The Sacpa Executive Committee is a group of voluntary professionals passionate about safeguarding and child protection. You are welcome to get in touch with any member of our Executive Committee.
Chair: Karl Hopwood
Karl is an independent esafety expert. He is a member of UKCCIS (UK Council for Child Internet Safety) and sits on the UKCCIS evidence group and education working group as well as on the advisory board for the UK Safer Internet Centre and the education advisory board for CEOP. He also sits on Twitter’s trust and safety council where he represents the Insafe network. Karl has worked for a number of key players in the UK and abroad including CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre), BECTA (British Educational and Communications Technology Agency), the European Commission, the UN and several Local Authorities within the UK and in Europe. As an ex-primary headteacher, he continues to work closely in schools across Europe with children, young people, parents and teachers to develop safer online behaviours and the promotion of digital literacy. Karl has been employed for the last 13 years as an in-house consultant for INSAFE which is the coordinating node of the EU Better Internet for Kids programme where he is responsible for the coordination of safer internet helplines across Europe. He also works with the Boarding Schools’ Association, IAPS and the National Union of Teachers. Karl is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Marie Collins Foundation, a charity which supports young people who have been sexually abused and exploited online and is also a trustee of Childnet International.
Vice Chair: Alison Alexander
Alison is CEO of the Cornerstone Partnership, a social enterprise with a mission to improve the lives of children and families touched by the care system and is the former Managing Director and Director of Children’s Services for Windsor and Maidenhead Council. Alison has a breadth of experience in safeguarding and child protection and worked previously in Children’s Services in Southampton City Council and Hampshire County Council.
Nick Wergan
Nick is Education Director for Inspired Education Group and currently Vice-Chair of the Boarding Schools’ Association, having been Chair in 2019. Nick was previously Headteacher for six years at Steyning Grammar School in West Sussex, was appointed a National Leader of Education by the DfE and was Chair and a founding Trustee of the Pavilion & Downs Teaching School Alliance. Nick is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and National Teaching Awards Winner in 2007 for Outstanding New Teacher of the Year. Prior to joining Steyning Grammar as Headteacher in 2013, Nick was Deputy Headteacher at Blatchington Mill School in Hove, and Head of English at Sackville School in East Grinstead. He is determined that exceptional safeguarding and child protection practice should be embedded in the culture of all organisations; Ofsted (November 2018) described student welfare at Steyning Grammar School as ‘the beating heart of the school…staff are tenacious in their approach to keeping students safe’.
Mark is the director of safeguarding and people at Bramah HR. He is a former senior detective who served a full career with his final ten years leading child abuse investigations, adult abuse investigations where there were allegations of institutional failings and managing dangerous people in the community (MAPPA). He is highly skilled in identifying, managing and mitigating high risk. He has over 7 years’ experience sitting as an independent chair for Hampshire Children Services. This involved working in a multi-agency framework to ensure child centred outcomes were achieved. He supports clients where they have situations relating to risk by reviewing incidents and offering sound and practical advice. He encourages “professional curiosity” when staff have concerns about a colleague. He also has considerable expertise in identifying risk and safeguarding vulnerability; developing risk management solutions; delivering bespoke training packages; conducting independent reviews, investigations, and appearing at internal enquiries to offer evidence in relation to HR investigations. Recognising and investigating low level concerns is a delicate area and requires expertise. Mark has recently supported a number of schools in dealing with these to ensure integrity and safety is paramount. Mark recently completed a Masters degree in Criminology and Criminal justice, with a dissertation involving primary research into safeguarding. He has spent the last few years sponsoring and sitting on the steering group of the recently published British Standard Institute “Safeguarding Children in Out of School Settings (PAS 5222)” this is a framework encouraging external scrutiny into organisations in line with IICSA recommendations. The document is available freely and relevant to the business world, charities, religious groups, sports, None Governmental Organisations and many more that are not involved in education.
Robin Fletcher
Robin is CEO of the BSA Group and the Boarding Schools’ Association, where he was responsible in 2016 for introducing the BSA Commitment to Care safeguarding charter. He has also represented the boarding school sector of safeguarding on national television and publicly supported the introduction of mandatory reporting of abuse. A former award-winning newspaper editor, Robin is an Honorary Fellow of Cardiff Metropolitan University, a Governor of Rugby School, a member of the DfE’s Systems Partnership Board and an Independent Director of the manufacturers’ organisation, Make UK.
Fiona Scolding QC
Fiona’s practice focusses upon public law challenges in a wide variety of contexts concerning both local and central government and non governmental departmental bodies. She has particular expertise in areas concerning children and vulnerable adults, with a focus upon education, the Court of Protection, healthcare, community care, equality, human rights and discrimination, but also has experience in areas as varied as immigration, prisons, social security and general public law work. Fiona has been recommended by the Legal 500 for her work in education law since 2002, and is also recommended by them in administrative & public law and civil liberties & human rights. She is recommended by Chambers & Partners for her work in education law alongside the Court of Protection and local government. Fiona has a commitment to pro bono work. She also is on the EHRC panel counsel since 2010, and has a keen appreciation and understanding of equality and rights legislation. She was a member of the Attorney General’s B panel from 2013 to 2017. Fiona is currently instructed as senior counsel to the Anglican and residential schools investigations on behalf of IICSA (the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse). Fiona is joint head of the Public Law Group at Landmark Chambers.
Marcus Erooga
Marcus Erooga is an independent safeguarding and sexual abuse Consultant, Researcher & Trainer. From 1999-2018 he was a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Huddersfield Centre for Applied Childhood, Youth and Family Studies. He spent the majority of his employed career in various positions at the NSPCC, as a practitioner, team manager and Assistant Director for service delivery as well as service and policy development roles relating to child sexual abuse and sexual offending. He has authored or edited some 80 publications on child abuse and sex offender related issues. Most recently this work has focused on organisational safeguarding. In 2016 he co-authored a review of the literature on organisational risk & protective factors for the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse as well as being Expert Witness in a Royal Commission Case Study. He is an Expert Witness for the IICSA (the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse) Residential Schools inquiry. As an independent consultant Marcus regularly trains and presents based on his research and undertakes safeguarding work including audits & reviews for a number of organisations. Marcus is a past Editor in Chief and current Associate Editor of the Journal of Sexual Aggression and a past Chair of NOTA (the National Organisation for the Treatment of Abuse) and is now a NOTA Fellow.
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