Paul is ‘immensely proud’ to take on the CEO role

The new chief executive of a Telford-based education trust says he is ‘immensely proud’ to have taken on the role.

Paul Roberts has been with the Learning Community Trust since the day it was founded, and has held a series of roles including principal of Hadley Learning Community, and the Trust’s executive principal, and deputy chief executive.

Before joining the Trust, Paul began his education career in Wednesbury, moving onto Abraham Darby in Madeley, and later in Sandwell where he led a number of sixth form centres across the West Midlands.

“Before the Trust started in 2017, I had a traditional head teacher’s role, managing day-to-day operations at HLC where I began working 17 years ago,” he said. 

“But in the years since, my role has become much wider, not only focusing on education but now looking at systems and processes across a number of different schools, building relationships, and leading the operational side of education business.”

He added: “The CEO role is so exciting as no two days are ever the same. It’s a real mixture of supporting fantastic head teachers at our primary, secondary and specialist schools and navigating through the business side of running a large Trust.” 

And the best thing about the job, in Paul’s opinion? “The potential to be able to make a real difference. I have a vision of how we want things to be – a five-year plan to build what I believe is going to be an even more magical place for staff and students.”  

The Learning Community Trust runs more than a dozen school sites across Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin. They include five secondary schools – Hadley Learning Community, Charlton, Ercall Wood, New Road Academy in Wrockwardine Wood, and Burton Borough in Newport.

In addition to this, it runs primary schools in Wellington, Hadley, Crudgington, Allscott, and Ketley Bank, plus three specialist education academies – Kickstart in Priorslee, Queensway in Hadley Park and Dawley, and Severndale in Shrewsbury.

Paul said: “My personal priority is to ensure every child reaches their full potential; not by simply passing through an exam-focused system, but by shaping their character through diverse experiences that enrich their personality and prepare them for life beyond our Trust. We want young people to leave our schools and flourish.

“We are a Trust very much focused on our communities. Having been in education for a long time I know that if you have a strong community, you have a strong school – and vice-versa. 

“I have grown up in Telford and am desperate to see the area become an even greater success. I want LCT to play a huge part in developing schools and communities for everyone.”

He added: “I was there on the first day when we decided to create this Trust, so to go from that first day in the office to now holding this position is something which makes me immensely proud.

“I feel incredibly fortunate to be surrounded by fantastic people who always put our children at the heart of every decision. Their dedication makes everything I aim to achieve possible. 

“Alongside delivering outstanding exam results and creating amazing opportunities for our young people, I’m passionate about building strong community foundations around each of our schools – foundations we can grow year after year to support our families and the wider local area.”

Paul has taken over the chief executive’s role from Jane Hughes, who has moved on for personal and family reasons.