was born in Cape Town, South Africa during the apartheid regime. She had teenage parents who worked hard to provide for their children despite the challenges of political oppression and financial hardship. The family lived in a range of countries before settling in England when Alison was 15.  

After gaining a B.Ed Hons at University of North London, Alison chose to teach in inner city schools, working mainly in Hackney. She was awarded Doctor of Philosophy Honoris Causa for attainment and services to education in 2018.

Alison is an experienced Head Teacher with a demonstrated history of high attainment working within the education management industry. She has a passion for values led leadership, staff and pupil wellbeing, the celebration of the teaching profession, inclusion and diversity and she enjoys supporting school leaders and schools facing demanding challenges.

Alison’s first headship was to set up a new primary school which grew from 75 – 470 pupils. It was quickly established as a high performing, oversubscribed school. Her second headship turned around a failing school within a deprived area of London from the bottom 1% to the top 0.1% in 3 years and went on to sustain the success of the school for a further 6 years with the school consistently being listed within the top 100 schools nationwide. The school was regarded and recommended by Regional Schools Commissioner for East of England and North-East London as a model school for the London, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex region. She managed the transition of a school to becoming an Academy. The school won many prestigious awards including Gold School Status, SSAT Award winner for Attainment and Pupil Progress, National Pupil Premium Award winner. Both schools are listed in the Sunday Times Top 500.

Alison was the founder CEO of Amaya Multi-Academy Trust, the first and only black, female CEO in the country.  

Alison’s excellence in leadership was consistently recognised in every Ofsted Inspection.

Alison is a regular speaker and panel member at conferences speaking on a wide variety of subjects including Courageous Leadership, Turnaround Schools, Wellbeing, Staff Retention, Breaking Through The Glass Ceiling and Diversity.

Alison is an Independent Education Consultant and is currently setting up https://aboveandbeyond.education, a platform to change the conversation about education providing a place for schools to share their best practice and connect educators who want to form collaborative partnerships

 

Alison is a National Leader of #WomenEd, a Founding Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching, a HundrEd Ambassador and a RSA Fellow.