As Mr Ian Tucker begins his role as Chief Executive Officer of Red Kite Learning Trust, we asked him a few questions about his background, values and priorities for our Trust.

What attracted you to Red Kite Learning Trust?

Since the pandemic, when so many meetings of education leaders were carried out online, Red Kite Learning Trust has been on my radar. It is a Trust that has always been seen as incredibly outward -facing and a sector leader in education. The values of collaboration, integrity and respect chime directly with my own and once the opportunity came up for me to join the Trust, I knew it was the time for me to make the move back to my roots in Yorkshire. Equally, as a person with very high expectations of myself, I was sure that I would be able to thrive in Red Kite Learning Trust.

Can you tell us a little about your background in education?

I was brought up in Ilkley and educated locally, even starting my first teaching job in, what was then, Wycliffe CE Middle School in Saltaire. A move to the South took place in 1996 and it was predominantly across Wiltshire that I was fortunate to teach and lead in  a wide range of primary and secondary schools. After twelve years as a primary school headteacher, I was given the opportunity to become a headteacher in the secondary age phase where I led three different secondary schools over a period of twelve years. After five years as an Executive Headteacher across two secondary schools, I was appointed as a CEO for Magna Learning Partnership in Salisbury. which is where I led a Trust of eleven schools and colleges, before taking up this new position at Red Kite Learning Trust. My career has taken me across inner city and rural settings, giving me a great breadth and understanding of the challenges and opportunities that the education sector faces.

What matters most to you as a leader?  

That we lead a system that supports schools to be able to make the biggest difference to the life chances of children and young people. It matters deeply to me that we do not settle for mediocrity when it comes to giving children and young people the very best opportunity in life that they can ever have. Supporting leaders to be confident in holding themselves accountable for providing an environment where excellence can flourish is a huge motivator for me.

What will your focus be in your first term at Red Kite Learning Trust?

I will spend as much time as I can continuing to meet people and to listen. The build-up to my arrival has been extremely thorough and there has been a huge amount of professional generosity shown to me. I can already see that the values of Red Kite run deep and it will be my job to continue to familiarise myself with the workings of our Trust at every level. Making sure that Red Kite Learning Trust continues to be very well placed as a pillar of strength locally and nationally will be a key priority for me and I look forward to sharing more with everyone on my plans in due course. One of my key areas of focus will be on continuing to drive our school improvement strategy to ensure a high quality of education across all of our schools.

What excites you most about the future of our Trust?

Red Kite Learning Trust has so many different elements to it. Not only is it highly regarded as a multi-academy trust in its own right but the work it supports with Red Kite Teacher Training, Teaching School Hub, Red Kite Alliance and Red Kite Connect are all hugely exciting and have a considerable part to play in our future. I look forward to nurturing and helping to develop all of those areas as well as continuing to be outward facing and committed to nurturing ambition, delivering excellence and enriching children’s lives.

And finally, outside of work, what do you enjoy?

As a father of three grown-up children, I love watching them develop and build their lives. I am also a huge sports fan (particularly rugby and cricket) and I am also enjoying trying to get myself back into running when I can. The outdoors is a huge draw for me and is part of the reason that I wanted to return to Yorkshire. Fundamentally, I really enjoy being around people which will perhaps explain why I will want to be ‘out and about’ so much.