Meet the Head Teacher

Samantha Lea first came to Crookhey Hall School ten years ago on a maternity cover and never left! She has worked in this SEMH setting in a variety of roles ranging from class teacher, Head of Nurture, SENCo , Assistant Head Teacher, Deputy Head Teacher and most recently as Headteacher . During her time with the Acorn group, Samantha has supported and driven the nurturing ethos of Crookhey Hall rolling it out across the Key Stages in school. With a Primary Education degree background, a National SENCo Award and a Post Graduate Diploma in Nurture, Samantha strives to promote literacy skills across the school as the key to success in both the academic and vocational curriculum Crookhey Hall has to offer.

‘I believe that every child has the ability to achieve – despite their starting point and how much school they might have missed prior to placement at Crookhey Hall. We aim to ‘plug the gaps’ and give our children the confidence and skills needed to reach their potential through specialist teaching and individually tailored intervention programmes. Crookhey Hall is a ‘clean slate’ where young people can make a fresh start and leave any preconceptions about education at the front door. Crookhey Hall is unique and we celebrate that as a staff team and with the young people in school. Crookhey is a place for success and for positive experiences that in turn lead to positive adult outcomes’.

Samantha is passionate about education and the need to provide the right balance between academic and vocational opportunities so that all pupils can experience success in school, for some the first time.

‘I fell in love with Crookhey Hall the first time I drove up the driveway. We are so lucky to have such wonderful facilities at the school with horticulture, animal care, hair and beauty, construction and mechanics on site, within our beautiful fifteen acre grounds setting. I believe that Crookhey Hall offers everything and, that alongside the nurturing approach of staff, speech and language intervention, pastoral support and our extensive outdoor education programme.  We offer every opportunity for our young people to flourish and achieve. All our courses lead to accreditation and we pride ourselves on the fact that all our pupils will leave our school with qualifications relevant to their abilities and interests’.

Samantha retains close links with teacher training providers and mentors and supports newly qualified teachers to set them on the appropriate career path to promote their skills, training and interests.