Meet your trainer

Dr Nicola Crossley

Dr Nic Crossley is Director of Inclusion at Astrea Academy Trust. 

A research graduate from the University of Exeter, Nicola is Executive Director for Inclusion at Astrea. Her role involves working with schools to enhance the learning experience for all vulnerable learners; but particularly those who are disadvantaged and/or have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Her specialist interest areas are Autism and Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) and she is passionate about improving provision in these areas, in particular.

Her previous experience is varied having worked across Primary, Secondary, Mainstream and Specialist provision. She has worked as a Consultant Principal to two Special schools and as a School Inspector and has also written and led leadership development training for middle and senior leaders in Primary, Secondary and Special Education in England, Wales and Jersey. Her areas of professional expertise include: school improvement through action planning and impact analysis, evaluating the effectiveness of targeted interventions, and leadership development through coaching and mentoring.

With a Masters in Educational Leadership and Management, a Masters in Practice-Based Educational Research and a Doctorate in Education, Nicola has supported schools to develop their own research-based practice. Her research interests include: the impact of government reform on conceptualisations of professionalism through the lens of critical discourse analysis and factors which contribute to academic underachievement in children of compulsory school age in England.

Nicola is co-author of [Inclusion: A Principled Guide for School Leaders] and is an Honorary Teaching Fellow at the University of Warwick