Mark has set up Close The Gaps, a consultancy that works across the school, AP and charity sectors to help support struggling and disadvantaged young people. This has included lots of support for unregistered alternative provisions and schools, working to promote inclusion for those young people who struggle to access mainstream education.

Mark's experience as an alternative provision consultant is built on more than 20 years of school and alternative provision leadership. Highlights include helping to move an inner-city academy in Special measures to a Good Ofsted grading, and leading safeguarding and governance across a national group of twelve AP schools.

Helen is an SEMH and alternative provision consultant and also the founder and director of Iris Coaching & Consultancy Ltd. Helen has SLT experience as a SENDCo, Deputy and Acting Head in mainstream schools, where she found her passion in supporting and developing provision for disadvantaged pupils with SEMH needs to build inclusive education. Helen has worked as an SEMH and Behaviour Specialist Advisor for a Local Authority; improving and adapting provision in mainstream schools and alternate provisions. Helen believes in building the Relational Approach in settings to develop the team around the child, developing emotional-regulation skills and using restorative practices to create nurturing learning environments which meet the SEMH and behaviour needs of disadvantaged pupils.

Rachel has twenty years educational experience in the UK and Western Australia. She has a background in senior leadership and curriculum development working in mainstream, special schools and alternative provision.

Rachel is founder and Managing Director of Sowing Seeds Alternative Learning, an unregistered alternative provision that uses a relational approach to support children and young people with social, emotional and mental health needs and/or neurodiverse needs.

She set up the unregistered alternative provision in Bradford and works with families, local
authorities, schools and has partnerships with other alternative provisions across the country. 

Rachel has over 20 years of experience in the education sector, working as a supply teacher, an alternative provision practitioner, an SEMH mentor, and a literacy intervention mentor. She is a qualified primary school teacher and registered Thrive practitioner. Rachel is based at U-Educate, an external alternative provision operating within mainstream schools to support re-integration.

Rachel is passionate about making a difference in the lives of children and young people, and represents the part of the AP sector that operates within mainstream schools. She brings a valuable perspective to the group from the nascent but growing specialism of internal alternative provisions.