Adam Walsh - CEO

Adam is a classically trained musician who has been working in education for over 20 years, teaching in both primary and secondary phases. For the last 10 years Adam has been a senior leader including being Headteacher and Executive Headteacher for four primary schools in South Warwickshire and has also supported leaders and governing bodies across Warwickshire in school improvement, policy development and staff development. Adam is currently a member of the Coventry Diocesan Board of Education.

Sophie Carthy CFO

A qualified Chartered Accountant, Sophie brings a wealth of financial expertise to the Arden Forest MAT from her time in industry to her most recent experience working as a Finance Manager with a large group of schools within another MAT.  Sophie's breadth of roles and experience has given her a key understanding of both the work needed to support schools with their budgets, as well as a strong strategic vision for the future financial success of the Arden Forest MAT.  

Matthew Upton - Finance Manager

Matt is a highly experienced management accountant who has worked as a Finance Manager on a variety of clients with a real focus in the NHS and health sector.  His financial expertise and keen eye for detail are a fantastic support to the MAT Finance Team and his help and guidance is also invaluable to the teams in our schools.  

Lee Withorn - Facilities Manager

Lee has a joint role as Site Manager at one of our MAT schools as well as bringing his considerable knowledge to his FM role in the Central Team.  Lee's past roles working across a portfolio of hotels helped him hone his knowledge of Health & Safety and the management of contractors, as well as his more practical skills in plumbing, carpentry and painting.  His work with the schools has meant an upskilled network of caretakers and SLTs that are fully supported with their Health and Safety provision.

Amanda Dale - Operations Manager

After working in project management Amanda joined the Education sector 13 years ago.  She has since worked across clusters of local schools helping with procurement, developing professional learning networks and running cross school enrichment projects.  Her experience in school offices has also lead to an enhanced knowledge of HR, Health and Safety and safeguarding which she now uses to support the CEO, the Central Team and the MAT schools.

Clair Willies - Finance Manager

Clair brings extensive finance and administration experience to her role as Finance Manager.  Clair has a corporate background with experience in banking, mortgage finance and Insurance Broking.  Clair’s school experience began at Temple Grafton Primary school initially as Chair of Resources on the Governing Body, back in 2009.  She then qualified as a School Business Manager and has worked as across a number of local schools and academies during the last 12 years.  She is perfectly placed to use these skills to complement the finance knowledge within the MAT Team and also share her skills and experience with the schools she assists.

Sally Morris - Director of Education

Sally is an experienced Christian school leader whose enthusiasm, warmth and positive outlook has enabled her to successfully fulfil a range of roles in education. In the past 12 years these roles have included Head teacher, Executive leader and Learning Improvement Officer. Sally gained her NPQEL in 2019 and has used this along with her wealth of experience and knowledge to bring about school improvement and policy development in a range of contexts. Sally currently chairs the Central Area Analysis Group for Warwickshire Local Authority as well as a consortium of 22 schools.