Associates

Ann Lucas

quality and standards, inspection

Ann has over 30 years successful experience in Further Education (FE) as a teacher, middle manager and senior manager. Her responsibilities have included both curriculum management and management of whole college aspects. In addition to working in mainstream FE, she has worked in Adult and Community Learning (ACL), Offender Learning and specialist education. Ann has been an associate inspector, since 1994. Her particular specialisms are literacy and programmes for learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. She currently has a varied portfolio of work, and has delivered successful support to FE Colleges, Independent Specialist Colleges and Sixth Form Colleges.

Claire Collins

curriculum development, research

Claire has an ESOL background and specialises in developing language and literacies as social practices. Since 2003, Claire has worked as a project coordinator, development adviser and facilitator, supporting learning providers across the UK to improve their Skills for Life (SfL) provision. Claire has an excellent track record as a trainer and has designed and delivered numerous staff development packages aimed at diverse audiences; including leaders and managers and workplace trainers and assessors. Claire has also written/ co-written several SfL publications including; 'Working in Partnership for Quality Improvement in SfL', 'Developing Whole Organisation Approaches to SfL' (QIA 2008) and 'Making it Work' (LSIS, 2010).

Isabel White

quality and standards, self-assessment

Isabel has 30+ years experience in education in FE, ACL and Work Based Learning (WBL). Previously holding senior operational roles, for the past five years she has been working as an adviser specialising in developing the capacity to improve language, literacy and numeracy skills in the post 16 sector through involvement in the national Skills for Life programmes. Other work includes embedding SfL within Human Resources policies and processes with public sector large employers and research projects e.g. national study of embedding in workplace delivery and various smaller scale research projects for sector skills councils.

Jan Richardson-Wilde

leadership and management, inspection

Jan has over 20 years' experience of strategic and operational management of training programmes with colleges, WBL, private, public and voluntary sector training organisations. She has worked as a Regional and National Manager developing and delivering resources for employability programmes and worked on the Improving Teaching and Learning and the Skills for Life Improvement programmes, Foundation Learning and 14-19 reform. Her work has also included supporting centres of vocational excellence and reducing bureaucracy in apprenticeship programmes, improving the delivery of WBL, collaborative leadership and quality improvement in the pre and post-16 sector. Jan is an additional inspector with Ofsted, inspecting across a wide range of programmes and provider settings.

Mary Leybourne

Functional Skills, apprenticeships

Mary has 18 years experience working in FE and work based learning, including delivery and management of Skills for Life, Key Skills and community based programmes. Prior to working in education Mary has worked in industry and business in Germany and the UK. During the last 10 years as a trainer and adviser, Mary has been involved in the Skills for Life, Key Skills and Functional Skills support programmes. Mary has a particular interest in work based, employability and offender learning programmes and currently manages and delivers assessor/verifier and initial teacher training awards.

Sheila Morton

leadership and management, coaching and mentoring

Sheila is a former Vice-Principal of an outstanding college and regional lead on the Teaching and Learning Programme and Skills for Life Support Programmes.
As an adviser, trainer and facilitator she has gained a breadth and depth of expertise through working with over 200 individual learning providers and clusters to support continuous improvement in FE colleges, Sixth Form Colleges, ACL, WBL, NHS and Offender Learning settings.

Sue Silk

project management, Employability Skills

Sue has more than 20 years experience, mainly in Skills for Life and working with Learners with Learning Difficulties and Disabilities. She has worked as a tutor, middle manager, senior manager, interim manager, adviser and trainer for general FE colleges, the voluntary sector, CfBT and the Basic Skills Agency. Her experience includes:

Supporting 33 organisations to develop their language, literacy and numeracy provision leading to measurable improvements for learners, staff and the organisations
Leading teams and improving the quality of provision as a senior and middle manager
Successfully bidding for national and local development projects and delivering the outcomes and outputs.

Sue Smith

Foundation Learning, Functional Skills

Sue has 14 years experience of working in FE, including managing the delivery of literacy and numeracy embedded in vocational programmes and managing a SfL Professional Development Unit in the North West. As a consultant and trainer she has worked with a wide range of providers including FE Colleges, WBL Providers, including national providers, Offender Learning and Employers. Sue has also worked on the: Key Skills Support; Functional Skills Support; National Teaching and Learning Change and Foundation Learning Support Programmes. Currently, Sue is a consultant with the National Centre for Excellence in Teaching Mathematics and an external moderator for Initial Teacher Training Qualifications and Functional Skills.