Jo Twiby
Exec Director - Training & CPD
Delta Academies Trust
Executive Director – Training and CPD, Delta Academies Trust
Jo came into teaching after working in Higher Education and travelling to South East Asia.
Her career in secondary education began almost twenty years ago when she studied a PGCE (Secondary English) at The University of Edinburgh. After teaching in a local state comprehensive school, she progressed from subject leadership to the post of Advanced Skills Teacher at Ash Hill Academy in Doncaster, supporting the Academy’s journey from ‘Special Measures’ to ‘Good’.
In 2012, Jo joined Outwood Grange Academies Trust as a Director of English, which enabled her to work across several academies to accelerate progress in English. More recently, she has enjoyed the role of Executive Director of English for Delta Academies Trust, providing strategic direction for English and building capacity across our sixteen secondary academies. Nurturing talent remains one of the most important aspects of her current role as we seek to broaden our continuing professional development offer to colleagues working within the Trust and across the North of England.
With several years of experience as a group-wide leader, Jo has learned how to bring about rapid and transformational change in a vast range of schools, all in different contexts and with their own, unique challenges. Jo's first priority is always students, and she approaches all aspects of her work with their experience firmly in her view.
Outside of work, you will find Jo spending time with her family, often walking on nearby Ilkley Moor at weekends with her three children, ages 15, 12 and 4. As a long-distance runner, she has participated in several UK races, including half marathons, 10k runs and the London Marathon. Jo recently ran the Ilkley half marathon in order to support the excellent work of Delta’s chosen charity, The Children’s Air Ambulance.
When asked why Delta, Jo says that Delta is a truly inspirational place to be. We work with like-minded, positive people who genuinely care about changing young people’s lives in the disadvantaged communities we serve. There are development opportunities at every level, so we can be successful in our current roles and progress to the next ones.
One of the most positive aspects of working for Delta is that commitment to others – the idea that we do something selfless and for the benefit of others, such as fundraising for our chosen charity.