Heather McLachlan

A woman with brown hair and glasses in a garden
Role
Committee Member for England, Midlands & East
Heather has spent over 30 years in education, 20 of these in senior and executive leadership in Walsall, Birmingham, Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.

Heather is the CEO of Potteries Educational Trust, in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire. She leads a team of 450 staff who deliver high quality education and ‘awe and wonder’ experiences which lead to excellent outcomes for the 4,000 children and young people across the multi-academy trust. She is passionate about the power of education to drive equity in our society and transform lives.

Heather is a member of the Stoke-on-Trent CEO Partnership Board and the Staffordshire Moorlands Green Network which both promote sustainable partnerships across the region.

Prior to this, Heather was a secondary headteacher in Tamworth, where she chaired the District Inclusion Panel and managed a large capital expansion, all during the COVID pandemic. Having trained as a History teacher at the University of Birmingham, Heather later became a headteacher in east Birmingham before progressing to her second headship in Staffordshire. Her executive qualifications include NPQH and NPQEL.