Our Council

The Council is responsible for governing the Chartered College of Teaching’s activity, including setting its strategy and long-term direction. The Council also supports the Executive Leadership Team. The Council comprises:

President
President-Elect
Vice Presidents
Treasurer
12–27 Council Members (with the majority elected).

How to get involved

The Council, the majority of which is elected from the College’s fellowship and membership body, is responsible for the overall strategic direction and governance of the College.

Our next Council elections will run from August to November 2025. If you are interested in joining our Council, you can find out more information here.

All full members and Fellows are able to stand for election. This includes members who pay the ECT subscription rate. As defined in the Chartered College of Teaching’s Bye Laws, Student Members, Associate Members and Affiliates (Historical, Professional and International) are not able to stand for election.

Officers of the Council

Aimée Tinkler FCCT CTeach (Leadership)

President

Aimée Tinkler has 25 years of experience as a teacher and leader, working in a variety of school contexts. She is a passionate advocate for small and rural schools, drawing on a decade of teaching and leadership in very small schools in rural Derbyshire. Aimée has been closely involved in the work of the Chartered College of Teaching since its inception, where she is both a Founding Fellow and a Chartered Teacher (Leadership). She has worked in schools and trusts across the country and is currently Head of Education in a large trust in the Midlands. An advocate of ethical leadership, Aimée is deeply committed to raising the status of the teaching profession. She has contributed extensively to the education sector through advisory roles with numerous organisations. Currently engaged in doctoral research at UCL Institute of Education, she has also published research with several leading organisations across the sector.

Tania Craig FCCT

Vice President

Tania has dedicated over 20 years to the SEND sector, focusing on supporting students with social, emotional, and mental health (SEMH) needs. As Executive Head of a split-site, all-through specialist provision, she is committed to school improvement and advocating for SEND students. Her school’s inclusive, student-centred approach has gained national recognition. In 2024, Tania received a Pearson’s Bronze Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to SEND education. She is a Local Leader of Education and has worked with the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) as a curriculum lead. A Trustee of Engage in their Future and a Primary Multi-Academy Trust, she also chairs its Education and Ethos Committee. Additionally, she leads and chairs a local Primary Alliance, developing school improvement strategies across a family of schools.

Dr Natasha Crellin FCCT

Vice President, Chair of Ethics Committee & Chair of Remuneration Committee

Dr Crellin has been a primary teacher for 28 years, and has worked in a variety of teaching and senior roles, including Headteacher of three primary schools. She has a specialism in early years and holds a PhD on the working experiences of early years practitioners in private and not-for-profit settings.

Sufian Sadiq FCCT

Co-President-Elect and Chair of Diversity and Inclusion Group

Sufian is a teacher with 16 years of experience in both the classroom and a variety of leadership roles. He is currently the Director of Teaching School for Chiltern Learning Trust and in his spare time he is actively engaged in supporting a variety of organisations within the voluntary sector.

Liz Gregory FCCT

Co-President-Elect and Chair of Finance, Risk and Audit Committee

Liz has taught economics for over 20 years in both state and independent sector schools and has an MEd in Educational Leadership and Management. She has been Head of The Maynard since 2022, an all-though girls’ school in Exeter. Previously she has held senior deputy roles with a particular interest in professional development, coaching and evidence-informed practice. She is an accredited Leadership Coach and ISI inspector. Liz has been safeguarding governor for a MAT in the South West since 2019 and has also held leadership positions as a Principal Examiner.

Marcus Richards FCCT FCPFA

Treasurer

Marcus is a chartered accountant and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. He is a Partner in Ernst & Young’s Corporate Finance practice where he advises public and private sector bodies on matters of financial complexity.

Committee Chairs

Dr Steven Berryman FCCT CTeach (Leadership)

Chair of Nominations Committee

Dr Steven Berryman is Senior Deputy Head at Sir William Perkins’s School. He has worked in education for over 20 years, and contributes widely through research, teaching, advisory and non executive director roles, and was one of the first Chartered Teachers. Steven has considerable expertise in arts education, and is a past Vice-President of the National Society for Educators of Art and Design, and former advisory panel member for the Cultural Learning Alliance. Most recently he was a member of the expert panel for the refreshed DFE/DCMS National Plan for Music Education.

Dr Kate Bridge MCCT

Chair of Education, Research and Journal Committee

Kate has been a teacher for over 18 years and is currently teaching Physics and PE in a Girls School in Hertfordshire. She is the Head of Habs Diploma a KS5 enrichment program and has 15+ years experience in middle management. Kate achieved Chartered Teacher Status in 2023 and is an advocate for increasing Girls participation in Physics and Sport. She is a Trainer for Physics Partners a charity that helps non-specialists master Physics Teaching and Co-Chair of the Practitioners Council for the Foundation of Education Development.

Paul Barber FCCT

Chair of Constitutional Committe

Paul read law at Jesus College, Cambridge, and was called to the Bar in 1992. He has been engaged with education policy and legislation at national level for over 25 years. Paul was Director of Education for the Diocese of Westminster for over 10 years and has been Director of the Catholic Education Service since 2013.

Dr Natasha Crellin FCCT

Vice President, Chair of Ethics Committee & Chair of Remuneration Committee

Sufian Sadiq FCCT

Co-President-Elect and Chair of Diversity and Inclusion Group

Liz Gregory FCCT

Co-President-Elect and Chair of Finance, Risk and Audit Committee

Alexandra Dean FCCT CTeach (Leadership)

Chair of Membership Committee

Alex has been a secondary school teacher for 25+ years. She is currently the senior deputy headteacher of a large comprehensive secondary school in Bingley, near Bradford in West Yorkshire. Her subject area is English. She is particularly interested in the areas of teachers’ professional development, ECT provision, teacher recruitment and retention and staff well-being. She is a Visiting Fellow facilitator on NPQ and ECT programmes as part of her interest in teacher development.

Council Members

Dr Caroline Creaby MCCT

Caroline has been an economics teacher for 20 years and is currently Deputy Headteacher in a large comprehensive secondary school in Hertfordshire where she leads the curriculum, timetable, teaching and learning and teacher professional development. Caroline is committed to teaching being a research-informed profession, has been a Research School Director and completed her Masters and Doctorate in Education at the University of Cambridge. Caroline has experience in advisory and governance roles, including being a member of the DfE’s Early Career Framework reference group and having been a trustee at University College Oxford.

Rebecca Hanson FCCT

Rebecca has worked in mathematics education for 24 years. She currently teaches secondary maths on supply, choosing to teach in schools with the most challenges. Her previous roles have included Secondary Head of Mathematics, Associate Lecturer in Education and Primary Mathematics CPD provider. She has shared her CPD and her interviews with respected educators on YouTube as “RebeccaTheMathsLady”, which have received over 150k views. She has delivered national and international maths education projects.

Rebecca has also been a Cumbria County Councillor; in which role she drove substantial improvements in areas where education and health overlap and published a book about Healthcare Coproduction.

Rebecca has a Masters Degree in Education from the Open University.

Jackie Hill FCCT MA(Ed) NPQH PGCE PG Cert (Mentoring)

Jackie’s teaching career began in Further Education (Northern Ireland), then switched to Secondary MFL (Stockport). As a committed mentor for Early Career teachers, she became the Leader of a large Training School, and then made a move to the TDA to support Training Schools in the North West and the West Midlands. Subsequent regional and national roles in teacher recruitment, initial teacher training and inspection, professional learning and school partnership followed. Jackie is Co-Founder and Network Leader for WomenEdNI, and supports the values and vision of the WomenEd movement. An advocate of DiverseEd, she was a chapter editor for DiverseEd: A Manifesto. Jackie is passionate about helping schools to celebrate diversity, and become inclusive and equitable places for staff, students and their families. She is very proud to be a Founding Fellow of the Chartered College.

Kat Howard FCCT

Kat is an Executive Director of School Improvement at a Multi Academy Trust in the West Midlands. In previous roles, Kat led a Teaching School Hub overseeing the professional development of over 200 schools, and a senior leader in a Single Academy Trust. Kat holds a Master’s in Expert Teaching, NPQEL and is a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching. She has published work on the topics of curriculum development, teacher workload and system- level change management and implementation in education.

Dr Haili Hughes MCCT

Dr Haili Hughes is Director of Education at IRIS Connect and mentoring lead at the University of Sunderland. She was a teacher of English and senior and middle leader for sixteen years. She also works as an ITT Quality Advisor for the DfE, facilitates the ECF and NPQs for two national providers and is the lead subject coach at a SCITT. She has recently been appointed to the Teaching Commission researching recruitment and retention. She’s written 5 books and has 8 on the way.

Meena Kumari Wood FCCT

Meena is a former HMI Ofsted, Local Authority and DfE Adviser, and Principal of both an Adult College and a Secondary Academy. An educational trainer, author, and leadership coach, she holds an MBA in Educational Leadership. She is an Honorary Fellow of the Education Leadership Academy (University of Birmingham), Patron of the English Speaking Board, and serves on The Day’s Editorial Advisory Board.

A registered KHDA inspector in Dubai, Meena works across British and International education sectors, specializing in curriculum and assessment. She speaks at UK and international events, including FED, BSME (Dubai), and Eduexcellence (India), and has provided evidence at Government Select Committees.

Meena has written for Impact (Chartered College of Teaching), RSA, TES, and more. Her books include Assessment of Prior Learning & Bilingual Learners (1995) and Secondary Curriculum Transformed (2020).

Hannah Knowles FCCT

Hannah is Principal of The Skinners’ Kent Academy (SKA), an International Baccalaureate World School based in Kent. She joined the Academy in 2018 as Vice Principal for Curriculum Progress and Learning and became Principal in September 2020. Hannah holds a Masters in Education from the University of Brighton, and is an ASCL Council Representative for the Southeast. Hannah has held positions across her career in Gifted and Talented, Curriculum, Timetabling, Staffing and more recently is studying for a qualification in Executive Leadership.

Appointed committee members

Application process

The Council comprises the trustees of the charity and is responsible for the overall governance and strategic direction of the organisation. In line with the charity’s framework of delegate authority, the Council delegates some decision-making to the following committees: Constitutional; Education, Research and Journal; Ethics; Finance, Risk and Audit; Membership; Nominations; and Remuneration. Each committee includes members of the Council as well as appointed committee members. Applications for appointed Committee member roles can be found here if available.

Stephen Munday Hon FCCT CBE

Member of Ethics Committee and Member of Nominations Committee

Stephen worked for all of his employed professional life until April 2024 in the teaching profession. This included being an economics teacher, headteacher of a school in Cambridgeshire and Chief Executive of a Multi Academy Trust with schools largely based in Cambridgeshire. He was President of the Chartered College of Teaching and held several advisory roles with the Department of Education. He received a CBE and an honorary doctorate (Anglia Ruskin University) for his services to education. He is now working to support some schools in China and some schools and community projects in Uganda. He continues to support the work and development of the Chartered College.

Dan Steele

Member of the Finance, Risk and Audit Committee

Dan is a Management Consultant and currently works for EY, advising organisations across the public and private sectors on their strategy, operations, and finances. Dan has a specialism in working with a range of public sector institutions. He regularly returns to his former education institutions to support their events, operations, and to work with current students.

Vincent Neate MCCT

Member of Finance, Risk and Audit Committee

Vincent Neate teaches business, economics and mathematics. Before qualifying as a teacher and joining the Chartered College in 2021 he was a partner at KPMG where he worked in the Private Equity Group and later led the firm’s sustainable business team. As well as teaching full time in a single sex secondary school, Vincent is on the boards of various non-profits including the further education college group, HRUC and the environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy.

Dr Stef Edwards FCCT

Member of Constitutional Committee

Dr Stef Edwards retired in 2024 following a long career in primary education, most recently serving eight years as Chief Executive of Learn Academies Trust (Learn-AT), a charitable educational trust of 19 primary schools in Leicestershire. Stef started teaching in1986, specialised in primary English, and was headteacher of a small village primary school for 11 years until being appointed to the role of leader of Learn-AT in 2016. She was a National Leader of Education, a Founding Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching and had a career-long commitment to developing teachers’ research-informed professional learning. Building on a master’s in education research Inquiry, Stef was awarded a professional doctorate (EdD) by the University of Brighton in 2023, following a study of the leadership of teachers’ professional learning in Lesson Study contexts in a group of primary schools. Stef is now thoroughly enjoying retirement, and continues to serve on the Chartered College of Teaching’s Constitutional Committee.

Julia Harrington MCCT

Member of Nominations Committee

Jonathan Shepherd CBE FRCS FFPH FRCPsych FMedSci FLSW FCCT

Member of Nominations Committee

Jonathan Shepherd is a fellow of the Chartered College and has been a teacher, researcher and practising professor of surgery at Cardiff University for 34 years. Based on his experience as a Fellow, council member and trustee of the Royal College of Surgeons and of initiating and founding the professional body for policing he was asked by the House of Commons Education Select Committee to advise teachers’ leaders on the benefits of a professional body for teachers. He then served on the Prince’s Teaching Institute commission which produced a blueprint for the Chartered College of Teaching, the founding board of trustees, the inaugural College council and the College’s Journal and Research Committee, which he chaired.

Peter Mattock FCCT

Member of Constitutional Committee

Peter Mattock has been teaching mathematics in secondary schools since 2006 and led maths departments from the beginning of 2011 until being promoted to a whole school leadership position. Peter has been accredited as an NCETM Secondary Mathematics Professional Development Lead and a Mathematics Specialist Leader in Education. Peter was also one of the first secondary maths teachers to take part in the NCETM Secondary Mastery Specialist programme and now leads the Maths subject training for the Leicester and Leicestershire SCITT trainees alongside his school role. Peter’s books “Visible Maths: Using representations and structure to enhance mathematics teaching in schools” and “Conceptual Maths: Teaching ‘about’ (rather than just ‘how to do’) mathematics in schools” and “Leading Maths: The essential guide for new and aspiring maths leaders” are available on the Crown House Publishing website, through www.amazon.co.uk or from your preferred local book shop.

Ann Palmer FCCT

Member of Ethics Committee

Ann has over 35 years of experience working in education, and has partnered with schools across the UK and internationally. She is the founder of the RACE Charter Mark which is an award recognising effective race equality strategies. Ann has been a facilitator on several professional programmes, is a public speaker and is highly acclaimed in the field of DEI and leadership. She’s a qualified Executive Coach and Team Coach, and is often described as “a leader who leads with flair and vision” and is described as “inspirational”.

Ann holds roles across a number of businesses, including Race Excellence which is a consulting business offering high quality and personalised diversity training and accreditation. She is a MAT Trustee, School Governor, Charity Trustee and Business Advisor. Ann is a published author, a podcaster and was awarded the Freedom of the City of London in 2010 and given royal recognition in 2022.

Honorary positions

Honorary Fellowship

The highly prestigious award of Honorary Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching is a distinction for life and the highest honour which the Chartered College of Teaching may bestow. It is for individuals who have made an outstanding contribution, of national significance, to the Chartered College of Teaching, its aims, or to the profession of teaching more broadly. There are opportunities each year to nominate individuals for the award of Honorary Fellowship. Nominations are reviewed by the Chartered College’s Nominations Committee for recommendation to the Council for decision. For further information please contact clerk@chartered.college.

Stephen Munday Hon FCCT CBE

Honorary Fellow

Honorary Membership

The award of Honorary Member of the Chartered College of Teaching is a lifelong distinction, which may be bestowed by the Chartered College. It is for individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the Chartered College of Teaching, its aims, or to the profession of teaching more broadly. There are opportunities each year to nominate individuals for the award of Honorary Membership. Nominations are reviewed by the Chartered College’s Nominations Committee for recommendation to the Council for decision. For further information please contact clerk@chartered.college.

Hannah Uche-Njoku

Honorary Member

Hannah’s Honorary Membership was made posthumously in November 2022.