Andrew Wright OBE
Chair

Andy has over 40 years of teaching experience, including over 20 years leading across education, as Head Teacher/Principal, in a range of secondary school across the West Midlands and as Virtual School Head Teacher in two local authorities.

In 2024, Andy was named for the honour of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in His Majesty’s Birthday Honours List for his service as a Head Teacher and specifically ‘for services to Children in Care, Care Experienced Young People and to the Education Community’.

A clear strategic thinker, Andy has an expertise in school improvement within challenging settings, transforming the ethos of schools, the behaviour, attendance and attainment of young people. He has been recognised by Ofsted as a leader who sets ‘a clear direction and vision focusing on raising aspirations and achievements’.

Andy has a keen understanding of developing an inclusive curriculum both within and across schools. He has influenced innovation in curriculum design through a range of strategic roles including chair of a collaborative network of schools, regional and national strategy groups and has directly integrated partners from the world of work into the learning experiences. He recognises the importance of strong partnerships across services, businesses and agencies and has developed a menu of support and opportunities in a ‘Learning Tool Kit’ for children in care.

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Dr Anne-Marie McBlain
Trustee

Anne-Marie originally trained and worked in the field of the Biological Sciences before re-training and working as a science teacher in a mainstream 11-18 secondary school. She then undertook further training to gain a Masters degree in psychology and worked in a diverse range of environments including: special education, mental health and the Prison Service before completing her professional training as an Educational Psychologist. Anne-Marie currently works as a Specialist Senior Educational Psychologist for Derbyshire Virtual School supporting educational and other settings to meet the needs of children and young people in care. Anne-Marie is also a trained psychotherapist working with adults.

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Nick Mort
Trustee

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Dr Richard Parker
Trustee

Richard Parker has been a youth worker, a researcher, and a secondary school teacher in Inner London. He worked for many years in local government within education and children’s services, in a number of different authorities.

In 2010 he joined Bath Spa University as Director of the Centre for Education Policy in Practice (EPIP), which aimed use the research strengths of the university to promote improvement in education support for vulnerable groups. Richard has a particular interest in the education of children in care and has been involved in a range of activities to promote emotion coaching and attachment awareness in schools and initial teacher education, at both local and national level. He also worked with NAVSH to develop a new Postgraduate Certificate for carers and professionals working with care experienced children, as part of the Bath Spa University MA Programme in Professional Practice.

Richard was a founder trustee of ARC, and coordinates the HE/Research network. Since retiring from teaching at Bath Spa he has concentrated on his research into the effectiveness of attachment aware school approaches, on the ARC Call to Action and on supporting trainee and early career teachers. In July 2024 he published a book ‘Attachment Aware Schools – a critical perspective’ discussing government policies towards and teacher perceptions of relational approaches in schools.

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Michelle Salter
Trustee

Michelle Salter is the Virtual School Head Teacher at Telford & Wrekin Council , since joining in 2018.  She describes this as her dream job! In January 2020 the outcome of the Children's Services ILAC Ofsted was graded as Outstanding and again Children’s services ILAC Ofsted was graded as outstanding in July 2024. Where it was noted the virtual school is a significant strength in Telford and Wrekin. Highly effective systems and processes are used well to ensure that children in care access quality education.

Children said they feel cared about and that the adults in their lives are genuinely proud of them and their achievements. Through the practices developed Michelle also utilises some of her time supporting other colleagues and local authorities.

Michelle started her career initially as a Mental Health Nurse and shortly became a Nurse Manager in a variety of settings including secure hospitals, assessment and treatment units.  She then retrained as a Primary School Teacher.  Michelle has held a variety of leadership roles in primary schools in deprived areas of the East Midlands before becoming Head of Primary at a new independent SEMH school.  She was also a Specialist Leader in Education with a Teaching school providing school to school support, which in turn led to Michelle becoming a consultant in School Improvement. Since then, Michelle has held regional and national roles with a large national Multi Academy Trust.  Her role encompassed school improvement, safeguarding and Inclusion, which included working closely with Ofsted and the DFE.

Michelle loves learning and has achieved the level 7 Post-Graduate Diploma in the Education of Care-experienced Children with NAVSH / Bath Spa University, under the guidance of Richard Parker, Michael Gorman, Kate Brooks and other experts in their fields.  She is a passionate believer in the benefits of the Attachment Research Community and securing positive outcomes for all young people.  A clear strategic thinker, Michelle is a strong advocate for vulnerable children through a holistic child centred team approach and transforming the ethos of schools and improving attainment through research-based practice.    Telford & Wrekin Virtual School Team actively supports educational settings to embed trauma informed and attachment aware cultures, supporting ARC memberships and the journey to embed relational practice,  Michelle  plays an active role in developing strategic practices further.

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Janice Cahill OBE
Trustee

Janice has over 40 years experience in education as a teacher and leader, specifically within SEMH and has been the Executive head over a range of other schools and AP’s. Currently working as an independent consultant across the North West.

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Jackie Brooks
Trustee

Jackie is a director of a multi academy trust in the midlands and has been teaching for over 35 years.
She has particularly enjoyed the last 25 years working in special schools and is currently teaching English in a specialist school for young people with SEMH and autism, where she is also the Designated Teacher for Looked After and Previously looked After Children.
Jackie’s interest in attachment began when she attended ARC’s inaugural conference and it soon became a passion. She was honoured to have the opportunity to take part as a member of the panel at the 2020 ARC conference.

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Dr Adele Thacker
Trustee

Specialist Senior Educational Psychologist for Shropshire Educational Psychology Service

Adele currently works as a Specialist Senior Educational Psychologist in Shropshire. A portion of her time is spent supporting the Stepping Stones project as part of a therapeutic team which aims to provide individualised, intensive, trauma informed support to children and parents known to social care. Through her work Adele utilises creative and collaborative processes to support those around vulnerable young people to understand presenting needs and to effectively provide the support required. Adele also supports educational settings to embed trauma informed and attachment aware cultures and plays a role in developing strategic practices to further support and promote this ‘way of being’. To further support colleagues across the Midlands, Adele also facilitates the Midlands Emotion Coaching Interest group as a Lead Practitioner for Emotion Coaching UK as well as being a long standing member of the ARC EP advisory group

Prior to her Doctorate training in Educational Psychology, Adele developed and managed a provision for primary aged children at risk of exclusion based upon nurturing principles.

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Jon Hickman
Trustee

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Dee Dee Roberts
Trustee

Dee Dee completed the prestigious Teach First programme in Feltham and taught at Reach Academy Feltham both as a primary leader, A-level music teacher, Mental Health lead and Designated Teacher.  Her dedication to education expanded beyond the classroom as she also served as a school governor at another local Feltham school.

Alongside teaching, she completed a Masters with the Institute of Education (IoE) in Educational Leadership, and later a further module with Bath Spa University on the Education of Children in Care.  Currently, she is completing the final stages of an NPQH with the Best Practice Network.

Most recently, Dee Dee joined the brilliant Lewisham Virtual School team as an Assistant Headteacher. In this role, she leads the implementation of new duties for Children With a Social Worker, demonstrating her ability to drive positive change in the educational system. Her influence extends nationally as she collaborated with the Department for Education to develop these new duties.  ARC has become part of the blueprint of support we offer as a Virtual School, and as such we are championing all our Lewisham schools to become Relationally Safe via the ARC pathway. 

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Hayley Clacy
Trustee

Hayley is Headteacher of Spen Valley High School in Kirklees (West Yorkshire). She has been a senior leader for over 20 years, during which time she completed her National Professional Qualification for Headship. She has been a Headteacher for 13 years and in her current school since September 2018. She is proud to have spent her 35 years teaching in comprehensive schools in Liverpool, Bradford, Calderdale, Dewsbury and Kirklees and is committed to supporting our most vulnerable students with the most complex needs. Her experience, both personally and professionally, along with the students she has worked with over the years, inspired her to adopt a Trauma Informed Approach for her current school, which she believes is singularly the most important thing she has been involved in during her career. By working in this way, the school are trying to ensure a kinder, more respectful and inclusive society for our children. As a leader Hayley has delivered on the NPQSL programme but also written and delivered her own leadership programme which is rooted in ethical leadership. She is also a member for the Adoption UK Education Advisory body. 

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Matthew Cooke
Trustee

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Yvonne Crilly
Trustee

Yvonne has 38 years of experience in the education sector, having begun her career as an NNEB and later gaining QTS in 2005. Before retiring from her position in December 2024, Yvonne was headteacher at Woodlands Primary School and Nursery in Telford. She was privileged to have witnessed the school change and grow and feels incredibly fortunate to have been integral to the school’s journey throughout the last decade – moving from a notice to improve to an Ofsted grading of ‘good’, with outstanding elements in 2023. She enjoyed her role as Headteacher; leading strategies and initiatives, that led to improved provision and greater opportunities and outcomes, for the children and their families.

As a committed advocate for relational approaches and attachment and trauma-informed practices, Yvonne has championed the integration of restorative strategies in educational settings - harnessing positive connections, recognising and understanding the impact of trauma on learning and behaviour; embedding this within the school’s culture and ethos.

Yvonne is currently working independently as a local leader of education (LLE) to support leadership teams in schools across local authorities, aiming to share best practice and improve educational outcomes on a broader scale. She is keen to contribute to advancing understanding of the ARC, helping to ensure that the community’s work is impactful and aligns with its mission, networking with fellow professionals and participating in meaningful projects as an ARC trustee.   

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Dr Lisa Gentle
ARC Trustee

Lisa is the Research Manager and Research Fellow at Norland and is currently involved in projects examining the impact of Emotion Coaching, staff perception of Attachment Aware Schools programmes, and the relationship between caregiver perception of infant sleep and infant activity levels. 

Lisa has previous experience as a nursery nurse. She was a course leader for Early Years Care NVQ programmes and a Further Education college lead for the assessment and internal quality assurance of vocational qualifications. Lisa has also worked as a mental health worker and a student counsellor. She has authored courses nationally delivered to people in prison and on probation.   

Lisa has completed a PhD in Psychology specific to attachment, which examines the relationship between unconscious assumptions about how caregivers should help children overcome a short-term difficulty and unconscious thoughts about how mentors and mentees should interact.  

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Maxine O'Neill
Trustee

Maxine is the Headteacher of Hope School, a specialist SEMH school, and the author of The Secret Life of SENCO. With extensive expertise in attachment and trauma, Maxine is dedicated to supporting students with complex social, emotional, and mental health needs. As the HEARTS Network Lead, Maxine champions a trauma-informed approach to schooling, ensuring that every child receives the care and education they need to thrive.

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