Meet the team

Viv’s career in education provided her with the opportunity to teach across the age range and often in schools in challenging circumstances. Having specialised in early years and SEN Viv was thrilled to take on leadership roles as SENCO, then assistant head, deputy head and eventually into headship. As an Executive Headteacher Viv was asked to lead a school out of a Special Measures category which included embedding Thrive as a core approach and tool to improve every area of practice.

Alongside these roles Viv has also been consultant headteacher for the Local Authority leading, amongst other things, the induction programme for new head teachers for several years. As an LLE it was her privilege to work alongside heads of other schools to support them in improving outcomes for children. She was part of the team that developed a Co-operative Trust and a Multi Academy Trust.

After successfully introducing Thrive into two of the schools where she had been headteacher she was thrilled to join the team, originally as Regional Development Manager for the North of England in September 2015 before moving to become Head of Innovation and Thrive’s Principal Trainer.

As part of the work Viv continues to be involved in she is excited to develop Thrive practice by working with teams to create and develop training materials, delivery methods, resources and opportunities. She feels very privileged to work with, train and develop our team of exceptional trainers.

Currently Viv works alongside schools as a Director of a MAT and also is a local authority foster carer leading a Mockingbird constellation. Viv is endlessly passionate about supporting other professionals to embed Thrive practice, reaching as many children and families as possible.

Lisa joined Thrive in March 2022 with extensive Marketing Director experience and voluntary work in schools. She’s passionate about helping more children and young adults to realise their true potential and looking forward to supporting leaders in education to boost attendance, improve behaviour and measure the impact of prioritising mental wellbeing. When she isn’t guiding schools to help their pupils feel safe, secure and ready to learn, you’ll find Lisa messing about on the water with her young family or chasing her golden retriever around Exmouth beach.

Rose began her career in Education as a Secondary Teacher of Religious Education, PSHE and Drama and quickly became drawn to working with young people with SEMH needs. Rose became a support teacher following her NQT year working alongside the SENCO to receive training and gain further experience. Rose quickly observed the transformative effect of securely building trusting relationships with pupils with attachment and SEMH needs.

Rose worked with multi-agency teams to support LAC pupils and those with complex needs. She did some outreach specialist advisory work with the local PRU and worked collaboratively with CAMHS teams.

Rose moved into Pastoral Leadership and Whole School development of whole school SEMH provision and well-being. Rose later joined the Extended Senior Leadership Team and became a Staff Governor, focussing on Inclusion, Behaviour, Safeguarding, Attendance and Well-Being, working towards improving outcomes for vulnerable young people and families.

In 2016 Rose became a Thrive Practitioner and lead the implementation of Thrive in her setting. Rose became a Thrive Trainer in 2017 and came to work for Thrive full time in 2018.

Jess joined Thrive in April 2018 after having worked within the education sector for six years both as a teacher and as an advocate for employability skills, building relationships and creating opportunities.
Prior to this Jess was a qualified chef having specialised in Patisserie and ran her own small successful business.
Most recently Jess worked as a coach and tutor helping adults identify and overcome barriers to work and teaching individuals about setting up and running their own business. Jess holds a BA(Hons) degree in Business and a Diploma in Education and Training (with a focus on Special Educational Needs).

Jess works closely alongside the other members of the Business Development Team with a focus on managing client relationships, supporting all clients and the regional teams whilst raising the profile of Thrive. Passionate about removing barriers for children and young people to enable them to reach their full potential, Jess fully embraces the Thrive Approach.

Emma joined the Thrive team in 2021 after previously working with young people in different settings including Further Education and part of the National Citizen Service. She has over 12 years Customer Service experience and is passionate about working with young people to help them better their futures. Emma has a BA (Hons) degree in Childhood and Youth Studies and has a real passion about Mental Health and how it can impact children and their futures.

During the last year, Emma has developed a passion for Gardening and growing her own fruit and vegetables with the help of her two children. She is looking forward to seeing what the future can bring from being here at Thrive.

Mel has been working with children for over 25 years in a variety of settings.

Throughout her career in schools, she has been drawn to the vulnerable children and those who struggled to make positive relationships and academic attainment. Working with children and young people with ASD became a passion and she spent some time working in specialist settings with children who had a range of complex needs and communication difficulties.

Her work based in mainstream schools covered the Early Years and Key Stages 1,2 and 3. Within these settings, she worked in a pastoral role to support families and their children who were struggling to attend school or were at risk of exclusion.

Thrive Training commenced in 2012 and she became a licensed practitioner. Loving this role and wanting to take it to the next stage she completed the training to become a Thrive Trainer in 2018 and then was thrilled to be appointed to the role of Relationship Manager in the same year.

Having supported many schools, children and families in Norfolk, Suffolk and Surrey she is now extending this by directly supporting schools and Licensed Practitioners to introduce and embed Thrive ensuring that many more children are able to access the Approach.

Dominique has been working with children for 18 years, firstly as a swimming teacher, then progressing onto working in a school as a teaching assistant supporting children on a 1-1 basis with Social and Emotional difficulties. It was here that she discovered her passion for working with challenging children.

Dominique then moved on to Doncaster Road Primary School as the behaviour support worker where she later commenced Thrive training in 2012 and successfully became a Thrive Practitioner. This in turn lead to her becoming one of the lead Thrive Practitioners in the school and playing a vital role in supporting the school out of special measures.

Dominique then went on to complete the Thrive action plan mentor course and then became a Thrive Trainer. She has already supported many schools and professionals in embedding Thrive into their own settings, and feels privileged to have done so.

She is now in the next chapter in her Thrive journey as she has become a Relationship Manager for the North and Central England.

Charlotte joined Thrive in July 2017 and is delighted to support the team in maintaining an excellent member experience.

In 2008 Charlotte moved to the United States where she attended The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, obtaining a degree in Theatre. Since graduating Charlotte has worked in various fields from Voice acting to Customer service, and most recently as an Elementary school Teaching Assistant.

Charlotte is thrilled to join the Thrive team as her first job back in the UK after many years.

Justina is passionate about supporting children and young people’s well-being. She has completed training in children and young people’s well-being for her degree in Counselling and is currently training in specialising in counselling young people.

Justina feels working for the Thrive Approach compliments her passion well, in contributing to an organisation which holds support for children and young people at the heart of what it does.

Jo joined Thrive in November 2014 after working in a variety of different industries since the start of her career.

For many years she has worked to support Thrive’s regional team, and to welcome new settings to Thrive and support them in embedding the approach successfully. She has now joined the Member Services team in order to support our Thrive trainers and Practitioners with the incredible work that they do.

Natalie joined Thrive in February 2019 and has over 10 years’ experience in Customer Services. Natalie started her working life off organising work experience placements for adolescents in Buckinghamshire; and upon moving to Devon in April 2008 worked in a varied role and gained experience in Sales, Finance, Marketing, Warehousing and Customer Services.

Natalie loves being outdoors with her two children – the beach and the moors are their top places to be. Natalie is looking forward to continuing to support Thrives vision of a world where children’s social and emotional needs are better understood and met.

Megan joined the team at Thrive in October 2017 as a Training Operations Assistant, after working as a Rentals Negotiator for an Estate Agent for 3 years.

After completing her exams in 2011, Megan moved to Portugal with her family and worked for a Property Management Company.

Megan is thrilled to be working alongside her colleagues at Thrive and hopes to contribute the skills she has acquired and support all her team workers.

Andrea has been working in schools for over 11 years as a Teacher, SENDco, Designated Teacher for Children Looked After, Inclusion Leader, Designated Safeguarding Lead and most recently Deputy Principal.

Andrea started her career working at Doncaster Road Primary school in Barnsley, where she completed her NQT year and quickly went on to become EYFS and KS1 Leader and joined the senior leadership team. Here she successfully completed the Thrive Licensed Practitioner training, where Thrive was one of the core tools used to support the school moving out of Special Measures.

In 2015, alongside a small group of educational professionals, Andrea joined the Senior Leadership team at Temple Learning Academy to build, set up and open a brand-new mainstream free school in a very challenging area of Leeds. This school was built to serve the community and provide an outstanding education and good outcomes for the young people of Halton Moor. Andrea alongside the senior leadership team, successfully lead the school to a good OFSTED outcome and strong reputation across the trust. The school is now a successful all-through Academy, catering for over 1400 students aged 4– 16yrs where Andrea was Deputy Principal.

Andrea was delighted to join the Thrive team in September 2021 and now undertakes the role of Project Manager. Alongside this role, Andrea is completing her master’s degree focusing on her passion which is supporting students with special educational needs in education.

Carole joined the Thrive team in January 2022. As a member of the Research and Development team, Carole is involved in editing and developing resources and content for Thrive training courses and publications.

Prior to joining Thrive, Carole worked for more than twenty years in the publishing industry, working in the academic, membership and education sectors.

Carole also has qualifications in Counselling and is a Mental Health at Work champion, accredited by Mental Health First Aid England. She is a qualified meditation teacher and a yoga student, and believes strongly in the nurturing and transformative ability of both for people of all ages.

Joining Thrive at an exciting time, Carole is looking forward to working creatively and collaboratively in supporting Thrive deliver its message and helping children and young people explore and develop their social and emotional journeys.

Kate joined the Thrive team in September 2017 as a Training Coordinator after 14 years working as a drama teacher and Head of Drama.

Prior to teaching Kate worked as an Operations Manager for a language school and in the recruitment sector.

She is looking forward to bringing the skills she has developed as both a teacher and a manager to Thrive. Kate is excited to be working for Thrive and wholly supports its ethos and value within schools.

Following her secondment in Content Development team, Kate has taken on a new role as Project Coordinator in September 2019.

Leonie joined the Thrive marketing team in June 2019 and helps to promote Thrive to a wider audience.

After studying English Literature and Language at university, Leonie went on to work in marketing for an international school, where she also trained to teach English as a foreign language. Leonie later moved to an academic publishing company where she helped to promote digital resources to universities across the UK and Europe.

In her role at Thrive, Leonie enjoys utilising her creativity and writing skills through our social media channels and blog posts.

Laura joined the Thrive team in February 2016.

After studying Graphic Communication at University, Laura went on to work at creative agencies, as well as in-house for companies in the organic food and healthcare industries.

Her career has continued to build her knowledge of marketing and design, and she enjoys utilising her creative skills in her role at Thrive.

Francisco joined Thrive in September of 2021 to manage our marketing and communications; helping people understand the benefits the Thrive Approach can have on the emotional and social well being of children and young adults of all ages.

With 12 years of marketing experience in numerous industries, a strong focus on brand storytelling and strategic marketing, Francisco was looking to use his creative skills to help make a positive impact, and that is when he found Thrive.

Co-author of three children’s books and a water sports enthusiast, when not working on sharing the benefit’s of Thrive with the world, you’ll find Francisco getting rolled by a Cornish wave or lost in a book.

Emma joined Thrive in June 2018 as Finance Co-ordinator, having gained 14 years’ experience within the Accounts department for a housing developer. In this role Emma worked closely with the Sales and Construction teams obtaining in-depth knowledge of the construction industry. Emma has obtained her AAT Level 2 Accounting qualification and also has an NVQ level 2 in Business Administration.

When she’s not working, Emma runs several times a week and enjoys long walks with her Cocker Spaniel, Monty.

Bertie joined Thrive in September 2019 with 14 years’ experience in the IT Sector.

Since leaving Bournemouth University in 2005 Bertie has had various roles in many areas of the IT industry including business management, technical support, sales and development.

Bertie looks forward to contributing his technical experience to the team.

Nicky joined Thrive in November 21 as a Bookings Assistant, following a move from Hertfordshire to Devon.

She brings a wealth of experience in customer service and administration. Nicky has worked mainly in the Education Industry with - the University of Hertfordshire; a training centre for the motor industry and for an Examination board specialising in developing qualifications in Children's, care, Health and Education (CACHE).

Nicky is very excited to be part of an organisation that supports the social and emotional wellbeing of children and young people. In her spare time Nicky enjoys coastal walks and exploring the moors.

BA (Hons); CQSW; AASW; APT; MA Social Work Education and Training.

Roe tutors and practice teaches social work students who are studying for their Diploma in Social Work at Brunel, Kingston and Royal Holloway Universities. In conjunction with Jan Banks, as ‘Consultants in Social Work’, she has developed courses for parents of adopted children and foster carers that consider ways of helping traumatised and troubled children at home and in school. Roe has also developed other courses and provided training focused on issues such as loss and bereavement, therapeutic approaches to challenging behaviours and counselling across a range of client groups.