Management Committee

I have worked in special education within Gloucestershire for 30 years as a teacher, Deputy and Head teacher of The Milestone Special School. I am now the CEO of SAND Academies Trust, which has 4 special schools and 1 mainstream. I also do support schools through consultancy.. I have been on the Governing Body of 2 city primary schools in the city. I am passionate about The Altus School and aim to support all I can, alongside a strong set of governors on the Management Committee.

Lyn is the Chair of the Management Committee with responsibility for Leadership & Management and SEND.

Philippa Dancey has lived in Gloucestershire since 1989 and has worked in international event management following a degree in French and Spanish. She has extensive experience as a governor having been Chair of Governors of a Gloucestershire Primary School from 2002-2014. She was also Chair of Governors of the Peak Academy, a Special Senior School for pupils with Social, Emotional and Mental Health Issues joining the governing body there in April 2014 until August 2022.

Philippa is the Management Committee Member responsible for Safeguarding, Health & Safety and Post 16 placements at The Altus School.

I have been teaching in Gloucestershire for 12 years and currently work as the Deputy Headteacher, Curriculum Lead and SENDCo at Field Court C of E Infant Academy.

In addition to serving on The Altus School Management Committee, I am also supporting the Local Authority's AP Transformation Project as part of the Vision and Values workstream. I am a passionate leader of Infant education and am privileged enough to be situated 5 minutes away from The Altus School’s primary setting Rutherford House, where I get to see play-based learning in KS1 and the Space to Shine programme in action.

Liz is a qualified School Business Manager and has worked in school business administration since 2008. She is currently working as a School Business Manager role in a primary school setting. Liz is passionate that pupils receive the best from their education experiences by ensuring that schools obtain value for money in all areas.

Liz is the Management Committee Member responsible for Finance at The Altus School.

I have 18 years of experience within the field of education, in a variety of roles, which has included teaching throughout KS1 and KS2, learning support, and youth volunteering. I have been a teacher for 12 years and SENCO for the last 7 years within primary schools in Dorset and Gloucester.

As a Governor, my aim is to work with the school leadership team to support and champion learners with SEND and those with inclusion needs which I am relentlessly passionate about.

Rachel is the Management Committee representative for SEND for The Altus School.

Nicki Woolway - I have worked as a Special Educational Needs practitioner since 2010; I worked at the Milestone School for 10 years supporting children with a wide range of special needs before joining GFAPS 2 years ago in the role of Pastoral Officer. I passionately believe that students should be treated as individuals and valued for who they are; they should be given the opportunity to access the learning environment in a way that meets their needs allowing them to succeed and reach their full potential.

I have been elected to The Altus School Management Committee as a Staff representative to support the wellbeing of staff and raise concerns that may affect them. Staff wellbeing is of paramount importance, and I hope that as a staff representative, I will be able to work with the Management Committee to ensure that staff are supported and valued.

After serving in the Royal Air Force, Rick trained as a teacher. He worked for over forty years at Archway School in Stroud, spending the vast majority of his teaching career leading on Pastoral care with responsibility for Student Welfare and Discipline. For a number of years Rick was seconded, for part of the week, to the Local Authority working on national projects to support vulnerable children. He has had considerable experience working in education in conjunction with health and social care trying to improve outcomes for children especially disadvantaged young people.

Rick was previously on the Management Committee of the Stroud and Cotswold APS, which became the Severn Valley APS, and recently served on the Gloucester and Forest APS before the schools joined together to form The Altus School

I have worked in education for the past 23 years, starting in mainstream, supporting students with learning and SEMH needs, and then moved to alternative provision.

Whilst at St George’s, I have held a variety of roles, most recently as Welfare Officer and DDSL, supporting students and families with their individual needs. The last few months I have also been a member of SLT at SVAPS, supporting the current Heads whilst also leading the Cheltenham site.

Multi agency working is of utmost importance, and I pride myself in being able to create and maintain strong positive relationships with our students, families and professionals, to support and enable students to access their learning and reach their full potential.

I have been a staff representative of CTAPS, and then SVAPS, and hope that by continuing to be on the management committee, I will be able to help staff feel listened to and valued, as we start on the exciting journey together as The Altus School.