Admissions Jobs News Academy Portal Contact Us The Trust Team ABOUT US THE TRUST TEAM Sue Samson MBE CEO, University of Chichester Academy Trust Sue is responsible for the strategic development of the Trust. Sue is a committed and experienced educationalist with her heart very firmly in the classroom. She trained as a teacher and has an MA in Education. During her career she has taught in a number of challenging schools across the phases and managed and led a wide range of educational change programmes locally, regionally and nationally. She has worked in primary, secondary, special and further education establishments as a teacher, education adviser, a management trainer and an Ofsted inspector. She has also had local and national government roles which have included School Improvement Adviser, Partnership Manager, Director of Young Peoples Learning and Director of Academies for London and the South East. Sue has also been responsible for major change programmes in the Department for Education and recently spent some time in Uganda working in a voluntary capacity, using her experience to inform educational change programmes elsewhere. Sue Samson was awarded an MBE in the 2020 Honours List for her "outstanding contribution to education" Jacqui Farrell PA to Sue Samson, CEO Jacqui has relocated from Bristol where she most recently worked in a large Secondary School as Personal Assistant to the Heads of House and Office Manager for 15 years. Previously to that her role was Human Resources Officer within the Supercomputer Industry which spanned 12 years. Both of these roles have required high level organisational skills and a ‘can do’ attitude. Education and School Improvement James Humphries Director of Standards and Effectiveness University of Chichester Academy Trust Working in education for over 25 years, James has spent his career in a wide range of challenging urban settings. He has experience as a subject leader for English and as a curriculum adviser in a local authority. His senior leadership has focused on the curriculum as Assistant Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher, with staff development around teaching and learning as a particular strength. Before joining the Trust, James had two Headships, one of a large inner-city secondary school and another as an interim Head in a special school. Alan Coombs Trust Administrator University of Chichester Academy Trust Alan recently took redundancy from a local District Council where he worked as a Senior Benefits Officer within the Revenue Division for 13 years. Before this he had a similar role with a neighbouring Council for a 15-year period, where he was responsible for managing teams engaging in the collection of local taxation (Council Tax) and the assessment of Housing Benefit. Sam Parkes School Improvement Specialist - Mathematics University of Chichester Sam teaches on the primary undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, contributes to secondary subject knowledge enhancement courses and designs and delivers masters-level programmes in mathematics. Previously a mathematics leader and assistant head teacher, Sam has undertaken CPD with a number of schools focusing on topics such as: mathematical reasoning; questioning; developing good quality mathematical activities within an investigative approach; working with parents; curriculum delivery; and AfL. Her research interests lie in the field of collaborative professional development, leading and managing sustainable change and developing an effective school culture in mathematics. Kirstie Hewett School Improvement Specialist - English University of Chichester Following twenty years' experience as a Primary school teacher Kirstie joined the University’s English team, teaching on both the undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Previously a Deputy Head and Co-Head teacher, Kirstie has a BEd (Hons) in English and an MA (Ed) in Leadership and Management as well as the NPQH and National Award for Special Needs Co-ordinators. Her research interests lie in the field of the leadership and management of change and in developing outstanding leadership of and learning in English throughout the Primary phase. She has recently led CPD focusing on all aspects of English including Guided Reading, Talk For Writing, raising attainment in Phonics and developing middle leadership. Also working with the Academy Trust’s School Improvement team Our Academy Improvement Partners Bruce Waelend Marie Heinst Liz Bowes Kevin Parfoot Julie Turvey Andrew Olive Professional Services David Watling Director of Finance and Operations Aksana Trifonos Financial Controller Aksana Trifonos is an ACCA qualified accountant who has worked in variety of roles demonstrating strong financial understanding with increasing responsibilities in private practice of accountants, private companies, and charity sector. A track record of achievement and recognition has been built on strong academic success, varied experience, and self-motivation. She has worked at one of the largest accountancy practices in West Sussex MHA Carpenter Box Limited where she gained her experience in the tax advisory team, audit and assurance services, as well as business services group. Kyla Batcheler School Business Partner Kyla has accumulated 15 years in finance, working in a large variety of accounting based roles, from Local Housing Association to large defence contracts. 5 years ACCA qualified she has a solid foundation of Business Partnering experience and a firm focus on utilising systems to provide efficiencies and effective finance training. Dzordana Joksaite Finance Assistant After finishing her college studies, Dzordana became Bookkeeper for a motorcycle dealership working within the Finance department. Having gained much accounting experience she moved to a Customer Accounts role for a building/renovating company assisting with setting up their systems and assisting in the day to day accounts. Louise Birch Head of HR Louise joined the University of Chichester in 2006 working across the University as Senior HR & Equality Officer before joining the Trust team. A Chartered Member of the CIPD, with a Pg Dip in Management Studies, Louise has built her career working in both the private and public sectors, liaising across local government, professional bodies, consumer groups and colleges. With a supportive, friendly and open approach, Louise is experienced in implementing HR delivery plans to support strategic direction, providing advice and guidance to staff and managers, the development and implementation of HR policies, procedures and systems and the TUPE process. Louise has led on IiP accreditation and the employee element of the Matrix accreditation. Chris West HR Manager Chris has had an extensive career in HR in the public and private sectors. Chris has enjoyed being part of the senior management team of a number of child care organisations and headed up Human Resources as the Group Head of HR for a national child care organisation employing 2000 employees. On being made redundant following a merger, Chris moved to Head of HR for a child care company based in Salisbury. The commute to Salisbury and time away from home was the deciding factor for Chris to work more locally and has chosen to work part time to support her elderly parents. Chris is passionate about people and being involved in an organisation which makes a difference to children’s lives. The last 15 years has been based in the Social Emotional Mental Health area of child care in the private sector, which included education provisions, with the early part of her career in Social Services for West Sussex County Council, supporting a range of services from adult social care, learning difficulty, child care, fostering and adoption, social work services. Jackie Saywell-Hall Senior HR Officer Jackie has extensive experience of working in the private and public sector, where she held roles within HR, Supply and Logistics. Jackie has delivered multi-site change projects, which resulted in a secondment to lead on the implementation of SAP., Jackie completed a PgD. in HR Management and became Chartered member of CIPD in 2015. Jackie has worked as an HR Manager, at the University of Sussex, leading a team to deliver the operational business service function, then promoted to implement HR business partnering across both academic schools and professional services. More recently she has worked as HR Business Partner, in both a strategic and operational capacity, for West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service. Jackie is passionate about HR and delivering a customer focused service to client groups. Christine Hughes HRIS Operations Officer Christine joined the Academy Trust as the HRIS Operations officer in January 2021 and previously worked in both the Private and Public sectors for 40+ years. Having gained experience in a variety of roles with Financial, Retail, Electronic and Petroleum Companies Christine moved into HR in 2009. Prior to joining the Trust her previous position was Benefits Analyst for a large car insurance firm with 5000 staff. Christine has also been involved in voluntary work for Sports and Charity organisations and was part of the 2012 Olympics as a ‘Games Maker’. Laura Beavis HR and Systems Administrator Working for Large Housing Association Laura gained extensive experience in Customer Services as a Customer Service Team Leader. A secondment in HR help Laura gain valuable skills and knowledge. After completing her CIPD level 5 in Human Resource Management Laura gained further HR experience working for an International Engineering Company. About Us Welcome Our Multi-Academy Trust The Trust Team The Trust Board Our Headteachers Our Chairs of Governors Our Vision & Ethos Academy Sponsor School Improvement Our Curriculum Statement Legal Information Useful Documents Governance School Direct Portsmouth SCITT Ofsted Reviews Contact Us University of Chichester Academy Trust Arran House Upper Bognor Road Bognor Regis West Sussex PO21 1HR 01243 816 444 unicat@chi.ac.uk Links University of Chichester © 2020 The University of Chichester (Multi) Academy Trust. Content not to be replicated without permission. The University of Chichester (Multi) Academy Trust is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company number 8595545. Registered office: University of Chichester, Bishop Otter Campus, College Lane, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 6PE. 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