Leigh-Anne Morris with her family

Bede’s School Trust has appointed Leigh-Anne Morris as the head of Bede’s Prep School in Eastbourne, East Sussex.

Morris takes up her post with immediate effect, having joined the prep school as director of studies in 2016, and being appointed as deputy head academic in 2019.

Morris graduated with a bachelor of commerce (accounting) degree at the University of Natal, in South Africa, and then relocated to the UK and worked as an accountant for Barclays Financing. She joined the education sector in 2004 and trained as a specialist maths teacher at the University of Sussex under the graduate teacher programme. Her first teaching job was in an all-boys comprehensive school, where after four years of being a maths teacher, she was appointed as head of maths and then an assistant head two years later. In 2013, she took on the role of vice principal of the school.

She will be joined by her husband Graham and their two children, who are pupils at Bede’s.

Bede’s chief executive and headmaster of the senior school, Peter Goodyer, said: “Leigh-Anne’s depth of experience across all areas of the school, her strong relationships with staff, pupils, and parents, and her strong belief in the Bede’s ethos will ensure stability and continuity. I am confident that under her stewardship Bede’s Prep School will continue to go from strength to strength.”

Morris added: “I feel privileged and incredibly proud to be leading such a forward-thinking, innovative and inclusive school where pupils and staff feel a real sense of belonging.”