Claudeth McLeod

British Creative Institute, 

Elmore Court

Elmore Green Road

Bloxwich, Walsall, WS3 2QW

Tel: 01922 354706

Role Profile: Principal, British Creative Institute (BCI Walsall)

As Principal of BCI Walsall, Claudeth McLeod provides strategic, pastoral and operational leadership for a specialist post-16 SEND college with a creative and vocational focus. Drawing on a distinguished career as a Senior Matron, qualified teacher, safeguarding lead, and community leader, she is responsible for ensuring that every learner—particularly those with complex needs—experiences a safe, nurturing, and aspirational environment in which they can thrive academically, emotionally, and socially.

Claudeth’s leadership combines clinical-level safeguarding and risk management, legal insight, educational expertise and deep community engagement. Her role is to maintain the highest standards of professionalism, inclusion and care across the Walsall campus while upholding the ethos and policies of the British Creative Institute as a whole.

Key Strengths, Skills and Experience

1. Specialist safeguarding and SEND expertise

Claudeth is a qualified Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), having completed extensive training in safeguarding legislation, abuse and neglect, disclosure, risk assessment, recording and reporting for both children and vulnerable adults. This gives her an authoritative understanding of statutory guidance, including safer recruitment, whistleblowing, multi-agency working and thresholds for intervention.

In practice, this means she:

• Embeds robust safeguarding systems and culture across BCI Walsall, aligned with Keeping Children Safe in Education.
• Oversees the college’s response to concerns, ensuring timely referrals, accurate record-keeping and effective follow-up.
• Provides high-quality supervision and training to staff so that all adults understand their responsibilities to SEND learners and can recognise early signs of harm, exploitation or emotional distress.

Her existing role within BCI as Mental Health Lead and Pastoral Support Teacher further enhances this expertise, as she already works directly with SEND learners experiencing SEMH needs, anxiety, trauma and school refusal.

2. Senior Matron – clinical leadership, risk and care

Claudeth’s long service as Senior Matron at Selly Oak Hospital (1979–2018) is central to her professional identity. As head of nursing, she:

• Led large multidisciplinary teams, allocating staff, coordinating shifts and ensuring safe staffing levels.
• Managed high-pressure emergency and critical-care environments, making rapid, evidence-based decisions to safeguard life and wellbeing.
• Oversaw patient care plans, communication with families and liaison with doctors, therapists and external services.
• Took responsibility for rigorous documentation, clinical governance and adherence to policy and regulatory standards.

Translating this to the Principal role, Claudeth brings:

• Exceptional risk-assessment and crisis-management skills—critical for managing complex SEND presentations and behavioural incidents.
• A deep understanding of medical conditions, mental health and sensory needs that frequently intersect with SEND.
• An instinctively compassionate, person-centred approach grounded in dignity, respect and advocacy for the vulnerable.

Her experience of supervising and developing nursing staff directly informs her approach to staff performance management, wellbeing and professional development within the college.

3. Legal insight and experience in criminal law

Claudeth holds an honours degree in Criminal Law, providing her with a strong academic grounding in the criminal justice system, legislation and the rights of victims and offenders. Her close professional association with criminal solicitors has sharpened her understanding of evidential standards, due process and the interface between education, policing and youth justice.

This legal background enhances her role as Principal by enabling her to:

• Interpret and apply safeguarding and data-protection requirements with precision.
• Engage confidently with police, social care and legal professionals regarding allegations, knife crime, exploitation or online harm.
• Shape behaviour and anti-bullying policies that are proportionate, fair and aligned with statutory frameworks.

Her leadership of the “DISARM” action group and magazine—working with the Mayor and the police to remove knives from the streets—demonstrates how she uses this expertise proactively to protect young people and to foster safer communities.

4. Qualified teacher with strong literacy and pastoral skills

Claudeth is a qualified teacher with a PGCE in English Literacy, alongside experience as a pastoral assistant and first aid nurse in a performing arts setting. She understands curriculum planning, differentiation, assessment and the importance of building confidence in literacy for SEND learners who may have experienced disrupted education.

Her teaching background means she:

• Appreciates the daily reality of the classroom and can support staff in behaviour management, adaptive teaching and the use of reasonable adjustments.
• Champions high expectations while recognising individual starting points, cognitive profiles and emotional needs.
• Models relational practice—using calm, clear communication and strong listening skills to de-escalate anxiety and promote trust.

She already works within BCI as a Mental Health and Pastoral Support Teacher, delivering targeted interventions and wellbeing sessions that support attendance, engagement and resilience. (britiscreativeinstitut.uk)

5. Community leadership and social action

Beyond formal roles, Claudeth has a long history of community work, including:

• Leading Festival of Faith projects that feed the homeless and provide practical support to vulnerable adults.
• Founding and managing the “DISARM” magazine and action group, recognised by the Mayor for its contribution to community safety and youth engagement.
• Raising substantial funds over 35 years for organisations such as Macmillan and Acorn through events and campaigns.

This community involvement strengthens BCI Walsall by:

• Building bridges between the college, local authorities, charities, health services and faith-based organisations.
• Modelling active citizenship and social responsibility for learners.
• Enhancing the college’s capacity to support families experiencing poverty, homelessness, mental health challenges or domestic abuse.

Her recognition as Poet Laureate for Walsall further reflects her ability to use creativity, language and storytelling to connect with others and give voice to lived experience—skills that are particularly powerful in a creative SEND setting.

6. Professionalism, governance and data integrity

Claudeth’s time in the insurance sector, including roles in litigation and motor claims handling, required strict adherence to the Data Protection Act (DPA), precise documentation and careful handling of sensitive information. This background underpins her professional standards as Principal:

• Meticulous attention to confidentiality, data security and GDPR compliance.
• Clear, accurate record-keeping across safeguarding, attendance, behaviour and quality assurance.
• Fair and transparent complaints handling, ensuring students and families feel listened to and respected.

Combined with her DSL training on record-keeping and reporting, this ensures that the governance framework at BCI Walsall is robust, auditable and aligned with best practice.

Principal Responsibilities at BCI Walsall

In light of the above strengths, Claudeth’s role as Principal includes, but is not limited to:

• Strategic Leadership & Vision
  • Setting and communicating a clear vision for outstanding SEND provision through creative and vocational pathways.
  • Leading on improvement planning, self-evaluation and preparation for external scrutiny (e.g. Ofsted, commissioning bodies).
• Quality of Education
  • Overseeing curriculum design, delivery and assessment to ensure learning programmes are ambitious, coherent and personalised.
  • Monitoring teaching quality, learner progress and qualification outcomes, and intervening swiftly where improvement is required.
• Behaviour, Attitudes and Wellbeing
  • Promoting a trauma-informed, relational behaviour culture that emphasises safety, respect and restorative approaches.
  • Ensuring robust systems for attendance, re-engagement of anxious or school-refusing learners, and supportive transitions.
• Safeguarding & Mental Health
  • Acting as DSL (or strategic safeguarding lead), ensuring that policies, training and practice fully protect learners and staff.
  • Embedding mental health awareness and resilience into the whole-college approach, drawing on her clinical and pastoral expertise.
• Staff Development & Culture
  • Recruiting, inducting and developing staff who share BCI’s ethos and demonstrate strong SEND practice.
  • Providing coaching and supervision to build confidence in handling complex needs, disclosures and challenging behaviour.
• Partnerships & Community Engagement
  • Working closely with parents, carers, local authorities, health services, voluntary organisations and community leaders.
  • Representing BCI Walsall within wider networks, championing inclusive creative education for young people with SEND.
• Compliance & Accountability
  • Ensuring that all statutory duties (safeguarding, health and safety, equality, data protection, funding requirements) are fully met.
  • Reporting to the Board and external stakeholders on performance, risk and strategic priorities.

Summary

As Principal of BCI Walsall, Claudeth McLeod brings an exceptional blend of safeguarding expertise, clinical leadership, legal insight, teaching experience and community activism. Her background as Senior Matron, teacher and safeguarding lead, combined with her criminal law training and long-standing commitment to social justice, equips her to lead a highly professional, safe and compassionate SEND college where learners are empowered to succeed.