About Anne Martin

Anne is the former founding Chief Executive Officer of QEGSMAT (2017-2024), former member of East Midlands and Humber Headteacher Board (2017-2022) and National Leader for Education. She is a National Coach for Women into Leadership, a Fellow of the Chartered College of Leadership, a School Improvement Advisor with Derbyshire Local Authority and an Associate Mentor working with Sir Michael Wilshaw and Academicis.

Anne began her secondary school teaching career in 1991 in Stoke-on-Trent. She became an Advanced Skills Teacher in 2001, has had various senior leadership roles in a variety of contexts, has been a Headteacher in Stoke-on-Trent (2010) and then at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Ashbourne (2012). Anne was the first female Headteacher in the school’s history of over 430 years. Queen Elizabeth’s achieved Ofsted Outstanding for Leadership & Management (2014) and Anne led the school to form a Mixed Multi Academy Trust of 7 schools – both primary and secondary (2017). Whilst serving as CEO forQEGSMAT she became the interim CEO for another MAT in Derby City (2020-2021). Anne has served as a member of the Derby Diocesan Academy Trust (2017-2022) and she continues to work in partnership with schools and academies locally and nationally.

Spanning over three decades Anne has been involved in coaching and mentoring. She believes in prioritising positive relationships, embracing opportunities, surrounding yourself with others who can challenge and inspire you and who often have the expertise that you do not necessarily have, whilst never compromising on your values. She has a strong record of school improvement in rural and city schools, primary, secondary and sixth form, with a focus on utilising the power of education to improve children and young people’s lives for the better.

In response to recent demands of the sector, Anne has worked with leaders on a range of challenges and priorities, including:

  • Growth of a Trust, including a merger, and change management

  • Succession planning and growing your own staff

  •  Roles and responsibilities of governance at all levels

  •  Strategic and operational leadership

  •  Embedding accountability at all levels

  •  School improvement and quality assurance

  •  Curriculum development

  •  Developing and embedding a culture and ethos to support all/any of the above and never forget to make time for yourself.

Anne firmly believes that young people have just one chance in education – we must do everything we can to make sure that it is the very best it can be and, as a profession, we can continue to learn from each other and offer support and challenge to raise the standards of education for all young people regardless of their starting points.