REAch2 Academy Trust is pleased to announce Cathie Paine as our new CEO. She will be replacing Sir Steve Lancashire, who is leaving after 10 years at the helm.
Cathie Paine is an exceptional leader with a long record of securing educational improvements at school and system leadership level and since 2012 has played a pivotal role as Deputy Chief Executive of the REAch2 Trust, creating the design of the Trust and overseeing its growth.
Appointed in 1998 to her first headship in a large school in the Ofsted “special measures” category, Cathie was at the time the youngest headteacher in England. She transformed the school, leading it to become “Good” in just four terms. Shaped by this, Cathie retains her passion for enabling children to flourish in an environment of outstanding practice.
This commitment to providing exceptional opportunities for learning is at the heart of the REAch2 model for school improvement through support, challenge and collaboration. The results speak for themselves with 87% of academies that have been inspected by Ofsted since joining REAch2, now graded as “Good” or “Outstanding” schools. To put this in context, just 17% of schools were “Good” or “Outstanding” before joining the Trust and 49% were “Inadequate”.
Gavin Robert, Chair of REAch2 said:
“We are confident that, in Cathie’s excellent hands, REAch2 has an exciting future and – thanks to our hard-working, dedicated staff – it will continue to benefit the children, families and communities within its reach. Both I and the whole Trust Board look forward to supporting Cathie in the development of a continued compelling vision for the Trust.”
In response to her appointment, Cathie said: “I am absolutely delighted to be appointed as CEO and I look forward to building on the strengths of the first ten years. We will continue our unremitting commitment to the children’s education and will broaden our horizons to respond to wider challenges, ensuring that tens of thousands of children are fully prepared for the changing world around them.”
