National Leaders of Education

Stephanie Gill

  • National Leader of Education
  • Leadership of curriculum, Maths, School-to-school support, Support for most able pupils
  • 6 years
  • State schools, Comprehensive schools, Faith schools, Grammar schools, Academies and free schools, Secondary schools, High schools, Pupil Referral Units

Summary

I am Principal at Altrincham Grammar School for Girls, a first cohort Teaching School, with a SCITT and Maths Hub. I have been an NLE since 2016 and have experience of providing a range of support to schools within our alliance and beyond. As a higher level coach, I have worked with newly appointed head teachers and have supported senior leaders who are looking to develop their leadership skills. I have considerable experience in carrying out school reviews and supporting schools to identify their improvement needs. I have been deployed as part of the DfE’s school improvement offer, supporting school to quality assure their self-evaluation and development plan and identify appropriate external support. I am Senior Leadership Link for the North West One Maths Hub and continue to teach mathematics on a weekly basis. I am also a governor at a local pupil referral unit.

As the Principal of a national support school, I benefit from the support and expertise of our teaching school alliance. The Alliance for Learning Teaching School is a large partnership of primary and secondary schools, colleges, universities and organisations from across the North-West, who share their knowledge, skills, expertise and experience to achieve the common goal of continuous educational improvement. The teaching school has a high profile and an outstanding reputation nationally for quality. We have led a number of successful initiatives in recent years, including the GM Mentally Healthy Schools and Colleges programme; we are the regional lead for teacher subject specialist training and a Sport England regional PE hub. In order to carry out work of the highest calibre, we work closely with a range of nationally recognised organisations. These include Ambition School Leadership, Challenge Partners, Mental Health First Aid England, The Prince’s Teaching Institute and the National Centre for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching (NCETM).

Strengths

School reviews, school improvement, leadership development, coaching senior leaders and head teachers, mathematics.

Deployments

I have provided long term support to the head teachers of two schools, who have been able to secure improved Ofsted grades.

I have worked with a newly opened school to develop leadership and implement an appropriate curriculum. We were able to put a range of support in place for leaders at all levels. The school went on to secure a good judgement in its first Ofsted inspection.

I have provided support to a number of schools where mathematics outcomes were low, and enabled leaders to identify appropriate strategies to improve their work in this area.

As part of the 2018/19 school improvement offer, I worked with a tier 1 and a tier 2 school to identify key areas for improvement and plan appropriate interventions. I was able to support the tier 2 school to secure funding to develop their leadership capacity and improve their curriculum offer. My successful deployment in the tier 1 school has led to an ongoing relationship, through which we have provided further support and challenge to the school's leaders.

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Jayne Kennedy

  • National Leader of Education
  • Closing the gap, English, Leadership of curriculum, School-to-school support, Special educational needs (SEND)
  • 15 years
  • State schools, Comprehensive schools, Academies and free schools, Primary schools, Secondary Schools, High schools, Pupil Referral Units

Summary

My career has been mainly in Manchester, serving disadvantaged communities. I have supported both primary and high schools and my passion is school improvement and the development of the reading curriculum. I have worked alongside both primary and high school leaders to support in improving schools.

Strengths

Reading primary and KS3, leadership, school improvement, closing the gap, appraisal, supporting disadvantaged learners

Deployments

Heald Place, Manchester supporting quality first teaching of reading

Temple Primary school, Manchester supporting reading curriculum

Newall Green High school, Pupil Premium

Kentmere primary, Rochdale, reading curriculum and closing the gap.

Longsight Community Primary, Manchester, teaching and learning support

Lead of SSIF reading project

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Carol McLachlan

  • National Leader of Education
  • Leadership of continuing professional development (CPLPD)
  • State schools, faith schools, nurseries, primary schools, academies and free schools

Summary

Carol McLachlan has a background in primary headship and her present role is as Executive Head and CEO in a MAT. She has also worked as a school improvement partner where she led on leadership development.

Carol enjoys the challenge of providing leadership and strategic support to schools in challenging circumstances. She is committed to improving education for children through leading regular teaching and learning reviews and supporting schools to manage the process of change.

Throughout her career she has provided coaching to others and is in the process of completing an accredited Level 7 course in coaching and mentoring.

Carol has been deployed as an NLE to support schools in an Ofsted category to manage the process of rapid change. She has also supported new headteachers in post who have found themselves in challenging circumstances.

She is working with schools on the DfE Tailored Teacher Support Programme focusing on the issues of recruitment and retention.

Strengths

Honesty and Integrity, Good communicator, Effective in leading and deploying a team, Determined, Commitment and passion

Deployments

She has worked in schools in Bury, Rochdale, Salford and Wigan Local Authorities.

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Tania Lewyckyj

  • National Leader of Education
  • Academies and academy transition, Behaviour and discipline, Initial teacher training (ITT), Leadership of continuing professional development (CPLPD), Leadership of curriculum, Personal, social and health education (PSHE)
  • 10 years
  • State schools, Faith schools, Academies and free schools, Secondary Schools, High schools, Special Schools

Summary

I have supported, and continue to support, several schools in the reorganisation of leadership teams and setting strategic goals in a diverse range of schools. I also lead a teaching school and work within my local community on setting up systematic processes for school to school support.

Strengths

Ten years of headship, balancing CEO with Headship, developing SLTs, coaching of headteachers (specialise in faith based schools), strategic planning for school improvement, academisation.

Deployments

Lever Park Special School - moved from RI to good

Bolton Learning Alliance - member of SSIG enabling cross school support at SLE,LLE, NLE across 19 secondary schools in Bolton (see GM LA results)

Bolton St Catherine's Academy - moving from RI to good

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Michael Platt

  • National Leader of Education
  • Assessment, Early years, Leadership of curriculum Maths, Physical Education (PE)
  • State schools, Primary schools

Summary

I have worked as an Ofsted Inspector since 2014 and have considerable leadership experience as a headteacher in two primary schools leading them to outstanding status. I have previously worked for the local authority as a seconded School Improvement Officer and has also completed a role as Executive Headteacher. I am currently a serving Headteacher of a National Teaching School and NLE. My particular areas of expertise are in Maths, PE, KS2 and EYFS.

Strengths

Leadership and Management, Early Years, Experienced HT, Ofsted Inspector, Executive Headship Experience

Deployments

Manchester LA-Improvements to EY provision, Salford LA-Support for the leadership team, Salford LA-Support for leadership in an RI school

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Lynn Williams

  • National Leader of Education
  • Assessment, Attendance, Closing the gap, Initial teacher training (ITT), Leadership of curriculum
  • 13 years
  • State schools, Faith schools, Primary schools, Pupil Referral Units

Summary

I am Head Teacher at St Peter's C of E Primary School, Farnworth, Bolton.

I have a first class honours degree in psychology and throughout my 30 year teaching career, have always sought to underpin my work with cognitive psychological principles.

Working as a peripatetic teacher for children with SEN in my early career and then spending the vast majority of my teaching experience in schools with high level of disadvantage, led to my firm belief that given the right support and appropriate learning opportunities, all children are able to make progress and enhance their knowledge base.

Incremental learning theory has played a strong part in my own classroom practise and is something I advocates strongly as a leader, for both pupils and staff alike.

As a national leader of education(NLE), I am now able to support other schools in this particular area and promote principles that support effective teaching and learning as widely across the education sector as possible.

My work in supporting pupils with high levels of disadvantage was acknowledged in 2018, when I was named as Inspire Women of the Year in the education category.

Strengths

Data management

Deployments

Queensbridge, Bolton, Women in Education (women leader coach), St. Catherine’s, Bolton”

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