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Our Trust of Schools

Tim Rutherford

Deputy Chief Executive Officer

Tim believes schools make society better and that there is nowhere greater to start making the world a better place than working in a school, in a place you love.  He has a track record of rapid school improvement having led West Exe from being a sponsored academy in January 2017 to now being recognised as one of the highest performing schools in Devon. Prior to this he led St James to become oversubscribed and achieve the best results in the school’s history. He believes in the importance of school improvement as a way of reducing inequality and ensuring all children leave school and go on to live a life of opportunity.

He is a passionate believer in growing and developing leaders at all levels. This has resulted in a successful Leadership Development Programme across all 16 schools within our Trust, and his partnership working with other Trusts has seen the creation of SW100, a collaboration which is fighting to eradicate educational inequality in Devon and Cornwall, by developing the next cohort of Headteachers across the region.

Tim began working in schools in the South West in 2001. He enjoys working with School leaders both within and outside our Trust to support them in planning for the future, developing school improvement strategies and recruitment and succession planning, and he continues to coach and mentor a number of new Headteachers in the region.

Tim was a headteacher of two schools within our Trust, St James and West Exe, before being appointed Deputy CEO in 2020. Tim feels very lucky to work in places he loves, he has worked in the communities our schools serve for more than 20 years.