As Chief Executive Officer of OAK Multi Academy Trust, Andy Wilson leads a family of schools united by a shared vision: Together we grow great schools. Since joining OAK in January 2022, Andy has worked closely with colleagues across the trust to strengthen collaboration, leadership and strategic development.
A Passion for Education and Helping Others
Andy’s commitment to improving lives began early. As a school pupil, he travelled to The Gambia to support community projects, helping to improve irrigation through a well. Two years later, at 18, he returned to co-lead the next group of pupils, supporting further initiatives including the building of classrooms to enhance education in the village. These experiences shaped his desire to contribute positively to communities.
At the age of 30, Andy decided to pursue his long-held ambition to teach. He retrained as a secondary mathematics teacher and went on to spend 20 years teaching mathematics from Year 5 to Further Mathematics at Year 13. He led mathematics departments and served as assistant principal, vice principal and then principal, before moving into an Executive Principal role overseeing five secondary schools during the Covid period.
When the opportunity to lead OAK arose at the end of 2021, Andy recognised the potential to build strong governance and strategic leadership across the trust’s schools.
Collaboration at the Heart of OAK
For Andy, the most enjoyable part of his role is visiting schools and working directly with colleagues and pupils. As he explains:
“It is very important for me to receive feedback from the schools, as I firmly believe that our greatest resource is our colleagues, alongside the perceptive student voice that we are fortunate to hear from our young people. Working with schools in this collaborative way allows us to build relationships, support one another, and work towards our shared vision of ‘together we grow great schools.’”
He highlights collaboration as a defining strength of OAK:
“This collaborative nature, where schools and leaders buy in and seek to support partner schools, makes us genuinely special.”
Andy also values the individual identities of each school, which he says are crucial to the trust’s collective voice and approach.
Driving Innovation and Inclusion
Andy’s priorities for the trust focus on a small number of strategic areas, including:
- Digital transformation, with the Frontiers iPad programme expanding to all OAK schools.
- Instructional coaching, ensuring Steplab is fully embedded and continually developing.
- SEND provision, including the opening of a new SEND unit at Overdale in January 2026.
- Investment in early years, particularly in outdoor spaces and facilities.
- Sustainability, to support future generations.
- Strengthening central team capacity, including finance, HR and people development.
He notes that the digital programme is a tool to enhance learning, not a strategy in itself, and emphasises the importance of high-quality teaching supported by thoughtful use of technology.
Looking to the Future
Andy’s leadership is rooted in the trust’s values of Opportunity, Achievement and Kindness and the guiding vision of growing great schools together. He approaches decision making by focusing on a small number of key improvement areas, conducting careful research and planning to minimise barriers.
He explains:
“My principles then focus on ensuring that we identify a small number of important improvement areas. We research carefully the opportunities and the potential obstacles and plan effectively to minimise barriers for improving and developing our schools and the opportunities and lives for colleagues and students within them.”
Looking ahead, Andy is proud of the direction the trust is taking:
“I am very proud of our colleagues, young people, communities, and a special mention goes to our incredible local governing bodies and trustees who have worked with us to ensure outstanding governance and a commitment to high-level, appropriate support and challenge. This strategic approach means we are at the beginning of an exciting next phase of our journey together as Oak.”