Attendance

Madeline worked at Yorkshire Building Society for 10 years as a Secretary, left to have two children who have now graduated from University. Madeline has recently joined TFA due to promotion as an Assistant Attendance Leader, where she has worked for a local high school, for the past 13 years as an Attendance Improvement Officer. Since the COVID pandemic she has completed three Mental Health GCSE’s Online courses in her own time, to help students/parents who she works with. Madeline is passionate about football, dogs and spending time with her family.

Hilary graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2007 with an undergraduate degree in History. She was accepted onto the Deloitte graduate scheme in Management Consultancy and spent several years working on large-scale projects at public sector and charitable organisations, which brought her to Yorkshire. Unwilling to relinquish her love of History, she completed an MA part-time alongside her work in project management, and in 2012 received funding to undertake a PhD at the University of Sheffield. This gave her the experience of teaching in a Higher Education setting and she discovered her passion for educating young people. When she completed her PhD, Hilary trained as a secondary History teacher with Teach First and was placed in an academy in Bradford where she became Head of Year. She joined TFA as Head of Year 7 in 2023 , keen to work within the GORSE trust, whose values align so closely to her own - in particular the belief that education should give every young person the Gift of Choice. Through her role as a classroom teacher and pastoral leader, Hilary seeks every opportunity to support students to be motivated, empowered and resilient individuals who thrive in school. Her commitment to providing young people with exceptional pastoral support led her to be appointed as Assistant Principal responsible for Inclusion and Safeguarding from September 2024.

Michelle worked for a bank for 17 years, before taking voluntary redundancy. Michelle and her family then agreed that they wanted to take the opportunity to make a difference to children and young people who were less fortunate than themselves. They decided to become a Foster family and did this for 6 years, providing many children ranging from babies to teenagers with a safe place to stay. It could be incredibly challenging at times, but also very rewarding as she watched them grow. When circumstances changed last year, Michelle wanted to put her experiences to good use. Therefore, she applied for her current role as an Attendance Officer. Michelle is very passionate about everyone receiving a good education and believes excellent attendance is key!

Prior to joining The Farnley Academy as an Attendance Officer Jennie worked in a range of roles in education. She began by volunteering for 18 months in a primary school before accepting a full-time role at another school where she worked as a teaching assistant for the next five and-a-half years supporting some of the most vulnerable students with their work, often on a 1:1 basis. In addition, she has worked as a swimming teacher for two years, predominantly with children in Year 4.

In her free time, she loves nothing better than spending time with her two children at their various extracurricular activities, including football, competitive swimming and tumbling, whilst also occasionally volunteering at local galas. For Jennie, constantly working with children and helping them to achieve their very best is a passion, both inside and outside of an educational setting.

After dedicating 20 years to a rewarding career as a dental nurse, Victoria made the decision to change careers and pursue roles in the education sector. Her journey at The Farnley Academy began as a receptionist, where she quickly discovered a passion for supporting students and families in a different capacity. This led to her decision to become an attendance officer, where she combines her strong communication skills, attention to detail, and caring nature to help ensure every child has the opportunity to thrive through regular school attendance. Her passion to help others and make a difference also helps within this role as she believes very strongly that all students are entitled to a great education and to an enjoyable time at school.

Karen started her career as an Assistant accountant and completed her AAT exams at a large marketing company and spending 10 years within this sector. Karen has always had an interest in helping children and their families and completed voluntary work alongside working full time in her account's role at. Having helped at a local nursery she realised her passion is in working with young people. Karen took up roles at various schools as a teaching assistant and nursery nurse over the next 10 years gaining a lot of experience as well as many qualifications in this sector.

Karen then joined the Gorse academy Trust back in 2015 and enjoyed working in the role of Student Services Officer at The Morley Academy for the next 6 years. Karen decided to take a promotion and moved to Farnley academy as an Attendance officer. Karen believes that having great attendance is key to achieving your potential and having the gift of choice to go onto to further study or employment, having had the best school experience and support possible to access this.