Academy Council

Graham is semi-retired but keeps busy with a number of education projects centered around a focus on improving lives through learning, particularly in disadvantaged areas. He is Vice Chair of the London Learning Consortium, an FE training provider based in South London and Sussex.   Graham is also a Trustee at the Schoolsworks Multi Academy Trust which operates eight primary schools in West Sussex.

Graham has extensive experience in both Executive and Non-Executive Director roles, having previously served as Chair of the Board of the American Chamber of Commerce in Kyiv and as Vice Chairman of the Board of the International School of Amsterdam.  Graham worked for >30yrs in the energy Industry with a career that spanned Europe, Middle East & Africa including senior leadership roles such as Country Manager as well as head of Strategy for a large business unit.

Married with four adult children and one grandchild, Graham and his family have been based in Littlehampton for nearly two decades. Graham’s other passion is for live music, regularly attending concerts in London and Brighton.  He has also turned this into a side-business as co-founder of a local event production business providing event production services.

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Becca is 49, married to Tim and a mum of four children, all of whom have been at The Littlehampton Academy. She is the leader of Arun Church which is a church of 400 people who meet at TLA and also own the Wickbourne Centre in Littlehampton, which includes two nurseries. Becca is passionate about the community and loves the Academy and being part of the Academy team on the Council. Becca appreciates seeing first-hand what an amazing, inspiring school TLA is.

Matt started his career in education in 2012 as a Cover Supervisor at The Littlehampton Academy. He became familiar with the role before being asked to teach English to KS3. This experience led him to pursue a teaching career, culminating in completing a School Direct course with the University of Brighton at The Holy Trinity School in Crawley.

Matt was successful in roles such as KS3 coordinator of English and Literacy co-ordinator which led to OFSTED praising the progress made in English, specifically with disadvantaged students. As a member of the Extended Senior Leadership team, Matt has worked on whole school strategies with groups such as High Achievers, Pupil Premium and English and Maths crossover. Matt has also worked as a Leader of the English department and in pastoral roles. Previously, Matt has been a governor for a Worthing-based primary school as well as a staff governor in his previous school.

Matt also enjoys playing an active role in his church, leading services and preaching regularly, as well as being involved in youth ministry. He is a keen reader as well as a fan of football, cricket and fine-weather sea fishing.

Stephen grew up in Littlehampton and has family and wider family in the area. He has had children attend the academy and his youngest child still does. He wants to be able to bring some of his life experiences and work experiences to the role of school counsellor. He has worked in the NHS for over 10 years and specifically mental health services as a RMN. He enjoys music, cinema, martial arts and holidays with the family.

Dan works in the London Insurance Market, as the Real Estate Underwriting Manager for Ecclesiastical Insurance. Within this role, he is responsible for the management of the whole London Book of Business and ultimately the bottom line to deliver a profit. He is a member of the Chartered Insurance Institute and has the Certificate in Insurance (Cert CII) qualification.

Dan is married to Carly, they have two children, with the eldest at The Littlehampton Academy and they have lived in the area since 2014. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his family, loves a quiz and most sports.

Axelle has been working in Higher Education for more than 20 years, currently lecturing in Psychology at both the University of Portsmouth and the Open University. She has been responsible for designing and delivering teaching materials for MSc and Professional Doctorate degrees. Other aspects of her job include managing staff, as well as conducting and supervising research. Over the years, she has specialised in distance education, and she has played a significant role in helping her colleagues to make a swift transition to online teaching during the pandemic. Her teaching ethos centred around equality, diversity, and inclusivity, as well as decolonising education. Her research interests include child protection and safeguarding, cybercrime, witness memory, and discrimination/prejudice against minority groups.

Axelle is married to Stephane, and they have two children. She also volunteers at the Littlehampton Community Fridge, to help save food from being wasted and to redistribute it to the local community. In her spare time, she enjoys walking and being creative. 

Kevin recently retired having worked at TLA since September 1996 as a teacher of mathematics. During that time, he saw many changes and worked with many families in the Littlehampton area. Having been a tutor, he worked hard to help prepare the students for the real world, involving himself in the pastoral side and was also a leader in this important part of the school. As well as teaching the KS3 and KS4 curriculum, he was an A-Level teacher specialising in statistics. He has in the past been Head of Mathematics, taught “work-related” students and worked closely with the primary schools to help with their numeracy skills. In his past life, he worked as a project engineer for Sainsburys and is a qualified football referee. He enjoys the challenge of a music quiz, northern soul and has travelled across 5 continents.

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Carlie worked at TLA from 2008 until July 2019. Her roles included working in the classroom, as a Cover Supervisor, experiencing and dealing with the challenges of whole class behaviour management along with engaging young people in their learning. She has been a member of pastoral staff since September 2013, first as a Pastoral Assistant and then as a more senior member of support staff in her role as Chapter Manager and Year Leader. The latter roles saw her gain experience of the many challenges that face some of our students, both physically and mentally. She sees the importance of school within these young people’s lives and holds safeguarding and education at the centre of her practice.

Carlie joined Durrington High school September 2019 as Pastoral Manager, promoted to Deputy Company Leader and then onto a more senior role of Company Leader, and then onto Inclusion Manager, which extended her knowledge of the SEND Framework, alternative provision, Inclusion Framework, developing and supporting interventions and responsible for Internal exclusion and removal rooms. Time at Durrington High has given Carlie experience of another education setting in the West Sussex area.

Carlie re-joined TLA April 2024 as Compass Manager, to support our most challenging students, to teach behaviour and create a behaviour curriculum to address the needs of students that need an alternative learning  approach to remove barriers, whether they be academic, wellbeing, environmental or emotional, meeting their full potential, this involves interventions, sourcing outside support creating plans, understanding the behaviour and how we teach students expected behaviours to allow them to achieve.

Carlie has lived and worked in Littlehampton for the past 19 years and has a good knowledge and understanding of the community and area. Carlie has two children, who both attended TLA, both have gone on to be successful in their chosen professions, her 23-year-old daughter being a multi award winning dog groomer and currently owns her own business, her 19-year-old son is a qualified bricklayer with aspirations to own his own business in the future.

Carlie loves sports, reading and her beloved English bulldog Bruce.

Sian is a semi-retired ex School Principal who now runs her own educational consultancy. She offers 25 years of experience in learning environments, with over 15 years of leadership, including executive level.

Sian grew up in West Sussex and has lived in the county for most of her life. She moved to Chichester in 2013 when she became the founding Director of Teaching and Deputy Principal of Chichester Free School.

Sian has worked nationally and internationally with WomenEd and ASCL and has met with the Special Advisor to the Secretary of State to discuss the green and white Education papers.  She is committed to improving education for all; supporting the profession to ensure that those who work within it, are respected and acknowledged for the role they play in society.

As a leader she believes that: ‘Getting the best from everyone means raising their aspirations; challenging children and adults alike to do things they never thought possible.’

Sian is a keen runner and loves spending time with her family, especially her two grandsons who keep her up to date with all the latest trends and music!