Steph has worked within the education sector for over 20 years. Prior to joining Southfield School, she taught in a more challenging mixed secondary school in Lincolnshire. Her early career included posts as Head of Science and Head of Sixth Form which afforded her a relatively rare background of both pastoral and curriculum middle leadership.
During her time in senior leadership Steph held a range of whole school responsibilities which included; curriculum, data and standards, reporting and assessment, quality assurance and CPD. Alongside a demanding leadership post she also fulfilled a part-time secondment to CfBT; an education trust that supported schools around the country in raising standards. This opportunity enabled her to broaden her experience across a range of schools and the support offered ranged in both duration and focus.
Steph joined Southfield School in September 2013. The previous summer saw Southfield School’s key performance indicators (KPIs) fall below the national average and in October of 2013 it received its ‘requiring improvement’ Ofsted judgement. Steph’s remit was to raise standards and move Southfield School to ‘good’. As the KPIs significantly improved over the next two years, Southfield School received a ‘good’ judgement in February 2016.
In 2017, at the request of the DfE, Steph was asked to establish a MAT and support other local schools with a wide variety of support being offered since then. 2018 saw Steph succeed in obtaining sponsor status for a MAT, enabling the support of schools in challenging circumstances, and becoming the start of the Orbis Education Trust. In 2020, following a very competitive and demanding process, Steph led the successful delivery of a free school application, Hanwood Park (scheduled to open in 2025). In 2021 Steph was appointed as the Executive Headteacher of Orbis Education Trust.