School leaders

Alison Leonard

Acting Head of School

Alison was appointed Acting Head of School at Quinton Church in June 2023. Prior to that she was Deputy Head Teacher at Quinton after joining the school in September 2015, she loves being part of the local community and serving the children and families. She leads the curriculum in Quinton and is passionate about providing opportunities for all children, giving them a foundation of knowledge and life skills in their educational journey. 

Siobhan Sanders

Acting Head of School

Siobhan, who was appointed Acting Head of School at Nonsuch Primary in April 2022, has a background in education within various local authorities in the West Midlands, specifically in areas of high deprivation. With a passion for providing high-quality education to every child, regardless of their background or starting point, Siobhan is dedicated to ensuring they reach their full potential. She firmly believes in providing enriching experiences that extend beyond the children’s home environment.  

Siobhan holds a Master’s in Educational Leadership, completed in September 2018, and is currently nearing completion of her Professional Doctorate in Education, where she has dedicated four years to extensive research in driving school improvement.    

Samantha Goode

Acting Headteacher, Nethersole CofE Primary School

Samantha was appointed as the Acting Headteacher of Nethersole in June 2023. Prior to this, she worked as a Deputy Headteacher in another of our BDMAT schools.

Samantha enjoys new challenges and feels blessed to have the opportunity to lead Nethersole. She hopes that with her team at Nethersole they can enable all children to have equitable opportunities to learn and thrive.

Daniel Rogers

Headteacher, St George's Edgbaston

Daniel was appointed as Headteacher at St. George’s Church of England Primary School in November 2022. Prior to this, he was a Deputy Headteacher in several schools across Birmingham. Daniel is passionate that children are happy coming to school and engender a love of learning. He supports his team to ensure children feel safe and secure in a school that develops their character for their place in our world. Daniel is driven to ensure that all children learn every day, every lesson so that children at St. George’s reach their potential. He has completed is Masters in Education, which explored the pedagogies of teaching reading comprehension at key stage 2.

Petrina Poleon

Headteacher, Hawkesley Church Primary School

Petrina commenced her role as Headteacher at Hawkesley Church Primary Academy in April 2023. She is fortunate to have taught throughout three Local Authorities during her fifteen years in teaching, most recently as a successful Deputy Head Teacher in Birmingham.

Petrina is a passionate leader committed to breaking down barriers to opportunities and establishing a nurturing ethos where meeting individual needs enables all pupils to learn, flourish and achieve their potential. As an experienced Senior Mental Health Lead, she believes that positive wellbeing and excellent pastoral care is fundamental in enabling children to thrive. Working in partnership with parents and other professionals to achieve the best outcomes for children is central to her approach. Petrina feels blessed to serve the Hawkesley Church Primary Academy community and privileged to help shape hearts and minds.

With faith at her core, she is committed to upholding the distinctive Christian character of Hawkesley, through encouraging everyone to “Let your light shine” (Matthew, 5:16).

Joy Langley

Headteacher, Christ Church, Church of England Secondary Academy

Joy was appointed as the new Headteacher of Christ Church, Church of England Secondary Academy in June 2023.  For the last 5 years, she was Senior Vice Principal and then Interim Principal at The King’s Church of England School in Wolverhampton.  Prior to this, Joy was the Secondary Adviser for Southwark Diocesan Board of Education, supporting schools in South London, including expanding a primary school into an all through 3 to 18 school.  She has extensive experience of leading in church schools in Croydon and Surrey.   

Joy is passionate about leading fully inclusive and diverse church schools that are inspired and informed by a strong vision and values, where every pupil is known, valued, enabled to flourish and grow in confidence to achieve their full potential and to live life in all its fullness.

Neil Kitching

Headteacher, Lady Katherine Leveson CofE Primary School

Neil was appointed as Headteacher at Lady Katherine Leveson C of E Primary in January 2023. He has worked in a number of authorities across the West Midlands in a range of leadership roles. Prior to joining Lady Katherine Leveson, he was the Deputy Headteacher in a school in Coventry.

He feels very privileged to be the Headteacher at Lady Katherine Leveson and is passionate about leading a school that meets the needs of every individual so that they are able to reach their potential.

Hannah Cook

Headteacher, Bentley Heath C of E Primary School

Hannah was appointed as Headteacher at Bentley Heath C of E Primary in January 2022. She is passionate about education and feels privileged to have enjoyed a career in teaching for over 12 years. In this time, she has experienced a range of roles, including Deputy Head and SENCO. She has also completed her Master’s in Educational Leadership, which she was awarded in January 2018.

She truly believes that when children feel happy, safe, and secure, they are able to learn best and reach their potential, and that every child, regardless of their circumstances, deserves the very best education possible. Bentley Heath is a truly inclusive school with an emphasis on nurturing and developing the whole child, and she is committed to building on Bentley Heath’s successes and its Christian ethos, allowing every child to become the very best version of themselves – rooted in Jesus and loving one another.

Natasha Johnson

Headteacher, Woodside C of E Primary School

Natasha was appointed as the new Headteacher at Woodside in January 2022. For the last 8 years, she has worked as a leader across three very different Staffordshire schools. Having worked in two Church of England schools within Lichfield Diocese, Natasha feels privileged to be appointed for her first Headship working within the Birmingham Diocese and for BDMAT.

Natasha’s philosophy is that she hopes to provide an education for every child, that allows them to ‘live life in all its fullness’ through a curriculum that is inclusive, diverse and focusses on developing the whole child through her committed leadership. She believes through her vision of ‘together in God’s love, we inspire and grow’, she can achieve this at Woodside.

Susan Friend

Headteacher, Warton Nethersole's CofE Primary School

Susan started her role as Head Teacher at Warton Nethersole’s CofE Primary School in November 2020 after living and working in Bristol for the past 7 years. Susan has had a varied teaching career including teaching in London and at an International School in Prague, Czech Republic. Having worked in two Church of England schools previously, she was keen that she followed this path into headship and hopes that with her team at Warton they can ensure that all of their children thrive through wide and inspiring experiences that develop their understanding of the world around them. Susan’s vision for education is one where all pupils, regardless of background and barriers, have equitable opportunities to learn and grow as well as many, many moments of wonder, joy and friendship.

Sara Eley

Headteacher, Austrey CofE Primary & Newton Regis CofE Primary School

Sara was appointed as Headteacher at Austrey CofE Primary & Newton Regis CofE Primary School in April 2020. Both schools joined Birmingham Diocesan Multi-Academy Trust (BDMAT) on 1st September 2019.

She began her career in 1992 and has worked as a teacher and Senior Leader in schools since then across the Midlands. Most recently, she was the Deputy Headteacher of a church school in Leicestershire for six years. Sara enjoy new challenges and feels very lucky to have had the opportunity to take over the leadership of these schools.