Executive Leadership Team
Debra Rutley, CEO
Debra is a National Leader of Education, and Aspire has grown in both size and impact under her leadership. Debra has taken on a new Alternative Provision Unit each year since 2012, all five of which have now been judged as Outstanding by Ofsted. She has project managed the development and opening of a brand new school in 2013, including securing the funding and sign up of local head teachers and Buckinghamshire County Council.
You can read a profile on Debra by Schools Week here.
Brian Lewis - Chief Finance and Operations Officer
Brian Lewis is a qualified ACMA accountant with 25 years of solid experience in Management Accounting and he holds an MBA. Throughout his career, he held senior roles in NYSE 100 companies within the Financial Services sector, leading European Management Accounting teams through international Mergers & Acquisitions and strategic finance projects.
Brian has lived in Buckinghamshire all his life. He organises and leads community projects, raises funds for charity, sits on the panel with the local police and other community leaders to implement strategies and initiatives to reduce crime in the local area; raises funds to improve education for under privileged youth and fosters engagement with the elderly. To that end, he is the Chairman of the Wycombe Multi-cultural Organisation (WMCO) and is the secretary of Beaconsfield Town Youth Football Club.
Andrew Burton - Executive Head of Aspire Schools
Andrew joined Aspire in February 2023, having served for over 20 years in mainstream and PRU/Alternative Provision (AP) settings in the UK. He began teaching in 2002 as a Modern Foreign Language teacher and gained experience as a Head of Year. In 2008, he moved to London and held positions of Key Stage 4 Phase Leader and Assistant Head in two mainstream secondary schools. Andrew moved into AP in 2014 and worked for a large multi academy trust in inner London, taking up the post of Head of School from 2015, before taking his first Headteacher role at a Local Authority maintained PRU in Staffordshire in 2018. His last role was as Executive Headteacher of the City of Manchester Learning Partnership, a federation of the primary and secondary PRUs in Manchester. This strategic role involved the redesign of the PRU/AP offer in the city and his work has meant there is now a refreshed and sustainable model for the area.
Andrew has completed an MA in Educational Change Management and has achieved his NPQH with Ambition Institute. He is an Intermediate Team Teach tutor and has delivered support to mainstream Schools and PRU/APs on managing and understanding behaviour.
