Trustees

Nick is the Chair of Trustees at Woodland Academy Trust and has been working in education for 27 years. Currently, he is the CEO of Maritime Academy Trust.

Nick began his career as a primary school teacher and has held a variety of leadership roles, including Headteacher and Executive Headteacher, before taking on his current role.

He is passionate about high-quality teaching and learning, ensuring that all children receive the best possible education. Nick is equally committed to fostering a positive and thriving organisational culture, recognising that this is essential for enabling staff and pupils to achieve their full potential.

Through his role as Chair of Trustees, Nick works closely with school and Trust leaders to ensure governance provides strategic oversight and robust support, helping deliver excellent outcomes for children across Woodland Academy Trust.

Rebecca is our Vice Chair and the Chair of the Education Committee. Rebecca has been a trustee since September 2017, having previously served as the Chair of Northumberland Heath Primary School.

Rebecca has worked in the education and charity sectors as a teacher, professional trainer and leadership coach. Having worked for a large secondary academy chain, a leading national education charity and a small start-up, she is currently working at the Department for Education, leading learning and development, and equality diversity and inclusion, for the teams working on academies and free schools within the department.

Rebecca is passionate about the quality of teaching and learning, and enjoys working with Trust leaders through the Education Committee to ensure teaching delivers excellent outcomes for children through a broad and balanced curriculum, including how the Trust can make sure the professional development of teachers is outstanding and makes a real difference for the children.

As a mother and grandmother, Sue has been involved in Education in her own employment and for her family, as a Governor, at her children’s school, for many years. 

As a Trustee, Sue delights in the privilege of watching pupils grow and develop in our schools. She see this journey as an extension of her own family, in that our children deserve to have as many opportunities as possible, to find their passion, self-expression and talents. 

Sue believes it is fundamental to understand the responsibility to support our pupils in a safe and positive learning environment; educating them to develop socially, emotionally as well as intellectually. Sue feels the involvement of the local community, families and friends of our children are essential in working together with the Trust. This connection aids and helps enormously in providing a caring and supportive learning environment inside, and outside, of school life.

Before joining the Trust in January 2021, Nav was an executive leader of a nine-school trust founded in Greenwich. She has gained significant experience in the UK education system beginning her career as a teaching assistant, experiencing school leadership in a range of contexts and becoming a Headteacher in 2012.

Throughout her career, Nav has been driven to serve schools with ambition, equity and excellence firmly at the heart of her vision for children and communities. She is passionate about high-quality professional development and building inclusive, learning communities that are underpinned by relationships and connection.

Nav is recognised as National Leader of Education, working with schools to drive forward improvements in challenging contexts. She is a member of The Headteachers’ Roundtable-a non-party political headteachers’ group operating as a think-tank providing a vehicle for the profession to influence national education policy. She is also a trustee for STEP Academy Trust.

Nav hugely enjoys speaking publicly on a range of educational themes including curriculum, leadership development and diversity and inclusion.

Sophie has worked in education for over 20 years, mainly in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. She first became a Headteacher of Heronsgate Primary School, an outstanding school, in 2010. She went onto become the Headteacher of South Rise Primary School in 2012 and then took on the leadership of Wingfield Primary School, as an Executive Headteacher in 2014.

She has worked for The Compass Partnership of Schools since 2014 as an Executive Headteacher and is Trust Lead for CPL, Leadership Development and Induction. She has also been the Executive Headteacher at Fairview Primary School in Medway since January 2019.

Sophie is passionate about designing learning that engages children in deeply meaningful experiences and placing these at the heart of the classroom. She is an advocate of a well-designed, purposefully sequenced curriculum that facilitates knowledge acquisition over time. She has a particular interest in children’s outcomes, learning in the Early Years and the use of digital technologies to enhance learning in schools.

Lekha Sharma is a School Improvement Advisor and has over ten years of experience teaching and leading in schools in a range of contexts.

She is a postgraduate student at the University of Oxford reading Learning and Teaching and is also the author of Curriculum to Classroom (John Catt 2020) and Building Culture (John Catt 2023).

Lekha is passionate about making educational research accessible and digestible, allowing leaders and teachers to focus on applying the 'best bets' on the ground within their unique contexts.