Kathryn de Ferrer (BA Hons, MA, PGCE)

From a long line of educators (three generations), Kathryn resisted the call to teach for a long time, but after many years in business and journalism, she finally gave in and retrained as a Drama teacher when her three children were young. She then made up for lost time, becoming a Head of Department within her first year of teaching at a large and highly successful comprehensive school. Having moved to another secondary school within the state sector as a Head of Department, she realised her heart lay with the pastoral side of education and she became a Head of House at yet another large mixed comprehensive.

From there she was appointed as Director of Pastoral (Deputy Head) at a girls’ full boarding school, where she first worked with Jo, who was the Headmistress. Her pastoral experience has meant she is hugely experienced in supporting teenagers and their families through a wide range of problems – academic, mental health issues (from minor through to more serious eating problems, bipolar, depression, self harm), safeguarding concerns, behavioural and the range of worries that accompany being a teenager. She has spent nine years as a member of child protection teams, the last five and a half as the Designated Safeguarding Lead and is trained to Level 3.

Her experience with parents, navigating successfully through some often difficult and emotional experiences led her to retrain and she is now an accredited mediator with an additional SEND specialism, incorporating this skill into her educational consultancy.

She has recently become a Governor at a Technical College in Norfolk and has wide ranging experience of a variety of different types of schools (comprehensive, grammar, independent day, boarding, public). She is also working on a Doctorate in Education at the University of East Anglia, researching progressive education.

In her spare time, she trains for and competes (very slowly) in ultra marathons and other long distance events, having taken part in multi-day races in the UK, Iceland, Nepal and Morocco.

To contact Kathryn, call +33(0)6 13 24 75 45 or email kathryn@heywooddeferrer.com