Trust Central Team

Simon has worked in education since 1985, always based in the North East, across schools in Northumberland, Newcastle and Gateshead. He was appointed Headteacher at The King Edward VI School Morpeth in 2007, a founding school of the Three Rivers Learning Trust. Simon became CEO of the Three Rivers in 2018 and has overseen its growth from 3 schools to 9 schools, prior to its merger with Tyne Community Learning Trust to form Cheviot Learning Trust. Simon has also worked with several schools across the region as a National Leader of Education and, in January 2023, was awarded an OBE for services to education.

Simon is excited to be part of the formation and development of Cheviot Learning Trust and looks forward to working with both new and familiar colleagues on this project.

Alice states that it is a great privilege to lead the Cheviot Learning Trust cooperatively with Simon Taylor. As the previous Chief Executive Officer of Tyne Community Learning Trust she is excited about the opportunities that Cheviot Learning Trust creates for all our schools. Alice has worked in education since 1992 and was a primary Headteacher for fifteen years at Benton Park Primary in Newcastle upon Tyne. In that time she worked to support schools in challenging circumstances as an associate member of Newcastle’s School Improvement Service and served on the Newcastle Safeguarding Children’s Board. She is keen to realise excellent outcomes for all our students in all our schools and to support the wider system in ensuring the best possible chances for young people.

Mark has been involved in education for the past 15 years although the first 20 years of his working life was in retail banking, managing teams and service delivery. Mark’s education experience has included administration in a secure children's home, marketing in a local authority early years team, business management at Abbeyfields First School, change management in the early life of Three Rivers and now the Chief Operating Officer of the Trust. He very much enjoys working with the great people we employ to continually improve the services the Trust provides to free up our educators to educate.

Helen grew up in West Yorkshire and came to the North East to attend Newcastle University and has stayed ever since. After graduating, Helen qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst and Young before moving into the education sector.

Helen worked at Northumberland Training and Enterprise Council where she had a variety of financial roles and then joined the Learning and Skills Council where she worked with the North East colleges on their capital projects as well as monitoring the financial health of the FE sector. Helen joined South Tyneside College in 2008 when it was financially weak and by the next year it was rated financially outstanding. Helen managed more than £20m of capital improvements at the college, successfully bidding for grants and negotiating loans to fund these. Helen oversaw financially in 2013, the establishment of a multi academy trust sponsored by the college that had three schools by the end of 2018 as well as managing the financial aspects of the successful merger of South Tyneside and Tyne Metropolitan Colleges in 2017. Helen was appointed Chief Operating Officer of Tyne Community Learning Trust in 2019 and established strong financial systems as well as contributing to the overall management of the Trust.

Helen is also a director of Signature, the awarding body for sign language qualifications, as well as a director of The Durham and Newcastle Diocesan Learning Trust, a multi academy trust.

Jen qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2011 and began working in Education soon after, firstly as a School Business Manager in the primary sector, then joining Tyne Community Learning Trust as Financial Controller in 2022.

As Head of Business and Financial Support Jen works closely with school leadership teams and the Trust Executive Team on trust wide projects, internal and external financial reporting and compliance, procurement and contract management. Along with Karen Hirst Jen leads the Central Services Finance Team to support schools across the Trust.

Karen is a qualified accountant, with over 30 years experience both within Practice for Baker Tilly and working with small charities. In Practice, she specialised in audit, small business, VAT, payroll, management accounts, small limited companies and charities. In the last fifteen years, she has been working with small charities enabling them with accurate and timely financial information.

Karen believes that education is for life and is very excited to be part of the Trust as one of its Management Accountants.

Dominique has worked in the education sector for over 16 years across a range of schools. For the last 10 years, she has held the position of School Business Manager (SBM). The day to day duties of an SBM are varied, and no two days are the same. The SBM role was both challenging and demanding but extremely rewarding when she was able to improve efficiencies through the effective management of the school's finances and resources.

Dominique was appointed to the role of Trust HR Manager in 2021. She provides advice and guidance on all HR matters and works closely with the Trust Executive team to support the People team function across the Trust as it continues to develop and grow.

Jess is a qualified AAT accountant with over 7 years in corporate finance at Sage Group which gave her a great start to her financial career gaining an insight into all areas of finance from purchasing to management accounts. Jess originally joined Tyne Community Learning Trust as a Finance Assistant in 2020. In her current role she manages the day to day business and operations systems across the Trust, supporting the schools with implementing new systems and maintaining an efficient path between schools and central services. Jess enjoys supporting the schools with their finances and takes pride in working as part of Cheviot Learning Trust.

Fiona has worked within the education sector since 1995, across all phases of education. Her experience has included finance and business admin support within a university and high school, business management and academy conversion at a local middle school and school business management at Stobhillgate First School. Fiona has also gained experience within governance over the past 19 years both as part of her work within schools and during her time as Vice Chair of Governors at Bedlingtonshire Community High School, a position she held for 6 years. She is also a member of the Chartered Governance Institute.


Fiona joined Three Rivers Learning Trust in 2020 as Governance Manager and has very much enjoyed working with not only a great team of colleagues, but also a fantastic group of governance volunteers. She looks forward to the opportunities presented through the newly formed Cheviot Learning Trust, to strategically shape and develop the governance function even further.

Kate has worked in education since 2001, firstly as Senior Performance Analyst for Northumberland County Council’s Education Department, before joining The Three Rivers Learning Trust in 2013. She really enjoys working for the Trust and supporting our schools and central team to use their data in the most efficient and effective way. Her role also allows her to indulge in her love of spreadsheets!

Roksana started her career in banking before moving into the education sector. Her experience in schools includes data and administration, exams and invigilation, classroom and lunchtime support. Roksana is a first school governor in Newcastle and regularly volunteers to listen to children reading. Roksana joined Tyne Community Learning Trust in June 2022 as a Finance Assistant. In her role now, Roksana provides purchasing, financial and administrative support to Trust schools.

Becca joined Tyne Community Learning Trust in November 2021 as a Finance Assistant and began studying for her AAT Level 2 Accounting Qualification in January 2023. As Finance Officer, Becca's role involves providing purchasing, financial and administrative support to Trust schools, as well as organisational support to the Trust as a whole. Outside of work, Becca enjoys reading and amateur dramatics. She has children attending schools across the Trust and is a Parent Governor at Prudhoe Castle First School.

Laura joined Cheviot Learning Trust in September 2023 and is enthusiastic to undertake her new role as Finance Officer. She has gained just over a years’ worth of experience in a Finance Assistant position in the private sector before moving to join the Trust. She is hoping to gain qualifications in the future but is very excited to expand on her knowledge in her new role.

Guillaume has completed his Association Technician Diploma and gained experience in a finance and payroll field. In addition to this he has worked in the housing and construction and commercial buildings sector and also worked with Laidlaw Academy Trust. His aspiration is to complete an ACCA course.

Guillaume joined Three Rivers Learning Trust in June 2023 and enjoys working with a great team of colleagues. He looks forward to working within the newly formed Cheviot Learning Trust, supporting the finance team to achieve its core objective.