Central Staff Team

Sam Nixon
Chief Executive Officer

Sam joined St Benet’s as Director of School Improvement in April 2020 to support improvement across our schools.  Sam had previously been Headteacher of a rural school and Executive Headteacher of a small group of schools.  Most recently, he 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.  He was appointed Deputy CEO in September 2022 and became CEO in January 2025.

Suzannah Kay
Trust Administration Manager

Suzannah’s career includes working as Personal Assistant to senior leaders in the public and private sectors, both in London and Norfolk.  She spent 10 years at Lotus Cars before moving to London to work for the Managing Director of Fortnum & Mason department store then the CFO of Visa Europe.  She returned to Norfolk to work 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 2020.

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).

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.

Kelly Stokes
School Improvement Officer

In her part-time role as 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.

Nadine Avenal
Trust Improvement Lead for SEND

Nadine works for the Trust part-time as Improvement Lead for Special Educational Needs & Disability which she balances with her role as Head of School at the Acorn Partnership.  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.

Laura Richardson
Trust Improvement Lead

Laura joined St Benet’s in 2017 as a Y3 Teacher at Diss Primary Academy Partnership and was appointed Headteacher of St Mary’s Church of England Junior Academy in January 2024.  Alongside that full-time role she also works for St Benet’s as Trust Improvement Lead for Teaching & Learning, with a particular focus on Maths.  She has qualified as a Mastery Maths specialist and School Development Lead through the Angles Maths Hub and has trained as a Walkthrus coach to support schools in delivering high quality teaching.

Jane Price
Trust Improvement Lead

Jane joined St Benet’s MAT in 2021 following a 16-year career across Essex and London in a variety of Senior Leader and Facilitator roles.  Alongside her full-time role as Head of Primary Phase at Harleston Sancroft Academy, Jane works as one of the Trust Improvement Leads for Teaching & Learning.  As a qualified Walkthrus coach, with an extensive background in teacher training, she supports schools in the Trust to make rapid and sustained improvements in their pedagogical practices.