Carla is an experienced leader, who has worked with many national groups and educational influencers. As CEO of Empower Trust. Carla was previously Headteacher of Oakmeadow CE Primary and Nursery School – a Local Authority Advisor and a National College Founding member, sitting on the Leading advisory board at the Chartered College between 2019-2020. Carla is NAHT President within the Shropshire branch, a member of Shropshire Schools Forum and an Executive coach for LLSE.
Carla has been an active voice in Shropshire education for over 10 years, working in close partnership with other Heads to make effective change locally. Carla met Educational secretary, Justine Greening in 2019 as part of this work with Shropshire Heads and has experience of working with Ministers and DfE officials on education policy issues.
As a LA advisor, Executive coach and local leader, Carla has supported over 20 schools and academies in improvement. Under Carla’s leadership Oakmeadow gained outstanding for leadership and management and an outstanding SIAMS inspection.
Carla has led quality assurance work in another successful MAT within Shropshire prior to her CEO role, designed innovative school-led school-to-school support mechanisms, devised networks for effective collaboration between schools, all leading to improved outcomes for Shropshire children.
Carla has delivered keynote speeches at regional and national conferences and has extensive experience specialising in SEND & Safeguarding.
Empower Trust: Strengthening Our Impact Since 2023
Since 2023, Empower Trust has significantly strengthened its impact with the appointment of strategic leads to expertly guide our schools in core areas and welcomed our new Director of Education, Sam Scott. These appointments have made a notable difference in school improvement support cross our trust, increased funding for SEND, enhanced inclusion development, developed our teaching and learning expertise, and supported curriculum development.
We are proud to be listed in the expert directory for the regional support team, collaborating with other schools and trusts within and outside of Shropshire to share our knowledge and experience. As an outward-facing trust, we work nationally to secure quality education for our young people and communities.
Over the past nine months, we have restructured parts of our shared services to offer a robust centralised support system, allowing our schools to focus on what truly matters. Our efforts have been recognized with recent award nominations, and we have strong ambitions to grow and positively impact more young lives in the coming years.
A highlight of 2024 was the strong Ofsted judgments in two of our schools and the significant rapid improvement in a previously struggling school. This achievement underscores our team’s dedication to ensuring all Empower children receive the education they deserve.