Our Executive Team (ID 1261)

• Michael Tonge
  Chief Executive Officer
  Michael Tonge

  Mike has taught in every year group across the primary range. He has held a wide variety of management and leadership positions across the primary phase.

  He became head of Prestolee Primary School in 2005. Since then Prestolee has moved from a requires improvement school to an outstanding one as well as a key system leadership school.The trust is built around the core value that every child deserves a first-class education. Mike believes strongly in the importance of effective primary practice as the foundation for building a strong lifelong education.

  As the Chief Executive of the Trust, he oversees our community of practice. He is well supported by a highly effective leadership team and school improvement team. Alongside his role as CEO, he is a lead Ofsted inspector and a founder and member of the executive steering group for the Greater Manchester Learning Partnership. He sits on a number of boards for system leadership across Greater Manchester and is committed to supporting schools to succeed through school-led solutions. He was a National Leader of Education and has supported school improvement across the region and beyond to develop.

  He believes our Trust succeeds because it is about empowering others and building great communities of practices across our communities and across the region. All of the solutions to the challenges we face are out there somewhere. We simply have to work together to find them.

• Rebecca Dunne
  Deputy Chief Executive Officer / Chief Operations Officer
  Rebecca Dunne

  Rebecca Dunne is Deputy CEO of Prestolee Multi Academy Trust and as a system leader provides school improvement expertise both locally and nationally. She has led Prestolee Primary School as the Head and been part of team Prestolee for many years. Within the Trust her leadership role includes being the Executive Head teacher of Waterloo Primary School, Strategic lead for Prestolee SCITT and leading school to school support improving leadership and management throughout and beyond the Teaching School Alliance and Trust, with a particular focus on quality assurance.

  Rebecca began her career as an NNEB and undertook Initial Teacher Training (ITT) through the graduate teaching programme. This foundation of school led teacher training and leadership development has been key to her commitment to building capacity in the Trust through a process of both external recruitment and developing leaders within the Trust. Progressing from newly qualified teacher to Head of school at Prestolee, Rebecca was integral to the school becoming first outstanding, and later a National Teaching School specialising in assessment and leadership. Through her commitment to school led ITT Rebecca successfully led Prestolee’s School Direct Programme training over 3 years and supported the transition to become a SCITT.

  In her spare time Rebecca is an amateur painter and cat lover and is slowly becoming a plant collector.

• Vikki Semple
  Head of Governance & Compliance
  Vikki Semple

  As a Governance Professional, Vikki has responsibility for leading and developing governance at all levels across the Trust. Her role is to provide support, advice and guidance to Trustees and Governors and ensure there is strong strategic leadership and oversight of all schools within the Trust.

  She has previously led Governor Support Services in two Local Authorities. Throughout her career, she has been responsible for influencing and improving governance in both LA-maintained schools and academy trusts, and she has successfully implemented strategies that have had a positive impact. She has also managed professional clerking services that have provided support to hundreds of schools.

  Vikki has extensive experience in governance, having worked in the sector for 20 years. She was previously a Senior Governance Support Officer delivering an extensive governor training programme and providing high levels of support to boards to ensure high-quality governance. Vikki has often worked with Governing Boards following External Reviews of Governance to ensure the issues that have been identified are addressed effectively. The impact of this work has been recognised by subsequent Ofsted inspections. She has worked across both the maintained and academy sectors.

  Vikki is a National Leader of Governance and delivers external reviews and support for schools and academy trusts through the National Leaders for Governance programme, on behalf of the NGA.

  Vikki is also an experienced governor, having served on maintained school governing boards for several years and as a Trustee on a Multi-Academy Trust board. Vikki is currently the Chair of the Governing Board at large Anglican Primary School.

• Karis Schroeder
  Head of People & Finance
  Karis Schroeder

  Karis has extensive business administration experience having worked in various support roles for 18 years after graduating with a Business Management degree from Liverpool John Moores University in 2006. In her early career Karis worked as a Personal Assistant; first in the construction industry and and more recently in the private healthcare sector before progressing into a HR role in 2015. In 2016 Karis completed her Level 5 CIPD qualification and worked as a HR Manager before she joined Prestolee in 2018.

  As Executive Assistant of Prestolee MAT Karis was responsible for supporting the CEO and Deputy CEO to ensure that the Trusts objectives are accomplished, and operations run efficiently. Karis has been instrumental in implementing new systems and working practices to ensure a smooth transition to new schools joining the trust.

• Stephen Holden
  Head of Trust Development & Partnerships
  Stephen Holden

  Stephen is Head of Trust Development and Partnerships at Prestolee Multi Academy Trust, where he leads on supporting the trust’s strategic development and building strong collaborations across the education system locally, regionally and nationally.

  He brings extensive leadership experience, having previously served as Director of Education and Skills at Bury Council and as an Executive Headteacher within Prestolee MAT. Earlier in his career, Stephen was Headteacher of Tottington Primary School and Deputy Headteacher at Castle Hill Primary School.

  Stephen is passionate about ensuring that every child has the very best start in life. He is committed to strengthening partnerships and sharing best practices to drive positive change across schools and communities, both within the trust and with wider networks.

• Alex Keane
  Head of Educational Standards & Improvement
  Alex Keane

  Alex is Head of Educational Standards & Improvement at Prestolee Multi Academy Trust, where she leads on driving school improvement, strengthening leadership capacity, and ensuring high standards of teaching and learning across the trust.

  She brings significant leadership experience, having served as Headteacher at Prestolee Primary School for nearly six years and as Executive Headteacher at Barton Moss Primary for three years. During this time, Alex successfully secured Outstanding and Good Ofsted outcomes, reflecting her ability to lead and sustain excellence in diverse school contexts. She has also worked as an Ofsted Inspector and completed the NPQEL, further developing her expertise in system-wide school improvement.

  Alex is passionate about ensuring every child, particularly those with SEND and from disadvantaged backgrounds, has access to a high-quality education. She is committed to fostering a culture of collaboration, evidence-informed practice, and professional learning across the trust, empowering leaders and teachers to deliver the very best outcomes for all pupils.