Our Schools

The Bay Learning Trust is a community of like-minded schools. We serve our community to enable pupils to flourish and achieve excellence. The Trust was set up by Ripley St Thomas Church of England Academy in 2017. Ripley is a large Academy with nearly 1800 students, 400 of whom are in the Sixth Form. The Academy has been graded “Outstanding” in its last two Ofsted inspections. Ripley has its own SCITT (School Centred Initial Teaching Training), which was also graded “Outstanding” in 2017.

In 2018 we were delighted to welcome Carnforth High School into our Trust family, and then Morecambe Bay Academy and Central Lancaster High School in 2019.

Who Are We?

Our Team.

We have a growing central team who work closely with our Academies, offering a range of support services and advice.

Sally Kenyon – Chief Executive Officer

Sue Farrimond – Deputy Chief Executive Officer

Andrew McKinnell – Chief Operating Officer/Chief Finance Officer

Catherine Walmsley -Executive Principal and Director of School Improvement

John Cowper – Executive Principal

Gavin Gomersall – Director of Operations

Paul Jarvis – Director of Finance and Operations

Felicity Ackroyd – Director of SCITT and Teacher Development

Nick Walmsley – Deputy Director of SCITT

Matt Armstrong – Assistant Director of SCITT

Dave Chapman – Assistant Director of SCITT

Francesca Holmes – SCITT Business Support Manager

Ian Jones – Trust ICT Manager

Georgina Tyler Cole – Payroll & Pensions Manager

Caroline Wilson – HR Associate

Fiona Graham – Governance Professional

Danielle Wynne – Trust Finance Manager

Georgina Milce – HR Administrator

Eleanor Duncan-Jameson – PA to the CEO

Zoe Bullough – Trust Finance Assistant

Our Values

As the founding school, Ripley’s Christian ethos sits at the heart of the ethos of our Multi Academy Trust. You can read more about our partnership of faith and community schools via our Blackburn Diocese page.

Excellence, Integrity and Service sit at the heart of all we do and underpin how we work together within our schools and our wider community.