About Hannah

Hannah is the author of No Child is Missed, No Child Misses Out. She is a SENCO, Assistant Headteacher, MAT Lead for SEND, specialist assessor, teacher and researcher who's spent the last two decades trying to make education a better place.

Hi! I'm Hannah - thanks so much for visiting the website! I'm really glad you're here and I hope you find the advice and support you need. I wrote the book 'No Child is Missed, No Child Misses Out' and built this accompanying website because I'd love to see an education system where all children and young people are supported to find a sense of purpose and feel happy in school.

With twenty years of teaching experience, including well over a decade as a SENCO at secondary level and across a trust of nursery, primary and secondary schools, I'm never happier than when I'm watching people learn to believe in the very best of themselves and of others. I love reading research and ploughing that learning back into the SEND provision across my schools - and now with my book you get to try it out in your setting, as well. I'm also a bit of a tech-driven systems geek and love a hardworking spreadsheet because, quite frankly, it's revolutionised my practice!

My journey into SEND started when I began a Masters in Education at the University of Bath where I uncovered a story so harrowing, I nearly left education for good. Instead of pivoting into a different career, I chose to take my headteacher up on an offer to be the school's SENCO to try and change that story. I have lived and breathed SEND ever since.

I see teacher research as an act of social justice. Identifying that the SENCO role was heading towards crisis point, back in 2017 I brought together a small team of colleagues from different backgrounds to research workload and time needed to enact the role. Nearly two thousand SENCOs took part in this critical research project (- thank you if you were one of them!) and it has gone on to influence the national conversation and given SENCOs a much-needed voice. You can learn more about the Bath Spa SENCO Workload research papers here.

I continue to research, now through a Professional Doctorate, at Bath Spa University. If you're interested in learning more about it, you can nip over to the Research page on this website.

Most of all though, I believe in the power of ordinary people like you and me changing the world, one step at a time. That's why you'll find lots of free and inexpensive resources on this website, and even some of my professional friends working as part of the wider NCIM team offering their online screening skills for you. You can also join me in the research journey! If that piques your interest, I'd love you to consider me a virtual colleague and find out more on the Research page.

When I'm 'just me', you can mostly find me hanging out with my amazing husband and children. We enjoy baking, board games and a good boogie together in the kitchen to a funk and soul setlist - especially after school on a Friday!