Chris Tomlinson, regional director (secondary) for Harris Federation, has been appointed chief executive of the Co-op Academies Trust.
He will be taking over from Frank Norris, who is stepping down in the summer.
Over the last 17 years Mr Tomlinson has been leading secondary and primary schools as head teacher, executive head teacher and regional director in inner and outer London. Under his leadership, schools Harris Chafford Hundred, Harris Greenwich Harris, St John’s Wood and Harris Battersea have been consistently achieving Progress 8 scores of over 0.5 and sometimes over 1. They are now rated as outstanding in every category.
Sponsored by the Co-op Group, the Co-op Academies Trust is looking to increase the number of schools to 40 by 2022. It currently controls 18 academies across West Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and North Staffordshire.
Russell Gill, chair of the Co-op Academies Trust, said: “Chris brings a wealth of experience to the role and I am sure he will lead us through our next phase which will be one of rapid change.
Related: Ian Burchett joins trust as education director for Greater Manchester
“We want to support even more communities that have the some of the greatest educational challenges and need additional help to support their young people. The effect of a good school that was previously failing or weak is immense in regenerating communities and we have established a great track record of turning around schools, which were previously struggling.”
Chris Tomlinson said: “I am delighted to be the new CEO of Co-op Academies Trust with its strong sense of community, ethical values and ambition for all its schools. The potential to transform student’s lives and communities is a really exciting challenge and opportunity, one that I am delighted to be part of.”
