Ofsted has appointed the chief executive of Olive Academies as an external adviser on inclusion.
Mark Vickers was a secondary headteacher, an Ofsted inspector and a founding trustee of the PSHE Association before he established Olive Academies in 2015. The multi-academy trust has five academies across London and the East of England, specialising in alternative provision (AP).
He is chair of The National MAT CEO Network for Alternative Provision and SEND, a member of the Department for Education’s special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and AP improvement board, co-chair of Ofsted’s inclusion reference group and independent chair of Norfolk County Council’s executive board.
Mr Vickers was appointed MBE in the 2021 Queen’s New Year Honours List for his services to children and young people with SEND.
Describing himself as an “advocate for partnership working”, Mr Vickers said he sees “collaboration as an effective and necessary route to improving the life chances of more of the most vulnerable children in the country”.
Ofsted focus on inclusion
Announcing the appointment, Lee Owston, Ofsted’s national director for education, said: “I am pleased to announce that Mark Vickers MBE will be working with Ofsted as an external adviser for inclusion. Our focus on inclusion will help ensure the changes we’re making to inspection work well for the SEND sector and, most importantly, for young people with SEND - as well as disadvantaged and vulnerable children.
“We have been working with Mark throughout the development of our renewed inspection framework. As the chair of our external reference group on inclusion, his extensive knowledge and leadership experience of the mainstream and specialist sectors has been invaluable.
“Mark will now be supporting us in implementing our proposed reforms, using his strong links with the school system, and specialist sector in particular, to help make sure we get the changes right for all settings. He will also be helping us to continue improving our inspector training and will be a key adviser as we work to refresh our strategy around alternative provision.”
Mr Vickers said: “It is a real honour to take on the role of external adviser for inclusion, through which I will build on the positive work that the external reference group has delivered over the past six months.
“I welcome the importance Ofsted places on inclusion, and I look forward to working with [Ofsted chief inspector] Sir Martyn Oliver and his team to deliver on this priority, contributing to a future that ensures all children across England receive the highest standard of education, which they deserve and are entitled to.”
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