Trust Leader
Sharon Mullins
Sharon is an experienced leader who has a breadth of strategic and leadership knowledge across all age ranges. With a proven track record of effective and rapid school improvement, Sharon has worked across different local authorities and has previously been a head teacher in both a substantive and interim capacity at schools in Oxfordshire.
Since 2015, she has worked extensively in school improvement and more recently as a senior leader in a large multi academy trust of 38 schools across the Oxford Diocese.
Passionate about inclusivity, Sharon firmly believes that every child and young person should receive the very best education and start in life, allowing them to develop and achieve their full potential.
Sharon became trust leader of Embrace Multi Academy Trust in August 2021.
Director of Education
Laura McWhinnie
Laura has worked extensively in school improvement across all phases of education, within an multi academy trust and as a national consultant. She is a strong advocate of collaborative working that is strongly focused on ensuring the best outcomes for every student in relation to achievement, learner capability and well-being.
Committed to the use of research and evidence, Laura ensures that it forms the basis of all improvement efforts, at every level of the school and system. She has previously worked across the UK as a trainer, consultant and keynote speaker, where she enabled schools and systems to translate the findings from research into high-impact implementation strategies.
Laura has over 25 years educational experience, with 15 of those years in senior leadership positions. She has twice served as a head teacher, working in schools serving areas of high disadvantage and cultural diversity. She has been successful in developing effective approaches to professional learning, building leadership capacity at all levels and raising standards across the schools, in all subjects.
Chief Financial Officer (interim)
Wayne Burbidge
Estates and Compliance Manager
Tom Chambers
Tom joined Embrace in February 2022.
Prior to this, he was a site manager for a large, city secondary school and was involved in working across many sites within a multi academy trust. He has played a vital role in completing many projects over the last ten years, the largest being ‘Building Schools for the Future’, where 60% of a large secondary school was rebuilt.
Tom supports our schools with all aspects of health & safety and compliance.
Human Resouces Manager
Craig Clasper
IT Manager
Michael Jones
Michael has been at Embrace Multi Academy Trust since its formation in 2019, alongside supporting strategically as IT Manager at Brockington College, something he has done for the past 18 years.
With a key focus on how digital technology can be used to strengthen teaching and learning, he supports leaders and staff across all trust schools to ensure they have the right tools, support and knowledge to deliver an outstanding curriculum.
More recently, Michael has undertaken a project management qualification to help ensure a digital transformation strategy for the trust is planned and implemented to help achieve the trust’s core aims.
Executive Assistant & Governance Support
Louise Nixon
Louise is an experienced administrator and governance professional with a range of skills and knowledge gained from working in education for over 16 years.
Prior to joining Embrace, Louise was the principal’s PA at Brockington College, as well as clerk to the governing board.
Louise supports governance across the trust and works closely with the trust leader, executive team.