Here you will find information about our staff, their backgrounds and the main areas of work they are involved in, as well as our team structures and key responsibilities.
For further information, please contact the members of staff using the email addresses provided or if you have any general queries regarding the work of the Central South Consortium, please let us know on communications@csc.cymru.
Executive Leadership Team
Louise Blatchford - Director
Louise is Director of Professional Learning and Support at CSC. She provides strategic leadership and management of the regional professional learning and support service, commissioned by the five constituent LAs across CSC. She is responsible for the vision, values and priorities of the service and is accountable to the members of the regional management board.
Louise is responsible for all areas of financial management, legal compliance and governance.
Previously, she has undertaken a number of roles within the Consortium since its inception in September 2012, including Acting Managing Director, Business Manager, and other improvement roles. As an Associate Adviser for ICT and Business for over 5 years, she developed and facilitated a wide variety of professional development activities, sharing effective practice and supporting many schools within the region to achieve the ICT Mark.
Louise began her teaching career at Fitzalan High School in Cardiff, before moving to Aberdare Girls’ School in RCT as Head of Business Studies.
Natalie Gould - Assistant Director
Natalie leads the strategic planning and evaluation of professional learning (PL) and support at CSC. She oversees the statutory services that are delegated by the local authorities to the service, i.e. NQT induction, Outdoor Education and SACRE/SAC.
Natalie also leads the development and implementation of the regional self-improving system aligned to the local models of school improvement. Natalie is the CSC Designated Safeguarding Person.
Natalie was appointed as Assistant Director at CSC in January 2021 with responsibility for the PL and support opportunities for schools across the region. From 2019 she was seconded to the Consortium as Senior Lead for Curriculum Reform, leading the regional PL and support in the implementation of Curriculum for Wales and the wider education reforms.
Natalie is an experienced school leader. She was the Headteacher of two primary schools in Wales and the Executive Headteacher of a 3-19 school in the United Arab Emirates. She also acted as a Consultant Headteacher for two schools in Cardiff.
Natalie began her teaching career at St. Patrick’s Primary School, Newport, progressing to ALNCo, Deputy Headteacher and Acting Headteacher at the school before undertaking the roles of Deputy Headteacher and Headteacher at St. Mary’s, Newport.
Richard George - Lead Adviser – Curriculum, Teaching and Assessment
Richard leads the strategic oversight of curriculum, teaching and assessment at CSC. He also takes strategic oversight of professional learning and support for the statutory services that are delegated by local authorities to the service, i.e. NQT induction, Outdoor Education and SACRE/SAC. He works closely with local authorities, Welsh Government and other partners and takes responsibility to ensure associated grant conditions are met.
Richard has worked for CSC since September 2015 and was appointed as Head of Curriculum and Qualifications in April 2022, responsible for PL and support opportunities for schools across the region. Prior to that, he undertook a number of strategic leadership roles at CSC as Deputy Assistant Director; Senior Strategic Adviser for Curriculum; and Strategic Lead for Digital Learning.
Richard is an experienced school leader. He was Director of Learning at Brynteg School, Bridgend and Head of ICT and Business at Aberdare Girls School. He began his teaching career at Stanwell School in Penarth. Prior to teaching, Richard was UK Sales Manager at CompAir UK.
Cathryn Billington-Richards - Lead Adviser - Curriculum Skills
Cathryn is Lead Adviser for Curriculum Skills at Central South Consortium. She has responsibility for developing standards in these areas across the region. She has over 20 years teaching experience across the secondary and all-through phase in a range of school settings.
Prior to joining the Consortium in 2013, Cathryn held a number of leadership roles and was the LLC lead in a bilingual, all-through school whilst also undertaking support work for the local authority.
As a CSC adviser, Cathryn has developed and facilitated a wide variety of professional development activities to share effective practice and provide opportunities for networking, and supported many schools within the region. Additionally, as an Estyn inspector, Cathryn has also undertaken several inspections across Wales.
Page under construction. Details about all members of the CSC advisory team coming soon.