Meet Our Senior Leadership Team

Mark Allen
Principal
I am delighted, excited and bursting with pride, to be Principal at TASE. Our school offers our community a broad, balanced curriculum that sets the highest aspirations and deliver outstanding outcomes for all our children, no matter their starting point, or barrier.
Each and every day I have to pinch myself! I am in a role I love, am passionate about and I am living out my dream to change the lives of children via education. I am proud of every aspect of our school.
Our expert teaching, broad and balanced curriculum and genuine pastoral care that our children receive is truly world-class. We expect and deliver only the very highest standards. Our staff are experts in their field and are dedicated to giving the best life chances to the children of Barnsley. At St Edward's, we champion our children. We put them dead centre of our actions and decisions, We help them overcome barriers, no matter their starting point, help them develop resilience and give them the skills and confidence to cope with the challenges of modern-day life.
We strive to enable each other to be 'the best that we can be' and expect only the very best standards of work, behaviour and interactions. A student a St Edward's is happy, safe and they flourish in their studies and their relationships. They are passionate about their school and the chances they have; this fills me with a real sense of gratification.
We are so proud of all we have done in our first few years in our temporary building and in line with our parable, we are building strong foundations for the future of our children. We can't wait to do even more in our new build from next year.

Vicki Gilmore
Vice Principal
It was such a privilege to be appointed as a founding member of the Leadership Team at Trinity Academy St Edward’s.
With over 20 years' experience in education, teaching and leading at schools across Wakefield and Barnsley, it was such a privilege to be appointed as a founding member of the Leadership Team at Trinity Academy St Edward’s. Having the opportunity to be part of setting up the new school from its foundations was one of the best experiences of my life and the journey continues as we prepare to move into our brand new building.
As Vice Principal - Quality of Education, I am responsible for ensuring our curriculum is broad and balanced, knowledge rich, ambitious and enables all children to secure academic progress alongside amazing experiences which gives them lifelong memories.
Every day we work hard to embed our core values of empathy, honesty, respect and responsibility so every young person is prepared to be great citizens of the future. Our standards are high and we believe in every single one of our students.
Being a leader gives me the opportunity to share my experiences and curriculum expertise, alongside providing support and challenge to staff to ensure that every student receives the highest possible standard of education, experience and care. I am proud to work for Trinity MAT and to work closely with other leaders and our fantastic team of curriculum leaders to provide a ‘world class education through world class teaching’. Together, we enable each other to be the best we can be!

Sally Fisher
Associate Assistant Principal - Inclusion
I feel incredibly privileged to be part of this unique and exciting journey.
Since commencing in the role of Assistant Principal - Inclusion at TASE in September 2021, I have had the pleasure of welcoming three cohorts of students and their families to this amazing school. It has been an honour to watch our students develop, learn and grown into well-shaped and happy individuals. An important part of my role is to build, develop and maintain meaningful and lasting relationships with both our students and their families.
I have 21 years of experience in pastoral care, and I am incredibly passionate about ensuring all our students are supported academically and pastorally to provide positive school experiences and to help them to develop into well-equipped young adults ready to face the challenges of the world.
I have extensive experience of working with external agencies to help develop plans and implement various resources to help any of our students who require support. I am blessed to be supported by an amazing pastoral team who go above and beyond to ensure the well-being and happiness of all of our students.

Nikki Waite
Assistant Principal -Teaching and Learning
TASE is the place to be!
TASE is the place to be! I adore our school and everything we represent and promote; there truly is no other school I would rather work for! My heart is in the classroom, sharing my passion for all things English with inquisitive students who are eager to learn. My role enables me to visit lots of classrooms and work with teachers to ensure they have access to the most recent research and cognitive science behind how we learn. I love delivering professional development to staff and equipping them with the knowledge they need to be the experts in their field. I also oversee literacy across the academy and ensure that those who need extra support and intervention receive it and can access the curriculum. Finally, I work with other members of staff across the academy to shape our careers programme to all students. It has been both exciting and rewarding to see our careers offer develop and go from strength to strength, including being awarded 'Most Visionary Careers Programme' in South Yorkshire for 2022-23.

Laura Pearson
Assistant Principal - Personal Development
I am so excited to be joining the TASE family in September!
I am so excited to be joining the TASE family in September. I love how dedicated the students are both in and out of the classroom and can’t wait to be involved in offering even more amazing experiences to our students.
As a current Head of Girls PE, Head of Year 11 and Head of House I am passionate for all things student centred and am a strong believer that school is so much more than just progress made in the classroom. I can’t wait immerse myself in the INVOLVE activities and brilliant trips on offer alongside continuing to build on the house system to create even more inter-house competition and leadership opportunities for our students.
Outside of school I love to play Netball and spend time with my family and friends.