Meet the Team
Mark Bowles
Director
Mark is a highly experienced public sector professional with experience that extends across multiple professional fields and roles. Alongside his work with Safe4Schools he is the founder of The Training Effect a UK wide provider of specialist intervention programmes to schools and organisations.
Mark is highly experienced in the development of safeguarding training programmes and has designed courses for multiple LSCB’s across the UK.
Mark has a particular professional interest in safeguarding issues related to risk-taking behaviours and emotional well-being.
Ben Lovatt
Director
Ben is a professionally qualified coach, consultant and facilitator with a breadth and depth of experience in the development, implementation, and auditing of safeguarding policy & practice.
With extensive experience of designing and delivering school-based services and driving organisational change, Ben is highly knowledgeable and experienced in ensuring that all training and facilitation is dynamic, engaging and thought-provoking.
Ben has a particular professional interest in contextual safeguarding and the coaching of professionals to facilitate strategic change related to safeguarding practice in organisations.
John Rees
Associate Trainer
John is passionately committed to enhancing the learning and life-chances of children and young people, through school improvement and the professional development of individuals and organisations.
Having taught for 12 years, latterly as a senior leader, John has been an independent educational consultant since 2006.
Currently John works with Local Authorities, ITT providers, charities, and commercial organisations, in addition to a range of coaching, training and consultancy to improve safeguarding and support school improvement across the UK and overseas.
Anna O’Kennedy
Associate Trainer
Anna supports our work across multiple programme areas. Anna is a qualified teacher with extensive previous private sector experience. Anna taught in secondary schools for 15 years working variously as a classroom teacher of English and Media, Head of English and finally as a Head of Year in a very large secondary school.
Anna has vast experience in a pastoral role, this provided her with first-hand experiences of the safeguarding role, leading to a DSL role herself. This work within a school environment led to extensive multi-agency working with police, social work, and health care professionals and a child focused view of the importance of safeguarding.
Becky McLeod
Associate Trainer
Becky has extensive experience as a police officer, specifically working as a detective and has led on, and obtained, numerous successful convictions of child abuse from report to court, these cases have been both sexual and physical in nature.
Becky provides S4S with a specific focus from a law enforcement perspective and supports delivery of all of our training courses.
Zara Hickmott
Associate Trainer
Zara is an approved and qualified social worker with experience gained working in the child protection field, developing her passion in supporting and achieving change with the families she worked with.
Zara has worked in practice development roles, undertaking auditing, mentoring and coaching less experienced workers, as well as undertaking practice teaching at local universities.
More recently in 2017; Zara started assessing foster carers through the Form F process, providing robust and succinct reports to fostering panels.