Dame Sue John

Dame Sue John was Headteacher of Lampton School in Hounslow from 1997 to 2015, during which time she transformed the school into an outstanding institution. Lampton School was featured in Ofsted’s 2010 publication, Twelve Outstanding Secondary Schools: Excelling Against the Odds.

Sue has worked extensively in school improvement and educational leadership. She was a National Leader of Education and served as a project manager supporting some of London’s most challenging and complex schools. From 2007 to 2010, she was Secondary Director of the London Leadership Strategy for the London Challenge. In recognition of her contribution to education, Sue was awarded a DBE in 2010.

In 2011, Sue co-founded the education charity Challenge Partners, where she currently serves as Executive Director on a part-time basis. Sue has received an Honorary Fellowship from Brunel University and an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Roehampton, both in recognition of her contribution to education and teacher development.

She has held a number of non-executive and advisory directorships across the education sector, including with the Department for Education, Future Leaders and Teaching Leaders (now part of Ambition Institute). She was a Director of ImpactEd Group, where she chaired the Research Commission on Engagement and Lead Indicators.

Sue was the founding Chair of The Brilliant Club and has chaired the Teacher Development Trust. She has also served as a trustee of a number of multi-academy trusts, most recently United Learning.

Sue is a member of the Sutton Trust’s Education Endowment Advisory Group and the Advisory Group of the Fair Education Alliance.