What is a Local Advisory Board (LAB)?
The Cumbria Education Trust Board Directors delegate to the Local Advisory Board (LAB) members its responsibility and powers as the Governing Body of the school. These responsibilities are discharged by the LAB members in accordance with its constitution, any Cumbria Education Trust Policies and advice from the Department for Education (DFE) and Ofsted.
View the Trust Board members here.
View the Structure Of The Trust Board & LABs And Associated Information here.
The LAB is crucial to helping the school to raise standards.
Some of the roles of the LAB are to:
- provide the information required by the Trust and not to withhold any information which the Trust reasonably requires;
- refer certain decisions to the Trust for approval as set out in the Scheme of Delegation;
- report to the Trust Board Directors on the outcomes and progress within a one-week period of each meeting;
- act in accordance with the LAB Protocols.
If you have any queries for the LAB or would like to contact the Chair, please email governance@cumbriaeducationtrust.org or telephone 016977 45300.
Composition of Local Advisory Board (LAB) members:
| Type of member | Number | Term of office | Elected by who |
| Chief Executive | 1 | Indefinite | N/A – by appointment as Chief Executive |
| Headteacher | 1 | Indefinite | Appointment as Headteacher by Chief Executive/Trust Board |
| Sponsor Board member (including Chair and Vice Chair) | Max 7 | 4 years | By the Cumbria Education Trust Board resolution |
| Parent Board member | 2 | 3 years | Seconded parent volunteer -applications to be considered by Cumbria Education Trust Board Directors.* *If there are more than 2 applications, an election will take place with all parents eligible to vote |
| Staff Board member | 1 | 3 years | Staff election** ** If only one member of staff is nominated they are automatically elected |
LAB Members
Sandy Todd – LAB Chair
Sandy has worked in education in a variety of roles for 37 years. She lives near Kirkby Stephen with her husband and has two grown up children. She started her career as a teacher in a Secondary school in the Outer London Borough of Havering and moved to Cumbria in 1986 to take a one year temporary post at Kirkby Stephen Grammar School. The temporary role was made permanent and Cumbria became a permanent home. Whilst at Kirkby Stephen, she took on the role of Assistant Headteacher with responsibility for Primary School Liaison. Sandy left full time work in September 2015 but remains very busy and still spends time in schools across Cumbria and Lancashire.
Sandy has always believed that as adults, and especially as teachers, we must strive to help children and our staff to be the best that they can be in all situations and help them to acquire the skills and qualifications to be able to choose what they want to do with their lives and the contribution they make to society. At present, Sandy continues her passion for making a positive difference to schools and young people through her own consultancy work in supporting school leadership teams to improve their schools by providing bespoke support and professional development to middle and senior leaders. She is also the Executive Officer for the Cumbria Association of Secondary Headteachers.
Sandy loves the natural environment, wildlife and the garden, is a keen sports and outdoor activities fan and participant and plays an EB base in the Kirkby Stephen Silver Band, and hates having her photograph taken!
Nicola Turner – Vice Chair and Safeguarding Lead
Nicola is originally from Kendal and has spent 20 years across different parts of the UK, before venturing back to Cumbria.
Initially starting her career in hospitality, she moved into healthcare, training as a paramedic, then going on to teach, mentor and assess for the Ambulance Service and a local university. She then worked in leadership roles, before moving back into a clinical role in Cumbria. She has experience of managing large teams, budget setting and management, alongside setting individual learning plans.
Supporting this experience, her knowledge in safeguarding and holistic health assist her desire to see the local children flourish in a supportive environment. Nicola is a parent LAB member with children who attend the school.
Matt Butler – Director of Primary Improvement and Professional Development
Matt has responsibility for all the primary schools in the Trust and for designing and implementing the School Improvement Framework across those schools. He also leads on the Professional Development across the Trust, specifically the overall blueprint for ensuring that professional development in CET is a sector-leading offer. Matt has a wealth of experience in the sector, having previously worked for two national trusts as a Regional Director and Director of Curriculum and Subject development.
In his spare time, Matt enjoys exploring the Lakes, either cycling or running. When he is not out and about, he is usually busy shuttling his two boys to their football and rugby matches or spending quality time with his wife.
Cate Floyd – Executive Principal
After 12 years in education, working across the country in a variety of settings and alongside national bodies such as the North West Maths Hub, Cate moved from Accrington to join the CET Leadership team to take on her first headship at Longtown Primary School in 2017. She believes that all children are entitled to the very best education and that it is important to work within a school improvement model to develop sustainable change, for the benefit of young people.
After successfully securing their first ‘Good’ judgement at Longtown Primary School, she then took on her second headship within the Trust. At Yanwath Primary School, she ensured that they, as a leadership team, continued to provide a sustainable school improvement model where the mental health and wellbeing of both children and staff were at the heart of all decisions being made.
Helen Wright – Headteacher
Helen started her career in the Northeast of England where she attended Northumbria University. She taught for six years in a large junior school before being recruited by South Tyneside Education Action Zone, which supported 19 schools across the Local Authority.
In 2003, she relocated to Cumbria and continued her teaching career in two local primary schools. She became part of the CET team when Yanwath Primary school joined the Trust and held the post of Assistant Headteacher until joining Tebay as Head of School.
Helen passionately believes all children should be provided with the opportunities they need to reach their full potential.
Adrian Todd – LAB member
After leaving school at 16, Adrian went to work in farming. He then moved into construction with TK Robinson. Adrian went on to work for T Armstrong Construction and Cheetham Hill Construction, where he has been for 26 years, working as a Construction Manager, running projects for up to £20m.
Adrian is also a parish council chairman and councillor (portfolio holder).
Adrian has helped young people to get into construction, including young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Adrian is local to Tebay, attended Tebay Primary School and will always do his best to promote the school.
Nabil Subuh – LAB member
After growing up in a village in Scotland, where Nabil completed Scottish Highers in Art, English, Metalwork and Technical Drawing, he moved to London to start a journey in hospitality – initially as a chef and then quickly worked his way up in management. Nabil worked in the early stages of some interesting companies, such as Pret-a-Manger and Coffee Republic, before becoming part of the leadership team at Welcome Break in 2000. He has been CEO of a Gourmet Pie Company and lived in the Netherlands recently, as Group Operations Director of a business with over 1500 locations.
Nabil is now the CEO of Westmorland Family, which is owned by the Dunnings who are well known to Tebay Primary School as their children attended the school. He lives in Tebay 5 days per week and wishes to support his community.
Nabil has 4 grown up children. He hopes to be able to share his experience and the businesses resources to support Tebay Primary School.
Chloe Collinson – Staff LAB member
LAB members in the previous 12 months:
- Sharron McDonald – 23/02/2024
- Rachel Lowis – 20/02/2024
LAB Meeting Minutes and other information
If you would like any meeting minutes from previous years, please email governance@cumbriaeducationtrust.org.