Our team
Hawthorn Learning
Maz Wilberforce
Chief womble
Founder - Director
Maz is a warm and experienced headteacher with a master’s level qualification (MA in Education) and is a qualified Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo). Maz firmly believes in the power of child-centred education, which prioritises individual needs, interests, and strengths. With over 20 years of experience in education, Maz is dedicated to fostering and creating a nurturing learning environment in which students feel safe, valued, and empowered to reach their full potential academically, socially, and emotionally, enabling them to thrive and make a positive impact on the world.
Maz maintains that education extends beyond the walls of the learning setting, and forging strong partnerships with parents, families, and local organisations is essential to provide the best possible educational experience for every student.
Pronouns: she/her
Tomlin Wilding
Chief womble
Founder - Director
Tomlin is a neuropsychology researcher, writer and educator. They specialise in neurodiversity, human development and relationships, and human needs. They hold post-graduate qualifications in psychology, counselling, human resources and training. They have also worked in child development for nearly 25 years supporting children and families in education, home and healthcare settings. They have written successful parenting courses and trained hundreds of educators and professionals in parent-child relationship building.
As a neurodivergent parent of four neurodivergent children, their passion lies in supporting humans to live their own authentic lives empowered with understanding and tools that allow them to consider their whole selves, have meaningful relationships, and pursue whatever brings them joy.
Pronouns: they/them
John Haynes
Curriculum womble
Art and design
Pronouns: he/him
Xav Winsley
activities womble
Outdoor- Growing - Food
Xav loves all things practical. He is very keen to support the children in planning and doing lots of practical outdoor activities, including, bushcraft, horticulture and cooking.
Pronouns: he/him
Ellie
Fackrell
Support womble
Fashion - Costume - Make-up
Ellie has experience working to support and facilitate anxious and neurodivergent children, and is excellent at supporting learning in creative ways. As the pod learning facilitator, Ellie works alongside Maz and Tomlin to support the students in their child-centred learning.
Pronouns: she/they
Amber
Baker
Executive womble
Administration - Organisation
Amber loves to help people do their job really well. They keep on top of all the administration and support Maz and Tomlin to organise all the people and things that support the students to learn. Without Amber we wouldn’t be able to do anything.
Pronouns: she/they
Tobi Tomassi-Collins
Support womble
Volunteer
Tobi is a passionate student gaining experience with us in working with SEN students in a specialist environment.
Pronouns: they/them
Join the team
We will be looking to recruit a full team of educators who are genuinely excited and passionate about our ethos. to join Hawthorn Small School, our partner project in 2024 and 2025. Please look at our join the team page for more details.
