Beech Academy
Turning 'I can't' into 'I can'
Inclusivity
Ambition
Integrity
Resilience
Endeavour
Neil Davies
Executive Headteacher
Neil is a proud Welshman who originates from the South West corner of Wales (Welsh being his first language). He studied for his degree in London (1994-1998) and began his teaching career as a PE Teacher at the London Nautical School (Waterloo) in 1998, later becoming Head of PE at Archbishop Tensions School (Kennington Oval) in 2001.
Neil relocated from London to the East Midlands and began a role at The Brunts Academy, Mansfield as Head of PE in 2005, moving on to the roles of Head of House and Assistant Headteacher (Head of Sixth Form & CIAG) during his 15 years at Brunts.
In September 2019, Neil began in a new role at Beech Academy as Deputy Headteacher (Behaviour & Attitudes) and became Head of School from January 2020, and Principal from September April 2021. When not at work, Neil is most likely to be found supporting Welsh rugby, fly fishing or playing the occasional game of golf.
Katy Craig
Head of School
Katy started her teaching career as a Teacher of Geography in an inner-city secondary school in Birmingham in 2000, having studied for her PGCE at Birmingham University.
Katy worked as Head of Geography and as a Head of Year before taking up her first senior leadership position in 2007. In 2017 Katy became the Headteacher of the school that she started her teaching career in. Having worked in mainstream education for the majority of her career, Katy chose to experience education within a specialist setting and joined Beech Academy in September 2021. Katy loves every minute of her time at Beech!
Katy is passionate about working hard to improve the life chances of young people. She is motivated by seeing the progress that pupils make on a daily basis and developing colleagues to be the best that they can be.
In her time away from school Katy enjoys spending time with her family; this usually involves watching her son playing rugby in the rain or enjoying seeing her daughter dance! She likes to walk her French Bull Dogs, Reggie and Bonnie, but her favourite place is spending time skiing in the mountains.
Peter Lane
Specialist Provision Lead
Originally hailing from Liverpool where he trained as a PE Teacher, Peter began his teaching career as a Teacher of PE at Linton Village College in Cambridgeshire in 2003.
In 2006 Peter was promoted to the post of Partnership Development Manager for the Forest Heath School Sports Partnership where he was responsible for increasing the physical activity levels of young people in 24 different schools across West Suffolk. He relocated to the East Midlands in 2011 and took on the post of Senior Teacher at Wings Residential Special School. In 2014 Peter completed a year at Ellis Guildford School in Nottingham as Teacher in Charge of behaviour.
In 2015 he returned to a position linked to residential Children’s homes as the East Midlands Lead Teacher for the Caldecott Foundation. In 2022 Peter took up the post of Assistant Headteacher at Beech Academy. Outside of his professional life Peter usually fills his time with watching and coaching football or running.
Kathryn Johnson
(Curriculum, Teaching & Achievement)
Kathryn started working in education when she joined a secondary school as a Teaching Assistant in the Science department in January 2004 on a gap year after completing her MSc in Oceanography. She was encouraged by the Head of Science to train as a Science teacher through the Graduate Teacher Programme run by the University of Derby and qualified in July 2006.
Kathryn moved to a secondary school in Mansfield in 2008 where she spent the next nine years teaching up to A Level in the different sciences. In January 2018 Kathryn joined Beech to finish the school year when the current Science teacher retired and here, she found her true calling!
Since then, Kathryn has worked as Head of Science and then also Head of Vocational Learning before being promoted to Assistant Headteacher in September 2025. Kathryn is a firm believer in the power of Beech’s approach to a student’s learning – ambitious for what they can achieve but also caring for the whole child and their challenges.
Outside of school Kathryn enjoys spending time with family which includes her Border Terrier-Cockapoo cross, Dexter. She is an avid reader of science fiction and fantasy and enjoys watching films and anime. She enjoys baking in her spare time and travelling in the school holidays.
Alison Rosling
Assistant Headteacher (SENDCo & Designated Teacher for Children Looked After)
Alison started her teaching career as a Teacher of English in a Catholic secondary school in Chesterfield in 2002, having studied English Language at the University of Lancaster.
Alison has worked as KS3 English lead and SENDCo before moving to Beech Academy in 2022. After twenty years in a mainstream setting, Alison was keen to gain further experience of a specialist provision and thoroughly enjoys teaching the young people at Beech. In 2024 Alison took on the role of SENDCo and has responsibility as the designated teacher for children looked after. Alison is passionate about making a difference for all our young people and was recently promoted to the Senior Leadership team as an Assistant Headteacher in September 2026.
In her time away from school, Alison enjoys spending time with her family, supporting their football and cricket hobbies. She loves going to the theatre and venturing out into the Peak District with her pet dog, Frank.