Marius Frank BSc (Hons) NPQH FRSA : Consultant – Lecturer – Quality Assurance – Advisor – Animateur – International Project Leadership
See Diary of an Ofsted Inspection 2010 (TES)
Jan 2022 Update: Marius has been appointed Head of Education at MicrolinkPC UK Ltd, one of the leading workplace accessibility companies in the world, who have made a commitment to expand their expertise and services into the wider education system. He is leading on two transformational developments: putting wellbeing at the heart of learning, teaching and leadership in schools across the country, and developing ways of introducing assistive technologies into mainstream classrooms. Marius is currently working with an estimated 600+ school communities.
Marius Frank was strategic lead for E-Learning Development and Youth Justice at Achievement for All for nearly seven years. Achievement for All was an international children’s charity devoted to equity in education, supporting education settings to dismantle barriers to learning, whatever the challenges faced by children and young people and their families. Over a period of ten years, the charity worked with nearly ten thousand education settings. Sadly the charity went into administration and closed in October 2021.
Before entering the teaching profession, Marius spent six years immersed in Brain Research, first as a Neurobiology undergraduate, then for three years post-graduate studies at the MRC Institute of Hearing Research. His profound understanding of brain sciences gives him an outstanding insight into developmental psychology, cognitive development and the impact of trauma and adverse childhood experiences on the developing mind.
After a stellar career as a teacher (of science, music and Expressive Arts) and middle leader (including posts as varied as Head of Year, Head of Science and Director of Music) in challenging secondary schools in England, Marius became Headteacher of Bedminster Down School ( and the first BAME Secondary Headteacher in Bristol). Despite being named in the bottom 200 performing Secondary Schools in the country in 2000, Marius led the school community to a remarkable transformation, trebling performance outcomes in a decade in charge despite very low standards (and low community expectations) on entry.
In 2010, Marius became CEO of ASDAN Education, an international Awarding Organisation (offering a wide variety of EQF (European Qualification Framework) Level 1 to Level 6 qualifications in vocational and personal development), curriculum development and innovation company (winning Human Resource Magazine’s Most Person-Centred CEO of the Year award in 2011), before eventually becoming an independent education consultant and project manager, joining Achievement for All full time in 2015.
Marius’ ability to manage large and complex projects is exemplified by the successes of a government-funded national programme to reduce the impact and incidence of bullying on children and young people with SEND. 1,500 schools received face-to-face training, with 96% of all attendees rating the event as good or outstanding, making them more confident to deal with complex and sensitive incidents. The extensive bank of supporting resources was presented in an innovative web-based way, encouraging individual or group exploration and evaluation to support professional development activity. The project was given an internal DfE (Department for Education) 1 rating for delivery, the highest grade possible.
From 2015, Marius led a two-year DfE/MoJ contract aimed at securing better outcomes for young people with Special Education Needs and Disabilities in the Youth Justice System. After a series of national workshops that connected with 400 professionals from over 100 Youth Offending Teams across the country, and building an on-line community of practice to serve over 1,800 front line professionals, the contract was extended for another year to take the programme into the secure estate, and develop a quality assurance framework for Local Area Partnerships across the country to drive continuous service improvement. Marius has also put his expert knowledge of brain-based learning and development to good use, especially in the emerging imperative of emotion wellbeing and mental health, supporting schools, PRUs and Youth Offending Teams move from trauma-aware to trauma-informed practice.
The Youth Justice SEND Quality Mark/Quality Lead mark has now been earned by nearly 50 Teams in England, playing a significant role in securing secure and effective working partnerships between YOTs and other statutory Children’s Services. Marius is now turning the amassed knowledge into a framework that identifies and enables Child First Partnership Practice.
Howard League Award for work in Youth Justice
Marius is also working on international EU-funded projects with colleagues in Italy, Romania, Greece, Spain and Bulgaria to secure better outcomes for children and young people affected by migration, which includes refugees and unaccompanied asylum seekers.
Marius has also enjoyed a parallel career as a professional musician, and was, without doubt, the top funky bass-playing Secondary Headteacher in the UK for over a decade! Together with his partner, Cindy Stratton, they have enjoyed a long professional career, with BBC Radio 1 sessions, festival appearances and a series of album releases spanning two decades.
They now specialise in running choral events and singing workshops.
PAST AND PRESENT CLIENTS AND PARTNERS INCLUDE: ASSOCIATION OF YOUTH OFFENDING TEAM MANAGERS – ACHIEVEMENT FOR ALL 3AS – MICROSOFT – BATH SPA UNIVERSITY (PRIMARY AND SECONDARY PGCE) – LATVIAN EDUCATION LEADERS – SUFFOLK, SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE GLOUCESTERSHIRE NEWHAM LAs – CACI – WHOLE SCHOOL SEND – NASEN – NCTL – SYMANTEC – JISC- RSC (SOUTH EAST)
WORKSHOPS AND LECTURES IN: LONDON (various), BATH, BIRMINGHAM, BRISTOL, SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE, BRIGHTON, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, BELFAST, EDINBURGH, HULL, LIVERPOOL, ASHINGTON AND NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, READING, SOUTHEND, TAVISTOCK (DEVON), ANDOVER, LEICESTER, ABINGDON. LEEDS, CAMBRIDGE and NOTTINGHAM, EDINBURGH, SINGAPORE (Stirling Group tour of Sixth Form Colleges)
MAJOR PROJECTS AND COMMISSIONS: SECURING BETTER OUTCOMES FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE WITH SEND IN YOUTH JUSTICE – FORMULATION, DEVELOPMENT AND DELIVERY OF SCHOOL TRAINING PROGRAMME AIMED AT REDUCING IMPACT AND INCIDENCE OF BULLYING ON LEARNERS WITH SEND, AND SECURING BETTER OUTCOMES FOR CHILDREN WITH SEND IN THE YOUTH JUSTICE SYSTEM (BOTH FOR ACHIEVEMENT FOR ALL 3AS) Now Head of Education at MICROLINK PC UK Ltd, LEADING ON WELLBEING IN SCHOOLS AND THE ADVANCEMENT OF ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGIES IN MAINSTREAM CLASSROOMS;
LECTURES AND INSET (FOR PGCE STUDENTS, SCHOOLS, TEACHERS AND SCHOOL LEADER NETWORKS) ON; WELLBEING AT THE HEART OF LEADERSHIP AND LEARNING, METACOGNITION AND CORE STRENGTH, POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR MANAGEMENT, CLOSING THE GAP, ANTI-BULLYING, MIDDLE LEADERSHIP TRAINING, EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY, BETTER AND FAIRER WAYS OF ACCREDITING ENGLISH AND MATHS
FORMAL EVALUATION AND QUALITY ASSURANCE YOUTH JUSTICE SEND QUALITY ASSURANCE; EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS SUCH AS EMOTION COACHING; EVALUATING IMPACT OF MIDBAC PROGRAMME, AND REVIEWING CURRENT AND PROPOSED BACCALAUREATE MODELS
WORKING FOR AND IN PARTNERSHIP WITH: ASSOCIATION OF YOUTH OFFENDING TEAM MANAGERS, ACHIEVEMENT FOR ALL 3AS, EMOTION COACHING UK; ANTI-BULLYING ALLIANCE, CONTACT-A-FAMILY, CO-OPERATIVE COLLEGE AND SOCIETY OF CO-OPERATIVE SCHOOLS, COUNCIL FOR DISABLED CHILDREN, MENCAP, NISAI GROUP, MODERN BACCALAUREATE FOUNDATION, LIGHT UP LEARNING, FIRST EDUCATION ALLIANCE, YOUTH EMPLOYMENT UK, NASEN