John worked at Cheadle Hulme High School for 15 years, spending 10 of those years as a Senior Leader. He became a Specialist Leader of Education in 2014 for Pupil Premium, and in 2016 was recognised as ‘local winner’ in the National Pupil Premium Awards.

In 2002, John graduated from Lancaster University with a BA Honours in History. He started his teaching career through the ‘Fast Track graduate scheme’, first teaching at a school in Harrogate, before moving over to Cheadle Hulme High School. In 2007, he went on to complete his Masters in Education at Durham University.

John was Head of Faculty at Cheadle Hulme High School during the school’s first Outstanding Ofsted inspection in 2011 and was then a member of the Senior Leadership Team for the second one in 2015. John formed and led the Humanities Faculty at Cheadle Hulme High School, along with the school’s approach to Gifted and Talented, and has since gone on to take responsibility for Pupil Premium and Careers Education across Laurus Trust schools. In 2017, John was awarded the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH).

John lives locally and is married with two primary aged, sport-obsessed sons. He loves to watch Sale Sharks and in his spare time likes to coach, umpire, and play hockey at his local club.

Laurus Cheadle Hulme (LCH) is a non-selective, non-denominational Free School. It opened in September 2018. We currently have a total of 1057 students on roll.

Cheadle Hulme is a pleasant residential suburb on the edge of the Borough of Stockport, eleven miles south of the centre of Manchester. The location enjoys the advantages of proximity to the open countryside of Cheshire and the Peak District and the cultural and sporting activities of a major city.

Our students are housed in a purpose-built building with access to state-of-the-art facilities and overlooking Bruntwood Park, with our Year 11 students progressing to Sixth Forms in the Laurus Trust. We share the same site as Cheadle Hulme Primary School.

In 2025 Laurus Cheadle Hulme achieved an outstanding set of GCSE results with 77% of students secured a grade 4 in English and Maths, with an impressive 60% achieving the gold-standard grade 5 in both subjects. Additionally, 17% of all students grades were at 9-7 in Maths and English, the top grades possible. Our Year 9 students also achieved excellent results in their Spanish GCSEs. 38% earned a grade 7-9, while 89% achieved a grade 4 and 78% a grade 5. These results show what is possible with ambition and determination, the fantastic GCSE results reflect the effort and commitment from both students and our staff.

The school is run by the Laurus Trust and replicates the outstanding education offered by the Trust’s founder school, Cheadle Hulme High School (CHHS), based in Stockport. CHHS is a hugely oversubscribed school and has been named as one of the UK’s top-performing schools in The Sunday Times, ranking as the 15th non-denominational comprehensive school in Manchester and the North West in the annual Parent Power Survey for 2022 and was awarded ‘Northwest Comprehensive School of the Year 2024’.