Flavio Vettese – Director of Education
Flavio has over 30 years’ experience in the education sector, holding a range of senior roles that have afforded him both breadth and depth of knowledge in supporting schools, colleges, staff, and students. His career has spanned schools, colleges and higher education as well as roles as a Local Authority senior education strategist and executive leader, culminating in a deep and enduring commitment to Catholic education.
In 2016, Flavio was appointed Deputy Director of Schools for the Diocese of East Anglia. This marked the beginning of his formal involvement in Catholic education—an appointment he describes as life-changing. Flavio was instrumental in shaping the Diocese’s educational vision and strategy. He played a key role in strengthening governance, supporting school improvement, and safeguarding Catholic identity across the diocesan family of schools.
In March 2021, alongside his position as Deputy Director, Flavio took on the role of Interim Chief Executive Officer of the Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Multi Academy Trust during a period of considerable change. Following a national recruitment process, he was appointed as the permanent CEO in 2022. Under his leadership, the Trust has continued to grow and mature into a strong and successful organisation with a mission-led culture. In 2024 OLoW was the highest-achieving academy trust across Suffolk. Flavio also led the strategic development and successful opening of a new Catholic primary school in Peterborough, where he also served as Chair of Governors. The school was built within 18 months and was judged Outstanding in all areas by Ofsted in its first inspection. In addition, he has contributed to national leadership development through his involvement in the CES/Church of England Executive Leadership Programme.
Flavio is delighted to be leading the Education Service at the Diocese of Brentwood. He is committed to using the experience and knowledge he has gained to support all leaders and staff in delivering excellent Catholic education for all children, young people, and the communities we serve.
BDES – Deputy Director of Education & Primary Schools Link Adviser
Maria Shepherd – Deputy Director of Education & Primary Schools Link Adviser
Maria completed her B.Ed (Hons) in Education and English at Digby Stuart College, Roehampton before beginning her primary school teaching career in a Catholic primary school in Brixton. After a couple of years, she spent a brief time teaching in a Catholic school in Essex, before returning home to Kent. Over the next few years she worked in a variety of state and Catholic schools doing supply and short term contracts whilst her three children were very young.
In 1995, she became the Deputy Head in a Catholic primary school in Dartford and during this time, she undertook her NPQH; in 2001, she took up her first headship in the neighbouring Catholic school. After eight successful years there, she took up the headship of a larger Catholic primary school with a nursery, in Thurrock. Maria completed eight years of headship in this school, leading the school to a range of successes. During her time there, she also completed a part-time course to gain her Masters in Catholic School Leadership. Maria is looking forward to using the knowledge, skills and experience she has built up over the years, in her new role, to help other schools further develop and improve against the backdrop of a changing world of education and a new and evolving diocesan education department.
BDES – Episcopal Vicar for Education
Fr Stephen Myers – Episcopal Vicar for Education
Fr. Stephen grew up in Basildon and attended what was then St. Anselm’s (later De La Salle) school. He studied for a BSc majoring in Genetics at the University of East Anglia after which, he attended Cambridge University to obtain a Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE). He was accepted a student for the priesthood by the Diocese of Brentwood, studying a Ushaw College receiving a Certificate in Theology from Durham University. On being ordained in 1993 he served in the parish of Grays, Essex. He became a governor of his old school, De La Salle, in 1994 and was later chair of governors. He has served as governor of All Saints secondary school in Dagenham and St Joseph’s Dagenham (he is currently Chair of St. Josephs’ federation governing body). In total he has over 24 years experienced of governance in Catholic schools, many of which has been as chair. During his priesthood he has continued his studies obtaining a BA from the Open University, majoring in Art History, and an MA in Theology from the University of London. He has served the diocese in many capacities over the years. He was Youth Director for eight years and member of the Safeguarding Commission. He was appointed as the Episcopal Vicar for Education by Bishop Alan Williams in 2015 and is also a Trustee of the Catholic Diocese of Brentwood.
BDES – Secondary Schools R.E. Adviser
John Adams – Secondary Schools R.E. Adviser
John studied German and French at Royal Holloway and started teaching at All Saints Catholic School, Dagenham in 1991, where he remained for 26 years. He began to teach Religious Education alongside Modern Foreign Languages until RE soon became his sole subject and he was appointed Head of RE in 2000, a post in which he remained for 17 years until becoming Diocesan Secondary Adviser. A product of the Catholic Certificate in Religious Studies himself, he began to tutor the course in 2006 and has to date helped over 100 teachers towards achieving the qualification. He saw All Saints move from a Good to an Outstanding Catholic school and led his department successfully through diocesan inspections. John worked with NBRIA and NOCN in establishing General Sixth Form RE certification and funding. He founded and led for 15 years a cross-curricular extension programme initiative supporting pilgrimage and awareness of Catholic heritage in Europe, with study trips to Rome, Naples, Lourdes, the Black Forest, Alsace, Bavaria and Catalonia. John is accredited as a Specialist Leader in Education, specialising in Religious Education, and looks forward to assisting schools and their RE departments in responding to curriculum change and support schools achieving excellence in provision in Religious Education.
BDES – PA to the Diocesan Director of Education
Victoria Barnes – PA to the Director of Education
Victoria is the first point of contact for the Director of Education. After completing her education with a Secretarial Diploma and NVQ in Business Administration, Victoria began working in the City of London. In a career spanning over 15 years, Victoria worked as an Executive Assistant at a number of prestigious financial institutions including J.P.Morgan, HSBC Investment Bank, Moelis & Company and lastly, as Chairman’s Personal Assistant at Morgan Stanley. Victoria took a career break in 2013 in order to raise a family and now has two wonderfully energetic young children who are both in full time education. Victoria is proud to be able to bring the vast amount of administration experience she has gained in the City to the Diocese of Brentwood in order to assist with the smooth running of the Education Department.
Grace Corry – Primary Schools Link Adviser
Grace completed a Bachelor of Arts with Honours degree in Primary Education at the University of Ulster, Coleraine, Northern Ireland. She then moved from Northern Ireland and began her teaching career in Dagenham which has spanned a successful twenty-five years. Grace has extensive leadership and management experience having spent nineteen years in various leadership roles. Grace has recently completed six years as headteacher and prior to this she was Head of School for several years. Grace has experience of working in a changing educational landscape as part of a Federation and in recent years as part of a growing Multi Academy Trust. As part of her headship role Grace has also completed some cross school work through supporting another school within her MAT. Grace completed four and half terms in a head teacher role across the two schools dividing her time weekly across the two sites. As a headteacher she has been responsible for formulating the overall aims and objectives of the school and policies for implementation. She has led the strategic direction and development of the school and has led by example, providing educational vision and direction to secure the strong and passionate commitment of staff, parents/carers and pupils. The school just recently had a very successful CSI Inspection last term. Grace is currently still in post part time as a head teacher at her current school along with her Primary Link Advisor role which will become full time in January 2024. Grace is very much looking forward to supporting schools to ensure the best possible outcomes for all.
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Buildings Development Officer
David Gatheral – Buildings Officer
David studied Environmental Science and Geology at the University of Bedfordshire before gaining employment at Greenpeace UK as a Database Administrator. Returning to his home town of Chelmsford in 2004, David spent the next sixteen years working in the Education Department of Essex County Council, first as a Research and Development Officer designing and administrating databases of asset management information such as building condition, suitability and sufficiency and then as Assistant School Capital Programme Manager dealing with school capital maintenance projects. David has always sought to use data driven approaches in his work and been responsible for devising several project prioritisation methodologies and systems using asset management information. He was the Secretary of the South East Education Building Officers Group for several years and built up a more general knowledge of school property issues during this period including leases, asbestos, pupil planning and landlord consent. Working with the ECC Capital Programme Manager he helped programme many tens of millions of pounds of school capital investment.
David brings a sharp focus on property data to the Brentwood Diocesan Education Service and a sincere desire to help schools make the most of capital funding opportunities. He is happy to be the first port of call for advice on schools’ property issues.
BDES – Education Service Administrator
Lisa Gunther – Education Service Administrator
Lisa graduated from the University of Sheffield with a BA Hons in Business & Management, she spent 17 years of her career as a strategic business development project manager for professional service firms including global Accountancy and Law practices. She is a Chartered Marketer recognised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing & has a PR diploma. Lisa has been a school Governor, serving two terms of office, which included Chair of the Teaching and Standards Sub-Committee and responsibility for data assessment. Lisa is also an RFU qualified referee and coach and was a Club Safeguarding Officer for her local mini & youth rugby team. Lisa has been part of the Diocesan Education team, providing administrative support since 2015.
BDES – Primary Schools Link Adviser
Sue Johnson – Primary Schools Link Adviser
After several years working in Financial Institutions in the City of London, Sue undertook a Bachelor of Arts with Honours degree in Initial Teacher Training at Anglia Ruskin University, in Essex. She began her teaching career at La Salette Catholic Primary School in Rainham, completing several Aspiring Leadership programmes and securing the role of Deputy Headteacher.
Sue successfully completed the NPQH and took up her first Headship at SS Peter and Paul’s Catholic Primary School in Redbridge, in 2013. She was subsequently appointed Executive Headteacher across SSPP and St Aidan’s Primary Academy, where she provided leadership support and strategic direction which led to the removal of Special Measures for St Aidan’s.
During her time at SSPP, Sue completed a part-time master’s in leadership of school mental health and well-being, contributing to the success of the Carnegie Centre of Excellence (Leeds Becket University) school’s Gold Award for Mental Health, twice accredited UNICEF Rights Respecting School Gold Award and establishing effective mental health teams and support in the school community.
Sue retired from SSPP in December 2023, after 10 years as Headteacher, she then accepted the post of Interim Headteacher at St Antony’s Catholic Primary School in Woodford, for a period of 12 months.
Sue is delighted to have the opportunity as Primary Link Adviser, to use her extensive leadership experience, in a supportive role working in partnership with schools across the Diocese, ensuring the continued success of our children in Catholic Education.
Clodagh Benning – Secondary Schools Link Adviser
Clodagh graduated in Theology and Religious Studies from Nottingham University and went on to train to teach Secondary RE via the GTP route in Hornchurch, in the Brentwood Diocese. She remained there after her training and grew into the role as Head of Department, initially as an interim post and then substantively after leading the department through 2 successful S48 inspections. Whilst there, she also gathered invaluable experience teaching A Level, and leading school trips to Rome and Kenya. After 11 years at the school, she moved to the Westminster Diocese to another large inner-city school where she quickly became Assistant Headteacher with responsibility for Catholic Life. During this time her remit also included the training and mentoring of trainee teachers and ECTs, the provision and delivery of RSE under new legislation as well as responsibilities within the Teaching and Learning Team. During this time, she also completed her Masters in Catholic School Leadership from St Mary’s Twickenham and joined the CSI team of inspectors. Clodagh is delighted to return to the Diocese of Brentwood and looks forward to working with all the schools to support them in their shared vision of excellent Catholic Education for all.
Sandra Moss (LLB) (Hons.) Barrister, Governance Development Officer
Sandra Moss is a Barrister by profession and a very experienced governance and clerking professional. She has over 30 years’ experience in the governance arena in both the public and private sector. She started her career as a Barrister in the public law Chambers of Tony Blair and Lord Irvine Lairg and was involved in a number of high profile cases. She then moved to the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, (the leading governing body for public sector accountants), working there for 20 years as the Director of Governance and Company Secretary. She was leading on implementing governance arrangements in the public sector including writing codes of conduct. Sandra has for the last 10 years provided a comprehensive governance and clerking services to schools and colleges in the private and public sector. Sandra has wide experience of training, clerking and advising on admissions panels, exclusion hearings, grievance, disciplinary, complaints hearings and governance reviews. She is also a published author on Governance and has lectured around the world on best practice. Sandra has carried out Governance reviews for a range of organisations including the DFE, BP, Rugby Football Union, a number of local authorities, schools and Multi Academy Trusts. She was also part of a team who advised the government of South Africa on implementing corporate governance following the abolition of apartheid which resulted in the “King Report”. She is also a trained and qualified CIPFA investigator and set up the qualification for the public sector.