Ms N Rankin

Head of School

Natalie Rankin began working at Ark Blacklands Primary Academy  as an interim Head of School in January 2016, having demonstrated a successful track record as Vice Principal at Ark Blacklands since September 2014.  Before joining Blacklands, Natalie was Leader of Learning for Mathematics at a junior school in Hastings. She was a pivotal member of the leadership team responsible for having Special Measures removed from the school in January 2014. The school improved its Quality of Teaching and Leadership to Good in the time Natalie was there.

Natalie graduated from the University of Exeter in 1998 with a degree in Primary Education. Her specialism is Mathematics and she believes that every child can achieve high standards and enjoy the subject if taught creatively. She is passionate about providing children with the chance to learn the skills required to achieve excellence both academically and beyond the curriculum.

Prior to working for the Ark Network, Natalie provided support to a number of schools in East Sussex to develop Curriculum and Quality of Teaching. As Instructional Lead Teacher at Ark Blacklands, Natalie continues to improve the quality of teaching and has implemented a coaching cycle with opportunities for teacher-led reflection and research. This ensures teachers share best practice and work together to improve.

Ms R Saxby

SENCO

Prior to joining Ark Blacklands as a SENCo, Rachael was a Year Two teacher for five years at a local primary school. In her time there, she was a part of the development and implementation of a writing scheme which later lead to the school becoming a training centre. Rachael would be observed teaching in class and make presentations to teachers and heads of school from far away as Brighton to support their understanding of the writing scheme. 

Rachael was also a member of SLT as the joint KS1 lead and helped the EYFS team earn the grade of 'outstanding' at a November 2016 Ofsted inspection. During her time teaching Year Two, Rachael was able to achieve strong KS1 results consistently, often exceeding national expectations. Rachael was also a leader of PE, introducing new clubs each year and ensuring the children took part in as many of the local competitions as possible. Her dedication to improving the PE provision meant the the school was awarded back to back 'gold' sports marks. Science was another subject that Rachael was a leader of, creating targets for each child to support teachers with their science assessments and setting up two science weeks a year to promote enthusiasm for the subject. In her final year, Rachael was also an NQT mentor and completed her NPQML course. 

Rachael's career started at a small village primary school where she taught Year five/six. During her time, she achieved some of the school's best SATs results in recent times and lead PE. Rachael has always worked with children, working at a local private nursery while at university and volunteering as a TA and MDSA during her gap year. 

She graduated from the University of Greenwich in 2009 with a 2:1 BA Hons degree in education with recommendation for QTS. When she isn't teaching, Rachael enjoys days out with her family, particularly going to theme parks and the cinema.

Ms C Shaw

Phase Leader: KS2 & Year 5 Class teacher       

Catherine Shaw joined Ark Blacklands in 2003 as a class teacher and leader of the Core Curriculum Team. Previous teaching roles in primary and middle schools were in schools in Staffordshire and Buckinghamshire and Los Angeles, USA, after graduating and gaining Qualified Teacher Status from Nottingham University with specialism in Art and Education. She moved to USA in 1985 where she worked in Los Angeles as an elementary school teacher with special responsibility for planning and developing the art curriculum. In 1992 she returned to Scotland (her home country) and returned to Stirling University where she gained a Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing and Business Management. Mrs Shaw also qualified as a Counsellor with the Scottish Counselling Authority and worked on a voluntary basis with The Samaritans until 2003.

Mrs Shaw worked as a Marketing Manager for a map publishing company in Central Scotland while raising her now grown-up children, until 2003, when she moved to East Sussex due to her husband’s job relocation. At this time she returned to teaching. She has held the roles of Core Curriculum Leader, Maths Leader and now Leader of Upper Key Stage Two.

In her early years of teaching Mrs Shaw was qualified to teach gymnastics and swimming as well as organising inter-school sports events and leading many outdoor pursuits trips. Her out of school interests lie in sport (particularly ski-ing), reading, theatre and art. She has participated and help produce amateur drama productions in addition to being involved in designing and creating props and costumes for many plays and musicals. Mrs Shaw has worked extensively at the upper end of primary education and particularly loves to see children develop a love of writing and feel success in their understanding of maths.

Mr D Barton

Leader of Learning: Maths Mastery & Year 2 Class teacher

Dan joined Ark Blacklands as a Year 5 Teacher in 2015. Prior to training as a teacher though Teach First, Dan worked as a TA in a special needs school in his hometown of Reading.
Dan achieved a 2:1 degree in History from Oxford Brookes University and is currently studying for a Masters in Educational Leadership through Canterbury Christ Church. His dissertation will explore a topic that means a lot to him; how developing reading for pleasure can close the gap for lower attaining students.
Last academic year, Dan ran inset training for the staff of Ark Blacklands and Ark Little Ridge that was aimed to get children to think more critically and creatively. 

Miss N Edouard

Writing Lead & Year 6 Class teacher

Nicole joined Blacklands in 2008 as an NQT. She spend the first four years of her teaching career in year 6 before teaching for two years in the mixed year 3/ 4 class. Following her experience in the lower juniors, she then spent 3 years teaching in year 5 before returning to year 6 this year.

Nicole graduated from the University of Brighton with a 2:1 degree (Hons) in Social Sciences. During her final year she specialised in psychology and obtained a qualification in Introductory Counselling. Following this, a brief stint on the airlines ignited Nicole’s passion for travel and led her to go backpacking across South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand before eventually making her way up Africa.

Once she returned from her travels, Nicole worked as a TA and INA in year 6 at a local primary school before completing the Post Graduate Certificate of Education.

Nicole is always keen to develop the wider opportunities school life can offer.  In 2014, Nicole spent her half term teaching at our link school in Sierra Leone which she found to be a humbling and memorable experience. She has since run the Pupil Council and has organised numerous trips and visits across the year groups.

Nicole has recently completed a Critical Thinking course which promotes children’s independence and involvement in their learning. She is also a Lead Practitioner at Ark Blacklands. 

Mrs L Denyer

EYFS Class teacher

Ms N Caush

EYFS Class teacher

Mr H Orsbourne

Year 1 Class teacher

Ms F Parker

Year 4/5 Class teacher

Miss A Mitchell

Year 3 Class Teacher

Miss O Rue

Year 6 Class teacher

Janet Jarvis

Higher Level Teaching Assistant

Annie Webb

Higher Level Teaching Assistant

Claire Gasson

EYFS Teaching Assistant

Shelley Rosati

Year 1 Teaching Assistant

Inga Pretorius

Year 2 Teaching Assistant

Jacqui Warden

Year 2 Teaching Assistant

Jason Tomlin

Year 3/4 Teaching Assistant

Karen Osmond                                        

Year 4 Teaching Assistant

Kim Bates

Year 6 Teaching Assistant

Michele Cook

Learning & Engagement Mentor

Deana Coleman

RWI Learning Tutor

Loraine Fuller

Assistant

Individual Needs Support

Teresa Baldock

Midday Supervisor

Loraine Fuller

Midday Supervisor

Midday Supervisor

Kim Evans

SEN Admin

Jacqui Childs

Inclusion and Admissions Officer

Cleaner

Dawn White

Cleaner