Our Teams

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.

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. 

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.

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.

Stephen is a Partner at law firm Stone King, who have offices around the UK.  He leads the Education Team and has specialised in charity and not-for-profit law since qualifying as a solicitor in 1997.

Stephen has been involved in the academies programme since its inception back in the early 2000s, initially advising on the “type 1” failing school projects. He has acted on the conversion to academy status of over 170 maintained schools of all types, including community, faith and alternative provision schools.

Stephen has been instrumental in developing some of the larger multi academy trusts. This experience of building trusts from small entities to quite complex and sizeable organisations has given him insight into the legal issues and the organisational and strategic challenges which may lie ahead.

Stephen’s particular expertise surrounds governance structures of multi academy trusts, drawing on his charity law background. This experience includes a detailed understanding of the relationships between academy trusts and their trading subsidiaries. He has particular experience in dealing with the establishment of academies within the faith sector and has acted on a significant number of academy conversions within Surrey.

Stephen is recognised as a leader in both education and charity law by Chambers and Legal 500. He has recently stepped down as a member of the Executive Committee of the Charity Law Association having served on the committee for 9 years. He is a governor of two schools and sits on an Academy Strategic Board for a Catholic Diocese.

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.

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.

Patrick is the Chief Financial 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.

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.

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 national professional qualification for headship (NPQH) assessor and facilitated the work of Surrey’s Primary Headteachers’ Phase Council.

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.

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 HR assistant, she provides HR administration support to the trust's central team and the HR Manager.  She is responsible for providing support with HR record keeping, recruitment, contractual management, compliance and HR metrics.  She provides a professional and approachable response to queries from staff within our schools

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.

Sarah believes great financial management can help the trust deliver the best outcomes for its children.

Tina has recently jointed the trust as a Finance Assistant.  She has 13 years accounts experience across the private and education sector.

In her role as Finance Assistant, Tina is responsible for financial administration, accounts payable and receivable, carrying out month end and year end processes.

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.

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 established to support all parents and carers within Guildford & its environs. She believes strongly in the value of education and lifelong learning.  

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.

Lynsey is the Secondary Course Facilitator for George Abbot SCITT and joined the team in 2012. 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.  

In her role, Lynsey facilitates the organisation of the Secondary SCITT programme including recruitment, provides pastoral support and advice to trainees and co-ordinates the financial management of the SCITT.  

Gerry joined George Abbot School in 2010 as the Teaching School Administrator and moved into the SCITT Team in 2014.  In her role as Primary Course Facilitator, she is responsible for the organisation of the Primary SCITT Programme and provide pastoral support for the Primary Trainees.