Ryan Campbell - Chief Executive Officer at Prior's Court Expand Ryan Campbell CBE joined Prior's Court as our Chief Executive Officer in July 2023. Ryan has been a leader in the charity sector for over 18 years, most recently before joining Prior's Court as the CEO of Hampshire-based Treloar’s, a provider of education for physically disabled people with complex needs. Ryan has also been the CEO of Demelza Hospice Care for Children, which offers palliative care for children and young people; as well as CEO of an organisation providing clinical, mental health and substance misuse services to young people and adults. In 2018, Ryan was awarded a CBE for services to mental health provisions.
Sue Piper - Director of Young People's Learning Expand Sue has a background in psychology, mainstream and special needs teaching and residential care experience with 25 years spent in the field of autism. Since she joined Prior’s Court nearly 20 years ago, she has worked as a class teacher and training consultant, before becoming a member of the senior management team. Sue completed her headship in 2011 and as the Director of Learning she oversees the learning for all young people across the provision. Sue continues to train others in her capacity as an Advanced Consultant TEACCH Trainer and has spoken at international conferences in the USA and China.
Nicola Beckley - Director of Services Expand Nicola joined Prior’s Court in March 2016 and is responsible for leading all of Prior's Court's support services including HR, Recruitment, Estates, Fundraising, Marketing, and Workforce Planning. Nicola brings over 20 years of experience working in commercial roles across various sectors including healthcare, pharmaceutical, engineering and within the education sector. With a background in HR and General Management, Nicola supports the organisation in achieving its ambitious plans for the future.
Natalie Boothroyd - Interim Director of Wellbeing Expand Natalie has over 20 years knowledge working in the health and social care sector. In this time she has opened two special schools for children with complex needs and six registered children’s homes and supported living accommodations across the UK. All schools and residential services were recognised as 'good' or 'outstanding' by their relevant statutory bodies. Natalie is a registered learning disability nurse, and has completed her diagnostic training in autism. She has worked alongside National Autistic Society (NAS) and completed her Masters module in Positive Behaviour Support (PBS). Natalie was a Learning Disability nurse in inpatients at the start of her career, and has worked closely within recent years to prevent young people requiring Tier 4 services. Natalie also clinically oversees the nursing department here at Prior's Court.
Helen Franks - Head of Young People's Learning Expand Helen joined Prior’s Court in January 2019, having worked in special education supporting pupils, predominantly with ASD, for more than twenty years, 15 of which have been in Senior Leadership roles. She has worked in both residential schools and local authority day schools, with pupils ranging in ages four to 19, and with a range of learning difficulties. She has long worked to improve provision for young people with autism, attending her first 5 day TEACCH course in the late 1990s. As well as supporting students in her schools, Helen has previously supported families, and mainstream schools, with the practical application of strategies to support the learning and development of young people with autism. For a number of years she was an instructor for EarlyBird - an National Autistic Society course for parents of pre-school children with a recent diagnosis of autism. As a keen reader, Helen is passionate in developing a love of reading and improving reading skills, whatever the ability of the young person. Helen is a Team Teach Advanced Tutor and enjoys supporting staff to empower our young people to develop their own skills to manage their behaviours.
Kate Lefever - Head of HR and Training Expand Kate joined Priors Court in May 2019 after gaining over 20 years + experience across a variety of commercial companies including Real Estate, Retail, Healthcare and Management Consultancy. She has a strong HR generalist background working at a strategic and operational level. Her responsibility is to manage and oversee the HR and Learning and Development teams in order to deliver the strategic HR and L&D objectives for Prior's Court.
Niamh Chippendale - Director of Finance Expand Niamh joined Prior's Court in July 2019 and now manages the finance team to ensure financial reporting requirements are met, as well as driving operational efficiencies and support the forecasting and strategic planning. She has over 25 years’ experience of working within the finance function in a number of industries providing financial knowledge and support to businesses.
Mark Bailey - Head of Service Management Expand Mark joined Prior’s Court in May 2019 after a broad and successful career in Estates, Capital Projects and Project management. Mark brings a wealth of positive change management experience, working in independent education, commercial and charity sectors. He is responsible for leading Prior’s Courts Estates, IT, Resources and Capital Projects services, supporting the organisation to achieve its key development targets, and significantly improve the lives of Young People with complex autism.
Lynsey Preston - interim Director of Safeguarding and Health and Safety Expand Lynsey has over 20 years’ experience of working with young people with autism and complex needs having joined Prior’s Court when it opened in 1999. During this time she has worked in the School as support worker, head of two residential homes and set up two new residential homes for post 16 students before joining the leadership team as Deputy Head of Care. Her role now encompasses the safeguarding of our young people across the whole provision.