Practitioner Advisory Board

Rachel Boyle

Dean of Education at the Carnegie School of Education, Leeds Beckett University

Rachel is the first woman of colour to be appointed as a Dean in the university’s history. Rachel is a former Primary School teacher who spent many happy years teaching the children of Liverpool before she made the move in higher education in 2010. After ten years working at Edge Hill in Lancashire, Rachel was delighted to join the team at the Carnegie School of Education in 2020. 

Rachel’s passion and research focuses on race, racism ethnicity and education. She uses critical race theory as a theoretical framework to examine ‘race’ inequalities in society, specifically in education. The experiences she had growing up as a mixed-race child in the 1980s have underpinned Rachel’s passion for and commitment to addressing racial inequality in education. She has worked with trainee teachers to examine the impact of race, racism and ethnicity on the educational experiences of children and young people. Rachel encourages her students to develop an understanding of the position of the ‘other’ and to use their voices to ensure that the teaching profession consistently evolves to meet the needs of the children it serves.

More recently Rachel has worked across the media to provide commentary on societal issues of racism including the death of George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter movement and racism within the UK. 

Gorana Henry

Programme Leader, Teacher Training Programme at IOE

Gorana Henry currently leads the Primary PGCE Programme at IOE. She is passionate about children’s education, and every child’s right to feel a sense of belonging, pride and accomplishment in their Primary and Early years. Gorana’s area of research interest is in various strands of Communication, and the impact that effective communication can have on children’s education, relationships, social interactions and their sense of self. Gorana is a former teacher and Deputy Headteacher. She has held a range of leadership positions and has worked for the Local Authority as a moderator of writing. Gorana puts children at the heart of her work and is passionate about developing the best teachers for our classrooms.

Paul Jackson

Educational Consultant, Innovate Create Educate

Paul Jackson is the founding Director of Innovate Create Educate and an experienced educational consultant with a strong background in school leadership, system improvement and creative education. He is a former Headteacher of Manorfield Primary School and an accredited Local Leader of Education. Prior to this, Paul was Headteacher at Gallions Primary School in Newham for just over seven years and also served as an Executive Headteacher across a group of primary schools in Essex.

Alongside his headship roles, Paul has worked on a range of national and local projects. This has included the development of educational materials for children, co-authoring resources for a nationally published mathematics scheme, and being seconded to Newham Local Authority as a Primary Maths Consultant.

Paul previously project managed the Askit strand of the Helen Hamlyn Trust-funded Open Futures initiative, working with 50 schools nationally in partnership with SAPERE to introduce Philosophy for Children. He has long-standing involvement in voluntary and community organisations and is currently a founding trustee of The Gorsefield Charitable Foundation and a trustee of A New Direction. Paul was also a founding trustee of The Gallions Music Trust and has previously served as a trustee at Discover Children’s Story Centre in Stratford and the National Children’s Orchestras of Great Britain. He has also previously been a school governor.

Through Innovate Create Educate, Paul works as an Islington Professional Partner, providing school improvement support to schools across Islington, a Leadership Consultant with Tower Hamlets Education Partnership supporting schools in Tower Hamlets, and an Improvement Advisor for The Education People, working with schools across Kent. Through these roles, Paul leads training for schools, governors and local authorities, and also supports a range of other schools directly across different local authorities.

In addition, Paul leads and manages Gorsefield Rural Studies and Outdoor Activity Centre, the Tower Hamlets not-for-profit residential and day-visit centre, supporting high-quality outdoor learning experiences for children and young people.

Paul has written articles for publications including the Times Educational Supplement and has spoken at a wide range of conferences to audiences of teachers, educational professionals, policy-makers and members of the creative and cultural sectors. He remains passionate about creative education and ensuring that all children have access to inspiring, high-quality learning experiences.

Rebecca Jackson

Headteacher of Cragside Primary School

Rebecca Jackson has served as Headteacher of Cragside Primary School since 2018, bringing over three decades of experience in education. She is a Fellow of both the Chartered College of Teaching and the Royal Society of Arts, and an associate member of the Association of Education Advisers. In 2025, she was honoured with the Inspirational Educator Award by The Educators Trust. Under her leadership, the school received the Platinum ArtsMark in 2024 and is currently shortlisted for the TES Schools Award in the ‘Excellence in Creative Arts’ category. Her work is guided by a commitment to equity and educational access.

Naheeda Maharasingam

Headteacher at Rathfern Primary School

Naheeda is a Local Leader of Education (LLE), a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching (CCT), and Leader of Rathfern Teacher Research Network. She is steering group lead for the Embedding Race Equality work across all Lewisham schools.

Naheeda is Headteacher at Rathfern Primary School, a diverse and dynamic inner London primary school. She is passionate about values which enrich her vision and permeate her school culture, pedagogy and curriculum with a focus on disrupting the trajectory for disadvantaged pupils. 

Rathfern is a Research Hub for the CCT, lead for the Humanities Hub for Lewisham.

Dr Michelle Murray

Education Consultant

Michelle has been the CEO of a successful cross-phase multi-academy trust. Previously, she was the headteacher of three contrasting schools, the last of which was recognised as outstanding. A focus on learner-led delivery has been the foundation for change and innovation in all these schools. Her school was awarded National Support School status and subsequently became a National Teaching School.

As an accredited National Leader of Education, Michelle worked closely with local authority improvement services to support local leaders in their schools, particularly in areas of challenge. She is committed to leadership development, as a facilitator and coach on national programmes and has designed and led the innovative delivery of regional training for future leaders.

Michelle also actively involved in research and development, recently completing her doctorate study focusing on empowering leadership in multi-site settings. She is also an executive committee member for the Association for the Study of Primary Education and has shared her research at national conferences.

Lucy O’Rorke FRSA

Director of Projects and Research at the Helen Hamlyn Trust

Lucy O’Rorke brings over 30 years of experience across theatre, education, and research-led programme development. She spent 14 years in theatre as a producer, designer, performer, and teacher before joining the Helen Hamlyn Trust as Projects and Research Director in 2004.

At the Trust, Lucy led the Open Futures Learning Programme, developed in over 150 primary schools, embedding creative practice, enquiry-based learning, and real-world skills. She has also worked with national museums and cultural organisations on projects to advance innovative education and participation programmes in the UK and internationally, offering insight into learning through creative practice and inclusive approaches.

An experienced educator, Lucy has led design and performance projects across professional, educational, and specialist settings nationally. She holds a BA (Hons) in Theatre Studies and Dramatic Arts from the University of Warwick, and undertook professional training at the École Jacques Lecoq and the Laboratory for the Study of Movement (L.E.M.) in Paris. She founded her own theatre company in 1992, creating and touring devised productions internationally.

She is a Professional Affiliate of the Chartered College of Teaching and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA), bringing a practitioner’s perspective across diverse settings to the Practitioner Advisory Board.

Dr June O’Sullivan MBE

Chief Executive at London Early Years Foundation

Dr June O’Sullivan OBE is a pioneering and award-winning social entrepreneur and CEO of the London Early Years Foundation (LEYF), developing LEYF’s sustainable business model and the LEYF Pedagogy which places social justice at the heart of Early Years education and care. 

She also founded the acclaimed London Institute of Early Years (LIEY), a game-changing hub for high-quality training, research and professional development that developed educators into co-researchers with a focus on anchoring research into practice to deliver the best outcomes for children.

A passionate advocate for children’s rights, June is widely recognised as a thought leader on child poverty, sustainability, and social enterprise. She is a sought-after speaker, prolific writer, author and media contributor, and advises international governments on Early Years strategy. She was awarded an MBE in 2013 and an OBE in 2023 for her outstanding contribution to education and social impact.

Dame Alison Peacock

Chief Executive of the Chartered College of Teaching

Dame Alison Peacock is Chief Executive of the Chartered College of Teaching, a charitable Professional Body that seeks to empower a knowledgeable and respected teaching profession through membership and accreditation. Prior to joining the Chartered College, Dame Alison was Executive Headteacher of The Wroxham School in Hertfordshire. Her career to date has spanned primary, secondary and advisory roles. She is an Honorary Fellow of Queens’ College Cambridge, Hughes Hall Cambridge and UCL, a Visiting Professor of Glyndŵr University and a trustee for Big Change, the Helen Hamlyn Trust and an adviser to the Institute for Educational & Social Equity. She is a Director of the Edge Foundation, a Member of the Star Academies Trust and has honorary degrees from the University of Brighton, University of Bath Spa and University of Greenwich. She is a Deputy Lieutenant for Hertfordshire. Her research is published in a series of books about Learning without Limits offering an alternative approach to inclusive school improvement.

Farrah Serroukh

Research and Development Director at the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE)

Farrah Serroukh is an experienced teacher and teacher training Consultant and Researcher. In her current role as the Director of Research and Strategic Development at the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE), she works closely with partner organisations across the education, publishing and charity sectors to promote quality literature, as well as champion better literacy provision and outcomes for all children. 

She has driven a number of research initiatives during her time at CLPE, including the initiation of the ground-breaking and influential Reflecting Realities research series. To date, she has published eight annual Reflecting Realities surveys designed to determine the extent and quality of ethnic representation in children’s literature. The practical application of this research in the classroom is detailed in Representation in Children’s Literature (Corwin/CLPE 2024). 

Farrah was awarded the UKLA’s Brenda Eastwood Award in recognition of her innovative and sector leading work on ethnic representation in children’s literature in 2019 and received NATE’s Diversity and Inclusion Award in 2021. In 2025 she was awarded a scholarship from the College of Social Sciences at Glasgow University to pursue a PhD that will enable her to deepen and extend upon her work in this area.

Tessa Willy

Programme Leader, Teacher Training Programme at UCL Institute of Education

Tessa Willy is the Deputy Programme Lead on the Primary PGCE at the IOE. Tessa teaches geography on the foundation subject programme. She started her career teaching in secondary and then primary settings across the UK and in Malawi. Her areas of interest are the ethics of geography, notably climate change and social justice as well as our relationship and interactions with nature. Tessa is Chair of the Editorial Board of the Geographical Associations’ Journal, Primary Geography, a Fellow of the RGS, a Chartered Geographer (Teacher) and a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teachers.

Professor Dominic Wyse

Professor of Early Childhood and Primary Education at IOE

Dominic is Professor of Early Childhood and Primary Education at IOE, and is the Founding Director of the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Pedagogy (0–11 years) (HHCP). He was President of the British Educational Research Association (BERA) (2019–2021). He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS), and of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA).

Dominic’s research focuses particularly on curriculum and pedagogy. He has made major contributions to knowledge about the teaching of writing and reading. From 2012 to 2018 Dominic was an editor of The BERA Curriculum Journal. Dominic is a fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS), and of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA).

Prior to a role at the IOE as Head of Academic Department Learning and Leadership from 2012 to 2019 Dominic was Faculty Director of Research, Consultancy and Knowledge Transfer, in the Faculty of Children and Learning. Dominic has significant experience in music that began with his undergraduate studies at The Royal Academy of Music.

Before joining IOE, Dominic was a senior lecturer at the University of Cambridge. He was also appointed as the first director of Music-Making at Churchill College Cambridge, where he was a fellow and director of Studies for Education. In the past Dominic was a reader at Liverpool John Moores University, and a teacher with experience working in London, Bradford and Huddersfield in infant and junior phases.

• Q&A with Dominic Wyse