Shane Ierston

Shane Ierston was a successful academy Principal for nine years before taking up his post as CEO at the Great Schools Trust. In 2012, he became the founding Principal of King’s Leadership Academy Warrington, which was later judged outstanding under his leadership. King’s Warrington was the first academy in the Trust and performs in the top 4% of state schools nationally for progress. Shane’s career spans 26 years across a range of settings, his portfolio includes school transformation and cross Trust improvement work for the DfE. Shane is a fellow of the Chartered Management Institute and served as an Inspector at Ofsted for 6 years.

Quote from the Chief Executive:

“Having spent considerable time researching education establishments across the world, I passionately believe that children’s lives can be transformed when their learning is grounded in deep human values; this is why at Great Schools Trust we have chosen the dual specialisms of character and leadership to prepare our students for the future."

I believe that the core purpose of education comes down to service; meeting the needs of the wider community humanises us and allows our young people to take their place in society.  As a Trust, it is our shared values which empower us to act during difficult times and our character which keeps us true to that path once the journey begins. Ultimately, people want to live meaningful lives with purpose.  We want our students to follow their dreams and use their leadership skills to contribute positively to society. In serving our community, we aim to establish a strong sense of moral purpose which resonates with staff, parents and our young leaders. Caring for our learning culture is at the heart of the Trust’s mission and allows both staff and students to flourish and feel valued.

The culture permeating our ‘family of schools’ is based on the founding values of our ASPIRE code. These values can be said to act almost like an ‘immune system’ by guiding the decision-making of leaders.  The principles can be summarised by seven pillars which underpin our shared philosophy as follows: Aspiration and Achievement; Self-awareness; Professionalism; Integrity; Respect and Endeavour.  It is important that every day we each try to uphold and protect these values - we must do this not because it is easy, but because it is not - it is this commitment which generates tremendous alignment across the Trust and ensures that over time excellence can become a habit.