Natspec is governed by a Board of Directors elected by the membership. The Board meets four times per year, and appoints a Chair to lead the organisation. The Chief Executive is responsible for strategic guidance and operational leadership.
The Board of Directors is comprised of nine policy directors and eight regional directors. Directors are responsible either for leading a policy area at a national level or for representing members at a regional level.
Download the Board Handbook including Memorandum and Articles of Association.
If you need to get in touch with any members of the board, please email them directly or contact info@natspec.org.uk
Meet our chair
Ben Bastin, Treloar College
Ben has worked for 15 years with a wide variety of students in a range of SEND education settings. Since June 2021, Ben has been Head of Treloar College He is passionate about supporting all young people to have a sustainable place in society. He looks to coax the rest of the world to better understand young people with additional needs and for those with SEND to be less isolated and have better access to their communities. Ben was also once a professional jazz musician.
Email: Benjamin.Bastin@treloar.org.uk
Regions
East Midlands / East of England
Martin Shelton, Linkage College
Martin has over 20 years’ experience in post-16 education, following 10 years as a businessman in the service industries sector. Martin is a highly successful senior manager and prior to joining Linkage in 2016 spent five years in the post of Vice Principal at North Warwickshire and Hinckley College. Martin’s leadership responsibilities in further education have included Foundation Learning programmes, establishing unique vocational provision and quality assurance at one of the largest GFE providers in the country.
Martin initially joined Linkage as Principal on a consultancy basis. The ability and impact of the specialist college sector to change lives every day inspired him to apply for the permanent principal position to which he was appointed in July 2016. Martin has led Linkage through two Ofsted inspections and grown the college to become one of the five largest specialist colleges in the country, with four campuses across Lincolnshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire.
Email: martin.shelton@linkage.org.uk
London
Kelly Phillips, Orchard Hill College
Kelly has a wealth of experience with SEND, working in education and social care. She became a specialist teacher 13 years ago and has continued to develop her skills within mainstream and specialist colleges. Kelly joined Orchard Hill College as a lecturer and progressed to Head of Centre then Assistant Principal Regional Lead before being appointed as Principal.
Email: kphillips@orchardhill.ac.uk
North East / Yorkshire and the Humber
Joanne Rees-Proud, Hedleys College
Joanne has worked in education for the last 16 years and is Principal at Hedleys College, part of the wider Percy Hedley Foundation in Newcastle. She is passionate about supporting young people with physical and learning disabilities, complex needs and challenging behaviour through their education journey by providing high quality education opportunities. As a practitioner, her background is teaching PMLD learners with complex needs and this is an area she feels strongly about, especially in promoting learner voice and preparing young people for adulthood. She has worked at Hedleys College from its initiation and would like to support other providers on this journey.
Email: j.rees@percyhedley.org.uk
North West
The North West director post is currently vacant.
South East
The post of South East Director is job-shared between Chloe Smith and Franky Baptie
Chloe Smith, The Orpheus Centre
Chloe has worked in Further, Alternative and Specialist Education, Local Authority, and the Charity sector for 20 years. She is currently Principal at The Orpheus Centre. Chloe is highly passionate about innovation in curriculum and promoting learner voice, particularly in support of ambitious outcomes and progression for learners.
Franky Baptie
Franky is a highly experienced professional in Special Educational Needs (SEN), with over 27 years dedicated to both teaching and leadership. Now Head of College at St Piers, Franky has been instrumental in designing and delivering a forward-thinking, personalised curriculum that supports students in developing work skills, engaging with their communities, and enhancing their Personal & Social Development (PSD). Under Franky’s dynamic leadership, St Piers College proudly earned an “Outstanding” rating in its most recent Ofsted inspection. Deeply committed to the value of specialist provision, Franky continues to advocate for inclusive education that empowers every learner.
South West
Sylvan Dewing, the Deaf Academy
Sylvan has worked in Further and Specialist education for over 20 years. He is currently the Principal of the Deaf Academy which is a residential special school and college for children and young people up to 24 who are Deaf with additional and complex needs based in Exmouth in the Southwest of England. I myself am Dyslexic and struggled at mainstream school and college. I have a strong belief in the power of inclusive education to enable everyone to flourish and achieve their potential.
Alongside being a Principal I teach food technology once a week to a group of post 16 students and have also completed qualifications and training in BSL and being an MSI intervener.
Email: sdewing@thedeafacademy.ac.uk
Wales
Karen Ford, Cambian Pengwern College
Karen has worked in education for 22 years including in further education, adult and community learning and offender learning. She joined Pengwern College as Head of Education in 2017 and progressed to Assistant Principal in 2021, then to Principal in 2023. Karen also has experience working nationally with the Welsh Government and NGfL Wales, and has managed a team training teachers and tutors in the use of technology in the classroom for a national project over a period of three years.
She is passionate about teaching and learning, holding an MA in Education and MA in Education Leadership and Management. She is a peer inspector for Estyn and an experienced principal moderator and examiner.
Email: Karen.Ford@cambiangroup.com
West Midlands
Meryl Green, Derwen College
Meryl is Principal and CEO of Derwen College with over 20 years’ experience working within the specialist education sector and an MSc in Educational Leadership.
Following a career in the design industry she originally joined Derwen as Head of Arts and moved into a quality management role, including a period as an Ofsted Inspector, before progressing into her current position. Meryl believes that her design background continues to influence her leadership style. She is a strong advocate of staff development and of finding creative solutions to problems.
Meryl has led Derwen College through periods of significant strategic change. She has wide-ranging experience, including the development of customer-facing vocational programmes leading to sustained employment, through to the implementation of highly bespoke provision for learners with PMLD.
Meryl is incredibly proud to work in the SEND sector and is committed to changing lives for the better through the promotion of high-quality education that enables young people with SEND to achieve their true potential.
Email: meryl.green@derwen.ac.uk
Policy Areas
Vice Chair / Quality
Tracy Gillett, Condover College
Tracy is Vice Chair of Natspec and the Director of Education / Principal of Condover College. She has a master’s degree in special education needs and inclusion and has dedicated her career to special education, initially teaching in general FE and then in specialist colleges as a senior leader. As a qualified tutor, Tracy and spent many years coordinating the areas of skills for life, work experience and employability. She has undertaken a range of quality assurance activities in specialist and general further education settings for students with high needs. Tracy has extensive experience in working with high needs students including those with autism, profound and multiple learning difficulties, sensory impairments and complex needs.
Employment
Gareth Ivett
Gareth Ivett is a passionate and principled educational leader committed to transforming the life chances of young people with learning disabilities. With his recent career rooted in specialist education, Gareth’s driving purpose has been to radically change the employment landscape for adults with learning disabilities; challenging low expectations and creating real, sustainable pathways into meaningful work and independence.
This mission led to establish Creating Tomorrow College, a forward-thinking specialist post-16 provider built entirely around the belief that all young people deserve access to aspirational opportunities to gain, but more importantly sustain, employment. Under his leadership, the college has grown rapidly in scale and influence, becoming known for its innovative, employment focused curriculum, strong partnerships with industry, and consistently high student outcomes.
Before founding the college, Gareth successfully led the turnaround of a large failing special school – transforming its culture, outcomes, and reputation. The school went on to win multiple awards, recognising excellence in curriculum design, outcomes and leadership. This experience deepened his resolve to create a new kind of specialist education; one that breaks barriers between education and the world of work.
Gareth’s work is grounded in values-led leadership, sector-wide collaboration, and a commitment to equity. He is a regular contributor to local, regional & national conversations about SEND employment, and is a strong advocate for inclusive growth, policy reform, and system change that places people with learning disabilities at the centre of social and economic development.
LAs and Commissioning
Andrew Smith, Derwen College
Andrew is a qualified Chartered Management Accountant with a wealth of experience in senior financial roles with retail and logistics companies prior to joining Derwen College in 2008. Being new to the sector at that time, Andrew completed the DTLLS course in order to gain a better understanding of the issues faced in the teaching profession.
Andrew left Derwen in 2014 to work in the private sector, but 3 years later returned as Director Business & Finance. He has extensive experience working with many Local Authorities throughout his years at College in both England and Wales.
Care
Brendan Murphy, Ruskin Mill College
Brendan has worked as a senior manager across the education and care sector for the last 20 years. Through direct experience of working with people in Registered Care, Supported Living, Shared Lives and Clinical settings, Brendan has developed a love for working with people. He has a particular interest in exploring fundamental human rights in those who do not always have a voice. Which led him to Ruskin Mill Trust where he has worked for the last seven years, exploring the educational opportunities afforded to people through their relationships with the world and others around us. With experience of Ofsted, Estyn, Care Quality Commission and the Care Inspectorate Wales Brendan also understands the importance of robust quality assurance across England and Wales.
Wider Sector, CPD and Training
Tracey Forman, Homefield College
Tracey began her career in as a Human Resources professional. She specialised in training development and delivery and spent a number of years as the Director of Training for the National Union of Students (NUS) where she developed an interest in enabling students to use their voice. Tracey spent over twenty years in HR and training mostly within the education sector and achieved fellowship status of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and qualifying as a teacher before switching her career to more student focused activities as Head of Student Services for a large general further education college. Tracey arrived at Homefield College as Principal in 2019. She has a post graduate Diploma in Inclusion and Special Education Needs from Birmingham University and continues to have a passion for developing the voice of students.
Safeguarding
Jane Ferguson, Hereward College
Jane has worked in education for over 20 years in both the mainstream and specialist FE sector, Jane worked as a safeguarding consultant following management positions in both the NHS and Local Authority. Jane is the Vice Principal for Safeguarding & Pastoral Care at Hereward College and has been a Designated Safeguarding Lead for the past 12 years. She is responsible for all aspects of safeguarding and behaviour management and for ensuring that safeguarding is integrated into practice development. Jane has experience of safeguarding adults’ reviews, and their learning events, she is an experienced school governor, member of the Coventry Adults Safeguarding Board and has chaired the Natspec Safeguarding Forum for the past three years.
New provision
Angie Fisher, David Lewis College
Angie is the Director of Education at David Lewis College based in Cheshire. She is a highly experienced leader in both education and in the private sector. Educated to Masters level in educational leadership, Angie has been working within the specialist education sector with children and young people with complex learning difficulties for over 20 years. Angie’s particular area of interest is the individualisation of learning programmes. She is committed to ensuring that young people with Special Educational Needs have the opportunity to be as independent as possible and to become the very best version of themselves. Angie and is incredibly proud that David Lewis has been judged Outstanding three times and is dedicated to driving through a culture of continuous improvement and sharing good practice to ensure the best learning outcomes for all.
Co-production
Jane Young, Activate CES
Jane is Principal / CEO of Activate Specialist College in Merseyside. Her experience of the FE sector spans over 20 years, with the latter 10 years being spent in specialist education. Jane has a particular interest in innovative practice which ultimately leads to greater progression and outcomes for people with SEND. Jane has previously held the NW regional post for the Natspec board and has also worked collaboratively with the Department of Education in designing the new accessible PSE qualification standards.
Governance
David Welch, Green Corridor
David is CEO of Green Corridor, located adjacent to Heathrow Airport. He has been working in the youth work sector for over 25 years, and has been involved in charity leadership for 20 years, as CEO, Director and Charity Trustee for various organisations in the Southeast. David has a particular interest in Charity Leadership and Good Governance and ensuring that this leads to improved outcomes for learners with special needs as well as bringing sustainable growth in challenging environments. He has experience of SEN as both charity leader and as a parent of a child with Special Needs who attends a special school. David referees rugby matches in his spare time.