The Rosary Trust

A CATHOLIC MULTI-ACADEMY

Our Aims



The Rosary Trust is a multi-academy currently consisting of seven primary schools.


The Trust aims to build a network of schools that will work together to provide a quality first Catholic education for all pupils.


The Trust will form a collaborative non-hierarchical model of organisation where leadership is distributed and schools form an equal partnership.


The individual character and uniqueness of each organisation within the Trust will be preserved with each school continuing to run with its own Principal, Head Teacher or Head of School working closely with its own Local Governing Body.


This will be strengthened by the formation of a Leadership Group where leaders will engage deeply with, learn from and support each other.


Through collaboration the schools will benefit from opportunities such as: economies of scale, cross-school expertise, tailored support, being part of a larger community, school improvement, recruitment and retention, ITT, shared CPD and workforce development.


Pupils will be at the heart of all that we do.


Taking part in joint concerts, some of our Rosary Trust school choirs come together to celebrate Christmas.

Children from our Rosary Trust schools took part in a liturgical dance workshop at St Joseph's.


“When we arrived at St Joseph’s we were asked to make a dance move to symbolise our names, this helped the teacher to remember all our names. We then warmed up for the dance with songs and formed triangles of 4 or 5 people. We had to make a dance to music of 28 beats and keep in time. We really enjoyed it, everyone was really friendly and kind and we got to play with the other children at lunchtime.”



Partner Schools

Please visit our schools' individual websites for full information on each, by clicking the links below.


Every year our Year 6 pupils get together for a deanery day.


Board of Trustees

Simon Fenning

Chair of Trustees

I am the Chair of the Rosary Trust. I have 17 years’ experience as a Governor across several schools in Essex and have had the privilege to work with one of the best professional teaching teams anywhere in the UK. I have used what I have learned to help turn around two primary schools who found themselves in special measures by initially serving on their interim boards and following this, acting as either Vice Chair or Chair of the subsequent LGB. Both schools achieved an overall rating of “Good” from Ofsted; the latest inspection carried out under the new framework. 


As Chair of the Trust, I am overseeing the expansion of the CMAT, recruiting new schools to the Trust, working with LGBs and building capacity across the schools for sustainable school improvement. I am currently using my professional skills gained through 38 years as a telecommunications director to recruit new Trustees the first two are already shadowing activities to help put them in a strong position to take over operations and maintain the ethos which all the participating schools within the Trust support. Following full handover to the new Trustees I will be stepping back to Chair the LGB at St. Thomas More’s in Colchester who have the most amazing track record of results and innovation.

Bridget Harris

Chief Accounting Officer

I am fast approaching the twilight years of my teaching career which has been a rollercoaster of experiences.

I am currently in my 21st year of Headship at an amazing school. This is quite a long time to spend in one place but during the past 15 years I have worked closely with schools in challenging circumstances to help build teams and raise standards, the last 8 years as an NLE. This has culminated in the start of a small MAT which has more than doubled in size and is ready to grow further. This brings much variety to the role and a wealth of new skills gained for both me and the rest of the team.

The SLT led the Priory Street Teaching School for many years, a successful SSIF bid for Phonics and Early Reading with Essex as well as a positive bid for a new Maths Hub which launched in 2020.


I have been a Governor for over 30 years and a member/now attendee of the Rosary Trust Strategic Board for 10. All of these offer different opportunities and challenges to be enjoyed!







Gina Turnbull

I started my professional career as an Auditor focussing in the SME sector and after qualifying as a Chartered Accountant, I moved to the Asset Management Industry. I joined the Internal Audit team where I initially concentrated on business controls before moving into the Risk department. Here I created the Operational Risk team and grew the function over the years in line with business needs and increasing regulatory demands. During this time, I delivered significant change programs and led the team through material organisational and systems change. My risk knowledge and people management skills led to me serving as the Interim Chief Risk Officer covering all major risk classes including Market, Credit and Operational Risk and after 20 years in the City I am now taking time out.
 

I have significant experience of governance and operational risk and will draw on this as Chair of the Finance, Risk and Audit Committee, focusing on finance and the quality of internal controls across the schools within the Trust.

 

As a Catholic family my two children have attended St Thomas More’s and I am fully appreciative of the caring ethos that the schools embrace. I look forward to contributing to the ongoing success of the Trust.

Catherine McKenna

I have been a member of the Brentwood Diocesan Education team since 2017 where my role requires me, as Secondary Link Adviser, to work closely with secondary head teachers and schools across the Diocese. The schools are individual in their structure, organisation and charism and serve a wide geographical area, this makes my job fascinating. My specific interests include the areas of mental health and well-being for staff and students, as well as curriculum and assessment, as I am an Ofqual External Expert and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Educational Assessment.


Before joining the education team I had 33 years teaching experience mostly working in secondary schools although I can claim to have taught all years from year 3 to year 13 plus masters level students. From 2008 I worked in a large secondary school in North East Essex, prior to that I worked in Salisbury at a school which went from an upper school to an 11 to 18 school. This was the second re-organisation I experienced as I started teaching at a Catholic middle school in Hull, which became a primary school and from there moved to teach at a Catholic primary school in outer London. I then moved to a very large fully comprehensive 11-16 school in Southampton where I spent 10 years working in a highly effective humanities department, including as head of history.


As a great believer in lifelong learning I have an MPhil in education which was on the subject of Using Action Research to Inquire into Assessment for Learning: Implications for Continuing Professional Development in English Schools. As part of this I enjoyed working with Jack Whitehead on a living Action Research project. My first love is history and I am currently working on researching the curriculum in Catholic Poor Schools in nineteenth century Liverpool, reflecting on the provision students experienced.


I enjoy working with a range of education professionals. I am looking forward to continuing to do this in the trust in order to support schools. 

Adrian Livesley

My professional background is that I have been a practising solicitor for over forty years. Prior to my retirement from active practice in 2018, I was Chairman and then Managing Partner of a large regional law firm for over fifteen years and I remain a consultant to the firm. In addition, I have been a Deputy District Judge since 1994 and I continue to sit regularly in courts throughout the East Anglian region.

 

As a practising Catholic, I have always had an interest in Catholic education. I was Chairman of the Governors for St Benedict’s Catholic College, Colchester for five years and I formed and chaired St Benedict’s Foundation for over twenty years where we raised well over a million pounds to invest in the infrastructure and buildings of the College.

 

I value the opportunity to play a small part in the continuing development of Catholic education in the Essex area.

Sean Hayes

I retired from teaching in 2019 after a career in secondary schools in Essex, Suffolk and Peterborough. The last 20 years had been spent in senior leadership in Catholic schools in the Diocese of East Anglia, with a majority of that time being a headship in Peterborough. I was also Executive Headteacher of a secondary school in Ipswich for the final five years.


I have extensive experience of working with governing bodies, local authorities and the diocese. Prior to taking up headship I was a Section 48 Inspector, and I have experience of chairing a local secondary headteachers association and representing it on the local authority School Improvement Board.


I am continuing my involvement in education in retirement through governance roles and consultancy. The former includes being a Trustee of a large Multi-Academy Trust in Cambridgeshire and vice-chair of governors for a Catholic high school; the latter includes consultancy work for the Association of School and College Leaders and as a trainer for Blue Sky Education. I have a particular interest in school improvement. I also sit on the Diocesan Schools’ Commission for the Diocese of East Anglia


I trust that my experience and commitment to Catholic education will be of value to the Trust as it evolves in an ever-changing educational landscape. 

Robert Wright

I am a qualified Engineer in mechanical and design and a Member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. Previously I have owned my own manufacturing company and had patents taken out in my name.  Whilst at Marconi Radar I worked on projects which included Guided missiles and the Harrier Jump Jet. Whilst at Dynapert I oversaw the project that designed the first automatic assembly system for laser chips for telecommunications and worked on the assembly of the first mini computer with Clive Sinclair. 


Prior to retiring in 2020, I spent 17 years working as an Engineer Surveyor for Allianz Engineering, specialising in statutory health and safety inspections on lifts, cranes and mechanical structures. 


I am a District Councillor for Braintree District Council and have been for 12 years. I am also a Local Parish Councillor for Rivenhall where I live. 

I continue to put my health and safety knowledge and experience into practice by working closely with the Premises Manager at Holy Family School where I have been associated in one form or other for nearly 30 years. They are rated as Good by Ofsted but in my opinion, they are outstanding in everything they do and I am proud to be a small part of that team. My green principles are much in common with Pope Francis and his mission to save the planet and make it a better place for our future generation. 

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