Nasen’s CEO, Lorraine Petersen, joins TreeHouse as Trustee and Vice Chair of School Governing Body

Published by Nia for Tree House in Education and also in Communities, Health

TreeHouse, the national charity for autism education, announces the appointment of Lorraine Petersen, CEO of nasen, as a Trustee and Vice Chair of the School Governing Body.

Lorraine was selected by TreeHouse due to her extensive experience in, and understanding of, autism. Prior to Lorraine’s role at nasen, the leading organisation in the UK for special needs information, she held a number of senior teaching posts within mainstream schools including headteacher of two very diverse primary schools. Lorraine also has hands-on experience of the issues relating to educating children with special and additional educational needs. In June 2009, Lorraine was awarded an OBE for her services to education.

“Having worked with TreeHouse on various occasions over the years, it is very fitting to officially be part of the team which works so hard to support autism education,” explains Petersen. She continues; “Over the course of my career, I have worked with many families affected by autism and I look forward to using this experience to support the work taking place at TreeHouse School as well as the organisation’s national work.”

Nick Baldwin, chair of Trustees at TreeHouse, said:

“We are thrilled that Lorraine is joining us as she brings with her a wealth of experience and expertise which will be such an asset to TreeHouse. We look forward to working with her over the years to come to realise our vision – and that’s to enable all children and young people with autism to achieve their potential and live the life they choose.”

Rowie Shaw, Chair of TreeHouse School Governors, said:

"We are very pleased indeed that Lorraine will be joining our team of School Governors, which Ofsted found to be outstanding, and we are sure that her expertise will be a great support to the school and will help us maintain and further develop our governance processes."