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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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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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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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

Matthew is a distinguished educational leader with a progressive career, transitioning from a highly respected outstanding classroom teacher to an influential school leader, and now a proven highly effective head of service at Suffolk County Council.

With a career spanning over two decades in Education, Matthew has devoted himself to championing the rights and educational needs of children in vulnerable contexts, consistently challenging the system to adopt more ambitious standards for children’s development and success.

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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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Kate Brooks
ARC Ambassador

Dr Kate Brooks is a senior lecturer in the School of Education, Bath Spa University, with over 30 years' experience in HE. A Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, she has published research on a range of topics from student culture to a critical analysis of the Government's Prevent Duty programme.  Current research has explored the ways in which the care system and developments in mainstream education have historically intersected, using the archives of a nineteenth century orphanage (which her great grandfather attended) as a case study. Kate is currently writing a textbook with Routledge on the entwined histories of care and education, due for publication in September 2024.

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Fiona Cowan
ARC Ambassador

Fiona Cowan is an experienced and dedicated Headteacher, currently leading a three-form entry Infant and Nursery School in the heart of Derbyshire. With over 26 years of headship across the primary age range, Fiona has spent the past 17 years specialising in Early Years and Infant education. Her work is deeply rooted in developing attachment-aware, trauma-informed practice, with a strong emphasis on relationship-led approaches.

Fiona is also a recognised specialist in handwriting development and climate literacy, championing innovative and inclusive strategies that support both academic progress and emotional wellbeing.

She currently serves as Headteacher at Bolsover Infant and Nursery School, a recipient of the Timpson Award for Early Years Practice (2020). Under her leadership, the school became an ARC Learning Hub in 2023, and Fiona now proudly represents the network as an ARC Ambassador. Through this role, the school has facilitated workshops, networking events, and peer support for educators both locally and nationally, while continuously evolving its own practice to meet the diverse and changing needs of its community.

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Kate Jackson
ARC Ambassador

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Roger Mitchell
ARC Ambassador

Roger Mitchell has worked in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham (one of the most deprived boroughs in the UK) since 1988 and has been Headteacher at Ripple Primary School (a 950 pupil school for 3-11 year olds split over 2 sites) since 2005. Ripple Primary School is an Emotionally Available School. Everyone is Welcome. Everyone Belongs. A vocal advocate for inclusion, he has a breadth and depth of experience and knowledge in supporting children with SEMH needs and is a Trustee on the Board at nurtureuk. He continually pushes for ALL who work with children and young people to fully understand Attachment, Adverse Childhood Experiences and Trauma Informed Practice, to create a real sense of belonging because, in his words, “If you lose a child from their school, you lose the child.

Roger Mitchell has been Headteacher at Ripple Primary School in Barking, East London since 2005. Ripple Primary School is an Emotionally Available School. Everyone is Welcome. Everyone Belongs.

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Lisa Henshall
ARC Ambassador

Lisa Henshall is the Strategic Inclusion Lead at St Bart’s Multi-Academy Trust, now in her third year supporting 23 schools across four local authorities. She has worked in education for over 20 years in roles including teacher, SENCO, Designated Safeguarding Lead, and Looked After Children Teacher. Lisa also serves as a governor for SEND and looked after children in several schools and more recently with the Stoke-on-Trent Virtual School.

Throughout her career, Lisa has been committed to deepening her expertise to better support the most vulnerable learners, ensuring they have the opportunities, care, and encouragement they need to thrive. She is passionate about developing inclusive, relational, restorative, attachment-aware, and trauma-informed approaches across the trust and beyond, working closely with schools, families, and colleagues to build safe and nurturing environments. Central to her work is the belief that every child deserves to feel a true sense of belonging, which is key to overcoming the adverse impact of trauma and unlocking potential.

As the parent of an autistic daughter with an EHCP, Lisa also brings lived experience to her work. Having seen her daughter struggle in education before finding the right setting and flourishing as an apprentice teaching assistant, Lisa understands first-hand the importance of hope, persistence, and creating the conditions in which every young person can succeed.

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Clare Holmes
ARC Ambassador

Clare Holmes; BSc (Hons), PGCE, MA Education, FHEA

Clare is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Chester, working in the Childhood Education and Professional Development (CEPD) division of The School of Education. She is an experienced educational practitioner and worked in secondary education for over 25 years in a range of pastoral roles including Assistant Headteacher, SENCO, Designated Teacher for Looked After Children, Safeguarding Lead and Mental Health Lead. Clare is a Specialist Leader of Education for Emotional and Mental Health and has worked on multi-agency initiatives to embed attachment-aware and trauma-informed approaches in schools and other settings. Clare now teaches on a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses with a focus on attachment, trauma, mental health, resilience and inclusion.

Clare is currently undertaking Doctoral research focused on how care-experienced students can be better supported at university.

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Lorna McLean
ARC Ambassador

Lorna McLean is the Trauma Informed Schools Officer based at Leicestershire Virtual School. Lorna’s background in Youth Justice has driven a strong commitment to creating safe, nurturing environments for children and young people. Lorna supports schools in embedding relational practice, promoting emotional wellbeing and inclusive education. Her work connects organisations across the region and helps staff to understand the impact of trauma and how to respond with empathy and effectiveness.

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Natalie White
ARC Ambassador

Natalie White has been a Virtual Headteacher for 14 years in 2 Local Authorities, the Policy Lead for NAVSH and the Chairperson for London Regional Virtual School Headteachers Association. Prior to this she was an educator and senior strategic leader in schools and LAs and a consultant for the DfE. She now works as a trainer and consultant, nationally.

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Viv Tetley
ARC Ambassador

Vivien has over 40 years of teaching experience in challenging secondary schools and settings  across the Midlands, including over 20 years as a senior leader.   Most recently, Vivien spent 10 years as Virtual School Head Teacher in Leicester.

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Michaela Thomas
ARC Ambassador

Alongside teaching Geography and extensive experience in senior pastoral leadership roles, Michaela has worked as a SENCo and DSL throughout her career and is now working within The Futures Trust in the Midlands, providing strategic opportunities to shape working practices for Disadvantaged and SEND learners.  Her involvement with the  ‘Shaping SEND Futures in Leicestershire’ project, delivering training in collaboration with SSAT on Belonging and Inclusion and the NPQSENCo Award has provided a platform for championing Trauma Informed Practice across schools. She is a strong advocate for inclusive practice at all levels including closer and impactful partnerships between special and mainstream schools. Her career reflects a deep commitment to equity, empowerment, student wellbeing and building brighter futures for every child. Michaela is also a governor of a special school In Leicestershire.

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Lyndsay Timmins
ARC Ambassador

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Siobhan Garrett
ARC Ambassador

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Bronwen Barradell
ARC Ambassador

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Tracey Powell
ARC Ambassador

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Tracey Lecointe
ARC Ambassador

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