About Me
Safeguarding Training & Consultancy
This all started with being the youngest of five children and desperately wanting a little brother or sister. My parents decided five children were enough for them but I then enjoyed the arrival of many a baby, child and teenager who joined our family through foster care. My mum and dad started fostering when they got married and before they had their own children. They were the youngest foster carers in the early 1960s as my mum was only 18. Our family have always worked with helping children, families and supporting people through challenging times.
Aged 22, I decided to change career and train in counselling. I worked with adults who were private clients and also through the mental health charity MIND. I then completed further training to specialise in working with young people and this is where I started working at Shireland Collegiate Academy as a volunteer mentor.
Dedicated to safeguarding issues my career progressed rapidly and for several years I provided safeguarding services to over 50 schools and organisations.
As an NSPCC Accredited Safeguarding Trainer and British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) Accredited Person-Centred and Gestalt Therapist, I have held several key positions including; Extended Schools Manager, Children’s Services Manager and Director of Safeguarding for the Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust.
QUALIFICATIONS AND ACCREDITATIONS
- NSPCC Accredited Safeguarding Trainer
- International Safeguarding Trainer
- BACP Accredited person centred and gestalt counsellor
- Conference chair
- Keynote speaker
- Home Office Approved Prevent Trainer
- Mental Health First Aid Trained
- Designated Safeguarding Lead Trained
- Education Lead for Sandwell Stopping Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and lesson plan development
- Specialist Schools and Academies Trust lead on round table discussion for adult learning and community engagement
- Personally acknowledged by the National Refugee Council for contribution to education toolkit.
- CPD training provider
Why the Sunflower?
My mum loved sunflowers and one of the very few photos we have of her is standing with a sunflower. She didn’t like having her photo taken so there aren’t very many of her.
She died when I was 21 years old.
My dad then lived for a further 18 years and whilst very poorly in hospital, he spoke with me and told me he loved seeing me because I was his sunshine. Being the youngest of five and having this moment with my dad was very special.
It seemed fitting that when starting my business I use the sunflower within my logo as a bright positive image.
Experience
- BACP Accredited person-centred and gestalt counsellor for nearly 20 years and have worked with Sandwell MIND mental health charity supporting clients
- Worked for Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust for 15 years where I started as a volunteer mentor. Moved onto becoming their Children’s Services Manager and then their Extended Schools Manager. I then became their Safeguarding Manager and then Director of Safeguarding for the 6 academies and currently support them all through an annual SLA
- Frontline Safeguarding Manager working in one of the most deprived areas in the country Sandwell on the Birmingham border
- Managed child protection, child in need, early help cases
- Attended strategy meetings
- Worked closely with a number of Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hubs (MASH)
- Approved Sandwell children’s safeguarding partnership trainer
- Led on the Sandwell stopping Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) for education
- Was part of the young person’s child exploitation panel
- Dealt with cases that will be some of the worst in the country including:
- Forced marriage
- Incestuous child abuse
- Sexual abuse
- Rape
- Honour based abuse
- Suspected FGM
- Physical abuse
- Emotional abuse
- Child sexual abuse
- Gang rape
- County lines
- Gangs
- Knife crime
- Gun crime
- Children in prison
- Fabricated induced illness
- Domestic abuse
- Imprisonment
- The list is endless sadly…..
I managed a team of non-teaching safeguarding officers to carry out the front-line work whilst I supported and advised Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs – the person responsible in every school for safeguarding – often the headteacher) and trained and provided a consultancy service.
I support over 50 schools in both the primary and secondary sectors as well as SEN schools, international schools, independent schools, academies and Multi-Academy Trusts.
My Approach
My approach is all about providing practical advice to enable professionals to fulfil their roles as effectively as possible.
I will cover all policy-related aspects that are appropriate and relevant; however, my focus is always on delivering practical support that will help professionals safeguard vulnerable children and families and achieve the most positive outcomes for all.
This approach has proved successful with the professionals I work with and has been praised by many schools and providers of safeguarding services. The biggest testament to my approach is the continual work I receive from clients and the constant recommendations I receive.