LearningOutside have brought together some of the county’s leading education advisors all working together to enhance, improve and develop outside learning in our schools. Collectively they have years of teaching experience behind them, and they are passionate about the versatility of the Learning Outside System.

The Education Team are here to assist with:

• Completing a site assessment to get the most out of your school grounds / visitor attraction.
• Facilitating group training to ensure all the staff get the most out of using the equipment.
• Support with the design of bespoke content for example; assisting with onsite tree, flower or bird identification in order to create a bespoke content, or creating a learning trail that is suitable specifically for your site or educational needs.

Andrew Lamb

Team Leader

Having gained over 40years experience in primary teaching, including 10years as an Executive Head Teacher, Andrew now works as a Primary Education Consultant for a wide spectrum of schools and organisations providing advice, training and support in strategic leadership and learning centred curricula. He specialises in the integration of learning outside with the national curriculum and the development of school grounds as a resource for learning.

His primary role as Team Leader is to facilitate and lead the Education Advisory Team in the development of this innovative approach to learning outside.

Specialist Subjects: Outside Learning, inclusive education, strategic leadership, Maths, Drama & Dance

Catherine Birt

Early Years Educational Advisor

With over 40yrs experience in teaching English language and literature, Catherine joined Kent County Council in 2002 as a National Strategy Literacy Consultant and became the Communication Language and Literacy Consultant in 2006. Catherine has worked as the South East Regional Adviser for Phase 1 Phonics and is currently supporting education authorities and individual schools as a private Education Consultant. In addition she has co-written books on Singing Phonics which engage children with the interactive, stimulating learning and teaching of phonics in the Early Years and Key Stage 1.

Specialist Subject: Early Years, English Language and Literature.

Pam Clubb

Early Years Educational Advisor

Trained at King Alfred’s College, Winchester University, Pam has taught in Kent since 1973. As an Advanced Skills Teacher she has worked with many primary schools in the county, including Early Years settings, supporting classroom management, teaching and learning, the classroom environment and outdoor learning. Her experience includes working with different agencies on creativity in the curriculum and with the National Gallery on cross-curricular teaching and learning through art. I have worked on various county initiatives including raising the attainment of boys’ writing through ICT and the environment as ‘the third teacher’.

Specialist Subjects: Early Years, Art, English.

Charles Gregory

International Schools Educational Advisor

Charles Gregory has worked internationally for 28 years and has been responsible for creating, developing and evaluating international schools in many parts of the world. Charles works with governments, multi-national companies, communities and individual school owners. Charles has been Head of schools in Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Indonesia, Trinidad and Tobago and Kazakhstan. These schools have offered a range of curricula models suited to the specific school population. Currently Charles is based in southern China where he is developing new schools and working with Chinese education authorities and communities.

Andrew Berry

Educational Advisor

Working as the Centre Manager of ‘Horton Kirby Environmental Education Centre’, Andrew provides a range of outdoor learning experiences covering many areas of the national curriculum including, Geography, Science and History. Prior to this he worked for 7years for Kent County Council as the Primary Science Advisor. He has written the Kent Scheme of Work for Primary Science and was one of the authors of TASC wheel, problem-solving in primary science.

Specialist Subjects: Science, Geography and History.

Kirsten Griffiths

Educational Advisor

Kirsten is an outstanding and very experienced Year 4 primary teacher who is currently working in a large and inclusive primary school in Kent. Her career to date has covered both KS1 and KS2 and she has led in science across the school and has also run workshops in investigative primary science across Kent. She has experience in teacher training having lectured first year teacher training students at Christ Church Canterbury University.

Specialist Subject: Primary Education and ICT.

Michele Gregson

Educational Advisor

Following a period working in a commercial art gallery, Michele has taught Art & Design to secondary and post 16 students in London and Kent for over 12years. As a teacher, department head and senior manager, she firmly believes that art can transform outcomes for young people. She has worked for Kent County Council’s Advisory Service and the Curriculum team, as the Adviser for Art & Design for all Kent schools. Michele currently works with both local and national organisations providing advice and guidance on curriculum, teaching, learning and assessment.

Specialist Subject: Art

Jonathan Gershon

Educational Advisor

Having taught Design & Technology for over 20 years in London and the South East, Jonathan has experience as a teacher, an examiner at GCSE and A-level, an Ofsted Inspector, an Educational Advisor and has led on curriculum developments. In 2008 he was Honorary President of the National Association of Advisors and Inspectors in Design & Technology and has led numerous national seminars and conferences. Jonathan is now an independent educational consultant and has recently worked as a School Improvement Adviser, as an Associate Tutor for Leadership Development and Action Research projects with Universities and schools.

Specialist Subject: Design & Technology.

Andy Place

Educational Advisor

Andy started his career as a primary teacher and worked at two schools for 9 years. He become a senior teacher at Bredhurst Primary School and Lead ICT Teacher. In 2005 he was appointed by Kent Local Authority in 2005, where he worked as a Teaching and Learning Adviser specialising in ICT. Andy left the role of Lead Adviser for Primary Computing/ICT in 2015 to form his own company – APlace4Computing to provide advice and training to schools on the Computing Curriculum. His recent work has also involved travelling to Egypt to develop Teaching and Learning in Cairo as part of the STEM Now project.

Specialist Subject: Primary Education, ICT

Richard Baker

Educational Advisor

Richard heads up Eden Landscapes a company that deals with all aspects of domestic and commercial landscaping and creative garden design. Whilst specialising in plants and ecology he has considerable experience in the construction and management of eco-friendly learning environments. He has a proven track record in working with schools to develop forest school areas, wildlife ponds and the design and planting of landscaping which provides habitats for a wide variety of flora and fauna. Richard offers a bespoke service and is happy to meet you at your school, survey your grounds, discuss your requirements and then provide you with a development plan which will link into Curriculum and Learning and Teaching policies.