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The British Academy School Marrakech's Board of Governors
CHAIR OF THE ADVISORY BOARD:Nigel Taylor
Nigel Taylor MA taught at Stowe, Cheltenham College and three HMC schools in South America. He was an Independent School Head for 26 years and an ISI Inspector. He is currently an elected Board Member of The Association of Governing Bodies of Independent Schools (AGBIS), and Safeguarding Governor to The Court of the Mill Hill School Foundation and Hazelwood Preparatory School. He is also Chair of the UK Charity, Education For All Morocco.
DEPUTY CHAIR OF THE ADVISORY BOARD: Mike McHugo
Is the Founder of Discover Ltd one of
the leading educational tour companies in Morocco.
His mantra has always been ‘maximise the collective
gain, not just your own.’
Discover Ltd was founded in 1978 and in 1990 it
bought a ruined mansion in the High Atlas Mountain
village of Imlil. Five years later it opened as Kasbah
du Toubkal and has gone on to become one of the
most famous and award-winning hotels in the
country. From the offset 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 initiative unique to the Kasbah
du Toukbal. 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 remote villages of the High Atlas
to continue their education. He was awarded the MBE
in 2019 for improving gender equality.
Dr. Cecilia Hannigan-Davies
Cecilia is Deputy Dean of the Cardiff School of Education and Social Policy at Cardiff Metropolitan University. 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 EYFS
Howard leads one of the largest independent schools’ EYFS departments in the south-east of England, 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 15 years’ experience in international schools and in the UK.
He is a member of the Senior Leadership Team of Hazelwood Preparatory School and sits on several governor sub-committees.
Mrs. Sam Coutinho
Sam Coutinho BA (Hons), FFCC, is a Chartered Accountant and Certificated Member of the Institute of Risk Management. A former Head of Education at Haysmacintyre. She is Chair of Governors of Copthorne Prep School, and Chair of Trustees of the Nightingale Cancer Support Centre; a Foundation Governor at St Ignatius College, Member of the Ivy Learning Trust, and Board member of AGBIS. She is an acknowledged expert in the field of governance and risk within the Independent Sector and is a regular writer and conference speaker. Recent speaking engagements include Charity Finance Group, Independent Schools’ Bursars Association, Association of Governing Bodies of Independent Schools, and Civil Society conferences. 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 MA (Hons:1st) Edinburgh University, PGCE & MEd University of Cambridge, PGC, University College London, is the Special Educational Needs (SEND) expert consultant for the Girls Day School Trust (GDST), and an Economic & Social Research Council PhD scholar at the University of Cambridge. She currently teaches Classics at Bromley High School for Girls and is responsible for SEND in the junior school.
Mr. Thomas Reilly
Thomas Reilly is a senior advisor at Covington, and key member of the firm’s Global Problem-Solving Group. Prior to joining Covington, he was British Ambassador to Morocco (2017-2020). Mr Reilly holds under and post-graduate qualifications from the London School of Economics (LSE), the Institut Robert Schuman, the York College of Law, and the Open University (OU). He started his career as a solicitor specialising in EU and commercial law but no longer practices as a solicitor. Between 2012 and 2017, he was Senior Advisor on International Government Relations & Regulatory Affairs and Head of Government Relations at Royal Dutch Shell. Former roles with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office include Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Egypt (2010-2012). He has lived or worked in several countries including Jordan, Kuwait, Yemen, Libya, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Argentina. He is a special advisor to the University of Coventry and to Warwick Business School and a member of the board of Trustees of the Morocco-based educational charity, Education for All. He speaks French, Spanish, Arabic and Russian and is married with two daughters.
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 a number of Safeguarding Children Partnerships and is a lead reviewer for Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews. 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".
