Sara Lawrenson is a highly experienced, values-driven system leader, guided by a clear moral purpose to improve the lives of children through first-class education. She is deeply committed to ensuring that every child, regardless of background, has access to the opportunities they deserve, and that every school and community she serves is strengthened and enriched through her work. She believes in a system that works as one body with many parts, where collaboration, shared responsibility and collective strength enable all to thrive.
As a National Leader of Education, Sara has a strong track record of transforming schools, enabling them to secure judgements of Good or better through a relentless focus on impact, capacity-building and sustainable improvement.
Sara brings significant strategic leadership experience from her role as Director of Education within a multi-academy trust, where she secured consistently strong outcomes across all schools. Her work reflects a deep understanding of school improvement, accountability and the evolving educational landscape, alongside a commitment to building connected systems in which every school contributes to and benefits from collective strength.
A former SIAMS inspector, Sara is passionate about the distinctiveness and ethos of Church of England education. She is committed to ensuring that strong academic outcomes are achieved alongside the development of deeply inclusive, values-led communities where every child can flourish.
With particular expertise in safeguarding, inclusion and leadership development, Sara has supported schools, headteachers and system leaders at both trust and local authority level. She is a strong advocate for collaboration, believing that investing in people and partnerships is key to creating sustainable, long-term improvement.
As Chief Executive Officer, Sara leads with clarity, integrity and ambition, empowering leaders, strengthening communities and ensuring that every school within the Trust is equipped to thrive and deliver the very best for its pupils.