‘The government trails us. It’s time they recognised schools’ forward-thinking work’

The inspiration for a career serving children in disadvantaged communities comes in many forms. For Hazel Pulley, it came during a detention when she was a pupil at a private school. Her offence? Creasing her school hat.

Not wanting to wear the hat – part of her school uniform – during her walk home from Bury Grammar School, she would fold it into quarters and shove it into her bag, resulting in a misshapen hat.

“I didn’t like that sort of segregation…I couldn’t be part of this elite establishment,” she says.