Marian Simmons

Marian’s background is in educational leadership and development. She has worked as an Ofsted Registered Inspector, inspecting schools across all phases; she was an Assistant Director for Education in Manchester and then Head of Education and Skills with Redcar and Cleveland.

Currently Marian is Director of Independent Coaching and Consultancy, working on school improvement and leadership development with headteachers and schools in the North-West.

Oldham Hulme Grammar School, Corporate Member

Represented by .......

Raz Mohammed

Raz has extensive experience of successfully working in some of the most challenging wards and towns in England including Dewsbury, Heckmondwike, Batley, Huddersfield, Blackburn and Oldham. More recently Raz has held various roles at Mahdlo (Oldham) Youth Zone and has recently returned from Blackburn Youth Zone as the interim CEO.

During Raz’s time in Oldham he has developed a new hub and bespoke service. Along the way his organisations were highly commended for Partnership Working and reducing anti-social behaviour by Greater Manchester Police. Raz represents the voice of young people and the voluntary sector on the Social Mobility Opportunity Area board for Oldham, The Arts, Culture and Mental Health Evaluation steering group and various other health and community forums and partnerships across Oldham and Greater Manchester.

Emma Farmer

Emma is the Director of Business Strategy for the Five Rivers Multi Academy Trust. Emma began her employment with Tinsley Junior School in September 2011. Prior to this she worked as Head of Unplanned Care within Doncaster Primary Care Trust; overseeing the commissioning, procurement and performance management of key NHS services.

Having spanned 15 years in the public sector, Emma has valuable HR, leadership, strategic finance and business skills. She is also a recognised SLE (Specialist Leader in Education) providing system leadership and consultancy across a number of schools.

Norman Hole

Norman worked 36 years for the Department for Education, latterly as Assistant Director leading on all aspects of the Academies programme in the Lancashire and West Yorkshire Region working closely with the Regional Schools Commissioner to deliver the government's policy for achieving sustained improvement in the region's schools.

Prior to that he was Assistant Director working on the development of the government's 10 Year National Youth Strategy "Aiming High" and leading the implementation and delivery of a number of cross-government and departmental youth programmes.

Andrew McCully, Chair of Trustees

Andrew retired in 2023 after a long career at the highest levels of the civil service:  26 years as a senior civil servant in the Department for Education and its predecessors, the last 12 of which he was the Director General on the Leadership Team of the Department responsible for the school system.  His wide range of policy roles during the Labour governments 1997-2010 included the establishment of a cross-Whitehall unit for children and young people’s outcomes, responsibility for school standards, the teacher workforce agreement, and cross-Whitehall delivery programmes in support of vulnerable young people.  His leadership roles under the Coalition and Conservative governments 2010-2023 included the academies and free schools programmes, school funding reform, safeguarding in schools, the teaching workforce and school curriculum and qualifications. 

He received an OBE in 2001 for public service and was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 2019 

Kit Thorne, Vice Chair

Kit has been a professional educator for over 40 years. His roles have comprised those of teacher in secondary and primary; adviser and Ofsted inspector in both phases; school improvement manager and strategic lead for continuing professional development (CPD) in schools and academies.

Graham McGuffie

Graham is an Independent Consultant. He has worked in education for over 40 years and in Oldham for 30 years as a senior leader in a secondary school and subsequently as a school adviser, trainer and governor.

He brings with him experience of working closely with the higher education sector, education advisers in neighbouring authorities and teacher networks.

He is a qualified School Improvement Partner.

Olwyn Smythe

Olwyn joined Yorkshire bank at the age of 19 whilst still deciding on a career and almost 40 years later is still in banking. Currently she works for HSBC looking after around 600 Premier clients with their banking, mainly their financial planning needs, pensions and investments.

Olwyn has welcomed the opportunity to be involved in the Trust as her daughter, Charlotte, is a teacher at Richmond Academy and has spoken of her passion for her career and the academy.

Ian Robinson

A Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers with over twenty years’ experience in the rail industry. Ian works for Alstom, managing a team supporting Alstom fleets across the world with safety issues, modernisation and decarbonisation. Ian has a range of professional experience including project delivery, safety management, risk assessment, asset management, due diligence, TUPE transfer and auditing.

Ian is the parent of a child with special educational needs and has a keen interest in the needs of SEND pupils within the school and the wider city of Derby. Ian was a Parent Governor of Carlyle Infants school from 2017 until it joined the Harmony Trust in 2019. Ian then joined the Derby Hub Board in 2019 and became a Trustee in 2020. Ian is the SEND Trustee and Chairs the Audit and Risk Committee.

Angela Lant

Angela has spent the last 15 years in senior leadership positions in education including Headteacher, Executive Headteacher and Primary Director for five schools based in Sheffield.

As a Headteacher she has worked with many Ofsted frameworks and has a good working knowledge of the latest framework and the emphasis it places on curriculum development and schools providing an education which is fit for purpose and bespoke to its community.

As a classroom teacher her passion was, and still is, for early years and the teaching of reading.

Due to working within a Trust before her retirement she has recent and relevant knowledge of the duties of Trusts and the accountability involved. She has a strategic view of education as well as the understanding of the impact that running schools can have on Headteachers and their senior leadership teams.

Nadia Saleh

Stuart Willis

Now semi-retired, Stuart has worked in manufacturing his whole career. Being the Managing Director of a limited company for 45 years, he has had opportunities to hone skills in managing people, finances and operations as well as determine the strategic direction of the company.

Stuart has been a Governor at Norden Community School for 6 years, serving on the Finance Committee and Resources Committee. As part of his role of Govenor he has been part of the recruitment of teaching and senior staff, has been integral to the setting up of the before and after school club which has been a vital source of extra income for school and was involved in the evaluation of various MATs in determining that Harmony was the way forward for the school.

Stuart is also an ALM, (Authorised Lay Minister), and leads services in his local churches. His particular focus is on Children’s Ministry and he has been involved in organising and delivering weekly youth services for over 13 years.

Tim Jay

Tim is Professor of Psychology of Education, and Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange for the Faculty of Social Sciences, at the University of Nottingham. Since training and then working as a secondary school mathematics teacher in the early 2000s, Tim has developed a career researching children's learning in formal and informal contexts, including in early years settings and primary schools. His work has included a focus on parental engagement and home-school communication, and, more recently, on children's financial literacy and financial education.

Rayan Littley

Rayan is an experienced leader in community engagement, governance, and safeguarding, with a strong background in sport and education. As Head of Community & Engagement at British Shooting, she leads strategic initiatives to foster inclusive participation and chairs key governance groups. She has held senior roles in national governing bodies, successfully delivering Sport England-funded projects and supporting grassroots clubs, volunteers, and organisations.

As a parent of a child at Carlyle Infant and Nursery Academy, Rayan is passionate about ensuring all children have access to high-quality education in a supportive and inclusive environment. Her expertise in stakeholder management, strategic planning, and safeguarding enables her to contribute effectively to The Harmony Trust’s mission, helping to shape positive opportunities for children and families.

 Suzanne Thompson

• guidance to ensure the board works in compliance with the appropriate legal and regulatory framework,  
• advice on procedural matters relating to the operation of the board, and
• administrative and organisational support.