School Governors

Since retirement, Colin has worked on a range of projects, including; safeguarding reviews of local authorities, evaluation of services for a voluntary organisation, research on residential child care markets, and briefings on children’s services topics. Colin chaired the ADCS Children, Communities, and Young People policy committee for four years, and was a senior policy civil servant in the Department for Education.

Nick has delivered training for SEBD & Autism Schools, Children's & Adults Residential Homes, and Health & Welfare Secure Placements. In this role, he devised Individual Behaviour Support Plans to form positive day to day care for young people & adults with complex needs. Nick has also coached at West Brom & Birmingham City Football Clubs & ran several local teams in his area.

In 2005 Nick qualified as a Social Worker. He worked within the local authority Children & Families team before spending two years as a Fostering Social Worker for an Independent Fostering Service. Nick & his family also fostered for several years, a role which he would like to do again in the future.

Nick joined Caldecott in 2013 as Change Management Director improving the systems & framework to provide outstanding childcare. In 2015 Nick was appointed Responsible Individual for the residential service which has seen the services regulatory performance improved, with 7 out of the 8 homes now rated as Outstanding by Ofsted. The residential service also received the 'Howard League of Reform' Award for the reduction in police interventions, which reduced by over 80% & missing from care being reduced by 85%.

In 2018 Nick became the CEO of the Caldecott Foundation. Since his appointment he has driven improvements across the Fostering, residential & our School with 8 out of the 10 services rated Outstanding by Ofsted. He is passionate & driven to further develop the organisations therapeutic service through of Relational Model of Care.

Mainstream Primary was fantastic! I met so many wonderful children, parents, and professionals, but my passion lies in supporting children with SEN.   I joined the Caldecott School as the Autism Specialist Teacher, but quickly moved onto a project of a lifetime! I was asked to turn one of our old residential homes into a Primary School! With an amazing team we have created a nurturing, low stimulus, safe and happy learning environment. We are very proud of the Primary School and each one of our pupils.

Whilst developing the new Primary School, I continued studying and completed the National Professional Qualification for Headship. Part of this qualification was leading an ‘impact’ project and I chose to launch Forest School at Caldecott. This project has gone from strength to strength, and I am proud to say that we now have 6 Level 3 practitioners who provide Forest School to both Primary and Secondary pupils.

I work closely with the National Autistic Society and have led the school to successfully achieve our Autism Specialist Award. Working closely with local schools is the next move to sharing our practice.

It’s important for me that I lead by example and show our pupils that it’s OK to be different. I am an above knee amputee and resilience is my superpower. Our job is to unleash the superpowers in all our pupils!

As Head of Secondary, I work closely with the Key Stage 4 teachers and the Careers Lead, to ensure that every pupil leaves Caldecott School, prepared for their post-16 employment or further education, having engaged in work- experience and completed and passed a range of accredited courses.

My career started when I was drawn to Kent after completing my teacher training in Liverpool.  As a Science Teacher I was given opportunities to work on the school farms, which I loved as well as teaching Horticulture and Science to A Level.

During this time, I began to develop my understanding of complex and vulnerable pupils and as a result started working with pupils who had been excluded from mainstream Science lessons; I am a firm believer that all pupils should be given the opportunity, and this was my way of achieving this.

Prior to joining Caldecott School, I worked in the prison service teaching Science; I led the provision for young offenders aged 11-18.   

The time I have spent at Caldecott School has, at times, been challenging, but it is always rewarding.  It is difficult to put into words how amazing our pupils are and how much they achieve.

My wife, Mel, and I live locally and have 2 boys both with SEN. We have been Foster Carers, specialising in respite care, and subsequently adopted through KCC as well.

I am a trustee for Home-Start, a charity that works with families nationwide, and my wife and I foster dogs that have been rescued from Bosnia.

He is a long-standing former registered manager of children’s homes with good to outstanding outcomes, and a former responsible Individual of an Independent Fostering Agency that achieved an Outstanding judgement from OFSTED. He is also a specialist trainer of safeguarding and health & safety for residential and education staff, and in PRICE techniques – ensuring that restraint reduction is at the core of his training. His responsibilities as school governor are in safeguarding and health & safety.

She has previously supported school governors to understand requirements and responsibilities and has led focus groups to research school improvement; and has worked with school trustees to inform them of practices, planned developments and the resulting impact. Maree co-founded South East SENCo Support, a consultancy agency that supports schools to develop their practices in order to offer the best possible provision for pupils with SEND. She also works for several local authorities as a school advisor specialising in SEND.