About
Jane has worked in school admissions and appeals for many years. After working in schools supporting children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) she then spent 15 years working in Cumbria County Council as an Education Welfare Officer, Reintegration Officer and finally as Deputy Manager of a busy School Admissions Team, where she fulfilled the role of presenting officer for all local authority school appeals in Cumbria.
With approximately 150 appeals per year for 5 years, until 2011 Jane sat in appeal hearings and observed the vast majority of parents really struggling to put their case forward. They had their opportunity to convince the appeal panel to give their child a place at their preferred school, but they wasted it because they didn’t understand the appeals system, which to Jane, seemed grossly unfair.
Struck by this unfairness, Jane decided to leave the county council to help parents with their school appeals and redress this fundamental imbalance for her clients.
Jane has been self-employed as an Education Consultant for 10 years. She has coached hundreds of families through the appeals process, always aiming for parents to succeed and gain their child a place at their preferred school.
Preparing for an appeal hearing is vital. Knowing how to present your case in the best way possible and feeling confident that the information you will give to the panel will be the strongest possible, as well as having a good understanding of how decisions will be made when the Independent Appeal Panel consider your appeal, all contribute to feeling confident on the day of the appeal hearing.
Jane has a wealth of knowledge and experience in educational policies, procedures and legislation. Over the years she has worked with local authorities, schools, parents and other agencies to secure school places for even the most vulnerable and hard to place children.
Jane has a Batchelor of Science (Hons) degree in Combined Studies (Psychology, Sociology, and Education Studies), a Masters Degree in Education 1st (Distinction) in Special Educational Needs (Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties).
In 2001, Jane worked as a team with researchers at The University of Birmingham in a Longitudinal Study of Young People Permanently Excluded from School. The study was funded by the DfES and the published paper can be viewed here.