governance
Our board of governors bring extensive expertise and dedication to transforming the lives of neurodiverse children and young people with SEND.
Effective governance provides strategic direction, oversight, and accountability to our National Online School.
Our National Online School was established in September 2020 and has since benefited from strong governance, ensuring excellence in education, clinical support, family engagement, safeguarding, and financial performance throughout that time.
Governors engage in annual activities, such as school visits and committee meetings, to ensure high standards are met.
If ever needed, we have an escalation process in place to address concerns, further strengthening accountability with our National Online School.
our patron
Dame Esther Rantzen
Dame Esther Rantzen, Founder of Childline and presenter of the UK’s iconic TV programme ‘That’s Life’ became our patron to help raise awareness of how specialist therapeutic education for children and young people can positively transform their lives.
“I’m delighted to be Patron of TCES and to champion these young people. I have seen first-hand how this unique formula for therapeutic education can work — how the positive environments and supportive staff team help children to build trust and respect.
Dame Esther Rantzen
chair of governors
Nick Pratt
Nick is a qualified social worker and has worked in statutory child protection for over 20 years.
He has managed Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) services across a number of local authorities and is a coordinator for the London region and national LADO Networks.
He is the co-founder and director of the Independent Safeguarding Service, a community interest company specialising in safeguarding policy and training provision across the UK.
During his career, Nick has also worked closely with several safeguarding partnerships as well as authoring child safeguarding practice reviews.
Through his consultancy experience supporting early years settings, schools, the NHS, faith settings, third sector, Premier League football, and many private sector organisations, Nick has developed a passion for organisational safeguarding.
He brings this to his role as Chair of Governors for National Online School, which he describes as the ‘most innovative and inclusive education solution in the country‘.
Our Governing Board
Claire Ray
Safeguarding Governor
Claire is a qualified Social Work England registered Social Worker with over 25 years’ experience in child protection work. She has held various statutory child protection roles, including working as a Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO). Specialising in education safeguarding over 20 years ago, Claire was most recently the Head of an Education Safeguarding Service in one of the largest counties in the UK, responsible for the advice, support, challenge, guidance, and training to education establishments of all designations. The key focus of the service was to support and empower school and setting Senior Leadership Teams and Designated Safeguarding Leads to successfully meet their statutory and multiagency responsibilities under the Education Act 2002, Childcare Act 2006 and Children Acts 1989 and 2004.
Claire has extensive operational and strategic experience in policy writing, training delivery, case management, and safer recruitment, particularly related to education safeguarding and LADO functions. She has collaborated with various agencies, authored reports, and served on various multiagency panels, including for Domestic Abuse Related Death Reviews (formerly DHR) and Local Safeguarding Children Practice Reviews (LSCPR). She has significant experience in representing the education sector’s interests in various multiagency forums.
Claire now works independently and is passionate about the welfare and safeguarding of children and young people in education settings taking pride in sharing her skills to support others in keeping children safe.
Contact the CEO or Chair of Governors
To contact the CEO or Chair of Governers please use the email below:
quality assurance
At our National Online School, quality assurance is integral to our commitment to high expectations and unwavering support for every child.
Our community values emphasise hard work, resilience and a refusal to give up on any student.
We employ both internal and external quality assurance methods to ensure our students are empowered to become young leaders, successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens, and independent adults.
Regular monitoring, evaluation, and feedback processes uphold our high standards and drive continuous improvement.
This rigorous approach fosters a culture of responsibility, accountability and high expectations, embraced by every member of our team.
The highest possible validation of our own internal QA procedures is through the DfE Online Education Accreditation Scheme.
The Department [DfE] encourages all eligible providers to apply for accreditation and recommends that, from Autumn term 2023 or as soon as practicable, commissioners of full-time online education for school-age students in England should only use accredited providers”.
Source: DfE – Online Education Accreditation Scheme – Guidance on how the scheme works – January 2023’.
WE NEVER GIVE UP!
At the National Online School, we do not exclude or suspend children – we never give up on any child. We track attendance, behaviours, emotional wellbeing, and academic progress to ensure success. Staff have a commitment to quality assurance which helps students become confident, responsible citizens. No matter the challenge, we provide unwavering support.
INTERNAL QUALITY ASSURANCE
Quality assurance is a shared responsibility. Our Boards and Governors oversee standards, with annual two-day Governor Inspections led by experts.
In addition, committee meetings enhance accountability, focusing on student progress to ensure every student thrives.
consistent long-term excellence
Our National Online School, launched in 2020, builds on TCES’s 25-year legacy of SEND education. Accredited under the Online Education Accreditation Scheme (OEAS), local authorities, schools and parents can feel reassured in our rigorous quality assurance. This in turn ensures continued excellence in online SEND education.