Meet the Team

 

Outreach Lead Teacher – Rachel Thynne

Rachel is the Ambitions Outreach Service (SEMH) Lead Teacher within Ambitions Academies Trust. She has taught in both mainstream and specialist settings, in the UK and Malaysia. She has taught from Nursery to Key Stage 3 and has also taught children with English as an Additional Language.

Rachel has extensive experience in attachment-aware and trauma-informed practice, and earned a distinction in the Diploma in Trauma- and Mental Health-Informed Schools and Communities Practitioner Status with TISUK. She was also part of the KCA attachment-aware schools project in Poole. She has knowledge and experience of working with pupils with neuro-diverse profiles, including (but not limited to) ADHD, ODD, Tourette Syndrome, FASD, Autism and PDA. Rachel is also a registered Emotion Coaching (ECUK) Practitioner Trainer and Mentor.

Rachel is a Specialist Leader in Education (SLE) for Behaviour, working with school leaders to develop inclusive practices and remove barriers to learning to help children to flourish. Rachel is also author of the book Behaviour Barriers and Beyond: Practical Strategies to Help All Pupils Thrive (Routledge, 2022).

Outreach Teacher – Alisa Watson

Alisa is an AAT Outreach Teacher specialising in SEMH strategies, support and advice. She has a degree in Psychology and vast experience working in the mainstream classroom. She is an Early Years trained specialist teacher but has experience of teaching most ages, including Nursery. She has a special interest in Trauma Informed practice and developing the understanding of this amongst her fellow teachers.

She has cache level 2 certificates in Autism and Understanding Children and Young People’s Mental Health and has completed Emotion Coaching training.

 

Outreach Teacher – Gill Oldfield

Gill is an AAT Outreach Teacher specialising in SEMH strategies, support and advice. She has worked as a class teacher in both mainstream and specialist provisions. She has experience as a Specialist Teacher (in Attachment) with Dorset Children’s Services: in this role, Gill has facilitated Relational Practice training to schools in the Dorset area alongside their EP service. Gill also has experience as a Teacher with the Virtual School for Looked After Children in Dorset.

 

Outreach Teacher – Alice Richardson

Alice is an AAT outreach teacher specialising in SEMH strategies, support and advice. She has a Post Baccalaureate in Education, specialising in special education and child psychology. She has 20 years of experience as a classroom teacher as well as a SENDCo in Primary, Secondary, and specialist provisions. Alice has also worked in schools in Canada with pupils from first nations communities.

Yammayap