Our Team

Robert Farmer

CEO

Robert Farmer has worked in education since August 2004 starting as Vice Principal at Upper Shirley High in Southampton.

Robert 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 as its foundation, Robert went on to found the Hamwic Education Trust and has been CEO since its inception.

Gemma Carr

Deputy CEO

Gemma Carr, our Deputy CEO, has a rich history in education spanning back to 2008 when she joined the Trust. Throughout her tenure, Gemma has used her expertise across a diverse spectrum, encompassing infant, junior, secondary, and special educational phases. Pror to her venture into education, Gemma's professional background was deeply rooted in businessm, management, adn human resources, bringing a multifaced skill set to her current role.

A Fellow of the CIPD and an Executive Leadership Coach, Gemma oversees the Managed Service Team, providing guidance to school leaders and leading on academy conversions with a track record of over 30 successful transitions.

Beyond her managerial expertise, Gemma assumes the crucial role of Designated Safeguarding Lead, demonstrating an unwavering commitment to student welfare. Additionally, she serves as a trusted mentor to students and a support as an adult mental health first aider ensuring the well-being and integrity of our educational community.

Russell Slatford

Director of Education - Secondary

Russell has been in education for 30 years following a short career as a geologist after university.

He was a Headteacher for 8 years of a through school, from Nursery to A level. He also supported two other schools as an Executive Head for two years during this time.

Chris Bulmer

Director of Education - Quality Assurance

Chris has worked in education since 1996. She held two headships in the primary sector spanning 10 years.

Chris also carries out work for the national body as a schools inspector and has done so for 11 years. Her inspection remit includes mainstream and special schools, including PRUs. Chris holds the National Qualification for School Inspectors.

Donna Fox

Director of Education - Primary

Donna has worked in Education since 1990 and over the years has held various education 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 joines 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 could, so that our pupils have all they need to be able to excel.

Abbie Wilkinson

Standards Officer

Lauren O'Connor

Standards Officer

Lauren has worked in Education since 2010. Over the past decade, she has held senior leadership positions, demonstrating a strong commitment to school improvement, particularly in underserved communities. As Headteacher, Lauren successfully led a school from a quadruple “Requires Improvement” rating to “Good.” Under her leadership, the school was accredited as a Centre of Excellence for Oracy in January 2024. During her headship, she also served as an Executive Headteacher on secondment, further developing her leadership experience. In 2024, Lauren joined Hamwic as a Standards Officer, eager to embrace new challenges and opportunities in this role.

Colin Flanagan

Standards Officer

Colin has worked in Education for 26 years. As a primary class teacher, he has taught all age groups and was an Advanced Skills Teacher with Portsmouth City Council, mainly supporting and coaching teachers in schools in special measures. He has been a senior leader for 18 years and has always worked in disadvantaged communities. Colin was headteacher in a Hampshire school for 9 years where he successfully led a double RI school to good within 17 months, leading the school to the position of being in the top 10% of schools nationally for progress and attainment.

Colin joined Hamwic in 2019 as a Teaching and Learning Advisor to dedicate more time to his passion for coaching and teacher development. In that time, he was also seconded to the role of Director of the Hamwic SCITT, where he developed and introduced the ITT Core Content Framework. The role presented him with the opportunity to further enhance his knowledge of the most influential theory and research around quality first teaching.

Colin now holds the role of Strategic Lead for Curriculum. He has played a key role in developing the Foundation Curriculum in our schools, placing an emphasis on provision of a broad and balanced curriculum that inspires and motivates children to be successful, lifelong learners.

Claire Harvey

Strategic Lead for Early Years & Early Years Reading

Claire is a qualified teacher and has worked in Primary education since 1996. She has a strong passion for ensuring all children have the best start in life and holds Early Years Professional Status.

Before her role in Hamwic, Claire was Early Years and Primary Adviser in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, having previously worked in the Virtual School with children in care. Prior to BCP Claire was the Early Years Adviser in Poole which included working for the Standards and Testing Agency as a national EYFS Profile operational moderator, ensuring local authorities met the required standard.

Stuart Bonney

Strategic Lead (SEND & Behaviour)

Stuart is an experienced Inclusion Lead who has worked in both specialist settings and mainstream schools over the past 20 years to support SEND students and develop whole school inclusive practices.

Previously to his role in Hamwic, Stuart was an Outreach Advisory Teacher and Assistant Lead for the Southampton Inclusion Partnership, supporting both primary and secondary schools in the city.

Stuart is a licenced trainer for SecuriCare and holds a Distinguished Fellowship for The Internation Forum of Inclusion Practitioners (IFIP)

Rob Gale

Behaviour Support Officer

Rob is a qualified teacher who has taught in mainstream primary and in a special SEMH provision in Southampton. During his time in a SEMH provision, he was the English lead and part of the SLT for a number of years.

Rob joined the Trust in 2023 and provides support to schools in addressing the needs of students who present challenging behaviour.

Paul Burton

Strategic Lead for Teaching and Learning

Paul has been working in education since 2007, with experience spanning First, Middle, Junior, and Primary school settings. In his most recent school-base roll Paul was a member of SLT at Lytchett Matravers Primary School.

Since 2020, Paul has been part of the Hamwic SCITT and took over as the programme leader in 2022. In addition, Paul has been working to support, develop and train ECTs since 2021.

Julie Prince

Head of Compliance

After a previous career in banking, Julie moved into education in 2008. Julie has been a senior leader in the infant, junior and secondary phase, and enjoyed the role of school governor.

Julie has a degree in finance and is qualified in school business management and HR; she has years of experience working in these areas.

Julie gives advice and support to schools around Safeguarding, Inclusion, Complaints and Data Protection. Julie is also a Designated Safeguarding Lead and a qualified Mental Health First Aider.

Claire Shaw

Education Access Officer

Claire has worked in education since 2006. Prior to joining Hamwic, Claire held a Local Authority role advising Headteacher’s, Governors and parents on statutory exclusion processes.

She has also worked in Further Education in various roles including working in partnership with local secondary schools to co-ordinate 14-16 provision.

Ruth Davies

Safeguarding Officer

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.

Sean Preston

Chief Financial Officer

Sean is a qualified accountant who has worked in education for 14 years and joined Hamwic Education Trust in 2014. During his time in the education sector, he has worked across all phases of education in various business management & finance roles. Prior to this, Sean had a career in the corporate banking sector.

Sean is responsible to overseeing finance & estates across the Trust.

Claire Dooks

Finance Manager

Claire has worked in Education for over 20 years across all school phases, including Secondary, All-through and a Special School. With a Commercial Banking background and School Business Management degree level qualifications, Claire provides Strategic and Operational financial support to Schools. Claire joined Hamwic in 2019.

Matt Ankers

Senior Finance Manager

Matt joined Hamwic in 2020. He is a qualified accountant and holds a CIPFA Diploma in School Financial and Operational Leadership.

Matt has worked in education since 2014, working mainly with primary and special schools. Prior to education, Matt worked in a number of finance and audit roles across various public sector organisations.

Emily Marshall

Finance Manager

Emily is a qualified accountant and has a CIPFA Diploma in School Financial and Operational Leadership. She joined Hamwic Education Trust in 2022.

Prior to joining the Trust, she worked for a trust in Bournemouth and has experience supporting schools across all phases of education.

Emma Brighton

Finance Officer

Emma moved into education in 2012, working at a large Hampshire Secondary school before joining the Hamwic Trust finance team in 2015. Emma supports the Trust and its schools with all aspects of finance.

Prior to moving into education, Emma completed her AAT qualification whilst working for a commercial accountancy business.

Blaire Edwards

Senior HR Business Partner

Blaire has worked in the education sector for over 9 years and joined Hamwic in 2017. She has a postgraduate diploma in Human Resource Management and is a chartered member of the CIPD. Prior to working in education, Blaire has 15 years’ experience in HR management roles in the private sector, predominantly in the retail and hospitality sectors. Blaire is also an adult mental health first aider.

Louise Clist

HR Business Partner

Louise has worked in education since 2019. Prior to joining Hamwic, Louise has worked in HR for a Multi Academy Trust in Bath, a large secondary academy in Dorset and in the private sector.

Louise has a Post Graduate Degree in Human Resource Management and is an associate of the CIPD.

Nicole Dunne

HR Advisor

Nicole has worked in HR in the public sector for 4 years, starting in 2020 as an Employee Relations Apprentice at University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust. She completed her Level 3 CIPD before moving to the Education Sector in 2022, where she worked in a secondary school as HR Officer. She joined Hamwic in 2024 and is currently Studying for her Level 5 CIPD.

Stacey Michaelides

HR Advisor

Stacey is an experienced HR professional and has been working in the HR sector within the education industry since 2015. Prior to her current position, Stacey spent five years in HR for a global telecommunications company. Stacey holds a Level 7 CIPD. She is a trained adult mental health first aider, reflecting her passion for supporting people and promoting mental health in the workplace.

Joanne Jones

HR Assistant

Jo has worked at the Trust since 2016. This is her first role in Education having previously worked in HR and office management positions within the private sector.

As HR Assistant, Jo is mainly office based and provides support to the HR team and the Trust schools. Jo is an associate member of the CIPD.

Louise Newman

Head of Governance

Louise joined HET Managed Services in her current role 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 governing committees around governance requirements and processes.  

Rachel Jackson

Trust Board Governance Professional

Sabina Aiuto

Wellbeing Lead

Sabina is an Occupational Therapist specialising in mental health. Prior to joining Hamwic Education Trust, Sabina worked for the NHS in an in-patient setting. The majority of her experience is working with children and adolescents, later moving into leadership, with roles focused on the clinical development and wellbeing of staff.

Nikki Thorne

Head of Estates

Nikki has been part of the Hamwic Schools for a number of years, starting when both her children attended Shirley Infants & Shirley Juniors over 20 years ago.

Nikki provides strategic Estates/H&S management covering a range of issues and projects.

Ian Saynor

Estates Officer

Ian joined the trust in August 2023 after working for an educational charity for 16 years placing students on work experience. Away from work he volunteers at a local youth football which he has done since 2008. He is often seen running along the seafront in Portsmouth.

www.linkedin.com/in/ian-saynor-a13a4642

Graeme Staddon

H & S Manager

After working for nearly 5 years at the trust from 2016 initially as a Site Manager at Hollybrook Schools and then as the Estates Assistant, Graeme left to further himself working as an Estates Manager and Health and Safety Coordinator elsewhere. Graeme returned to the trust in 2024 as the Health and Safety Manager.

Away from work he volunteers as a Launch Authority at the RNLI in Mudeford and enjoys spending his free time in the sea, mainly on a windsurfer.

Jai Solanki

Director of IT

Jai is an IT professional with over a decade of experience dedicated to transforming education through technology. Transitioning from the corporate world to the realm of education in 2013, he joined Hamwic driven by a passion to prepare the next generation for the challenges of tomorrow. Guided by a vision of innovation, he pioneered technical enhancements and led initiatives that seamlessly integrated technology into the learning environment, empowering both educators and students alike. These enhancements have allowed him to amplify his impact on educational technology.

Collaborating closely with stakeholders, he developed strategic plans to harness technology's transformative potential in education. Throughout his journey, he has witnessed first-hand the profound impact of technology on student engagement and learning outcomes. Guided by a steadfast commitment to empowering the next generation, he continues to shape futures through the transformative power of educational technology.

Jamie Haustead

Systems Manager

Jamie previously worked as a retail manager before moving into the IT Industry in 2005. He brings a broad depth of technical and life experience to the role.

With a background in Primary, Secondary and special provision (PRU) support, Jamie was very proud to join the Hamwic team in 2017. He has a great passion for technology and playing a part in providing great education for every single pupil at each of our Hamwic schools.

Andrew Thomas

IT Support Manager

Andrew has been providing IT Support to schools for more than 20 years. Since joining Hamwic in 2021 he has been heavily involved in moving school systems into the cloud.

When not working Andrew likes to spend time repairing and building electronic circuits and has recently taken up woodworking.

Tom Roberts

Infrastructure Manager

Tom began his career in education following the completion of his IT apprenticeship in 2011. Tom joined Hamwic Education Trust in 2020 with a wealth of knowledge and experience in secondary school IT. Since then, he has played a pivotal role in the trust’s technological advancement, overseeing the smooth migration of schools to the cloud and implementing modern networking solutions across all Hamwic schools.

Lucy Farmer

Admin Assistant

Lucy has worked at the Trust since 2022. Prior to joining the Managed Services team she worked at Shirley Infants School as a Teaching Assistant.

Before working in Education Lucy worked as a Business Administrator and Personal Assistant.

Karen Chafe

Admin Officer

Karen has been with HET since 2018, previously working in a large junior school. She offers PA support to the Executive team and also manages the office as a whole.

Karen enjoys her job and the variety of ‘no day is the same’.