Behavioural Support

Head of Positive Regard

Speaker, Leading National Consultant, Specialist Leader of Education, Visiting Fellow for NPQLBC, Advanced Team Teach Tutor, Touchbase Certified Attachment Lead, ITT Lead, Theraplay Level 1 and Group.

Luke began his career gaining experience in a variety of educational settings including mainstream schools and provisions supporting pupils with complex needs. Luke joined an SEMH school in his early career working with a number of looked after children supporting them to develop their social and emotional skills. These children were seen as the most challenging and Luke quickly found a passion for supporting vulnerable children which led him to work in primary and secondary classrooms teaching children with SEMH needs. After 6 years in the classroom Luke transitioned to pastoral support and became the Head of Behaviour Support.

The impact of Luke’s skills and experience were soon recognised beyond Wellspring and his input was requested by other schools in the local authority. Luke began to complete outreach work to help others increase pupil engagement and reduce exclusion which ultimately led to the creation of Positive Regard.

Over recent years Luke has driven the continued professional development of over 100 Specialists through his expert mentorship and Positive Regard training programmes. These specialists now work across the country as part of the Positive Regard team offering training and consultancy to schools, alternative provisions and children’s services.

Luke leads and inspires his team as they strive to embed inclusive cultural change.

Supporting young people to express themselves in socially acceptable ways is a key priority for Luke and he places relationships at the heart of his practice.

Luke is an established Keynote Speaker and regularly shares his expertise in relational practice and practical implementation of unconditional positive regard.

Positive Regard Strategic Lead

Speaker, Leading National Consultant, Advisor, Behaviour Specialist, Trauma and Attachment Lead, Mindfulness Instructor, Forest Schools Leader, Team Teach Advanced, Instructor. NPQLBC, SLE, Theraplay Level 1 & Group trained.

Jacob started out his career in a mainstream primary in a deprived area of Barnsley before joining Wellspring’s very first SEMH school. He takes his 10 years experience working within the special and alternative sector, supporting pupils seen as the most challenging and uses this to support the development of Positive Regard Specialists and the design and delivery of Positive Regard programmes.

Jacob has a strategic responsibility within Wellspring supporting school leaders with root to branch behaviour support including policy design and inclusion planning.

Jacob’s role within Positive Regard keeps him connected in the same capacity with external schools as and when they need it. He offers on the ground support in classrooms all the way through to strategic leadership.

Former Executive Principal and National Leader of Education
Author: The Kindness Principle

As a former Executive Principal, Dave is now Director of Learning for the Wellspring Academy Trust with its 31 schools across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. As well as Executive Headship, Dave spent 10 years as a National Leader of Education and Teaching School Head and he is an Associate of Independent Thinking Ltd.

He is a values driven leader who champions inclusive practice and passionately leads Positive Regard – transforming education practice across England. Dave works nationally supporting schools with behaviour strategies, drawing on a wealth of real-life experiences from some of the most challenging schools in the country. He provides a wealth of guidance to help develop effective practice and his recently published book, The Kindness Principle, offers advice, guidance and expertise on making relational practice work in schools.

At the heart of all of his work is the principle of ‘unconditional positive regard’, a concept pioneered by the seminal psychologist Carl Rogers. Dave and the team of committed professionals will never lose sight of the human being in front of them, nor lose hope in their ability to make better choices and change their lives for the better.

Dave is one of the founder members of the Headteachers’ Roundtable think tank, accomplished keynote speaker and is a contributor to a number of collaborative books including The Working Class & Square Pegs.

He has recently been a member of the DFE’s expert committee for the Timpson Review of exclusions and has given evidence at the Education Select Committee.