Research School Network: Meet the team

Simon leads the Research School and is the primary contact for anyone considering a strategic partnership with Blackpool Research School, any school looking for bespoke INSET or CPD programmes.

He has taught mathematics in Blackpool secondary schools for two decades, and has held a range of middle and senior leadership posts. He also spent two years at the Education Endowment Foundation as their content specialist for mathematics.

Simon’s primary research interests are secondary mathematics, leadership, and cognitive science.

David is Lead Teacher for the Research School. He manages our team of evidence leads and is also responsible for our communications output.

David has a wealth of experience teaching mathematics in secondary schools. He also works closely with Abacus Maths Hub as a Local Leader of Mathematics Education (LLME) where he is a secondary mastery specialist.

David’s primary research interest relates to problem-solving in mathematics, and he is currently working on our EEF pilot trial ​‘Thinking Mathematically’, which aims to develop consistent approaches to the teaching of mathematical problem-solving in Year 7.

Debbie provides administrative support for Blackpool Research School.

Charlotte qualified as a teacher in 2010, and later completed an MA in Education whilst working at Platt Bridge Community School, enabling her to investigate and research pedagogical strategies within her own classroom that had the most impact on pupils’ progress.

Charlotte’s career at Platt Bridge Community school spans 12 years: she has experience of teaching in all classes from EYFS to Y6, and has a passion for providing engaging, stimulating experiences for pupils across the curriculum to encourage them to develop a passion for learning whilst making effective progress.

Charlotte’s role as Director of Research and Development allows her to explore new initiatives and innovative practices in order to maintain high expectations and maintain the school’s aim for relentless improvement. Charlotte has engaged with national research projects as part of the ​‘Closing the Gap’ study and the Wellcomm Trust’s Neuroscience in Education studies and has developed, implemented and run Randomised Control Trials (RCTs) with a focus on identifying best practice in retrieval practice, vocabulary and spelling.

Ludi is passionate about all things teaching and learning, and on how we use research in order to provide the best quality of education for all. She has extensive experience in teaching foreign languages in secondary schools, and in developing and delivery professional development for teachers.

Ludi’s primary research interest are what makes effective professional development for teachers, and metacognition.

Nicola is Deputy Headteacher at Boundary Primary School in Blackpool, has extensive senior leadership experience in school in Blackpool and has previously been a Primary Strategy Consultant (Literacy). Her classroom career extends across all primary phases from EYFS to KS2.

As a trained ​‘Research Lead’ and Evidence Leader in Education (ELE) Nicola believes the timely use of research and evidence has been critical to her determination for improving teaching and learning for all pupils.

Nicola’s main areas of interest are Primary Literacy, EYFS and Pupil Premium. Over the past three years she has delivered evidence-based training across schools in Blackpool and Lancashire.

Matthew is an experienced primary school leader in Blackpool. He cares deeply about the educational outcomes of the pupils from the region, and over his career has worked tirelessly to ensure that Blackpool children are able to reach their potential.

A specialist in Primary Science, he has led facilitation and consultancy for STEM Learning UK and more recently joined the Focus4TAPS training team. In addition, he has led Quality Improvement Groups in both Science and RE across a multi-academy trust ensuring a joined up approach to pedagogy across those two subjects.

Matthew has also gained experience in teacher development; he has led initial teacher training across his school, beginning the golden thread journey for trainee teachers. This has continued in his role as an ECF facilitator with TeachFirst and the National Institute of Teaching where he has led seminars on behaviour and routine setting, what effective retrieval practice looks like, and how we can apply research in the classroom environment.

Matthew currently works for the National Institute of Teaching where he is the senior programme manager for the School Trust CEO programme. He leads on the planning, execution and administration of the programme ensuring that our system leaders are accessing the very best of professional development to have the biggest impact on the communities they serve. He formerly ran the Early Career Framework programme in the North and West for Star Teaching School Hubs where his passional for continued professional development has positively impacted ECTs and their communities.