{"id":234044,"date":"2025-09-01T17:39:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T16:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/?p=234044"},"modified":"2025-09-01T17:40:26","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T16:40:26","slug":"delta-academies-trust-names-sir-paul-tarn-successor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/delta-academies-trust-names-sir-paul-tarn-successor\/","title":{"rendered":"Delta Academies Trust names Sir Paul Tarn successor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The new boss of England\u2019s second biggest MAT has been named following the departure of its long-serving leader, Sir Paul Tarn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andy Barnett has been appointed the new CEO of Delta Academies Trust<\/a>, succeeding Tarn, who held the position for nine years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tarn stepped down at the end of the 2024-25 academic year, having already worked on a \u201ccomprehensive succession plan\u201d with the chain<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barnett, formerly Delta\u2019s associate CEO, said: \u201cOver the last 10 years, under Sir Paul\u2019s leadership and thanks to a remarkable team effort across our whole organisation, Delta has established itself as a trust that is academically strong and financially secure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delta in ‘incredibly strong position’<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am looking forward to building on what has been achieved to date and continuing to give children and young people the education they deserve to lead successful lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tarn took over the trust, then called School Partnership Trust Academies, in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Andy Barnett<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A month later then Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw published a scathing letter naming and shaming trusts for \u201cserious weaknesses that were contributing to poor progress and outcomes for too many pupils\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tarn previously recalled<\/a> how the MAT \u201chad schools in special measures, lots of RI schools and the finance was absolutely broken\u201d when he stepped in, calling it a \u201ccomplete and utter mess\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also had a \u201cprojected \u00a38.6 million in-year deficit in 2016\u201317\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing on LinkedIn, Tarn noted \u201cresults for our children across all key stages have improved significantly\u201d, with \u201c100 per cent of schools\u201d rated \u2018good\u2019 or better by Ofsted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He leaves the \u201ctrust in an incredibly strong position, with most buildings and schools rebuilt and children and staff thriving in wonderful learning environments\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merger completed<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt has been a privilege and an honour to work with our friends and colleagues in the most rewarding profession I can imagine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy very best wishes across the sector. I would implore you to be ambitious for our children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delta\u2019s website says Barnett \u201chas a strong track record of transforming schools, having worked as a \u201ctrust secondary principal, executive principal, director of education and deputy CEO\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He \u201ccontributes to the wider educational landscape through leading trust-to-trust support, developing leaders and sharing expertise to help shape the future of education\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Delta has also completed its merger with Coast and Vale Learning Trust. The move has taken its schools tally from 57 to 63.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only United Learning Trust is larger.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New CEO will \u2018build on what has been achieved to date\u2019 as he takes over the reins<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":311204,"featured_media":200111,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[32,679],"post-theme":[3304],"class_list":["post-234044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-academies","tag-movers-and-shakers","post-theme-movers-and-shakers"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t