Central Staff Team

Richard Cranmer
Chief Executive Officer

Richard has 20 years’ experience of working at Senior Leadership level, most recently 12 years as a high school Headteacher, during which time he transformed the school into one which combined academic success with a very strong sense of being distinctively Christian in its ethos. Prior to Headship, Richard led a Training School where he played a key role in the recruitment and training of new teachers across Norfolk and Suffolk. In addition to his school leadership he has been actively engaged with local, regional and national developments in education through his role as Chair of the National Anglican Association of Secondary School Headteachers (AASSH) and a facilitator for the NPQH qualification provided by the Church of England Foundation for Education Leadership.

Email:  richard.cranmer@stbenets.org

Sam Nixon
Deputy Chief Executive Officer

Sam joined St Benet’s as Director of School Improvement in April 2020 to support improvement across our schools.  Sam has previously been a Headteacher of a small rural school and Executive Headteacher of a small group of schools.  Most recently, Sam was Headteacher at Ashleigh Primary School & Nursery, leading it through substantial growth and to an Outstanding Ofsted.  He has also worked with a range of schools through LLE, VNET Change Leaders and NLE support initiatives and is an Ofsted Inspector.  He was appointed Deputy CEO in September 2022.

Email:  sam.nixon@stbenets.org

Suzannah Kay
Personal Assistant

Suzannah’s career as a Personal Assistant includes working for senior leaders in the public and private sectors, both in London and Norfolk.  She spent 10 years at Lotus Cars, working for the Manufacturing Director during production of the iconic Lotus Esprit and Elise sports cars.  Whilst in London, Suzannah worked for the CFO of Visa Europe and for the Managing Director of Fortnum & Mason department store before returning to Norfolk as Office Manager for the Chief Constable of Norfolk Constabulary.  Most recently, she worked as Executive Assistant to the Group CEO of the TEN Group, an education group encompassing primary, secondary and Further Education.  Suzannah joined St Benet’s MAT in 2019.

Email:  suzannah.kay@stbenets.org

Paul Seeman
Improvement Director

Paul joined St Benet’s MAT in Spring 2022 as Head of Standards & Quality Assurance to play a central role in providing strategic leadership for the Trust so that its academy improvement approach delivers successful outcomes, and academies in the Trust are supported to achieve their aspirational targets for pupils and the communities they serve.  He became an Improvement Director in January 2024. Paul previously worked as Headteacher at Worlingham Primary School and Banham Primary School and was Director of Education for the Co-operative Education East Academy Trust.  Paul has an MA in Education, NPQH and is a National Leader in Education (NLE).  He is also a SIAMS Inspector.

Email:  paul.seeman@stbenets.org

Mark Carlyle
Improvement Director

Mark began working for St Benet’s MAT in September 2021 as Senior Associate Headteacher and from January 2024 was appointed an Improvement Director, supporting a group of Trust schools with strategic improvement and development.  Mark has extensive school leadership experience, having been a Headteacher in a variety of schools over many years, co-Principal of a multi academy trust that he was involved in creating and a strategic lead in a teaching school alliance. He has a MEd in Educational Leadership & School Improvement from Cambridge and has been involved in a number of educational research projects.

Email:  mark.carlyle@stbenets.org

Kelly Stokes
School Improvement Officer

Kelly is accountable for ensuring the educational success of the academies new to the Trust and also for working with and improving schools who are preparing to join the Trust.  She previously worked for Sapientia Education Trust as Director of Improvement and was the first Headteacher of the newly-opened White House Farm Primary in Sprowston.  Kelly has a Masters in Education.

Email:  kelly.stokes@stbenets.org

Nadine Avenal
Trust Improvement Lead for SEND

Nadine works for the Trust part-time as Improvement Lead for Special Educational Needs & Disability.  She has over 15 years of experience working in a diverse range of schools across both the primary and secondary phase, ranging from small rural village schools to larger inner-city settings. She is a qualified teacher, SENDCo and Senior Mental Health Champion and has worked as a SEND Lead across both school clusters and a large MAT.

Email: nadine.avenal@stbenets.org