Dr Amelia Roberts
Chair
Amelia Roberts, who lives in Croydon, has been a BELS' Trustee since 2010 and was elected Chair of the Board of Trustees in November 2011. Amelia has a background in Psychology and Education and is committed to improving lifelong outcomes for vulnerable people. Her PhD focused on Thinking Skills and Assessment for Learning in schools. She worked with 24 teachers for two years on classroom strategies to promote inclusion and improve learning opportunities for vulnerable children.
She has lobbied for greater service provision for adults who have survived serious childhood trauma. She now works part-time with the Dyslexia-SpLD Trust as Project Researcher on the Professional Development Framework and with Dyslexia Action on the Master’s Level Teacher Certificate programme.
In association with Akamas Care & Education, which supports vulnerable children and young people, Amelia trains teachers and social care professionals, in partnership with Local Authorities including Lincolnshire, North Yorkshire, Birmingham, Manchester, West Midlands and Hackney. She was co-manager of the HKVC Charitable Trust for five years and Chairman and Executive Committee member of the Community Drug Advisory Council in Hong Kong for six years. She also lectured in ‘Psychology of Education’ at Hong Kong City University.
Amelia has fifteen years’ experience working with vulnerable children and adults. She has worked in primary and secondary schools with children with social, emotional, behavioural and learning difficulties. She facilitated the ‘Nurture Group’ programme, to help particularly vulnerable Year 7 pupils make a successful transition into a South London High School, where she also mentored pupils at risk of exclusion and/or persistent school refusal.
Co-presenter of a six-part radio series in Hong Kong, Amelia has also been interviewed twice by the BBC on educational issues. She recently spoke at the conference ‘Dyslexia Matters’ in London on teacher professional development.
Amelia joined BELS as a Trustee in 2010 and recently Chaired BELS’ Research Sub-Committee, which is currently contributing to BELS’ Strategic Review.
