Marius Frank
Member of the GEC Circle of Influence
Bio:
Marius Frank is Head of Education at Microlink PC UK Ltd, a company committed to opening up pathways of opportunity from the classroom to the boardroom for any child or young person with any disability, protected characteristics or collisions of need.
Prior to that, Marius was strategic lead for national school improvement programmes and E-learning development at Achievement for All. Achievement for All was a leading 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. Achievement for All worked with over five thousand education settings in England during his tenure.
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 March 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 fact, Bedminster Down was the only Bristol Secondary School in challenging circumstances not to be academised or closed, some kind of accolade and a reflection of the times!
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 curriculum innovation NGO (winning Human Resource Magazine’s Most Person-Centred CEO of the Year award in 2011), before eventually joining Achievement for All in 2013.
Marius has been involved in the strategic leadership and delivery of a number of high-profile government-funded projects: the first aimed 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 (conducted in partnership with ABA) was given an internal DfE (Department for Education) grade 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. The Youth Justice SEND Quality Mark/Quality Lead moniker has now been earned by nearly 70 Teams in England, playing a significant role in securing 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, and advises DfE, MoJ and HMPI.
Over the last two years, as Head of Education at Microlink, Marius worked with the DfE and nasen (the Special Education Needs charity) to lead in the creation and delivery of an Assistive Technologies Pilot programme, aimed at transforming mainstream use of technologies to dismantle barriers to progress and achievement.
Microlink have gone on to develop the programme still further. With the generous sponsorship of HSBC Bank, another 300+ schools are being given free access to the comprehensive coaching and professional development programme and associated materials and resources. We call the programme Be ThAT Teacher.
Marius was a guest speaker at ATIA 2023 in Florida last year (one of the largest international Assistive Technologies conferences), where he presented a unifying framework that used the social model of disability to include children disabled by circumstance. Marius has gone on to develop thinking further, challenging the use of the word “inclusion” and developing the concept of “making learning accessible”.
Marius is a specialist in emotion wellbeing and mental health (his first degree was in Brain Sciences), supporting schools, PRUs and Youth Offending Teams move from trauma-aware to trauma-informed to trauma-transformed practice. This portfolio of opportunity has grown rapidly, and in partnership with Teaching Times, Microlink launched Raising Attainment with Wellbeing in September 2022, a truly transformational programme that helps school communities to place wellbeing at the heart of learning teaching and leadership. Over 400 schools have embarked on the journey, with some incredible evidence-based results.
He has also worked 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 (CAM), which includes refugees and unaccompanied asylum seekers. The current Ukraine crisis has given this work immediate importance.
Areas of specialism:
Speaker, emotion wellbeing and mental health specialist, supporting schools, mentor, Educational Leader
Social channels:
Useful links:
[1] https://www.microlinkpc.com/education/youth-justice-services/
[2] https://www.microlinkpc.com/education/assistive-technologies-in-schools/
[3] https://www.microlinkpc.com/blog/thought-leadership-marius-frank/
[4] https://www.microlinkpc.com/blog/thought-leadership-marius-frank-2/
[5] https://www.microlinkpc.com/education/wellbeing/
[6]https://www.icamproject.eu/
GEC Circle Contributions: Strengthening the GEC Framework:
Marius has collaborated with the GEC in many impactful ways! Microlink is the first reseller of the GEC Platform, so be sure to check out the Microlink Shop for our Platform and other incredible solutions, including assistive technologies and exclusive discounts. Marius also joined us as a Circle expert at the Festival of Education at Wellington College in the summer of 2024, sharing his expertise and insights with the education community.
