Donna Fox

Donna has worked in Education since 1990 and over the years has held various educational roles.  She spent eighteen years as a headteacher, leading four schools during that period.  Her wider school improvement work began when she took up the role of Principal Advisor for School Improvement, Governance and Community Learning in West Berkshire.  Donna joined Hamwic so that she could focus on what she believes are the most important aspects of school improvement.  Central to who she is as a leader, is the enabling of others to achieve more than they thought they could, so that our pupils have all they need to be able to excel.

Russell Slatford (Chair)

Russell has been in education for 30 years following a short career as a geologist after university. He was a Headteacher for 8 years for an all through school, from Nursery to A level.  He also supported two other schools as an Executive Head for two years during this time. 

Robert Farmer

Robert has worked in education since August 2024 starting as Vice Principal at Upper Shirley High in Southampton.  He developed the Upper Shirley Learning Community Trust, a co-operative Trust, uniting the cluster schools in Shirley around a single vision for education in the area.  Using the Upper Shirley Learning Community Trust as its foundation, Robert went on to found the Hamwic Education Trust and has been CEO since its inception. 

Ruth Davies (Safeguarding)

Ruth is an experienced Designated Safeguarding Lead who has been in education for 19 years.  She has enjoyed working in Primary, Secondary and Further Education as well as Specialist provision. 

Abbie Wilkinson

Abbie has led school improvement at scale in local authorities and regionally for over 25 years.  Following Primary headship, she held local authority strategic portfolios including Primary Strategy, Assessment and Continu9ing Professional Development.  She delivered national priorities for schoolwork force development from early career to executive leadership across four coastal authorities, overseeing the training and deployment of national, local leaders and specialist leaders of education alongside advanced skills teachers through teaching school hubs.  She is SIP qualified as an improvement partner for schools causing concern.  Abbie is passionate about developing leaders to realise their ambitions for children across the trust.

Louise Newman (Governance Professional)

Louise joined HET Managed Services as Head of Governance in 2021.  She has worked in education since 2001 in various school-based roles, most recently running a governance consultancy business across Dorset, Bournemouth and Poole.  She comes from a local authority administration background and holds a business administration degree.  Louise provides advice and support to our Trust Board and local governance committees around governance requirements and processes.