I kept seeing the same thing

13 years in education. Now on your side.

I started teaching in 2013. Over 13 years I’ve worked with children at every stage and gradually moved into senior leadership, taking on responsibility for whole-school SEND. In that time, I’ve watched the number of children with identified SEND, trauma histories and mental health needs rise significantly. The data reflects what I’ve seen from inside schools: EHC plans have more than doubled since 2016, and social, emotional and mental health needs are now the second most common primary need in schools. Rightly so, because we’re getting better at recognising what children need. But the resource available hasn’t kept pace. Teachers are doing more than ever. They care enormously. The gap keeps growing anyway.

I’ve been the SENCO’s colleague, the Deputy Head in the difficult exclusion meeting, the person parents call when they feel stuck. I have enormous respect for the teachers and SENCOs navigating this, and I’ve also seen how hard it can be for families to understand a system that professionals know instinctively. The language alone, EHCPs, SEMH, Pupil Premium, managed moves, can make parents feel shut out of decisions about their own children.

I hold the NPQH, the National Professional Qualification for Headship, and I’m also completing children's coaching qualification (Coach Studio) alongside setting up Braythorpe. I’ve also completed a therapeutic parenting course and have applied PACE-based strategies directly in school, working with children with trauma and attachment histories.

I’m also a soon-to-be adoptive parent. That changed everything about how I understand the relationship between home, school, and a child’s sense of safety. Braythorpe exists because of everything I’ve seen from both sides of that table. It’s not here to take schools on. It’s here to help families navigate, and, through the CPD offer, to support schools in doing what they’re already trying to do, better.