NATALIE SIMMONDS-ALLEYNE

Natalie has worked within the education sector for 10 years and has enjoyed a very successful career to date. She is passionate about the creation of truly inclusive, anti-racist education and working environments for students and staff. Natalie founded INCONVERSATION Birmingham in 2020 and went on to form INCONVERSATION In Education in 2021.

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Education

Natalie attended the University of Manchester, where she attained a BA Hons in Management, Business and IT.  She went on to attain both her PGCE and Master’s in Education from the University of Wolverhampton. During which time she was also awarded the Post Compulsory Education Prize.

Achievements/Accolades

Natalie is an active member of the Black Leadership Group (BLG) and was among members invited to the AOC Annual Conference, 2022 & 2020 to discuss the effective implementation of anti-racist strategy within FE education.

In 2020 she was included on a list of 100 Faces of Further Education, which highlighted her work to champion racial equality and social mobility within the sector.

In 2019 Natalie was the recipient of the Birmingham Metropolitan College Alumni Award, in recognition of her notable success and work to inspire others within the education industry.

Prior to this Natalie was invited as a guest speaker to the FE- Education & Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) Annual Conference, 2018, where she discussed racial equality and social mobility within education and her personal journey on behalf of (what was previously known as) The Stephen Lawrence Foundation.

Leadership & Quality Assurance

Aside from her role in INCONVERSATION In Education, Natalie works for Birmingham Metropolitan College (BMet), as Tutorial Development & Innovation Manager, a role which requires her to implement effective cross college leadership, collaboration and quality assurance in the development and delivery of tutorials.

Natalie leads the development of the cross-college tutorial curriculum (*TEP), designed to offer students a truly inclusive programme of study which is reflective of the range of cultural and ethnic identities that exist within the college community. Providing BMet learners with a rich and diverse learning experience that seeks to raise student’s aspirations, develop broad skills, build resilience, promote positive behaviours, challenge mindsets and ultimately lead students to achievement and progression in education, employment and beyond.

Natalie supports up to 200 personal tutors to develop the provision of truly inclusive teaching, learning and assessment practice across tutorial programmes.

Her daily tasks at BMet include the design, implementation and evaluation of innovative CPD activities, 1 to 1 staff coaching and mentoring, conducting learning walks, formal lesson observations and curriculum reviews.

Prior to this, Natalie was a Quality Manager at BMet, working to measure, develop and improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment college wide. Natalie is trained in formal lesson observation in line with the updated Ofsted framework (2019) and has held the role of lead support during full and monitoring FE Ofsted inspections

(*TEP – Tutorial Elements Programme: Trademark of Birmingham Metropolitan College (BMet) Tutorial Programme)

Experience of Strategic Planning 

Outside of her main role at BMet, Natalie is also non-curriculum staff governor and deputy chair of the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Group Network. Working to tackle the under-representation of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff within education leadership roles. Natalie developed the BMet Supported Leadership Programme, which provided aspiring staff with opportunities to develop leadership potential, increase their confidence and gain experience of leadership in complex and changing environments. This supported leadership programme was one of the first of its kind to be established within the FE sector.

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Natalie lives with her Husband and their two children in Birmingham.