Meet Our Workshop Facilitators
Liz Agbettoh
School Effectiveness Officer, Diocese of Blackburn
Liz has been a senior leader in London secondary schools, a School Improvement Officer with the remit for Black Achievement at Brent Local Authority, and a senior leader in the Department for Education at Westminster, working to develop national policy and programmes to raise standards for underachieving groups of pupils. She worked in partnership with the then National College for School Leadership, facilitating training for headteachers and local authority managers. She was also a Regional Adviser for the National Strategies and was the Strategies’ northwest lead for children in receipt of Pupil Premium.
A lifelong commitment to Equality, Diversity and Justice, Liz currently leads the Board of Education’s’ Disadvantage and Poverty Action Research Programme in partnership with Manchester University which supports schools to develop local strategies to support children living in poverty. She coordinates a team of diocesan advisers and provides training and support to school leaders and teachers to ensure that all members of Blackburn’s diocesan family of schools flourish in order to be the best that they can be.
Liz worships at St Ann’s Church, St Ann’s Square in Manchester.
Aleisha Lewis
Racial Justice Consultant
for Church of England’s Foundation for Educational Leadership
Aleishia is a Headteacher in Southend, Essex. She is a member of the Diocese Board of Education for Chelmsford and is a member of the College of Canons at Chelmsford Cathedral.
Aleishia is a Racial Justice Consultant for the Church of England's Foundation for Educational Leadership (CEFEL) and is one of the leaders of BAMEed East. She has worked with schools and school leaders on a national scale to develop their understanding of identity and belonging. Aleishia has been a co-facilitator for CEFEL's UK/US Inclusion and Diversity Network and is part of the Leaders Like Us team. She believes that every child should see themselves represented in the curriculum and this also drives her work with school leadership which also needs to see greater representation.
From June 2021 to July 2022, Aleishia was seconded to CEFEL as an NPQ Programme Lead, being responsible for the design, development and delivery of the NPQ Senior Leadership and NPQ Leading Teaching . Aleishia has a passion for developing leaders at all levels and has enjoyed meeting and working with the facilitators and participants from across the country. Her school currently delivers the NPQLT to local schools, building communities of practice, sharing expertise and growing great leaders collaboratively.
As a serving headteacher, Aleishia brings authenticity, honesty and experience to her training. She also holds a strong belief in the power of excellent teaching and leadership culture to improve the outcomes of all pupils at the same time as enabling staff to thrive.
Aleishia enjoys reading, cooking, eating and dancing. She is always up for a spontaneous adventure and loves musicals and all things Disney!
Freya Riley & Kayleigh Page
Grappenhall, St Wilfrid’s CE Primary School
Freya and Kayleigh are both teachers at Grappenhall St Wilfrid’s Primary School in Warrington and are leads for racial justice, serving predominantly White British community.