Our Team

Jonathan Bishop

Executive Headteacher & English Hub Strategic Leader, The Cornerstone Academy Trust

Jonathan Bishop is CEO and Executive Headteacher of the Cornerstone Academy Trust. Its founding school, Broadclyst Primary School, is an oversubscribed and successful Outstanding school. Jonathan as the CEO has led on opening two new Free Schools on the edge of Exeter at Westclyst and Monkerton. More recently, Yeo Valley, Marpool, Clyst Heath and Countess Wear Primaries have joined the Cornerstone Trust journey.

Jonathan is a National Leader of Education, leads the English Hub, and is one of the first Microsoft Showcase Academy Trusts in the world.

As both headteacher of Broadclyst and now trust CEO, Jonathan has led a drive that every child will leave primary school as a reader.

Nina Rothery

English Hub Lead, Head of School, Westclyst Community Primary School

Nina has led the Cornerstone English Hub since its formation in September 2018. She has been teaching for 14 years and has been a member of the Cornerstone Academy Trust senior leadership team for 10 years. She is currently the Head of School at Broadclyst.

Nina’s specialist areas are early years, curriculum development, staff development and CPD, student training and SEN.

As part of the trust leadership team, she made Broadclyst one of the first academies in the country in 2010, extended the Cornerstone Multi-Academy Trust and successfully bid for two new free schools, opened a school-run nursery, developed an international KS2 business project with Microsoft and opened the Cornerstone Teaching Academy.

Michael Kimber

English Hub Lead, Broadclyst Community Primary School

Michael is the Cornerstone Professional Development lead and has been a core part of the Cornerstone English Hub since it began its journey in 2019. In recent years, Michael has been leading on the Transforming Schools Reading Cultures programme and leading professional development opportunities during our conferences and networking events. Since January 2023, Michael has taken on the role of English Hub Lead alongside Nina.

Hannah Westlake

Literacy Specialist

Hannah is an experienced KS1 teacher who has helped ensure a high standard of phonics teaching is maintained across a growing multi-academy trust. She has a passion for influencing the lives of children and giving every child the best possible start to their reading journey. Recently, taking on the role of KS1 phase lead, she has led by example, setting high standards and modelling phonics teaching to colleagues as well as at English Hub showcase events.

Hannah is also passionate about supporting teachers, empowering them to use all available tools to ensure best outcomes for children. She leads regular training sessions and supports teachers to assess and group children effectively. Upon identifying children who need extra support, she works closely with teachers to put practical plans in place to have the biggest impact. As a Year 1 teacher, Hannah has experience of the phonics screening check, managing the delivery as well as providing training to parents, student teachers and CPD for colleagues.

Emma Orchard

Literacy Specialist

Emma is an experienced KS1 and Early Years Teacher, who has over 10 years of experience teaching Phonics and early reading in a range of schools across Devon. She has supported and mentored students in their pursuit to become aspirational teachers and, more recently has taken on the role of EYFS Deputy Phase Lead, supporting the Reception class teachers across the trust to develop and maintain language rich environments that develop and nurture those early skills that enable every child to become a reader.

Emma has a passion for Phonics and early reading, she is committed to supporting teachers of reading to expand their knowledge of Phonics, enabling them to develop the skills to confidently deliver high quality lessons so that all children are able to reach their reading potential.

Laura Mercy

Literacy Specialist

Laura is currently standing in as an Early Years Phase Lead across a multi academy trust, modeling good practice and guiding others in the delivery of purposeful early phonics and reading interventions. She was appointed this role due to her extensive experience as a Reception teacher and as a mentor to student teachers and NQTs.

Laura is committed to supporting individuals to expand their performance capabilities, nurturing and building their skills so that they too can confidently deliver high quality phonics lessons. Through inspiring others to work with the same drive and focus to improve outcomes each year, Laura is diligent in her pursuit of a language rich environment where all children can progress to becoming fluent readers.

Lucy Lees

Literacy Specialist

Lucy has worked for ten years in education, teaching across all three Primary stages. Having been part of the Cornerstone Academy Trust for many years, she has direct experience of integrating 21st Century IT skills into everyday teaching, in an engaging, purposeful, real-life way.

Lucy’s passion for reading has now lead her to become Reading Leader for the Trust; a role which involves overseeing and supporting the delivery of the Trust’s systematic synthetic phonics approach. She works closely with teachers, teaching assistants and phase leaders to deliver outstanding reading provision. This includes facilitating the delivering of day-to-day phonics teaching, supporting the lowest 20%, putting in place tutoring provision and providing personalised and relevant CPD for staff.

Tonia Dudley

Literacy Specialist

Tonia has been a teacher for 15 years and her passion for teaching the youngest children, has been the backbone of her career and where she has gained a wealth of knowledge and experience of children and their early development. Tonia is the Early Years Phase Lead for the Trust and has become an SLE and a Lead Practitioner in Early Years, specialising in supporting the transitions of children in their first years at school. She recognises the importance of establishing a curriculum that is engaging and purposeful, whilst ensuring that assessments and observations are used effectively to ensure good progress.

She is passionate about the need for effective communication and relationships between parents and teachers and acknowledges that allowing parents access to their child’s learning and development, is key to effective collaboration. Tonia is also one of our Literacy Specialists and supports the English Hub in delivering conferences, network events and supporting schools in delivering their Phonics Programmes.

Chloe-Rose Godwin

Literacy Specialist

Chloe is the KS1 phase lead for a growing multi-academy trust that has maintained high phonics scores for several years. With experience teaching in both Year 1 and Year 2, Chloe offers a wealth of knowledge and practical insights into the phonics journey, from early stages to more advanced reading skills.

In her role as KS1 phase lead, Chloe leads by example, setting high standards and modelling effective phonics teaching. She is actively involved in showcasing her phonics strategies at English Hub events and regularly supports her colleagues in improving their practice. Chloe also delivers the Supporting Early Language Development CPD programme, a collaborative initiative with Speech and Language UK that provides consistent, medium-level support across the English Hub network.

Chloe is dedicated to supporting teachers by providing training and guidance. She helps educators assess and group children effectively and works closely with them to create practical plans for students who need extra support.

Hannah James

Literacy Specialist

Hannah leads Early Years at the Cornerstone Academy Trust and has over twenty years of experience in education. She has taught every Primary year group and has led in a variety of school settings, from small village schools to larger schools with two classes per year group. Although she has enjoyed all her teaching and leadership roles, her true passion is in Early Years education. Hannah is committed to helping young children reach their full potential and supporting staff with the skills and enthusiasm needed to do so.

Alongside her role at TCAT, Hannah also works as a Literacy Specialist for the Cornerstone English Hub. She finds this role highly rewarding and believes that her extensive experience allows her to help schools improve early reading skills, no matter their size or circumstances.

Sarah Thorn

Literacy Specialist

Sarah is a KS1 teacher and has extensive first-hand experience in phonics teaching, monitoring pupil progress and delivering interventions. In recent years, she has become increasingly involved in the training of student teachers and NQTS and has been working across a multi academy trust to support with the implementation of a systematic synthetic phonics programme.

Sarah has also been involved in the creation of a coherent tracking system that allows teachers to assess and record pupil’s progress in both reading and comprehension. This framework has proved invaluable, ensuring that children’s weaknesses are addressed, and strengths are built upon. The success of this tracking method has been evident trust wide.

Victoria Kennard

Literacy Specialist

Vicki is part of the leadership team for a growing multi academy trust that has sustained high phonics scores over a number of years. Within her role as a KS1 lead she has been involved in maintaining a structured and consistent phonics programme and in designing coherent tracking systems to support teachers in monitoring pupil progress in phonics and early reading.

Supporting and leading professional development has been central to Vicki’s leadership role and she has collaborated with external trainers in order to communicate best practice and equip teachers with the tools necessary for long-term structural change for the benefit of their pupils.

Anne Oxenbury

Hub Administrator

Anne is one of our Hub Administrators at the Cornerstone Hub Team.
Her role is focused on the smooth management of showcase and network events, as well as coordinating support of partner schools by the Hub's literacy specialist team. Please contact her with any queries that you may have.

Kirsty Gardener

Hub Administrator

Kirsty is one of our Hub Administrators at the Cornerstone Hub Team.
Her role is focused on the smooth management of showcase and network events, as well as coordinating support of partner schools by the Hub's literacy specialist team. Please contact her with any queries that you may have.

Venezia Wilbourne

Marketing Manager

Venezia is our Marketing Manager for Cornerstone Academy Trust.

Since 2021 she has been in charge of marketing, social media and graphic design for the Cornerstone English Hub. Please feel free to contact her if you have any questions.