Meet the team and get in touch

Our Training and Assessment Insights team consists of educators with a mix of classroom experience, curriculum design, SENCO provision, intervention support and implementation of teaching and learning strategies. With over 110 years combined and an extensive range of experience across different schools and countries across the globe. From pre-testing guidance to analyse and interpret your results so you can make the best use of your data to inform in-school actions We’re here to help ensure you get the most from your assessments.

Please reach out to us at [email protected] if you have any questions, feedback, or if you’d like to explore your training options. To book your one-to-one consultation with a member of our Assessment Insights team today or with any questions you may have about your assessment data please contact us [email protected] . We’ll be delighted to help!

As Head of Customer Experience for GL Education, Helen is committed to understanding and meeting customers’ needs, improving overall experience and delivering excellent service. Helen applies this dedication alongside her knowledge and experience of teaching, her academic rigor, commitment to listening, and her determination to deliver. Helen leads our Assessment Insights and Training teams - all former teachers, middle leaders, and senior leaders here to support schools in maximising the actionable insights from their assessments. She ensures we are always thinking outside the box to deliver more for our customers so that teachers and leaders interacting with the very best standardised assessments in the market are evidence- and data-informed to support pupils achieve their very best.

Before leaving the classroom, Helen completed a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience and worked as an Assistant Learning Director, Science and Psychology teacher in the Midlands.

Jessica Watson develops the GL training programmes which support schools across the globe to analyse, understand and maximise the use of their assessment data. Jessica has previously worked in inner-city schools as a Mathematics and Spanish teacher and as a Head of Maths. It was in this role that she realised how powerful data is in informing school development planning, teaching practice, and in recognising where our attention is most effective.

Rachel qualified as a Primary teacher in 2002 with a BA in History with QTS from The University of Surrey, Roehampton. She spent 20 years working across the primary phase in inner-city London schools, with 14 years as an Assistant/Deputy Head, and has a real passion for breaking down learning barriers and using assessment to improve outcomes for all children. Rachel is keen to champion how mental health and well-being can be an integral component to effective assessment cycles, allowing you to gain an understanding of the whole child; with an ever-changing society, children’s mental health and wellbeing is more of a priority than ever. In particular, she recently qualified as a Level 5 coach and is exploring how these skills can be transferred into emotion coaching for children.

Sadie gained her Primary Education BA Hons at The University of Roehampton before teaching in a three-form primary school in Hackney, London for 4 years. From here, she moved to Devon and taught in Torbay for 5 years. During her time within the classroom, she worked alongside pupils in KS2 as well as focusing on leading subject areas in PSHE, RE and mental health and well-being. While working with students in Years 5 and 6, Sadie developed strategies to meticulously analyse data in order to drive pupil outcomes to the highest possible standard. Her ethos within education is to help develop pupils’ self-belief and drive success across the curriculum to become well-rounded citizens of the future.

Cecilia has a BSc (Hons) degree in Sport Science and Nutrition and after working in sales and marketing decided to do her PGCE in Primary Education at York St John University in 2010. She has worked in Education both in the maintained and independent sectors as a Primary Teacher for the last 13 years. She has worked in both KS1 and KS2 leading subjects in maths, ICT and PE/Games. Cecilia has thrived on getting the best out of her pupils and believes that for pupils to succeed inside the classroom they should also be succeeding outside the classroom. Her strong pastoral experience working with children has shown her how important children’s attitudes to learning and positive experiences can reflect on their learning outcomes. She is looking forward to working at GL to support schools in how they can look at children’s individual abilities to enable that child to become the best version of themselves.

Polly has over 10 years of teaching experience, having worked in both state and independent primary schools. After qualifying as a teacher in 2012 she then completed the National Award for SENCo. In 2019 she became a Specialist Leader in Education for SEND and progressed to Inclusion Lead, followed by Assistant Headteacher for Inclusion, where she completed her NPQSL. Her most recent experience has been Head of Learning Enhancement and Wellbeing. Polly has a particular passion for SEND and has supported teachers and families to better understand individual needs and implement support strategies, across all four broad areas of needs. She is keen to support more schools to use their data to identify vulnerable learners and explore the ways in which further diagnostic assessments may be used to further understand individual learning needs.

Carly qualified as a Primary Teacher in 2003 with a BA in Primary Education with QTS from the University of Northampton. She spent 13 years working in the state sector teaching across the entire Primary phase before working for the LEA as a Leading Teacher for English, supporting schools to raise standards in reading and writing. During this time, she gained invaluable experience of interpreting and analysing data as well as supporting teachers and senior leaders to make the best use of the data they had. For the last 6 years, Carly has worked in the independent sector as an English specialist, preparing Upper Key Stage 2 pupils to pass the 11+ and independent secondary entrance examinations. Carly is particularly passionate about supporting schools to help close the gaps pupils have post pandemic.

Finn has 16 years of teaching experience in state, independent and international schools. He has worked in Senior Leadership teams and led a variety of subject areas. As a teaching practitioner, Finn valued assessment as a vital component to communicating to students and their families how learning could be developed. He experienced firsthand the enormous benefits of using the GL Assessment CDS digital package to create clear and essential formative data which can be easily understood, analysed and acted upon. Finn is now dedicated to supporting schools using his knowledge of GL products and how they can be used to improve their students’ outcomes. 

James qualified as a Primary School teacher in 2012 after completing a BA (hons) in Education Studies and Sport at Manchester Metropolitan University and his teacher training through the Graduate Teacher Training Programme. James spent 8 years teaching in Staffordshire, moving onto gain experience as an Assistant and Deputy Head Teacher and completing his NPQSL (National Professional Qualification for Senior Leaders) at Edge Hill University. Working with children from a range of backgrounds, James is passionate that all children should leave education with the highest outcomes and have access to the best possible provisions. Working within education, James has witnessed the immeasurable impact of high-quality assessment and analysis of pupils’ progress and attainment. James is now committed to supporting schools to get the most out of their assessment tools to have the greatest impact on pupil outcomes.

Annie helps our schools across the globe find the right training for them and ensures delivery of our suite of training options – from free online materials that can be visited on-demand, to in-depth one-to-one data consultations and face-to-face group workshops. Having been at the core of the training department in her previous role, she knows just how important it is to understand training needs and ensure the right training is delivered at the right time. Assisting the wider Training and Assessment Insights team, Annie brings a wealth of customer service experience and administrative support. She’s loves getting lost in a good book, which is fuelling her studies at the Open University, where she is currently completing her English Language and Literature degree.

Eileen is the GL Associate in Northern Ireland with particular interest in combining and analyzing pupil data to build a profile as a learner enabling targeted interventions. Her work is driven by the passionate belief that developing ‘the whole child’ and understanding their specific barriers to learning is central to academic success. Prior to joining GL her work with the NIELB included school improvement, curriculum development and facilitation and mentoring support for Head Teachers and Pastoral Leaders. With qualifications including B.Ed., M.ED, diplomas in Guidance & Counseling and Neuro Linguistic Programming she has also studied at the Jensen Corporation in California and in Washington DC. Her research on school ethos, vision and values informed her work as Associate Lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University. Overseas work includes workshop facilitation for Head Teachers in Uganda and Kenya on school self-evaluation.

Formerly Principal at an award-winning international school in the Middle East and Adjunct Lecturer in School Leadership at the University Brunei Darussalam, Matthew has enjoyed headships in British and IB schools globally. Through his expertise in the use a triangle of student-level data, and his passion for a #wellbeingfirst and #earlyyearsup approach to learning, Matthew has written and presented across the globe on #themonalisaeffect®, which aims to enable schools and school leaders to help every single child to thrive. Matthew also has a global voice on, and is actively engaging in constructive conversations about, child and adolescent mental health, wellbeing, involvement and belonging. He is in increasingly high demand as a trainer of choice to premium schools and school groups worldwide.

Neil is an international freelance educational consultant providing training around the world. In 2019 he worked with teachers and schools in Singapore, Laos, Indonesia, India, China, Vietnam, Nepal, Malaysia, South Korea, Oman, Hong Kong and the UAE. He is currently involved in developing online projects in a number of countries including India, Mexico and China.

Neil firmly believes that the most successful teaching strategies can work for teachers of all subjects and ages of students, and both his conference presentations and school training programmes always provide practical guidance and resources that teachers can use directly in their classrooms.