Author list

Stuart Spendlow loves challenging the norm, trying new things and constantly questioning his teaching practice. His philosophy, in teaching and in life, is that everything should be done to challenge, grow and inspire. He is also the author of Penguinpig an e-safety themed picture book for 5- to 7-year-olds.

Julia Stead is a teacher and key stage leader with over a decade of experience in the classroom, having taught from Reception right through to Year 5. Julia has written for various educational publishers on topics such as the recent changes in primary education, how specialised toolkits can be designed for whole-school impact and how to create whole-school CPD packages. She has also presented at national CPD events.

Julia Stephenson is a journalist and author. For many years she wrote the Green Goddess column in the Independent, which detailed her struggle to turn her Chelsea flat into the first carbon neutral dwelling in Sloane Square. She has since sold her flat and now lives the good life in a 27 acre wildlife sanctuary near Guildford from where she is running a dog sanctuary, primarily to rehabilitate and rehome abused Romanian dogs. She hasn't given up on the green dream and by 2015 anticipated that the sanctuary would be running mainly on renewable energy. She is particularly excited about her new methane digester which is able to transform the many tons of dog poo, currently carted off at great expense by Surrey County Council, into electricity. When life at the sanctuary becomes too much she likes to escape to her pied-a-terre in Parsons Green, leaving things in the capable hands of her boyfriend-on-a-short-fuse and her second in command, Bagdat, the Boudicca of the dog rescue world, who is currently camping in the annexe.

Julia is currently writing a book about the ups and downs of her life in dog rescue.

Elena Stevens is a secondary school teacher and the history lead in her department. Having completed her PhD in the same year that she qualified as a teacher, Elena loves drawing upon her doctoral research and continued love for the subject to shape new schemes of work and inspire students’ own passions for the past.

Kristian Still is a Deputy Head at Academic Boundary Oak School, an independent private school in Hampshire. He has over 20-years’ experience as a head teacher and senior leader with a MsEd in Kinesiology, BSc in Sports Science, and a Level 5 Coaching and Mentoring. Kristian shares a keen interest in education leadership, evidence informed practice and #edutech.

Dr Louise Stoll is Professor of Professional Learning at the UCL Centre for Education, IOE and an international consultant, focusing on how school and system leaders create capacity for learning. Louise is a former president of the International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement and has worked with the OECD on several initiatives. She has co-developed many materials supporting leaders to connect research evidence and practice.

Juliet Strang is Headteacher of Villiers High School, an 11-16 comprehensive school in Southall, West London. She has taught in five schools in different parts of the country, including as Assistant Headteacher at George Abbot School in Surrey and Deputy Headteacher at Cranford Community School in Hounslow before moving to Villiers High School in January 1997.

Laurence I. Sugarman, MD, FAAP, ABMH, is a general pediatrician and consultant in behavioural pediatrics at the Lifetime Health Medical Group in Rochester, New York. President of the American Board of Medical Hypnosis and Fellow in the American Academy of Pediatrics. He produced, wrote and directed the DVD, Hypnosis in Pediatric Practice: Imaginative Medicine in Action (ISBN 9781845900472).

Wendy Sullivan is a specialist international trainer of Clean Language and Symbolic Modelling who has worked extensively with the founders of that field - Penny Tompkins, James Lawley and David Grove.

Click here to read Wendy Sullivan’s blog.

Tony Swainston is a UK born and based trainer and writer. Following on from a 20-year career in teaching, for the past 15 years he has delivered training, in both business and education, in over 15 countries around the world. Tony has a passion for developing individuals as leaders and coaches, working with people across a broad range of levels in organisations. He is a sought-after keynote speaker with clients that include Shell, the British Council and the Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia. He has, so far, taken over 20 UK schools through his 12-month Mindset of Success' programme.

Moshe Talmon, PhD (University of Pennsylvania 1982), is a psychologist based in Israel, where he is a Senior Lecturer at Tel Aviv Academic College. He is the founder and director of the International Center for SST and teaches and supervises worldwide. He is the author of the best selling Single-Session Therapy: Maximizing the Effect of the First (and Often Only) Therapeutic Encounter, as well as the follow-up books Single-Session Solutions and (in Hebrew) Worthwhile for Every Soul: The Brief Way to an Effective Psychotherapy.

Nicola Taylor is subject leader for social science at Monmouth Comprehensive School. She has extensive experience of teaching AS and A level psychology and has worked as an examiner for over ten years, marking both AS and A2 psychology papers. In addition to being head of a very successful department, she is also a qualified counsellor and hypnotherapist.

Carol Taylor is a programme leader for Bespoke Leadership Programmes at UCL IOE. A former school leader, she helps schools to embed practitioner research and inquiry into organisational and individual practice. Carol also designs and facilitates bespoke leadership programmes for national and international contexts.

Sparky Teaching was launched to help teachers create classrooms where ordinary things are thought about in less than ordinary ways. With a background in primary teaching and speech and language therapy, their goal is to ignite creative thought in teachers and pupils by providing unique teaching resources.

Roger Terry was an International NLP Master Trainer and expert on human value systems. Roger lead seminars and consulted with companies in the UK, USA, Europe and Middle East.

Andy Tharby is a practising English teacher with over a decade's classroom experience at a secondary school in West Sussex. He is co-author of the award winning Making Every Lesson Count and the author of Making Every English Lesson Count. Andy is also interested in helping fellow teachers enhance their practice through engagement with research evidence.

Click here to read Andy Tharby’s blog.

Linda Thomson is a pediatric nurse practitioner. Certified as an approved consultant in clinical hypnosis by the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis she incorporates hypnosis into her practice to help children help themselves with a variety of physical and emotional problems.

Nick Tiley-Nunn is a primary school head teacher, having previously been Assistant Head and SENCo at a school in London. He has been described as 'A nationally significant talent at maths teaching.-

Ian Timbrell is the founder of More Than Flags and Rainbows, a not-for-profit organisation that supports schools and charities with LGBTQ+ inclusion. He is an Independent Thinking Associate and has delivered inspiring talks and workshops across the UK that empower educators to tackle homophobic bullying, embrace equity and foster inclusivity. Drawing on his personal journey and 20 years of teaching experience, Ian’s debut title, It’s More Than Flags and Rainbows provides schools with the knowledge and strategies to create meaningful, lasting change for LGBTQ+ inclusion.

Articles and interviews available

Ian is available for interview, expert comment or bylined articles on a range of topics, such as:

• What does true LGBTQ+ inclusion look like in schools, and how can we move beyond tokenistic gestures?
• How can schools navigate LGBTQ+ inclusion in the current political and cultural climate?
• How can LGBTQ+ representation be meaningfully embedded into the curriculum across all subjects? 

View the press release for It's More Than Flags and Rainbows here.

James Lawley and Penny Tompkins are co-developers of Symbolic Modelling and leading authorities on the use of client-generated metaphor for personal and professional development. They are both practising psychotherapists registered with the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP). Together they train and supervise therapists, counsellors, coaches, managers and teachers in the use of Symbolic Modelling. Penny was co-managing director of a manufacturing company in the oil industry, and James was a senior manager in the telecommunications business. They use this experience when they coach managers and executives to become more self-aware and to develop their ability to think systemically. They also facilitate teams in the use of Clean Language and metaphor so they can model and learn from themselves. They are married, and live in London. 

John Tomsett spent 33 years teaching in state schools and served as a secondary headteacher for 18 years, most recently at Huntington Research School in York. He runs a blog entitled “This Much I Know” and has written extensively on topics related to school leadership, as well as enhancing teaching and learning.

John advocates that the primary duty of all headteachers is to develop exceptional teaching. He is the author of thirteen books, including Love Over Fear: Creating a Culture for Truly Great Teaching and Mind Over Matter: Improving Mental Health in Our Schools. In the Huh: Curriculum series, he worked alongside curriculum specialist Mary Myatt. Additionally, he co-founded The Headteachers' Roundtable think tank and is a sought-after speaker in the field of education. Currently, he serves as the educational consultant for the AI teacher coach known as Aristotal.

Articles and interviews available

John is available for interview, expert comment or bylined articles on a range of topics, such as:

• Teaching that results in learning
• Why strong relationships in classrooms matter
• Teachers just want to have fun!
• Reclaiming the joy in teaching 

View the press release for This Much I Know about Truly Great Primary Teachers and This Much I Know about Truly Great Secondary Teachers here.

Gary Toward is a trainer, keynote speaker and novelist who has previously taught in seven schools countrywide. He was head teacher of three schools in Leicestershire, during which time he co-led a pupil referral unit (PRU) out of special measures.

Joseph Tramontana, PhD is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and certified consultant in clinical hypnosis. Dr. Tramontana is president of the Louisiana Psychological Association and of the New Orleans Society for Clinical Hypnosis. He is also a member of the Association of Applied Sports Psychologists.

John Turner is an experienced Assistant Head Teacher with specialised knowledge in teaching thinking skills and in CPD for teachers. John now manages a national Learning to Learn support network.