Areté Biographies
Areté is the first recruitment consultancy in the UK to specialise in helping schools to recruit Heads, Deputy Heads and Senior Leadership Teams. All our work is within the education sector. We have also expanded in to the FE sector with early success.
With any organisation, particularly schools, their success is directly related to their leadership. With recruitment the success is directly related to the consultant who leads the recruitment project, not necessarily the company they represent.
The Areté Senior Leadership Team has a wealth of experience and success recruiting to leadership posts and a combined 60+ years of recruiting specifically to the Education sector.
N.B. The consultant you see is the consultant who handles your requirement
The Areté Senior Leadership Team:
Jon Sheridan is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. He completed his MBA at The University of Warwick in 2000.
Jon has more than 20 years' HR experience in local government. He was previously Head of HR for Solihull LEA for 5 years. As well as advising all Solihull Schools on Headship appointments, he also carried out Governor training on headship recruitment and selection. After leaving local government he worked for a start up company and developed a Headteacher recruitment service. The development of this service was the subject of his MBA dissertation.
Jon remains an active member of Confed (the Confederation of Education and Children's Service Managers) and undertakes consultancy work on behalf of schools and LA's. He recently wrote a Management Guide - Managing Change for schools, on behalf of a large LA in the Midlands. Since September 2004 Jon has successfully completed the recruitment of Headteachers, Bursars and Deputy/Assistant Heads for Primary, Secondary and SEN schools in both state and private sectors.
He is also a governor of a secondary school.
Paul Horgan is a qualified Secondary teacher having taught Business Studies and Mathematics both in the UK and Ireland. He has 10 years' experience in the Education Recruitment industry where he was most recently a member of the Senior Management team of Select Education.
Paul brings with him a wealth of experience and skills in providing schools with excellent customer service, and through his own educational background, is in a position to relate effectively with Educational Leaders.
Since August 2005, Paul has successfully completed the recruitment of Headteachers, Deputy/Assistant Heads and Heads of Department for Primary, Secondary and SEN schools on permanent and interim assignments in both state and private sectors.
He is also a governor of a primary school in North London.
Jacquie Baker spent 10 years as a Chair of Governors in a large Surrey primary school, where she was involved in the recruitment of the new headteacher. Following an Advanced Skills Governors Course, she has developed and delivered training programmes to governors in Surrey, focussing on interviewing skills, general recruitment and work/life balance issues.
She has worked closely with both Senior Management and Leadership teams as well as school governing bodies to develop in-house training sessions, and has had significant involvement in school with recruitment, performance management and pay related issues.
Jacquie combines these skills with her expertise gained as a professional executive search consultant for 4 years in the City of London, specialising in financial directorships.
Andrew Brophy began his career specialising in Corporate Risk Assessment for one of the worlds leading Insurance and Investment houses, underwriting and accepting proposals up to £1Million during the course of a five year tenure as Lead Underwriter within the IFA Broker market.
Harnessing his knowledge and expertise in Finance/Investment markets, Andrew pursued a career in the Recruitment Industry, specialising in senior appointments for a national Financial Recruitment specialist. This role afforded him the opportunity to run executive search assignments on behalf of clients ranging from some of the worlds largest companies to medium-sized businesses and entrepreneurial start-ups. He provided guidance and counsel on all areas of governance and senior leadership needs on a pan European-wide basis.
Andrew made his first entre into the world of Education recruitment/consulting, specialising in the Secondary sector for Select Education PLC, the country's leading provider of Education staffing solutions. For nearly four years, he managed client relationships spanning both LA and independent schools across the Merseyside region.
Andrew is a member of the Recruitment & Employment Federation and is certified in Recruitment Practice.
Geri Walker is a qualified teacher of English as a Foreign Language, having spent 4 years teaching in Europe and Asia and then a further 2 years as a teacher of Business English in the City of London. She has 10 years experience in the Education Recruitment Industry and brings with her valuable experience from her previous posts at Select Education. This includes working with LAs, EAZs and school cluster groups. Her most recent role was as a Business Manager for Select Education, providing recruitment solutions through a team of 4 Education Consultants to schools in London.
Geri is now responsible for developing the Interim Management arm of the Arete business in London and the South East. She has worked closely with schools and Local Authorities and brings with her a comprehensive knowledge of the education sector where she is used to working with Educational Leaders, providing excellent customer service.
Stephen Pugh is qualified and trained in recruitment practices from ‘both sides of the desk'; which gives him a great deal of empathy with his clients and candidates.
Stephen has over 20 years' experience in Senior Management, Training and Director level roles within recognised blue chip companies, (including Dalgety, Kraft Jacobs Suchard, the Milk Marketing Board and Select Education). He understands the key drivers which influence the leadership of complex organisations.
Immediately prior to his appointment at Areté, Stephen was a Director in a successful consultancy working in partnership with his European clients on strategic direction, change management and recruitment and retention of key personnel. A major part of his experience involves Executive Search -recruiting Directors and Senior Management Teams for a diverse range of organisations.
Since September 2004 Stephen has successfully completed the recruitment of Headteachers, Deputy/Assistant Heads, SENCO's and Heads of Department for Primary, Secondary and SEN schools on permanent and interim assignments in both state and private sectors.
The Senior Leadership Team is supported by a team of dedicated specialist Education Research & Recruitment Consultants.
Notes for consideration:
"Money cannot be spent in a more important way than to recruit a headteacher. It is legitimate because it is in the interests of the children"
So said John Dunford, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, in the leading article of the TES dated 23rd March 2007. Investing in the selection of future leaders in education is now a serious consideration for all those responsible for recruitment.
Areté has the resources to invest more time and energy into the recruitment process than the school can. We can quickly find the right people, in a cost effective manner. We aim to get it right first time every time and have an unrivalled track record, having successfully completed 99% of retained recruitment assignments since 2005.