One of the UK’s first ‘superheads’ who has been banned from running schools by the Department for Education (DfE) once taught at the Colne school, Brightlingsea Info has learned.
Trevor Averre-Beeson’s story is currently the subject of a BBC radio investigation. He was once one of the best known headteachers – dubbed ‘superheads’ – brought in by Tony Blair and Michael Gove to transform troubled schools.
But the Lilac Sky academy trust that he subsequently founded – which included the Tabor Academy in Braintree among its nine schools – collapsed in 2016 amid allegations of financial impropriety.
In 2023 the DfE said Averre-Beeson’s conduct was so inappropriate that it made him “unsuitable to take part in the management” of an independent school, free school or academy trust. This week he withdrew an appeal against the ban.
According to a former member of staff at the the Colne school, Averre-Beeson taught there around 30 years ago, but wasn’t at the school for long. The story of his rise and fall – Superhead – has been running on Radio 4 this week and is available on the BBC iPlayer.
