About Us

James is the Executive Director of Challenging Learning. Often described as one of the best speakers in the world of education, he has engaged audiences from every phase of education: pre-school, primary, secondary, FE (gymnasium) and university. He is the author of two best-selling books, "Challenging Learning" & "Encouraging Learning", and co-director of P4C.com, an international resource and collaboration site for Philosophy for Children.

Martin Renton is the Director of Consultancy and Evaluations for Challenging Learning. He is one of our most sought-after keynote speakers, as well a senior consultant to our projects around the world. Martin’s background is in both schools and further & higher education. He has pioneered an approach to learning – particularly with the 16-19 year old age range – that is making a pronounced difference within colleges (gymnasiums) across the UK and Scandinavia. Martin joined Challenging Learning in 2009 after a very successful career as a leader and teacher across the 3-19 age range. His approach to pedagogy can be seen in Radical Encouragement (2006), Thinking Through Music (2009), Challenging Learning Through Dialogue (2006) and Challenging Learning Through Questioning (2007).

Marianne Skogvoll is our most experienced and trusted consultant and now Regional Manager for Scandinavia. With a background in teaching and school leadership, she inspires confidence in everyone she meets. She heads up our largest project in Denmark, taking care of the development of Visible Learning in more than 50 schools north of Copenhagen. She is also our chief in-school evaluator as well as an outstanding trainer and facilitator.

Before joining Challenging Learning, Marianne was a teacher and then school leader in Ås, south of Oslo. Her school was part of a kommune-wide leadership development project led by James Nottingham and Martin Renton. It was this that inspired Marianne to become a consultant.

As a teacher, Marianne was focussed on dialogue and creative thinking in the classroom. She used a range of different tools to challenge her student’s thinking, and provided frequent opportunities for students to engage in dialogue and learn from each other. Amongst the many strategies she used, Philosophy for Children (P4C) was perhaps the most significant. Having trained as a P4C consultant, and used the approach right across the school age range, Marianne and is now one of the most sought-after trainers in Scandinavia.

Marianne’s grounding in P4C and leadership led to her involvement in Carol Dweck’s Mindset theory. It was also a natural fit for the learning environment she created for all students in which errors were welcomed, challenges sought, and progress celebrated. Another key aspect of her practice was to make learning visible for her learners, working with learning intentions, success criteria and feedback to enable the learners to take greater ownership of their learning.

As a leader, Marianne led the school’s professional development processes. She focused on long-term strategic planning to implement the school’s shared vision. Providing staff with lots of opportunities to collaborate, she ensured that action learning and the sharing of best practice underpinned the whole approach. Because of the success of her approach, she was also invited to be part of the strategic planning for her municipality.

Marianne’s first degree was in art history and history from the University of Tromsø and the University of Trondheim. She is now studying for a Masters degree in educational leadership and management.

When Marianne is not working you will find her at home hanging out with her three almost-grown-up kids or skiing in the beautiful Norwegian mountains. 

NORSK

Marianne arbeidet på Åsgård skole i 16 år, først som lærer og de siste årene som undervisningsinspektør. Barneskolen som ligger i Ås, ikke langt fra Oslo, var del av OUR Educational Network, og Marianne hadde en sentral rolle i dette utviklingsarbeidet. Det var slik Marianne kom i kontakt med Challenging Learning, og hun bestemte seg for å bli en del av Challenging Learnings team for å kunne bruke sine erfaringer til å hjelpe andre skoler videre i sitt utviklingsarbeid.

Marianne er en av våre sjefskonsulenter og blant ansvarsområdene ligger prosjektledelse og konsulentvirksomhet i mange av våre Visible Learning^plusprosjekter i Danmark, Norge og Sverige.

Som lærer var Marianne opptatt av dialog og kreativ tenkning i klasserommet. Hun har spesielt vært opptatt av filosofering med barn (P4C), og har jobbet mye med dette på alle alderstrinn. Et annet fokusområde i hennes undervisning var å gjøre læring synlig for elevene, ved å arbeide med læringsmål, mestringskriterier og tilbakemelding slik at elevene fikk større eierskap til egen læring.

Marianne har sin utdanning fra Universitetet i Tromsø og Trondheim, og har blant annet historie, kunsthistorie, litteraturhistorie og pedagogikk som fag. Hun har også studert Utdanningsledelse ved Universitetet i Oslo.

ENGLISH

Per Jensen is a consultant at Challenging Learning and works with Challenging Learning on projects covering Visible Learning and Growth Mindset development in day care, schools and colleges. He has written and edited textbooks for college teaching and has created resources for active and entrepreneurial learning.

Per’s background is in education, communication, network building and sports. For many years he taught in colleges. Later he also developed learning projects with primary schools as well as teaching groups of pupils. One of these groups dubbed him with the slogan ’Perfect Educators Rule’ so Per continually strives to pass this challenge on from critically thinking pupils to everyone he teaches and cooperates with. Per has also led learning activities for pre-schoolers.

In his early life Per was a very promising javelin thrower, but had to stop his career due to an injured elbow. This experience taught him that one can change one’s life, thinking and skills and turn grave misfortune into a new life and progress. Incremental, goal directed and systematic practice and most important of all, challenges from trainers who knew that this was the road forward convinced him that this could and should be given to everyone. He therefore continued his sports career as a trainer and instructor.

Per was actively involved from the beginning when IT was introduced in colleges. As one of the first IT coaches from the humanities he was co-responsible for teaching and training colleagues to implement the new technology in pedagogics and didactics. He worked briefly as a national consultant for the Australian PEEL (Project to Enhance Efficient Learning) and assisted its initiator John Baird on his tour of Denmark in the 90’s. PEEL was a predecessor to today’s evidence based learning and teaching research and to the work of John Hattie. In 2002 he co-initiated the pedagogical cooperative SIMNET in which he wrote and developed resources for active learning inspired by Dewey and Kolbe. For ten years he taught active and entrepreneurial learning for Swedish college and primary school teachers, institutions and organisations. SIMNET works for global peace, justice, equality and equity and sustainable development. Per’s work for Challenging Learning is informed by his dedication to international and intercultural collaboration for the flourishing of humanity. In 1999 during an exchange program visit to a group of Parakuyo Masai in Tanzania he was very proud to be asked to be their ambassador.

He now specializes in Carol Dweck’s research in mindsets and how the experiences from this crucial work can be implemented to improve learning environments and in particular pre-schoolers’  and pupils’ motivation and engagement. Before he joined Challenging Learning Per ran a one man consultancy, GPS Learning ,which focussed on developing growth mindset cultures at both regional levels and in schools. A college headmaster said to him ’You are our medicine!’

Per’s passion for entrepreneurial learning through challenge and feedback is strongle expressed when he works for children, young people and adults who have not yet been given the security, confidence or tools to take control of their own learning and who are therefore frequently categorized as ’weak’, ’silent’, untalented and unmotivated.

Per volunteers for the Swedish-Bosnian NGO Cultural Heritage Without Borders which in Albania works for reconsruction and reconciliation in the Balkans. On several occasions he has been to Albania to assist the NGO improve their educational activities to further the aim of reconciliation and and sustainable peace.

Per has three wonderful children who to his great joy are now building their own different lives. In his spare time he loves being with his family and the dog Fritze. He is a dedicated incomplete angler, enjoys jazz music, has a passion for World Cinema and collects trees.

DANSK

Per Jensen er konsulent hos Challenging Learning og arbejder med Growth Mindset udvikling i daginstitutioner, skoler og gymnasier, Challenging Learning projekter og Synlig Læring. Han er forfatter til undervisningsbøger og undervisningsmateriale til aktiv læring.

Per baggrund er uddannelse, kommunikations- og netværksarbejde og idræt. Han var i mange år lærer i gymnasiet og udviklede senere læringsprojekter og underviste grupper af folkeskoleelever. En sådan klasse gav ham adelsmærket ”Perfekter Evner Regerer”. Adel forpligter, så denne udfordring fra kritisk tænkende elever stræber han efter at give til alle han underviser og samarbejder med. Han har lavet læringsaktiviteter for børnehavegrupper og børnhaveklasser.

Per var en lovende spydkaster, blev skadet og skiftede til anden idræt. Dette lærte ham, at man kan ændre sit liv, tænkning og ”evner” og vende voldsom nedtur til nyt liv og nye fremgange: Trinvis, målrettet og systematisk øvelse samt ikke mindst udfordringer fra trænere, der vidste at dette var vejen, overbeviste ham om, at dette ville kunne gives til alle mennesker. Han fortsatte derfor som træner.

Han ved med til introduktionen af IT i gymnasiet som en af  Danmarks første humanistiske ”datavejledere” og medansvarlig for uddannelsen af kolleger i IT brug og –pædagogik. I en kort periode var han konsulents for Gymnasiedirektoratet for PEEL projektet (Project to Enhance Efficient Learning) og assisterede den ene af projektets initiativtagere, John Baird, under dennes turné i Danmark i 90’erne. PEEL er forgængeren for dagens evidensbaserede lærings forskning og John Hatties arbejde. I 2002 tog han initiativ til dannelsen af det pædagogiske kollektiv SIMNET, hvor han skrev materialer til aktiv læring. I ti år underviste han svenske gymnasie- og folkeskolelærere, institutioner og organisationer i aktiv og entreprenøriel læring. SIMNET arbejdede for global fred, retfærdighed, ligestilling og holdbar udvikling. Pers arbejde for CL beriges af denne hans passion for internationalt og interkulturelt samarbejde med gensidig kulturel berigelse og menneskelig vækst og udvikling for øje. I 1999 blev han under et udvekslingsprojekt med en gruppe Parakuyo masaier i Tanzania bedt om at være ambassadør for disse i alt han gjorde.

Per specialiserer sig nu i Carol Dwecks forskning i mindset og hvordan denne forskning kan forbedre læringskulturer samt ikke mindst førskolebørns og elevers engagement og motivation. Inden han blev ansat hos Challenging Learning drev han sit eget firma GPS Learning og har på både kommunalt og regionalt niveau og blandt skoler hjulpet med at udvikle Growth Mindset kulturer. En gymnasierektor sagde om Per og hans arbejde ”Du er vores medicin!”.

Per laver også frivilligt arbejde for den svensk – bosniske ngo Kulturarv uden Grænser der i Albanien arbejder for genopbygning og forsoning på Balkan. Per har flere gange været i Albanien for at assistere ngo´en med at forbedre sine uddannelsesaktiviter så de i langt højere grad kan fremme målet om forsoning og varig fred.

Pers arbejde baserer sig på på fattelsen af, at alle møder med mennesker, andres tænkning, arbejde, historier og værdier er udfordringer og resurser til nye idéer og nye og forbedrede måder at gøre tingene på. Denne begejstring for entreprenøriel læring gennem udfordringer og feedback er han især glad for at give videre til børn og voksne som endnu ikke har fået givet redskaberne til at tage kontrol over deres egen læring og menneskelige udvikling og derfor tynges af betegnelser som ’stille’, ’svage’ og ’umotiverede’.

Per har tre børn, der til hans store begejstring nu selv skaber deres egne anderledes liv. I sin fritid elsker han at være sammen med familien og hunden Fritze. Han fisker, lytter til nordisk jazz, er lidenskabeligt begejstret for World Cinema og så samler han på træer.

SVENSKA

Per Jensen är konsult inom Challenging Learning. Han arbetar med Growth Mindset-utveckling inom förskola, grundskola och gymnasium, samt inom Challenging Learning och Synligt Lärande. Han har skrivit undervisningsböcker till gymnasieskolan och undervisningsmaterial inom aktivt lärande.

Pers har sin bakgrund inom undervisning och kommunikations- och nätverksarbete, samt inom idrottsrörelsen. Han har undervisat en rad år i gymnasiet och har på senare tid utvecklat olika typer av lärprojekt där han undervisat grupper av elever från grundskolan. Av en sådan grupp ’dubbades’ han en gång med orden ”Perfekta Egenskaper Regerar”. Adelskap förpliktigar, och därför försöker han alltid ge vidare denna utmaning från kritiskt tänkande skolbarn till alla han undervisar och samarbetar med. Per har även arbetat med att utforma och planera undervisning som utvecklat lärande inom förskolans tidigare år.

Per var en gång en lovande spjutkastare, men ådrog sig en skada och tvingades därmed byta till annan idrott. Detta lärde honom att man KAN ändra sitt liv, sitt tänkande och sina färdigheter och på så sätt vända en svår motgång till ett nytt liv med möjligheter och nya framgångar. Stegvis, målinriktad och systematisk träning och väl valda utmaningar från tränare, som insåg att detta var enda vägen framåt, övertygade Per om att detta sätt att tänka går att förmedla och ge till alla människor. Därför fortsatte han inom idrottsrörelsen som tränare.

Per var som lärare med från början när IKT introducerades i gymnasieskolan och fungerade som en av Danmarks första IKT-handledare. Detta uppdrag innebar ansvar för kollegors fortbildning inom IKT-pedagogik och didaktik. 2002 var han med och tog initiativ till det pedagogiska kooperativet SIMNET, där han skrev och utvecklade resurser inom aktivt lärande. I 10 år var Per med och undervisade aktivt och entreprenöriellt lärande i grundskolor, gymnasier, institutioner och organisationer i Sverige. SIMNET arbetade för global fred, rättvisa, jämställdhet och hållbar utveckling. Pers arbete för Challenging Learning berikas av hans passion för internationellt och interkulturellt arbete med fokus på mänsklig utveckling. Vid ett besök år 1999 hos en grupp Parakuyo-masaier i Tanzania bad dessa Per vara ambassadör för dem i allt han gjorde, en utmaning han bär med sig i livet.

Per specialiserar sig nu i Carol Dwecks forskning i ’mindset’ och hur detta forskningsområdes resultat kan förbättra skolors kulturer när det handlar om lärande och hur förskolebarns och skolelevers motivation och engagemang kan påverkas positivt. Innan han började som konsult för Challenging Learning var han egen företagare och bistod med utveckling av Growth Mindset-kultur både på regional nivå och bland skolor. En gymnasierektor sade om Per: ”Du är vår medicin!”.

Som frivillig för den svensk- bosniska ornanisationen Kulturarv Utan Gränser, som utifrån sitt huvudsäte i Tirana arbetar för återuppbyggande och försoning på Balkan, har Per flera gånger besökt Albanien för att hjälpa organiskationen förbättra sina utbildningsaktiviteter och på så sätt  förbättra möjligheterna att återuppbygga och försona och skapa hållbar fred mellan grannar.

Pers entusiasm för entreprenöriellt lärande genom utmaningar och återkoppling är mest uppenbart när han arbetar för och med barn och vuxna som ännu inte har fått tryggheten och redskapen till, samt förtroendet att ta kontroll över sitt eget lärande. De tyngs ofta av kategoriseringar som ”tysta”, ”svaga”, ”omotivarade” och ibland även ”obegåvade”.

Per har tre underbara barn som nu skapar sina egna och självständiga liv. På fritiden gillar han livet med familjen, hunden Fritze, att fiska, lyssna på svensk jazz, vistas i stugan i Småland, samla på träd, samt se filmer från hela världen.

Helen is our Director of Admin & Executive Assistant to James Nottingham. With the exception of the Company Directors, she is the longest serving member of our team. She runs our Head Office in Northumberland and coaches all new staff in the values and mission of the company. 

She started working life as a Medical Secretary, first in GP practice and then in a large hospital in Derby with a brief spell as Race Club Secretary at Newmarket Racecourses in between. She left her role as Secretary to a Consultant Cardiologist to become the office manager of a bespoke CAD computer software company in Derbyshire.  This was a new company so Helen was able to help in implementing office procedures as it grew.  After the birth of her two sons she persuaded her husband to make the move back up to her native Scottish Borders. In 2003, she took the job as Office Manager on the N-RAIS project that James co-founded. Three years later, she helped James and Jill set up JN Partnership Ltd and is now company secretary and admin director, as well as the voice of reason on the Board of Directors.

Lesley is our Deployment and Evaluations Administrator.

After Graduating in Geography from picturesque Kingston-upon-Hull, and following a stint working in Asda as cream-cake creator, Lesley decided she needed to change/find a focus and started working in a small Architectural Practice in Newcastle City Centre. A few years later she moved across the road to another Architects and became Practice Administrator/Office Manager where she remained for the following 17 years.

September 2014 saw a move to HMP Northumberland where she was to be an Administrator for the DART and Mental Health teams, (and had a lovely matching prison blouse and neckerchief!)

She lives with her husband James, two sons and manic springer spaniel.  Most of her spare time is filled with driving around the North-East to watch her sons play football, or watching questionable reality TV.

Lisa started working for Challenging Learning in November 2014 as an administrator. Now PA to Martin Renton, she also books all travel, keeps accurate diaries, and covers any other admin needed in our UK office.

Originally from Devon, Lisa first worked at Exeter Airport doing check-in, boarding and booking flights. She also ran the sales office for a wholesaler in Devon before moving up to the North East. Her most recent job before Challenging Learning was working for a veterinary hospital as Practice Secretary.

Lisa moved up to Northumberland to be closer to her family. She lives with her partner, Lenny, who is originally from Bordeaux. Most of her leisure time is filled with showing her beloved Dalmatians around the country, including the last 11 shows of Crufts!

As Financial Controller, Beccy is responsible for the monitoring and reporting the company’s financial performance to ensure that all work is properly resourced to deliver the highest quality service possible.  Beccy is an FCA who qualified with one of the big four accountancy firms and then moved into the social sector, working for two of the National Lottery distributors and then for Futurebuilders, a trailblazer of lending to charity and voluntary organisations that became The Social Investment Business. 

Beccy's love of data and her desire to put numbers to work for social good led her to join Challenging Learning initially as Contract Evaluation and Data Analyst and latterly to move to her current finance-focused role.  Beccy is based in our Alnwick office and in her free-time enjoys using her children as an excuse to do childish things, as well as volunteering on the Boards of the local community hall and pre-school.

Tom Burston is Challenging Learning’s Director of Strategic Operations. He joined us at the end of 2016 after six years of supporting business growth across north east England

Tom’s specialisms include the design and implementation of business growth strategies and the use of participatory methodology in development processes. His work is driven by his understanding of how real development and progress happens through informed planning and building trusting relationships.

Tom’s work on an EC business development project across Northumberland resulted in growth for many businesses in the county and secured more than £2million of EC business support grants. Tom also created and encouraged a long-term and fruitful partnership between Northumberland and Småland in southern Sweden through which businesses shared experiences and opportunities and developed new links in new markets. His work was recognised as professional best practice and he presented his findings at conferences across the EU.

Tom’s previous career background is in the overseas development sector. Tom has worked around the globe responding to humanitarian disasters in Sudan, Indonesia and southern Africa and worked on longer-term development projects in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Tom rolled out strategic management training across Oxfam’s global operations and designed and delivered customised training in 20 different country programmes. He also helped to establish the response to the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan by negotiating entry of humanitarian goods into the country and establishing Oxfam’s operating licenses.

Tom trained at the School of Oriental and African Studies at London University and as well as at the University of Durham

When Tom is not working, you will find him in the Northumbrian hills with his wife Pennie and their two children Betsy and Frankie. Tom is a huge fan of Northumberland and is vice Chair of Alwinton Border Shepherd’s Show, Northumberland’s premier hill-farming show.

Marianne is James Nottingham’s Swedish PA. She supports anyone from Scandinavia who wishes to book or get in contact with James. She is also a key part of our Strategic Operations team.

Originally from Piteå in Sweden, Marianne has lived in the UK since 1992. During her time in the UK she has lived in London and Edinburgh before ending up in Northumberland. She has covered a range of roles from PA to Business Manager and Senior Licensing Officer.

Marianne ended up in Northumberland by chance as she was working in Edinburgh and her husband in Newcastle. They both like it here so much. She lives with her husband Colin (whom she met in Australia) and her daughter, Mary. Most of her leisure time is filled with chickens, ponies, friends, various crafts and gardening.

Sue started working for Challenging Learning in July 2015. She is responsible for the day to day finance function, looking after the companies that currently comprise Challenging Learning.

Originally from the North West she has worked in a finance role for a number of organisations in private, public and educational sectors in various parts of the country.

She relocated to Northumberland with her husband in 2005. She has two children and four grandchildren living in North Yorkshire and Cyprus.  She is an avid reader, is learning to play the piano and has recently taken up cycling again after too many years to mention!!

Sarah is our Events and Online Coordinator, she organises all our study tours, conferences and events.  She also ensures our online resources and websites are up to date and fit for purpose.  In between this, she is PA to Operations Director, Jill Nottingham.

Sarah's background is in business administration.  She worked as a Secretary/PA for many years before gaining a wealth of experience in events and project management.  Originally from Tynemouth on the east coast of Newcastle upon Tyne, Sarah moved to Alnwick in 2002 and enjoys a Northumbrian lifestyle with her husband Andy and daughter Neve.  She spent three years at The Alnwick Garden as a Community Development and Fundraising Coordinator delivering charitable projects throughout the local community.  Sarah loves meeting new people, is very creative and crafty and enjoys sewing and upcycling old furniture in her leisure time.

George Telford has spent 33 years working in the Victorian Education Department, firstly as a teacher and then as a school principal. In 2016, he joined Challenging Learning full time as a Consultant and Director of Operations in Australia.

Originally from Northern Ireland, George emigrated to Australia at the age of 12. After leaving school, George trained as a Physical Education specialist before making the move into classroom teaching. In the 1990’s, the parents at his school nominated George for a National Excellence in Teaching Award.

In 1995, George did a teacher exchange to Vancouver, Canada. On his return, he moved into school leadership and has led schools ever since.

In 2008, George heard James Nottingham, the Director of Challenging Learning, speaking at a Principals Conference in Melbourne, VIC. He subsequently invited James to work with his school, leading to an annual visit lasting 8 years and counting. The emphasis of this work has been on school vision, challenge, feedback, progress, Philosophy for Children and Growth Mindset. Through this journey of development, George has built considerable expertise and insight into really making the most of all of these approaches. That is why James invited George to join the Challenging Learning team in the first place – so that other leaders and teachers could benefit from George’s passion, expertise and understanding.

With the backing of a High Performance Principal’s Grant, George has spent time in Europe, working with schools in Scandinavia and the UK. He has toured with Carol Dweck, the Professor of psychology behind the world-renowned Mindset theory. And he has trained as an accredited de Bono’s 6 Thinking Hats trainer. George has also presented to business groups on behalf of the department of education, as well as to principal groups and schools. These have been very well received.

The philosophy and practice of Challenging Learning is at the core of the development work George has led at his most recent school, Yinnar Primary School in Gippsland. This learning journey has seen the school population grow from 140 to 208. It has also led to regular visits to the school from teachers all around the world, eager to learn together, particularly in the areas of mindset, feedback and the language of the learning.

George continues to be a mentor and coach to a number of Victorian Principals, both in an official and unofficial capacity. He also enjoys hitting a little white ball in as few strokes as possible, and to being the father to 3 wonderful, grown-up daughters. He continues to hone his Growth Mindset and resilience through his undying support of the St Kilda Football Club!

George welcomes invitations from leaders and teachers to support them in the development of Feedback, Challenge, Teaching Thinking, School Vision, Coaching, The Learning Pit and P4C.

Deb joined Challenging Learning in November 2016 as our Marketing and Partnership Manager. Deb’s background is in International Marketing and has over 20 years’ experience in both the public and private sector.

After graduating Deb spent some time in Canada (Vancouver and Calgary) before returning back to the North East of England where she began working for Trinity Media – owners of the Newcastle Chronicle and Journal newspaper titles. Here she worked with the new media team who were responsible for putting the newspaper titles online, making them the first UK daily newspaper to publish the daily news online. This led onto working for some leading internet agencies in the North East both as a designer and manager using web technologies to translate clients’ requirements into websites and digital solutions.

She then went onto work in Higher Education and spent 10 years as the Marketing Project Manager of Newcastle Business School raising the profile of the School whilst working with students, academics, overseas partners and alumni. She then joined Northumbria University’s International Team as their Head of Marketing where she was responsible for the overall strategy to promote and showcase Northumbria as a number 1 study destination for international students.

At Challenging Learning Deb is responsible for key partnerships and the marketing strategy of the company. She is on a mission to tell the world about our inspirational work with learners and schools.

In her spare time Deb is a keen cake decorator and has started running again – although not both at the same time!

Mark Bollom is a senior consultant and writer with Challenging Learning. With a background in primary, secondary, tertiary, and special needs education, Mark is our perfect all-rounder.

After graduating from Charlotte Mason College in Ambleside in 1996, Mark worked as a teacher in a large urban primary school (3-11 year olds) in one of the most socially deprived areas of his hometown, Swindon. He then moved to a Special School for students with severe and profound learning difficulties. As well as teaching students across the 11-19 age range, Mark was also a lead teacher for the Further Education opportunities offered to the school’s 16-19 year olds. A practical person by nature, Mark led environmental and health initiatives at this school and worked closely with other FE and vocational training providers.  This enabled him to both pioneer and champion external accreditation for the young adults in the school.

For a while, Mark took up voluntary work for the Youth Development Charity, Raleigh International. His most significant role was as project manager for a group of 16-25 year olds tasked with leading a construction and social project in a wilderness setting in Namibia.

In 2004, in returned to the UK taking multiple roles in both mainstream secondary and primary SLD and MLD special needs education. An aspect of this work was time he spent improving provision for Physical Education and School Sport across a family of schools as a co-ordinator within the Shrewsbury Schools Sports Partnership. Multi-agency and multi-stakeholder partnership working was central to both this work and the teaching role Mark fulfilled in Special Schools.

Today, Mark balances his writing and consultancy work for Challenging Learning with a range of practical environmental work and house renovation jobs. He is also a competitive Fell runner and a long-suffering (and not at all competitive) Swindon Town FC supporter.

With 37 years as a primary teacher, deputy head and head at schools within the long gone coastal mining communities of Northumberland, Marilyn now leads all our evaluation processes with a smile on her face and a spring in her step. 

After graduating from St John’s in York as a fully-fledged teacher, with the deep seated passion and belief that she could ‘make a difference,’ Marilyn’s experiences and responsibilities throughout her career were inevitably intertwined with the many perpetually morphing educational trends – some radical, some restrictive and binding, some innovative and inspiring.  But, all conducted their own particular brand of challenge … their own particular worth … their own particular joy.

Subsequently finding there was the expectation that she was to teach classes of children to swim week after week (it’s called, ‘being thrown in at the deep end,’ - pun intended!) Marilyn worked to become a fully qualified ASA Swimming teacher.  Not only did the children’s actual achievements in the way of awards and yearly accomplishments in the local team swimming competitions offer her a huge satisfaction and pride, but it also developed a lifelong interest in the sport.

With the mention of sport, it is important to note that Marilyn is a Toon supporter through and through and as such, not only knows a little bit about football, but also knows of some of the ‘places to be’(and consequently some ‘not to be’) when out and about in Newcastle!

‘Find the joy in life … and let’s see what’s round the corner!’  Marilyn loves motor cars and driving, although she has yet to drive or own the Aston Martin DB9 – now DB11 – she aspires to roar up to our ‘campfire’ in.  Watch this space!

Having taught in primary and secondary schools, as well as in universities, Richard Kielty is now Regional Manager for Challenging Learning, UK and Australia. He is committed to developing outstanding teaching and learning in schools through creativity, challenge, assessment and leadership.

With a Master’s degree in Leadership and Educational Development, Richard has an excellent record in leadership. He has been Principal of two schools - a middle school (9-13 year olds) in Northumberland and a large primary school (3-11 year olds) in North Yorkshire. He has also been a National Strategies consultant working with secondary schools (11-18 year olds) across North East England. Throughout this time, his focus on a culture of learning and progression led to improved outcomes for students in all those phases of education.

Richard was part of the early work with the National College for School Leadership in developing coaching within schools. He has worked with teachers and leaders on developing coaching programmes that focus on dialogue and structures that enable others to grow.  Richard is currently writing a book on coaching that will be published in 2017.

As part of the Northumberland Thinking for Learning Unit and as a Senior National Strategies consultant, Richard has worked with schools nationally and internationally to develop thinking skills pedagogies. In his work with leadership teams, he supported organisational and curriculum change through coaching, thinking skills and enquiry across the curriculum.

Richard has worked for the Girls Day School Trust, the UK’s largest educational charity, as a Director of Social and Emotional Learning. The work across the Trust was focussed on building resilience and a Growth Mindset with students of all ages.  Richard has spoken at national conferences about the fear of failure in learning and how to overcome this.

Richard is a qualified Visible Learning Plus consultant working with schools in Scandinavia to help embed Visible Learning across all age phases.  He is manager of a large project in Denmark, which is focussed on embedding a culture of Visible Learning at all levels within schools.

Richard is a registered therapeutic counsellor and psychotherapist as well as being a long-suffering supporter of Middlesbrough Football Club.  These two aspects of his life often overlap!

Jill is a founding Director of Challenging Learning as well as consultant, recruiter, editor, and author.

Jill’s background is in teaching, leadership, and consultancy. Originally, she was a teacher and leader across the 3-11 age range in pre-schools and schools in some of the more socially-deprived areas of North East England. During that time, she championed the teaching of thinking skills and Philosophy for Children (P4C) with young children.  This work led to her being appointed as a teaching and learning consultant for the award-winning N-RAIS project, a multi-million pound initiative to improve the achievements and aspirations of young people in Northumberland. Her work was also featured in a number of national and international publications, and she became a sought-after presenter at conferences worldwide.

Jill is a senior trainer for SAPERE, the charity that supports Philosophy for Children in the UK. She co-wrote their first training manual in the early 2000’s and created many downloadable resources that still feature on www.p4c.com, the international resource and collaboration site for P4C.

She has trained with Edward de Bono at the University of Malta, and has studied for a Masters degree in Education with the University of Newcastle.

Jill now leads our pre-school and primary school provision. She has written many of our Challenging Learning Process materials, has edited the others, and is currently writing 3 books for schools and 2 books for pre-schools. In amongst this she finds time to be the mother of 3 gorgeous children!