Meet the Team
Jonathan Morris
CEO
Jonathan entered the teaching profession after successful careers in Business and Social Work. He was appointed to his first Headship in January 2007 at St Wilfrid’s Catholic School, Crawley, having worked in leadership roles in two of the most successful schools in the country. During his 7 years at St. Wilfrid’s, the school was transformed from being ‘at risk’ of a poor OFSTED judgement to being in the top 5% of schools nationally for value added and was the highest performing school in West Sussex for exceeding student progress against FFTD targets. In 2012, OFSTED judged the school’s leadership as “outstanding” as was student behaviour and safety. Since coming to post at Warden Park Secondary Academy (WPSA) as joint Headteacher and CEO, standards at GCSE have improved from their already strong position by 14%. In 2017 OFSTED judged leadership at WPSA as ‘outstanding’. In April 2016, Jonathan was selected as a National Leader of Education and, in this role, he works alongside academy staff to support schools in challenging circumstances. He has a track record of working collegiately with other leaders to add significant value to their own school improvement initiatives.
Steve Davis
Deputy CEO and Headteacher Warden Park Primary
As Deputy CEO of Sussex Learning Trust since 2023, Steve is passionate about driving school improvement to ensure every child receives a high-quality, inclusive education. With over 20 years of experience in educational leadership, Steve specialises in fostering a culture of continuous improvement within schools, empowering staff, and delivering impactful strategies that support both student achievement and teacher development. Steve was headteacher at Warden Park Primary from 2011 - 2023 and led transformational change - staff were overwhelmingly supportive of the improvements in the school and the team created a tangible sense of purpose throughout the school. Steve led the team to take the right actions so that teaching improved significantly and pupils made rapid progress. In addition,
Steve has worked across a diverse range of schools, from early years settings to Key Stage 2, consistently delivering results that enhance both academic outcomes and the wider school experience.
Jenny Howard
Chief Financial Officer
Jenny joined the trust in 2012 having previously worked for a "big four" accountancy firm within the audit practice. She is a Chartered Accountant who also holds the ICAEW's Diploma in Charity Accounting. She is responsible for preparing internal and external reporting, management and oversight of the trust's finance team and is involved in supporting key trust projects and initiatives from a financial perspective.
Jenny was closely involved in the successful integration of Northlands Wood Primary Academy into the trust and continues to work in partnership with staff based at that academy. She has managed the selection and implementation of new systems including payroll and accounting systems to improve both the efficiency of trust processes and the quality of reporting data available to stakeholders. Her sector experience combined with her audit practice background is invaluable when designing appropriate internal control processes and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.
Jon Hickey
Chief Operations Officer
Jon is a highly experienced School Business Operations and Capital Projects Leader with an MBA in Education Management who joined the Trust in the summer of 2024. He has worked in Education for 8 years both in LA maintained secondary schools and Multi-Academy Trusts. Previous to this, Jon had over 20 years experience providing a wide range of services and products to the education sector. Jon is responsible for managing the Trust’s estates and buildings and facilities function, including the project management of strategic capital projects and development opportunities. He is also responsible for Health & Safety & Compliance across the Trust and has strategic responsibility for Digital Services (IT infrastructure and Hardware).
Julie Keylock
Chief People Officer
Julie joined the trust in 2023 having had previous experience in both private and public sectors. She is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development and holds a Masters Degree in Strategic Human Resource Management. Julie has particular expertise in employee relations and HR strategies for organisational development. She is responsible for the management and oversight of the trust's HR team and the continuous development of our people policies and practices. Julie leads on our strategic workforce planning and development, diversity and inclusion, employee engagement, wellbeing and our organisational culture.
She is closely involved in the successful integration of new academies into our family of schools and works in close partnership with their local leadership teams. Julie has already made significant inroads into further developing how we recruit, retain and develop our talented workforce to support the delivery and promotion of our vision and ethos.
