Ian first became a headteacher in 1993. In his career he has been headteacher of five different primary schools: from successfully tackling a school in special measures to helping a school in challenging circumstances to becoming outstanding. He has worked as a Local Authority advisor across phases including nursery and schools with children’s centres. He has a wide-ranging set of experiences in matters of partnership and school improvement. As a Headteacher he has experience of working across Catholic, Anglican and non-denominational schools and a range of experiences in different educational contexts. He became a school improvement partner in 2007 and worked with schools in both Tower Hamlets and Newham. As a local authority officer he led on assessment, school development planning and systems as well as supporting schools causing concern.
Ian Jones
I believe I am highly effective at building strong teams with shared vision and purpose. My strength lies in developing individual team members through coaching and modelling whilst promoting the principles of distributive leadership. I have achieved this in the schools where I have been head as well as in schools where I have provided support. I believe that education works best where there are structures of accountability and challenge and I have a great deal of practical experience of putting this belief into practice.
Mary has had over 30 years’ experience of advisory work, including being the Inspector with responsibility for Assessment in the London Borough of Havering for over 10 years. Since leaving full-time employment in Havering she has continued to support schools in the LA but has also worked for the LA in Tower Hamlets and in Newham for a range of individual schools and MATs.
She qualified as an OFSTED Inspector in 2003 but always preferred to work with schools in an advisory capacity. Mary is an accredited School Improvement Partner and can facilitate Headteacher Performance Management. She has regularly provided training for senior leadership teams and governing bodies on schools’ performance data. Mary has also provided support for senior leadership appointments including headteacher recruitment.
She is an accredited Early Years moderator, and lead moderator for both KS1 and KS2 writing. She runs moderation events for clusters of schools.