impressive 21 academies.
Before his tenure at BDAT, Ashley honed his expertise in the school funding team at Bradford Local Authority. His career began in commercial accounting, where he developed a strong foundation in financial management and strategic planning.
In addition to his role at BDAT, Ashley is an advisor to the New Collaborative Learning Trust, where he supports the Risk and Audit Committee. He also chairs the Bradford School Forum, collaborating with the Local Authority and representatives from academies and schools to make crucial funding decisions for the Bradford area.
Outside of his professional life, Ashley is deeply committed to the sport of badminton. As the Junior Chair of Yorkshire Badminton, he supports over 200 players across the county, helping them achieve their athletic dreams. His dedication to both his professional and personal pursuits highlights his passion for fostering growth and excellence in every endeavour he undertakes.
Christopher Selby
Trustee
Following a successful 18 year career in International Telecommunications, Christopher transitioned to working into the areas of Leadership/Development and Learning and Skills, Coaching and Mentoring..
Working exclusively within the construction industry Christopher specialises in supporting organisations with skills, training, apprenticeships and learning and development processes and programs. He has an active role in interfacing with central government departments, including the DfE, DWP and Skills England.
With a passion for supporting disadvantaged young people Christopher also works with a UK registered charity, seeking to improve life chances for socially excluded individuals, providing them with opportunities of construction careers.
Joining the board of i-Trust Education at the end of 2022, Christopher has performed the role of Vice-Chair and has been an active member of the board.
Jonathan Beale
Member
Jonathan is currently a trustee for iTrust. He is also a trustee for a Bradford based charity with assets over £7m. Jonathan works for a wealth management and financial advice firm as a Chartered Financial Planner. He has a degree in Business Studies and a wealth of other qualifications including an advanced diploma in financial planning.
Jonathan’s commitment to Wainstall’s governors and his subsequent move to being a trustee of iTrust gives him the experience and oversight need for the Members' Board.
Jon Hairsine
Member
Jon worked for thirty years in commercial businesses, including roles as Chief Operating Officer at Fox Hayes LLP and director of Process and Technology at DLA Direct. Jon led change and transformational programmes in the legal, insurance, financial and technology service sectors. Jon also spent ten years working full time in both professional and voluntary capacities in the education sector.
Jon is currently Chair of Governors at Colden and Todmorden High Schools and is a governor at Calder High School. He is also a founding trustee of a Leeds based MAT.
Jon was a National Leader of Governance and was governor representative on the West Yorkshire Teaching Schools’ Council. Jon is now a member of IGOVS.
Jon has completed the ‘Tomorrow’s Heads’ and NPQH programmes and also has a Masters degree in Education.
Jon will bring his combination of years of commercial experience in large institutions, his implicit knowledge of education and his drive for improving standards through learning and teaching to the board.
Jeanne Watson
Member
Jeanne is a former secondary headteacher with over twenty years experience across a range of schools. She spent 16 years as head of The Brooksbank School in Elland and also acted as executive headteacher at The Park Lane Learning Trust and at Calder High School.
Following her retirement she served on the School Teacher’s Review Body which sets teacher’s pay and conditions, and was also a member of the Independent Monitoring Board of HMP Leeds. She now works in the area of food insecurity as a volunteer and trainer for a large foodbank in Huddersfield .
