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    • Our team

    Meet the team behind our nationwide NPQ Delivery. 

    Andy Wolfe, Executive Director of Education, Church of England

    Biography

    Andy joined the Church of England team as Executive Director of Education from the Nottingham Emmanuel School, where he worked for 10 years as Vice Principal, overseeing curriculum, teaching and learning and the school’s Christian ethos. During this time, he was part of the group that wrote the Church of England Vision for Education – Deeply Christian, Serving the Common Good. He now oversees nationally the programmes, networks and research of the Church of England Foundation for Educational Leadership –working with thousands of school leaders across the country.

    He brings a wealth of leadership experience to his senior role across the wider Church of England Education Office, and is committed to combining rich theological reflection with the most incisive and creative approaches to improving Teaching, Learning and Leadership in schools. Andy has authored many of the Foundation's Vision Resources, including pioneering the Ethos Enhancing Outcomes approach to leadership development, and the recently published ‘Called, Connected, Committed’ leadership resources co-written with Professor David Ford – www.cefel.org.uk/ccc . Alongside the national leadership of the Foundation’s work, Andy oversees the Church of England’s ‘Growing Faith’ national work in relation to schools, churches and households for the 4674 Church of England schools.

    Publications

    ‘Journeys of Faith: Personal Stories and Faith Development in Church Schools’ (Grove Education 2016)

    ‘Faith Development in Church Schools’, Chapter in ‘Becoming Professional: Developing Reflective Practice’ (Routledge, 2017)

    ‘Leadership of Character Education - Developing Virtues and Celebrating Human Flourishing in Schools’

    (National Society, 2017)

    ‘Ethos Enhancing Outcomes – Equipping school leaders to deliver the Church of England Vision for Education’ (National Society, Series across 2017 & 2018)

    ‘Journeys of faith: personal stories, ‘multi-logue’ narrative and faith formation in schools’, Chapter in ‘Christian Faith, Formation and Education’ (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018)

    • ‘Isolated to Networked’, Chapter in edited book (Editor: Dr Lyn Swaner) Mindshift: Developing Leadership Practice (New York: ACSI, 2019)

    Called, Connected, Committed: 24 Leadership Practices for Educational Leaders co-author with Prof David Ford (University of Cambridge) (London: National Society, 2020)

    ‘Vision-Driven Curriculum Practices’, Chapter in edited book (Editor: Dr James Biddulph) Inspiring Primary Curriculum Design (London: Routledge, 2020)

    ‘Flourishing Together’, co-author with Dr Lynn Swaner, Association of Christian Schools International (New York: Eerdmans, 16 November 2021)

    ‘Called, Connected, Committed: Leadership Field Guide’ in partnership with Christian Schools Australia (October 2021)

    Membership of Relevant Bodies

    Editorial Board, Grove Education Series

    Trustee, Archbishop of York Youth Trust

    Andy Spens is the Head of Professional Learning and is Programme Lead for NPQEL and NPQH. Prior to joining the team, Andy has been a Primary Headteacher and Executive Headteacher in South Gloucestershire, near Bristol. He is passionate about working with and developing leaders and excited to be facilitating the national Activate element of NPQH.

    Jo Lomax is a Leadership Development Programme Lead for the Church of England’s Foundation for Educational Leadership (CEFEL). Jo’s key responsibilities include overseeing the curriculum design, development and delivery of the specialist National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) for current and aspirant leaders in schools. This includes NPQ Leading Teaching, NPQ Leading Behaviour and Culture and NPQ Leading Teacher Development.

    Jo is passionate about the power of transformational professional development, believing that all teachers and school leaders are entitled to high-quality developmental opportunities that enables them to thrive and flourish in their role. She value’s the role that high-quality mentoring and coaching brings to shaping practice. Jo is also passionate about delivering on CEFEL’s Vision for Education which places teacher excellence firmly at the heart of school leadership.

    Jo holds a first class degree in Theology, Religious Studies and Education. Alongside this she holds a Master of Education (Med) in Leading Learning and Professional Development. Before joining the Church of England in September, Jo worked as a Secondary School RE teacher and held leadership responsibilities including leading Initial Teacher Training, the Early Career Framework and supported the design and implementation of an evidence-focused whole-school professional development programme. Jo loves to spend time with family friends, weekends away and staying healthy by going to the gym.

    Aleishia Lewis is a Leadership Development Programme Lead. She is responsible for the design, development and delivery of the NPQ Senior Leadership and NPQ Leading Teaching .  Aleishia has a passion for developing leaders at all levels and has enjoyed meeting and working with the facilitators and participants from our first two NPQ cohorts.

    As a serving deputy headteacher, Aleishia brings authenticity, honesty and experience to the team as she understands the challenges that schools currently face.  She also holds a strong belief in the power of excellent teaching and leadership culture to improve the outcomes of all pupils at the same time as enabling staff to thrive.

    Aleishia is also one of the leaders of BAMEed East and she has worked with schools and school leaders on a national scale to develop their understanding of identity and belonging.  This work has filtered in to her other role with CEFEL as a co-facilitator of our UK/US Inclusion and Diversity Network.  Aleishia believes that every child should see themselves represented in the curriculum and this also drives her work with school leadership which also needs to see greater representation.

    Aleishia enjoys reading, cooking, eating and dancing.  She is always up for a spontaneous adventure and loves musicals and all things Disney!