This week’s movers and shakers include a keen cyclist, former special constable and a school chef who once played the bugle for the Queen.
This column is our fortnightly guide to who is moving where in the schools community.
We are keen to hear about appointments at a senior level. Please send submissions for this section to news@schoolsweek.co.uk with ‘Movers and shakers’ in the subject line.
Sharon Mullins
Chief executive, Oxford Diocesan Schools Trust
Start date: September 2025
Current job: CEO, Embrace Multi-Academy Trust
Interesting fact: Sharon is originally from Derby and is a huge Derby County supporter – which shows she is an eternal optimist.
Freya Thomas Monk
Managing director, Pearson Qualifications
Start date: March 2025
Previous job: Managing director, vocational qualifications and training, Pearson
Interesting fact: Freya cycles around London every day, come rain or shine.
Jane Wilson
Chief executive, Northern Education Trust
Start date: April 2025
Current job: Deputy CEO, Northern Education Trust
Interesting fact: Before training to teach, Jane trained as a nurse and was also a special constable for Cleveland police.
Mark Taylor
Interim Chair, Independent Schools Council
Start date: March 2025
Previous role: Chair, the Association of Governing Bodies of Independent Schools
Interesting fact: Mark once received a grievance on behalf of a parrot (no further details were supplied).
David Stanley
Executive chef, Hertfordshire Catering Ltd
Start date: February 2025
Previous role: Executive chef at Perse School
Interesting fact: David once played the bugle for the Queen at Windsor Castle. He still has the shorts and the garters to prove it.
New chair for EPI
A prominent academic has been named as the new chair of the board of trustees at the Education Policy Institute (EPI). Sir Chris Husbands has taken on the role at the think-tank from Charles Brand, who had been serving as interim chair.
Former schools minister David Laws also served briefly as chair last year after Paul Marshall, its original chair and co-founder, stepped down in late 2023.
Husbands is a former director of the UCL Institute of Education and was vice-chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University until 2023. He has served on other boards including exam boards Edexcel and AQA, Universities UK and Sheffield College.
He also chaired the Doncaster opportunity area board and led the Teaching Excellence Framework for the government.
Husbands has served as a trustee of EPI since last January. The think-tank said he “brings a wealth of experience in the education sector”.
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