Central Team and Educational Leaders
Brenda Mullen
Chief Executive Officer
Brenda has over 30 years experience in statutory education from Early Years to sixth form. In previous roles, she set up a regional service to support young people aged 16-25 years to access vocational programmes and prepare for university, she was Principal of an outstanding sixth form college and worked as Director of Education for a charity that delivered education and alternative provision nationally.
In September 2017, Brenda was the founding CEO of a regional multi-academy trust that set up academies and free schools in the Midlands. She was a long serving trustee/director at an outstanding single academy trust (secondary) in Derbyshire. She brings particular expertise in governance and leadership structures, capacity building, partnership working and special educational needs.
Francesco Quagliano
Chief Financial Officer
Francesco has been working in a variety of Middle and Senior Financial roles over the past 15 years, predominantly within the retail, car and manufacturing sector. He has a wealth of expertise in taxation and automating financial processes. He has a variety of recognised accountancy qualifications in both Financial and Management Accounting.
In his most recent role, Francesco focused on supporting an organisation within the manufacturing industry to achieve their profitability and strategic goals including taxation strategy. His main objectives were, introducing financial processes and ensuring IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) were met, along with the management of Working Capital. He is a great believer in teamwork and worked closely with his previous Finance team to develop their knowledge and skills.
In July 2024 Francesco joined the Learning Today Leading Tomorrow Multi-Academy Trust and is committed to building a group of outstanding schools, with the aim to give children and young people within the Trust the very best start in life.
Iain Green
Headteacher of Rugby Free Secondary School
Iain has been a qualified teacher for 14 years and has taught across the secondary age range from Year 7 - 13 in four different secondary schools across Coventry, Warwickshire and Northamptonshire. Iain is a former Head of English and has experience in three schools of leading Quality of Education and Teaching and Learning at Assistant and Deputy Headteacher levels.
Iain’s background is in school improvement, and he has been part of two leadership teams that have moved schools from ‘Inadequate’ to ‘Good’ within eighteen month periods. Iain has recently passed his NPQH and has also led on training with external partners for senior and middle leaders. He is currently the sitting Headteacher on the panel of the Warwickshire Schools Forum.
Iain was appointed as Headteacher in March 2023 and helped to move the school forward from ‘Inadequate’ to ‘Good’ in his previous role as Deputy Headteacher (Quality of Education). Iain enjoys the challenge of leading a growing inclusive and diverse school and inspiring all members of the community to achieve their potential and beyond by being the best they can be.
Rebecca Butters
Headteacher of Rugby Free Primary School
Rebecca has been a qualified teacher for 18 years and has taught across the primary age range from EYFS to Year 6. She has taught in 4 different primary schools across Leicestershire and Warwickshire and has a range of experiences in teaching and leadership. In previous roles, Rebecca co-ordinated many different subjects, including English, becoming a moderator for the local authority and supporting other schools.
However, Rebecca's main passion and focus was for SEND leadership and undertook the National Professional Certificate for SEND Co-ordination. She was a SENDCo for 8 years, focusing on ensuring high quality provision and inclusion for pupils with additional needs and, further into her career, supported new SENDCos in their roles, providing outreach support.
In 2015, Rebecca was one of the first members of staff employed by LT2, as a Deputy Head Teacher at RFPS. Rebecca helped grow and develop the school for the first 3 years, focusing on SEND and Pupil Premium provision and Curriculum and Assessment. She supported NQTS through their first years as teachers and helped secure 'Good' in RFPS's and LT2's first Ofsted inspection. Rebecca was successfully appointed as Headteacher of RFPS in 2018.
She continues to thoroughly enjoy the challenge of leading a growing school and is excited at the prospect of having a full school from EYFS - Year 6, next September. Rebecca's passion lies in ensuring that RFPS continues to improve and develop, providing inspiring, nurturing and inclusive primary education for the local community.
Sean Morris
Head of Operations
Sean focusses on the support functions within the trust that enable our schools and teachers to perform and provide the best education for our students. The areas are HR, estates, compliance and communications. He joined the trust in 2023 from the Civil Service where he spent the previous 13 years working in various operational delivery roles in an Executive Agency, most recently leading two departments through a period of significant change and dramatically improving performance through optimising processes and structures. Sean has experience in the education sector through involvement in local governing boards and is currently Vice-Chair at a special school.
Sean is both a Chartered Engineer and Chartered Manager and he is a Fellow at the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). He holds Masters degrees in business administration (MBA) and engineering (MEng) and brings a wealth of transferable skills into the trust.
Suzanna Phillimore
Trust Business Manager
Suzanna has been working in the education sector since April 2005, in both Local Authority and Multi Academy Trusts. She was recruited as the Admin and Finance Manager at Rugby Free Primary School in June 2017, however since successfully completing her Level 4 Diploma in School Business Management in May 2021 she has recently been appointed as the Trust Business Manager.
Kevin Mckenzie
Trust Strategic IT Manager
Kevin has 25 years of experience working in the education sector in both Local Authority and Multi-Academy Trusts. He started as an IT technician and has climbed the IT ladder successfully completing an array of recognised IT certifications such as MCP, MCSA, VCP, PRINCE 2 to name a few. In 2001 he was employed as a Business and Enterprise technician giving IT support to local community primary schools. In 2007, Kevin took on a senior position at a successful outstanding school.
In 2019 Kevin was recruited by LT2 as an IT Service Delivery Manager at Rugby Free Secondary School where he has overseen the establishment of a wide range of state-of-the-art technology resources. Kevin has since been promoted to become Trust Strategic IT Manager overseeing IT across the entire Trust.
Kevin brings a wealth of expertise in the educational sector and provides a wide range of management services from maintenance and technical support to design of solutions and delivering technical refresh programs. He provides a fully managed helpdesk service and oversees technical risk management across the Trust including digital information security, safeguarding and cyber security assurance.
Szabolcs Kapi
Senior IT Technician
Szabi has worked in IT for over 5 years. He graduated from the University of Northampton studying Computer Systems Engineering which led Szabi to IT jobs, supporting various educational sectors such as University, Primary & Secondary schools.
Szabi's current role consists of supporting the students and staff of all schools within the Trust. This includes the everyday functioning of the schools, dealing with day-to-day computing problems and constantly thinking of implementing and improving new systems, security and other areas of technology which a school could benefit from.
Some of the key skills and benefits which Szabi brings to his work environment are; a wide knowledge across all sectors within IT, approachability when it comes to needing support and a professional yet a friendly working manner with all colleagues and pupils.
Laura Withington
Estates and Compliance Manager
Laura was introduced to the Trust in December 2021, Laura effectively monitors and validates statutory / mandatory compliance across the Trust’s network, communicating with the appropriate personnel to address non-conformances.
Laura brings with her over 13 years' experience within the food service and management industry. In the last 9 years Laura has gained experience and built an impeccable background in Health and Safety management within the Estates and Compliance industry.
While working in one of the Country's leading letting agencies, Laura successfully completed management training and progressed from Property Manager to Head of the Property Management centre. Laura oversaw over 3000 properties and won multiple awards for her efforts.
Vanessa Sorzano-Ince
HR Officer
Prior to joining the Trust Vanessa worked in the construction industry for over 6 years where she progressed into an Office Manager position, specialising in procurement, finance, payroll administration, website design, HR, health and safety and digital marketing.
Vanessa graduated with a Second Upper Class Honours Degree in Business Administration at Coventry University and is currently working on expanding her knowledge and skill set in HR. Vanessa brings with her an enhanced level of communication skills and practical administration expertise.