KINGS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Executive
- Principal
- Principal / Kings College
Job Titles:
- Headteacher / Loseley Fields Primary School
Job Titles:
- Member of the Education Committee
- Member of the Remuneration Committee
- Member of Audit & Risk Committ Ee
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Education Committee
- Chairman of the Remuneration Committee
- Chairman of the Strategy Committee
- Chairman of Trust Board
Andrew was an officer in the Royal Navy and then re-trained as an accountant with a global Pharma company. He subsequently worked as a Director of an international consultancy firm advising banks, investment banks and other financial services companies on transforming their operational performance.
With two children attending local schools, Andrew is passionate about enabling young people from across the area to achieve their potential. Most recently, he was Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee for the Guildford College Group where standards improvement was critical and achieved.
In his spare time, Andrew coaches juniors at Guildford Rowing Club.
Andrew is the Director of Education for the trust. Andrew has significant experience of secondary school leadership including a number of years as a Senior Deputy Headteacher in a large north London comprehensive. In addition, he has been a facilitator for the National College of School Leadership delivering LfTM, Leadership Pathways through the Institute of Education and most recently as Lead Facilitator for STSN's NPQSL programme. He is also an on-line facilitator supporting the NPQ suite of courses. Andrew is currently delivering the ECF in George Abbot School's role as a Regional Delivery Partner on behalf of South Farnham Teaching School hub and acting as the Appropriate Body for all secondary ECTs.
He has been a Leadership Development Advisor of the Fast Track and the Accelerate to Headship programmes. Between 2016-21, he was employed as the Director of the Teaching School alongside his role as Director of Education.
Areas of expertise: Provision and delivery of school-based and external training. bespoke workshops and training programmes. Coaching support, career consultations and interview support for Deputy Headteachers and Headteachers.
Job Titles:
- Vice - Chair of Trust Board
Andi has lived in the Stoughton area of Guildford for over 20 years. He is married with three boys of secondary-school age.
Andi has worked for British Airways for over 20 years. He currently works in the airline's Business Transformation team as a Process Effectiveness Manager, managing a team which helps all areas of the airline improve the way they do things whilst being sensitive to the impact these changes have on both colleagues and customers.
Andi previously served as a governor at Stoughton Infant and Nursery School and was Chair of Governors from 2010 to 2018. He was a member of the Children and Learning Committee, Finance and Resources Committee, Strategy Committee and the Headteacher's Performance Management Committee.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Education Committee
- Member of the Strategy Committee
- Trustee
Anne has worked in education as a headteacher, an ofsted inspector and an Education Director.
Having served as a governor at Kings College Guildford and a trustee, Anne leads our Education Committee.
Ashley joined the trust in 2022, as the Operations Coordinator in the Central Operations Team. She has a background in both the education and corporate sectors, and has worked in a variety of industries, including IT and Pharmaceuticals. Her role is to support the trust's schools by providing clear, useful information and guidance to School Business Managers and Leadership Teams, enabling them to access any support and information that they may need quickly and easily.
Ashley is a frequent volunteer at her local primary school and is also co-founder of the Guildford Baby Bank, a networking group that she has grown from scratch to over 3,000 members, established to support all parents and carers within Guildford & its environs. She believes strongly in the value of education and lifelong learning for all children.
Becky has worked for the trust since September 2022, having previously worked for another trust for six years in a central finance role. She is the finance manager in the central finance team and her role is to oversee the day to day finance function of the central team, whilst providing support to finance staff within our schools. She is currently working towards completing her AAT exams.
Job Titles:
- IT Director
- IT Director and Deputy Data Protection Officer
Ben Sayers is the IT Director at Learning Partners Academy Trust. His team's strategic goal is to "improve teaching and learning through better ICT". The Learning Partners Network Team supports our schools in all aspects of IT, providing tailored support to meet the requirements that our schools face. Our technical staff are skilled in their areas of expertise, with an ICT Apprentice programme to ensure that the team has continuity for the future.
Job Titles:
- School Improvement Partner
Carol has been supporting the trust since September 2018, adding a wealth of educational leadership experience to the team. Her passion is to support school leaders, including governors, to be the best they can be; continually improving the provision they offer their children so that they thrive.
Carol's experience includes being a teacher across the entire age range (Nursery through to Secondary), Headteacher, Service Leader for Education Standards within a local authority, School Improvement Partner, a National Leader of Governance, a Trainer delivering National School Leadership Programmes and a Trainer in Neuro Linguistic Programming.
Job Titles:
- Headteacher / Northmead Junior School
Donald became a member of the trust having served as Vice Chair at Guildford County School. He is a former journalist and international policy consultant, who was Poverty Adviser to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation for the ten years prior to joining CRSP in 2008, where he is Director of the Centre for Research in Social Policy.
He played a central role in establishing A Minimum Income Standard for the United Kingdom, using CRSP's ongoing research methodology showing what incomes households need for an acceptable standard of living as agreed by members of the public. He now leads that programme and associated projects studying income. He also plays a prominent national role in commenting on the adequacy of the public welfare system, and on poverty trends.
Job Titles:
- Estates Manager
- Member of the Chartered Institute of Building
Doug is a full member of the Chartered Institute of Building. He has a university honours degree in Building Construction & Management.
Doug joined the trust in 2022 having previously worked as a project manager in the construction industry for 25 years. He has a wealth of experience in delivering complex construction projects on time and within budget.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Remuneration Committee
- Trustee
- Chairman of Audit & Risk Committ Ee
Dr Geoff Wyss has been a school governor for 20 years, starting when his children were at Holy Trinity Junior school and then for 14 years with George Abbot School. He has been heavily involved with taking George Abbot through the process of becoming an academy and subsequently with the formation of GEP Academies.
He has recently completed the National College of Teaching and Learning Leadership Development programme for Chairs of Governor's and is a Surrey Additional Skills Governor. In this role he provides support for other schools in the Guildford area. By training and profession Geoff is an engineer in high technology systems and was for many years a Director of a local systems engineering company before becoming an independent consultant. He has recently retired.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Education Committee
- Member of the Strategy Committee
- Trustee
Dr Jon Cox has been Headmaster of the Royal Grammar School (RGS) since 2007. Prior to his appointment he held various leadership roles including Second Master, Head of Sixth Form and Assistant Housemaster at Whitgift School. He was educated at the University of Southampton (PhD Biochemistry, BSc Physiology & Pharmacology) and the Royal College of Music (Certificate of Advanced Performance).
During Dr Cox's leadership of the RGS, he has developed and strengthened partnerships with Learning Partners, working closely with George Abbot School and Kings College, Guildford.
Job Titles:
- National Leader of Education
Fiona has been Headmistress at Guildford High since September 2002. Prior to that she was Deputy Head at Guildford High for 5 years.
Fiona grew up in Guildford where she was a pupil at Boxgrove Primary School. At age 11 she was offered a place at Guildford County School, which was then a Grammar School. Before she could take up the place her family moved to Kent, where she attended the local Comprehensive school. She is keen to finally be involved with Guildford County School.
Job Titles:
- Food Technology Technician at George Abbot School
- Senior Administrator and PA to CEO
Gaby first joined the trust as a Food Technology Technician at George Abbot School in 2014 before taking the role as administrator within the central team. She holds an honours degree in French and Italian and prior to a career break she was a Sales, PR and Marketing executive.
Gaby is now PA to the CEO and also responsible for the communications and marketing of the trust. Gaby loves visiting the schools and is always delighted to support them in their marketing and communications strategies. As well as supporting Jack, Gaby ensures the trust office is organised and efficient to allow the team to provide a high service to all of our schools.
Gareth was a parent governor at Boxgrove Primary School from 2009 until 2017. He has two children, currently in education. Gareth feels privileged to be able to take an active part in the continued success of the trust.
Job Titles:
- Headteacher / Pirbright Village Primary School
George Abbot is one of the largest schools in the country, so Kate's expertise has developed in all matters personnel, legal, leading change on a large scale and continually improving teaching and learning.
George Abbot is a longstanding SCITT provider (school-centred initial teacher training), and partners with South Farnham Educational Trust (SFET) in the delivery of the early career framework, specialising in the delivery of the early career teachers secondary framework.
Job Titles:
- School Improvement Partner
Graham supports the trust as a School Improvement Partner. Graham has had thirty years experience teaching and leading in secondary schools, including five years as a Head of English and ten years of successful secondary headship. Graham was also a School Improvement Partner and National Challenge Advisor and worked in school improvement for various local authorities. Graham was a lead inspector for Ofsted for a number of years before moving to the Oasis multi-academy where he worked as a National Director responsible for strategy and innovation.
Guildford Grove is a two-form entry primary school, with a maintained nursery and a Specialist Centre for deaf children. Our school opened in September 2001 in an extensively refurbished and extended school building.
At Guildford Grove, the needs of our children are first and foremost, meaning that education is tailored to their needs to ensure that all pupils achieve their full potential. We nurture each child on a personal level and provide them with an excellent education, so that the progress children make at this school is among the highest in the area.
Job Titles:
- Member of United Learning
Guildford High is a member of United Learning, it is a Teaching School and Fiona is a National Leader of Education. She firmly believes that schools working in collaboration are stronger than schools working in isolation and is very supportive of the idea of the trust. She hopes to bring some of her experience of cross-school work to the table.
Jack Mayhew brings significant experience of school leadership from both the secondary and primary sectors to his CEO role at Learning Partners. Jack founded Athena Schools Trust, as Executive Headteacher, and led the merger with the 7 schools of Guildford Education Partnership in 2021, forming Learning Partners Academy Trust. A teacher for more than 20 years, involved in school leadership for over half that time and a head, of one description or another, for almost 8 years, across three different schools, he is pleased to lead the trust with like-minded individuals and schools seeking a collaborative multi-academy trust model.
Jack has experience of school leadership in a variety of contexts and varying educational stages. He has experience of forming a multi-academy trust team before joining Guildford County - a school he led to outstanding Ofsted status in 2017.
Leading schools where children thrive is Jack's modus operandi for Learning Partners, where schools have a shared vision for education of being ‘better together'. The best way to face the challenges facing schools in the current climate is through collaboration, honesty and high expectations.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Education Committee
- Member of the Remuneration Committee
- Trustee
- Finance & Resources Committee
Jennifer's professional background is in teaching, education management and school leadership. A qualified teacher, she worked in schools and colleges for 15 years, before joining the examination board AQA, where she is a Head of Curriculum and manages a portfolio of qualifications.
Jennifer was Chair of the Governing Body at Guildford County School prior to joining Learning Partners Trust.
Job Titles:
- HR Assistant
- Member of the Central Operations Team
Jennifer joined the trust in December 2022. Following her BA (Hons) Business Studies degree, Jennifer started her career in HR and Recruitment before completing her PGCE (Primary) to become a teacher in 2004. She has extensive primary teaching experience mainly in KS1 and EYFS. More recently, she qualified to teach Mindfulness to children age 3-11 years old.
Jennifer enjoys working within the education sector and provides HR administration support to the trust's central team and the HR Manager. She is responsible for general HR administration, including data management, reporting and the recruitment process.
Job Titles:
- Head of HR
- Member of the Central Operations Team
Jo is a Chartered Member of the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development), is a Prince 2 Project Management Practitioner, a certified workplace mediator and Mental Health at Work First Aider.
Jo joined the trust in 2017 having previously worked in Human Resources in the NHS for 20 years. Jo is experienced at providing best practice HR advice and delivering HR related initiatives such as employment law related matters, complex employee relations cases, change management processes, policy development, recruitment and retention initiatives and workforce planning.
Joanna is the Director for Initial Teacher Training (ITT) and since joining the trust has supported graduates into the teaching profession.
Joanna has twenty-five years of experience teaching and leading primary schools in London and Surrey.
In more recent years she has also worked as an NPQH assessor and facilitated the work of Surrey's Primary Headteachers' Phase Council.
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Member of the Education Committee
- Trustee
Joanne Harper is CEO of Activate Learning Education Trust (ALET)
In this role Joanne has worked closely with the Chair of ALET to build a strong and dynamic multi academy trust. Joanne has also been recognised by the Department of Education as a National Leader of Education.
Prior to this Joanne was the Principal at UTC Reading Ofsted rated Outstanding. In this role she has worked closeley with lead sponsors Acitvate Learning and lead partners Microsoft, Cisco, University of Reading, Network Rail and Peter Brett Associates to ensure that UTC Reading offers 14 - 19 year olds in the region an opportunity to study in a "state of the art" environment where academic, technical and professional qualifications are delivered at a high standard to aspiring Computer Scienctists and Engineers. Previously Joanne was Principal of a school in West London, where under her guidance the comporehensive shcool for 11 - 19 year olds was graded Outstanding by Ofsted. With a teaching career spanning twenty years, Joanne has a particular interest in education for 14-19 year olds and working closeley with industry to ensure students have the skills for the workplace.
Joanne qualified from Loughborough University with an honours degree in Mathematics and Education, specialising in mechanics and decision mathematics, and began her professional life as a Mathematics teacher in London. Alongside this, Joanne has also taken the National Professional Qualification for Head Teachers and has successfully completed a Master's Degree in Education, Leadership and Management at Roehampton University.
Julia first joined the Trust in 2020 as clerk to the Trust Board. Julia has a background in both the education and corporate sectors. She has worked in a variety of school roles, both classroom-based and administrative, for many years. She has provided clerking support for a range of governing bodies, from small infant schools to large secondaries, and at trust board level. Julia strongly believes in the importance of good governance to ensure positive outcomes for all children. Julia is also currently clerk to the local governing bodies of two Learning Partners Academy Trust schools: Guildford County School and Loseley Fields Primary School.
Job Titles:
- Headteacher / George Abbot School
Job Titles:
- Headteacher / Sandfield Primary School
Job Titles:
- Director of Primary Education
Kathryn has worked as a classroom teacher in the primary sector teaching for all ages between Nursery and Year 6. Alongside her role as Director of Education, Kathryn is also a serving headteacher with 11 years headship experience, she has extensive experience of school academy trusts and school leadership.
Kathryn is an accredited NLE and has had the privilege of working with a variety of schools across the South East region in supporting them with varying aspects of school improvement.
Kathryn works to support governing bodies within both the maintained local authority and academy sector cross phase to include primary and secondary.
Kathryn has worked as part of the school improvement team since 2020 and has been able to visit all the schools within the trust, to work with leaders, teachers and staff teams to help them develop the curriculum offer for the trust's learners.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Education Committee
- Trustee
- Member of Audit & Risk Committ Ee
Kathy Ashford served on the Governing Body of Guildford County School for many years, latterly as Vice Chair of Governors. This was a period of significant change, covering the initial bid for Specialist Status in Music, the conversion to academy status, several Ofsted inspections and the recruitment of a Headteacher. Throughout her time as a Governor, Kathy was employed as manager of a local confederation of schools, and she remains in this role to this day.
Earlier in her career, Kathy worked in the communications sector, notably as Director of Communications at the University of Surrey. She also has experience in change management and is a published children's author. Kathy is a registered psychotherapist, currently working both in private practice and within a university setting.
Katy has recently joined the trust in September 2022 in a new role as a Finance Analyst in the central team.
Previously Katy has worked in both the education and corporate sectors with her previous role being a Finance Officer in another school in Guildford. She holds a degree in Business Information Systems and has recently completed her AAT level 3.
Linda Wilding (ACA PhD, with a background in private equity), is one of the most experienced non-executive directors on the London market. She has held board roles in the life sciences, pharmaceutical and consumer products sectors. Linda is Chairperson of Governors for Schools, a charity to recruit, train and promote excellence in school governorship in the UK. Educated at an inner city school in Liverpool, Linda is passionate in her belief that great education offers essential opportunities to all students. Previously a trustee of Guildford Education Partnership, Linda now joins as a member of Learning Partners.
Amanda has been working in the primary sector in Surrey for over 25 years. Throughout her career, Amanda has had a keen interest in personal development and in particular championing those children disadvantaged and vulnerable.
In her early career she developed an expertise in personal and social education, working with the local authority to write high quality sex and relationship education schemes of work for schools to use across Surrey. She is also an experienced coach and mentor supporting teachers and leaders in developing areas of their practice including leadership development and managing pupil behaviour. She has been a designated safeguarding lead for two decades and has a wealth of knowledge about safeguarding.
Amanda successfully achieved her national professional qualification for headship (NPQH), in 2003 whilst working as a deputy in another school within the trust. She has worked as headteacher of Loseley Fields since October 2018 where she has helped stabilise staffing and drive improvement across the school through rigorous curriculum development.
Job Titles:
- HR Officer
- Member of the Central Operations Team
Lynsey is the SCITT Rectruitment Facilitator for George Abbot SCITT and joined the team in 2012 and in September 2022 joined the HR Team as a HR Adviser.
In her SCITT role, Lynsey oversees the recruitment of SCITT trainees and co-ordinates the financial management of the SCITT.
Her role in HR is to oversee the Management Information System and provides professional advice and guidance to senior leaders and staff. Previously, Lynsey worked within the field of Human Resources for the private and public sector and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. She also holds a Business Studies and Social Policy degree.
Job Titles:
- Education Consultant
- School Improvement Partner
Michele is an Education Consultant who believes that every child deserves to benefit from the very best we can offer in our schools. She works with school leaders across the South East to maximise the learning experiences and outcomes of students.
Michele has worked in a variety of schools as teacher, subject leader, and senior leader, and has written and delivered professional learning to teachers across the country, and is the leadership and learning consultant for the Schools Alliance for Excellence.
Michele works with Learning Partners in the ongoing review and development of teaching, learning, and leadership in our secondary schools. Her approach is to work in close partnership and collaboration, with a curious approach so that we can explore how to continually strive to be better today than we were yesterday.
Job Titles:
- Headteacher / Shalford Infant and Nursery School
We are delighted to have welcomed Mirela very recently to the team and her bio will be available to view shortly.
Liv was greatly impacted by her work with students with additional needs, and after training as a Drama Teacher and working as a Head of Department, Olivia completed her NA SENDCo qualification.
Patrick is the Chief Operations Officer for the trust. Patrick was previously School Business Manager for Guildford County School and brings a wealth of knowledge to the trust from previous roles, including as an Operations Manager within the electronics industry and, as a volunteer, as the vice-chair of a national youth organisation. Patrick trained as a Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineer.
Patrick is an accredited School Resource Management Advisor and provides support to schools on behalf of the Department for Education to assist them in making the most effective possible use of resources.
Patrick's role is to ensure that the trust provides effective support to our schools, enabling them to offer the best possible learning experiences for children and young people.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Strategy Committee
- Trustee
- Professor of Composite Materials and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Engineering
Paul Smith is Professor of Composite Materials and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Surrey. He is an engineer by background and has been working on the mechanical properties of materials for over 30 years.
Paul also has a strong interest in education. He holds a PGCE, with mathematics as his primary subject. He also served on the governing bodies of two schools in Guildford (Merrow Infants and Bushy Hill Junior) including a term as chair.
Rachel has worked for the trust since 2016 in her role as Primary Practice Development Lead. She has over 20 years of experience working in education as a teacher and acting Deputy Head.
Rachel is passionate about improving teaching and learning and improving standards of attainment within our schools. She provides strategic support for senior leadership teams as well as providing support for teaching and learning across both our primary and secondary schools. As part of her role, Rachel also delivers CPD to both teachers and trainees.
Richard is the Secondary Cohort Lead for the George Abbot SCITT and works closely with the trainee teachers through the training programme. He also visits the trainees in their placement schools to observe lessons and liaise with mentors and professional tutors.
Richard leads the mentoring programme to ensure mentors offer the necessary advice and support for the trainees. Richard has taught for 24 years in three secondary schools in Hampshire and Surrey, most recently as an Assistant Headteacher.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Education Committee
Job Titles:
- Head of Estates, Governance and Compliance
Sam joined the trust in December 2022, having previously worked as an Estates Partner in the central services team of large Surrey based MAT, and as a School Business Manager of a Special school. In these roles, she gained extensive practical experience in project management, policy development, school governance and compliance in various educational settings.
Prior to working in the education sector in 2017, Sam had a career in banking for over 20 years as a finance analyst, concluding in a senior supervisory role at the Bank of England, focussing on compliance and Board governance.
Sam's role within the trust is to ensure trust governance adheres to good practice and meets all statutory and regulatory requirements. In addition, Sam provides strategic oversight of the development and maintenance of estates by leading the trust estates function. Sam aims to deliver pragmatic, strategic support in all areas of compliance, governance and estates to enable school leaders to deliver the trust's vision in a collaborative and transparent way.
Job Titles:
- Academy Conversion Project Lead
Sandra joined the trust in January 2023. Her role is to support schools who are looking to join The Trust and to assist those schools in the Academisation process.
She has 25 years' experience as a School Business Manager and currently works in a large primary academy.
Job Titles:
- Head of Finance
- Member of the Central Operations Team
Sarah is a qualified accountant who joined the trust as Finance Officer following four and a half years as School Business Manager at Shalford Infant School. Prior to this she worked as a Financial Controller and has over 15 years of commercial finance experience gained in the private sector.
Job Titles:
- Headteacher / Stoughton Infant and Nursery School
Job Titles:
- Member of the Education Committee
- Trustee
- Member of Audit & Risk Committ Ee
Sarah is a qualified accountant with 14 years' experience in Finance working across the UK and internationally, and is currently a Financial Controller for a large defence company.
Sarah has been on the governing body at a Learning Partners Junior School, Northmead, for three years with a focus on Health & Safety and Maths, and is also a Team Leader at the North Guildford Foodbank. Sarah is married with one son and enjoys keeping active.
Job Titles:
- SCITT Recruitment Administrator
Suzy has worked for the trust since February 2019. She has over 15 years of administration experience and has worked within the education sector since 2014. Suzy has a BA Hons in Business Administration.
In her role as SCITT Recruitment Administrator, Suzy provides a first point of contact for teacher training enquiries, organises interview days and information events and has designed various marketing materials.