University of the First Age

Elaine Abbott

UFA National Manager

Elaine studied drama and education, with sociology as an additional specialism, at Goldsmiths' College, London. Early on she co-founded a theatre in Education Company. She originally taught primary aged children moving on to work with secondary students and then early years. As a youth worker Elaine mostly worked in arts and drama, and summer projects. She spent six years in special education working with adolescents excluded from school, mostly for behavioural issues. Moving from London to Norfolk Elaine returned to primary schools becoming a special needs co-ordinator and deputy head. She completed her MA in 1990 in educational research, and language and literacy. Latterly she worked for the Study Support Service as the training manager, including running Norfolk's UFA training. In 2002 Elaine became a UFA associate trainer and in 2003 a UFA manager.

Since working with and for the UFA Elaine piloted a Young People's Fellowship and work with Young People as researchers project, and as part of the team working on NCSL Young People's Leadership project in London. She has been particularly interested in young people's involvement and leadership roles in the processes of education in and out of school.

Sue Barnes

National Manager

Sue joined NUFA in 2002 having worked as a UFA Partnership Manager in Leicester. During her time with UFA she has taken responsibility for developing the adult learning aspect of its curriculum. She also supported partner development in the SW, SE, Leicestershire, Leicester and London. Currently she takes responsibility for the aspect of the development of young people's voice and influence in UFA and beyond.

From late 2003-2006 she was responsible for developing the NCSL Student Leadership programme for the London Challenge and the National College for School Leadership. Currently she is working in partnership with CSV to develop and lead the national rollout of a modified version of the course 'Students of Today; Leaders of Tomorrow'.

She also works voluntarily as chair of the Leicester City EYDCP and is a trustee of the Leicester education charity - Lighthouse Learning Ltd.

Previously, Sue has worked as Acting Chief Executive of Leicester Education Action Zone and as an LEA Primary School Improvement Adviser, working in the areas of community and family education, parental involvement and study support.

Before this Sue spent 15 years in the field of Adult Basic Education where she was based in the Community and in a College of Further Education. She has worked in the field of Dyslexia Support Education for a number of years

She is a qualified primary teacher.

Caz Brader

National Manager

Caz joined the team in March 2010 after becoming a UFA convert. Her 'conversion' happened during a UFA fellowship in Bolton based around young people and their creative and cultural entitlement.

The cultural sector has featured heavily in Caz's professional life. Having studied Theatre and Education studies at University she has spent the last 12 years working as a drama practitioner, manager and trainer within participatory Theatre and within other areas of the youth arts sector. Much of this work has focused on young people at risk of missing out.
Through her involvement with the government pathfinder 'Find your Talent', Caz has advised third sector arts organizations and Schools on how to embed creativity and culture within their learning and teaching.
Caz is passionate about the UFA's belief that all young people have the potential to succeed and thinks creativity can play a major role in unleashing untapped talent.

Caz has no idea how to relax and fills every ounce of spare time with sport, music, food and friends.

Mike Brearley

National Manager

Mike first discovered the UFA during his time as a secondary school Head. Excited and impressed their work,, Mike bought UFAr learning practices into the daily life of the school.

Mike has a passion to explore the concept of emotional intelligence and how it can be applied by the individual, the team and the whole school, to change attitudes and perceptions, develop relationships and raise levels of performance. For the last 10 years he has worked independently throughout the UK and internationally in South Africa, Botswana, and India.
Mike used the opportunities in his MA in Applied Research and his MBA in International Educational Leadership to explore how the school of social and emotional learning is not only essential but is also a practical possibility.
Although education is his core mission, Mike has also worked in business, and with local and national government agencies writing and delivering programmes in leadership, creativity, personal growth, team and whole organisation performance.
He has now taken up a part time post with the UFA hoping to combine his belief in the value of the work done by the UFA with his own experience.
Mike wrote "The emotionally Intelligent Class Room" and has contributed chapters to "The Big Book of Independent Thinking" and "Performance Management "edited by Professor John West Burnham. He is currently writing a book in conjunction with Liz Lowenstein called "Thrive". This describes the work they did in developing a programme of individual, team and whole school excellence based on principles of emotional intelligence. The programme uses story and metaphor as a means of raising awareness and leading change.

Leisure time revolves round his children, sport and a sadly, very individual style with the saxophone.

Sarah Burgess

National Manager

Sarah Burgess has worked for the UFA National Team since it began in 1999, having previously worked for the UFA in Birmingham. Sarah taught English in secondary schools in Birmingham for 7 years before taking up her post with the UFA, and has always been actively involved in out of hours learning and youth work. Sarah enjoys gardening, strenuous walks in remote parts of the world, the odd novel, listening to jazz and the occasional glass of cava.

Lula Garner

National Manager

Lula's professional life has been an eclectic mix of ways to inspire people to transform themselves so that they can truly reach their potential. Roles have included
co-ordinating a national parenting network, leading family summer programmes, developing a rural family housing co-operative, facilitating non-denominational festivals and ceremonies and writing for parenting publications. Lula's decade of work supporting community based home educators across the country brought her into the out of school hours arena which is how her life with the UFA began.

Lula has been involved in the UFA for over 6 years now - 4 working for Derbyshire UFA and just over two years in the National Team.

Lula especially loves the chance she is given in the UFA to develop programmes in which people of all ages can reflect on themselves and take a close look at the range of possibilities open to them. Her favourite thing is challenge activities which create a space in which everyone involved can experience inspiration and energy for their lives!

Insia Ishaji

YoUFA Youth Ambassador

Insia's Journey with the UFA began whilst she was at school and trained as a Peer Tutor, she then completed a placement at the UFA whilst at University and has since joined the team as the Youth Ambassador.

She will be actively involved in working with young people across the country, developing and building the youth network and the youth wing of the UFA - YoUFA. Insia is committed to further enhancing the voice of young people and ensuring that their views and beliefs are at the core of the decision making processes of the University of the First Age .

Insia enjoys travelling, reading a good book, listening to music and anything yellow! She dreams that one day she will own a yellow VW Beetle!

Liz Lowenstein

National Manager and Getting Connected Manager

Liz has enjoyed her work in the academic and applied field of psychology for the last 15 years.

She has a passion about the field of psychology and learning. Through her work in education, with local government and the private sector, she believes that psychology has a huge amount to offer to bring about positive change and development in organisations. She is fascinated by organisational phenomena and how we can understand learning at the individual, team, organisational and cultural levels.

She has worked in the schools sector, the Further Education Sector as well as Higher Education. Her work has included psychology lecturing; working within the field of educational psychology; Assessing the needs of young people with Special Educational Needs; working as National Training Manager in the private sector with business and schools; managing training programmes for Learning Support Assistants; she has designed and managed cross college/ whole school learning skills programmes with the focus on developing independent learners; Liz has also worked in the field of work based training and NVQs, in particular with the Team Leading and Management NVQs and is a qualified NVQ Assessor. Liz has a background of working with Awarding bodies on the accreditation of learning, and acts as External Verifier to help to monitor and report on quality processes in Further and Higher Education Colleges, on behalf of the Open College Network. She has also enjoyed working with organisations on individual, team and organisational development and project management.

Jan Polack

National Manager

Jan originates from Liverpool and went to university in Sheffield where she studied Music. She came to Birmingham to do teacher training and then taught in Sandwell and Birmingham secondary schools for 17 years. During this time Jan diversified from just Music to teaching Drama, Art, Expressive Arts, PSHE and GNVQ Health and Social Care.

In 1997 Jan became involved with the UFA hosting some workshops run by the then Director of the UFA, Maggie Farrar. Jan became a Fellow in 1998 and then in 2001 came to work full time for the Birmingham UFA. She is still based in the Birmingham office but is now part of the National team, training Fellows and young people in areas such as Cardiff, Wolverhampton, Walsall and Coventry.

Jan still enjoys her music and plays viola with the Sinfonia of Birmingham. She met her husband through the world of circus skills and they have two beautiful children.

Jackie Ranger

National Manager

Jackie is an immensely dynamic, inspirational (and good humoured) educator and trainer with over 18 years experience both in primary and secondary schools. She believes strongly in enabling those she works with to bring out the very best in them and does this by adopting a very 'learner-centered' approach and leading by example.

Jackie has been instrumental in the development and implementation of a number of programmes through her role as a UFA Fellow and National Manager:-

• Face to face work with young people in a range of settings and contexts including Thinking Skills, Problem Solving, Team Building and Revision Super Learning Days; Peer Tutor Training; Summer Schools; and the NCSL Student Leadership Programme.
• Contributed to a successful MA Accredited Teaching and Learning Fellowship for teachers across 16 schools within the Leadership Incentive Group, building a culture of enquiry and reflection to ensure that everyone, particularly young people, can lead and support the school as a learning community.
• Led her school in becoming a centre of excellence for Study Support and Teaching and Learning in partnership with the UFA.
• Invited to represent the UFA as a keynote speaker and workshop facilitator at The Independent Schools' Conference in Jamaica (2005)
• Worked in partnership with the Ministry of Education (MOE) Jamaica, Shortwood Teacher Training College and the University of the First Age (UFA) UK, to organise a training/review workshop for Jamaican UFA Fellows in 2006.
• Currently contributing to the UFA SLD Train the Trainer Programme and marketing and publicising the work of the UFA locally and nationally.

Steve Rogers

Director of the UFA

Stephen Rogers has worked for the UFA since 2000 when he joined the Birmingham project. He became the National Director of the UFA in 2003. Prior to the UFA Steve was teaching in Birmingham special and primary schools for nearly twenty years, including spells of deputy and acting headship. Steve loves reading, painting, going to the theatre and the occasional mountaineering and canoeing trip!

Manjit Shellis

National Manager

Manjit's journey with the UFA began as the one of the first group of Fellows in Birmingham when the UFA was launched. As a school based Fellow she was involved in running summer schools, out of hours activity and training for other adults. First hand she witnessed the tremendous potential of the UFA model and wanted to be part of that.
Manjit became part of the UFA team that took the programme national in 1999 and she has seen the national network grow from the original four partners to the vast network of over 40 partners we have today. Manjit has found this a fascinating and exciting journey and it has allowed her to work across many areas of the country building up a rich picture of the network and the variety of ways the UFA model can be developed. Currently she supports partners in both the North East (Darlington, Durham, Hartlepool, Newcastle, Middlesbrough, East Cleveland EAZ, South Tynside) and in the midlands region (Coventry, Northamptonshire, Milton Keynes, Walsall, Warwickshire).
As well as working with partners to develop their local UFA's Manjit has been involved in developing a lot of the UFA publications, resources and training programmes. She is fascinated by learning and how we can translate the theories into everyday practice for both young people and adults.
Before her life with the UFA Manjit was a teacher in a secondary school in Birmingham for 13 years working both as a head of the English Department, a pastoral head and a teacher of art.