School Improvement Team

From a very young age, Louise always wanted to be a teacher. In 1994, she was accepted in the College of St Mark and St John in Plymouth where she spent 4 years studying for a B.ED Hons with a Science specialism. On qualifying she moved back to Kent and started her teaching career in a four form entry Infant School.  In 1998, she met her future husband and moved to Cambridgeshire.  There she progressed her career taking on responsibilities such as EYFS lead, KS1 lead and SENDCo. After 12 years she moved schools to take on a Deputy Headship at an Infant School. She went on to become the headteacher and for 10 years ran an outstanding school. In 2017, Louise took on the strategic leadership of Primary East a Suffolk based teaching school. During this time she took on the interim headship of Ixworth and shortly after was successfully appointed to the role of Improvement Officer for The Tilian Partnership.  Louise feels privileged to work with such dedicated and motivated staff and is particularly proud of the autonomy, integrity and partnership the Trust promotes. 

Roisin studied English at university and had no intention of becoming a teacher! But, she was persuaded to do a Post Graduate Certificate in Education and the rest is, as they say, history.

Roisin has enjoyed teaching and leading in a variety of roles and locations,  from Kenya to the Isle of man, as a teacher, advisor, SENCO, Central Area Suffolk Healthy Eating Lead, Assistant Head-teacher and finally, Head-teacher in her current role at Wilby Primary School. Roisin has been Head-teacher at Wilby for seven years now and alongside this role enjoys providing local head-teacher mentoring and support and studying for the Professional Coaching Diploma she has recently begun. The school recently joined the Tilian MAT and already feels that the support and challenge provided by the academy is core to ensuring that Wilby is the very best that it can be.

Marie Bird has over 20 years of teaching experience and is Early Years trained. Having spent much of her career working within EYFS, she has also taught across Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2; she brings a broad understanding of learning across all primary phases. Marie holds a Bachelor of Education with QTS (Hons) from De Montfort University and served as an Assistant Headteacher for ten years. 

Marie recently joined the Tilian Trust as Headteacher of Ixworth Church of England Primary School. Having  worked exclusively in Church of England schools, Marie believes strongly that the values underpinning Church schools closely align with her own and should be lived out through daily practice within the school community.

Marie is passionate about creating a safe, inclusive school culture with high expectations, where children are encouraged to take risks in their learning and leave primary school as confident, happy and independent learners.

Kelly began her career educating in Early Years and has more recently focused on teaching upper Key Stage Two. She has served as a senior teacher, who has taken on the additional responsibilities of leading the development of science across ten Suffolk primary schools. Kelly holds a BA (Hons) degree in Childhood and Youth Studies and earned her PGCE from Canterbury Christ Church University. Currently, she is pursuing a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Management to further enhance her leadership skills.

Kelly has recently joined the Tilian Trust as the interim Headteacher for Bardwell C of E Primary School and is looking forward to having the opportunity to develop her strategic vision for the school. She brings experience from her previous roles within the St Edmundsbury and Ipswich Diocesan Multi-Academy Trust, where she contributed to school improvement and leadership across multiple settings. Kelly is committed to fostering a positive school culture that aligns with the trust’s values and promotes high standards for all pupils.

Having predominantly worked in small, rural schools, Kelly values the close-knit, family-like environment these settings offer. She is passionate about setting high expectations and cultivating intrinsic learning behaviours that prepare children to leave primary school as resilient and confident learners. Kelly firmly believes in maintaining high standards while fostering a supportive atmosphere that encourages independence and growth.

Simon grew up knowing that he always wanted to be a teacher. After graduating from Bath Spa University with a degree in history and education, and a year working as a SEND teaching assistant, Simon completed his PGCE and his teaching career began. After 3 years teaching in Lowestoft, and another 3 in Norwich, Simon moved to Diss and the challenge of working across multiple schools. 

At Diss, Simon took on the responsibility for leading English before becoming Lead Practitioner and then Assistant Headteacher. It was also at Diss where he moved from the familiar comfort of teaching Key Stage 2 to gain valuable experience teaching Key Stage 1 and then Reception.

In the last 2 years before moving to Wilby, Simon took on the responsibility for the day to day running of a small village school (whilst continuing to work as assistant headteacher across 2 other sites). All of this was valuable experience and preparation for taking the step into headship, which Simon did by moving to Wilby in September 2025.

Richard graduated from Lancaster University in 2000 and began a teaching career in North Suffolk, before taking on a variety of leadership roles in Ipswich based schools. He gained a Masters degree in Primary Education in 2007 and is also a MaST specialist maths teacher and a senior mental health leader. Richard has been a headteacher since 2018 in schools in Suffolk and Essex and has been at Gislingham since 2022.

As an Outdoor Education specialist, Richard believes in education outside of the classroom and this is evident through the school's links with local farms and the Woodland estates.

Richard aims to provide children with a varied and holistic education experience full of fun, motivational and engaging opportunities.

Jess is a Suffolk girl, having attended Ringshall Primary School, Stowmarket Middle School and then Ipswich High School. She graduated from Homerton College, University of Cambridge, in 2003 with a BA (Hons) in English and Education Studies and qualified as a primary school teacher with a PGCE from Cambridge University in 2007. Jess also completed a Masters course in 2012 focusing on changing pedagogies.

Jess began her teaching career in one of the largest primary schools in Ipswich, where she became Year Group Leader; after six years, she moved to another primary school in Ipswich, in the role of Phase Leader, where she completed her NPQML. Her move to Kersey as Senior Teacher was a further promotion and she began in her role as Maths lead. This led her to begin training as a Primary Maths Mastery Specialist with NCETM; Jess trained two cohorts of other local schools to teach Maths Mastery and was very fortunate to have the opportunity to travel to Shanghai in 2018 for a DfE exchange programme to see this teaching in practice in two schools in the city. Following this trip, Jess was invited to interview for the role of Acting Head Teacher at Kersey and was successful; on the same day, the whole country went into lockdown and Jess effectively led the school through the entire pandemic and then later that year, the academisation process to join Tilian. Jess became Co-Head Teacher on her return from maternity leave in 2022.

Jess feels privileged and honoured to be leading Kersey Primary School alongside her Co-Head colleague. 

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Clare is an experienced educational leader with over 20 years in teaching and school leadership. As Headteacher at Rougham, she successfully led the school from “inadequate” to “good with many outstanding features,” driving improvement through strong vision, strategic planning, and the development of a highly competent team. Many of her staff now hold leadership roles across the Trust, reflecting her commitment to coaching, mentoring, and building sustainable excellence. In addition to her role as Headteacher, Clare supports new heads across the Trust, helping them navigate challenges and establish strong foundations for long-term success.

Born and raised in Suffolk, Clare studied History before training to teach through SCITT Ipswich. Outside of work, she enjoys walking and spending time with her family.

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Ever since he was young, Matt has always wanted to be a teacher and he fondly remembers visiting schools during the holidays with his mum, who was a Teaching Assistant at the time, to refresh display boards. His journey through education has been to fulfil this ambition. 

Matt studied for his BSc in Geography at Loughborough University before completing his PGCE at Plymouth University. Since then, Matt has completed his MaST Specialist Maths Teacher, NPQSL and NPQH qualifications. 

Matt has been a member of school leadership teams in various roles for over 15 years including as a ADSL, phase leader, maths and curriculum lead, data lead and as assistant headteacher. Most recently in 2024, Matt joined the Tilian Partnership as the headteacher of Orford CoE Primary School and loves the family feel that small rural schools have.

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