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The British Academy School Marrakech's Board of Governors
CHAIR OF THE ADVISORY BOARD:Nigel Taylor
MA taught at Stowe, Cheltenham College and three HMC
schools, in Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. He is currently safeguarding governor to the Court of the Mill Hill Education Group (MHEG), Chair of the UK based Charity, Education For All Morocco, executive consultant to the Independent Safeguarding Service (CIC), and is accredited by the NSPCC. A former board member of Surrey Safeguarding Children’s Partnership, governor (state and independent), independent school headteacher, and ISI Inspector.
DEPUTY CHAIR OF THE ADVISORY BOARD: Mike McHugo
is the founder of Discover Ltd one of the leading
educational tour companies in Morocco. Discover Ltd was founded in 1978 and in 1990 it bought a ruined mansion in the High Atlas Mountain village of Imlil. It opened five years later and has gone on to become one of the most famous and award-winning hotels in the country. Under Mike’s leadership the Kasbah has been at the forefront of sustainable development in the Imlil valley, much of it funded by a 5% levy added to
the bills of all guests, an imitative unique to the Kasbah du Toubkal. With the funds from this Levy, in 2006 Mike founded ‘Education For All’ to provide accommodation close to secondary schools for girls from rural families in remove villages of the High Atlas to continue their education. His mantra has always been ‘maximise the collective gain, not just your own’ and in 2019 he was awarded the MBE for improving gender equality.
Dr. Cecilia Hannigan-Davies
Dr Cecilia Hannigan-Davies is Dean of the Cardiff School of Education and Social Policy at Cardiff Metropolitan University and has been in post since February 2025. Prior to that, she was Deputy Dean of the School since January 2018. Born and educated in the Republic of Ireland, she holds a BSc (Hons) with Qualified Teacher Status from St Patrick’s College Dublin and an MSc in Computer Science and Applications from Queen’s
University Belfast. Her Doctorate is in Computer Science (Multimedia Intelligent Tutoring Systems) from Ulster University. She is a Chartered IT Professional with the British Computer Society and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. An acknowledged expert in her field, Cecilia has had several research papers published in international journals and is a regular conference presenter and speaker at international conferences in the USA, Europe and Africa. She was also a
primary school teacher in the Republic of Ireland.
Howard Garlick
Howard Garlick is Deputy Head of Hazelwood Preparatory School, DSL, and leads one of the largest EYFS departments in the independent sector, caring for 200+ children from 9 months to the end of Reception. The school was awarded outstanding at its most recent inspection. He holds a B. Ed (Hons) from the University of Wales, Bangor, and has 18 years’ experience in international schools and in the UK. He is a school governor
and has recently completed his training to become an ISI Inspector.
Mrs. Sam Coutinho
Sam Coutinho BA (Hons), FCCA, is a Chartered Accountant and
Certificated Member of the Institute of Risk Management. A former Head of Education at Haysmacintyre. She is Chair of Trustees of the Nightingale Cancer Support Centre; a Governor at St Mary’s School Ascot, a trustee of the Ivy Learning Multi Academy Trust, and chair of finance of Westlea School, a special education needs school for 4–19-year-olds. She is an
acknowledged specialist in the field of governance and risk within the Independent Sector and is a regular writer and conference speaker. She is the proprietor of a Montessori Day Nursery and holds a Level 3 Diploma in
Children’s Learning and Development.
Mrs. Emily Rushton
Mrs. Emily Rushton is a Lecturer at the University of London and Educational Consultant. She graduated with MA (Hons:1st) Edinburgh University, PGCE & MEd University of Cambridge, PGC, University College London, and was an Economic and Research Council PhD scholar as the University
of Cambridge. She was formerly Deputy-Head of Bromley High School for Girls where she taught Classics and had responsibility for SEND in the junior school and was the GDST lead expert for SEND.
Mr. Thomas Reilly
Thomas Reilly is qualified as a solicitor and practiced law in London and Brussels before joining the UK Foreign Office. He worked in London on drugs and international crime before being posted to Argentina. He subsequently served in Embassies in Kuwait, Jordan and Yemen, before returning to London where he was Deputy Head of the Foreign Office’s Counter Terrorism and Climate Change and Energy Departments and head of the UK’s international energy strategy. Thomas was then posted to Cairo as Deputy Ambassador where he served during the Arab Spring. He was seconded to Shell as Head of Government Relations. He was appointed UK Ambassador to Morocco and Mauritania in 2017. At the end of his posting, Thomas left the UK’s Foreign Office and worked as Senior Advisor to Covington. In 2024, Thomas set up his own geopolitical advisory business through which he provides strategic geopolitical and policy advice to a range of major UK and European companies. Thomas is an Honorary Professor at Coventry University and sits on the Vice Chancellor’s Advisory Board. He is a member of the Council of the European Movement and the President of the Renew Association of European MEPs for his Department in France. Thomas is a member of the Board of Trustees of a Moroccan girls’ education charity and Director of a think tank in the UK.
Mrs. Jane Sanchez
Jane Sanchez (BSc Hons), PGCE, is the former Head of Mill Hill School one of the leading co-educational day and boarding schools in England. A geography graduate from Sheffield University, Jane began her teaching career in the state sector in Sheffield, before moving overseas to Northlands School, a prestigious independent girls’ school in Buenos Aires. Upon her return, she spent nine years at one of the country’s finest girls’ schools, The Henrietta Barnett School, in north London. She joined Mill Hill School as Deputy Head in 2003.
Jane is currently the Safeguarding Governor for Copthall School, an 11-18 girls’-maintained school and board director of Alford House, a historic youth club in the London Borough of Lambeth.
She now works part-time in the Development Office, supporting the School’s ongoing commitment to raising funds for bursaries and capital projects.
Mr. Nick Pratt
Nick Pratt is widely recognised as one of the leading safeguarding practitioners in the UK. A qualified Social Worker with over 20 years of statutory child protection experience, and nearly a decade managing LADO Services across different Local Authorities. He is a coordinator for the London Region and National LADO Networks. He works with several
Safeguarding Children Partnerships, is a lead reviewer for Child
Safeguarding Practice Reviews, and is often called to give evidence as an expert witness. He is the co-founder and Director of the Independent Safeguarding Service, a Community Interest Company which specialises in safeguarding policy, training, and consultancy across the UK. He works with several Safeguarding Children Partnerships. Nick is also the Chair of Governors for the TCES Group, a social enterprise providing independent therapeutic education and specialist services for neurodiverse pupils, and he is a Member of the Urbis Academy Trust.
