I have worked with Tim on many occasions in the areas of organisational development through Appreciative Inquiry, and the training of coaching skills. I am consistently impressed with his knowledge of theory, his quick wit and his ability to engage with all kinds of groups.

Mr Saunders was one of the very few excellent teachers I have been taught by. Even thought It was over 25 years ago, such a positive experience stays with you forever. He was always able to think out of the box and deliver such interesting ways of teaching the simplest of things. Teaching a class to play chess, combining art into story writing and developing our “joined up writing” skills were all part of class 6 daily life, but having someone who instilled confidence and belief in each and everyone of us, no matter what our background or ability was a quality Tim brought to the classroom every day.

Tim is able to apply his wide range of skills to a wide variety of organisational development needs and professional fields beyond education. I have worked with him on many occasions and never fail to be impressed by his unique insights and creative approach. He is an accomplished events organiser and group facilitator encouraging user engagement in evaluating & improving services through appreciative inquiry. He speaks from the heart, is an idealist in the best possible sense with huge understanding and knowledge and would be an asset to any organisation concerned with people development.

Dr Tim has excellent temperament, is a brilliant creative thinker, a great team player, always willing to give others credit and motivate them. He has an “expert knowledge” leadership style. He can command respect because of his ability to effortlessly convey his expertise to those working with him. He is methodical and creative. This ensures that he continually inspires those around him to excel at their jobs. Dr Tim has excellent interpersonal skills. He was equally at ease conversing with pupils, staff, parents or governors. A good listener who would accommodate different styles for people to achieve a common goal. My fellow governors and I would employ him again, without reservation. He is well suited for any roles that involve development, expansion, or diversification at a senior strategic level.

Dr Saunders led on whole-school Teaching and Learning 3-16 with great skill and care, demonstrating excellent knowledge within a newly structured leadership team, and introducing a high impact Teaching and Learning strategy using split-screen teaching to improve learning dispositions and thinking skills across the age range. This project demonstrated his organizational skills and very good management of whole-school planning. I was impressed with the way a primary expert quickly gained the confidence of secondary teachers who enthusiastically put his recommendations into practice.

Dr Timothy Saunders successfully combines academic rigour with leadership skills in ways that are rare. He integrates effectively his very substantial and diverse experience of educational management with an exceptional capacity to draw upon and apply a wide range of thinking – across many different disciplines – in ways are that fresh, creative and fertile. He demonstrates flair, imagination and lateral thinking, or thinking ‘outside the box.’ Tim is well-equipped to make a very valuable contribution to teaching, consultancy and research work.