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Ralph Edwin Tabberer CB (born 5 August 1954 in
Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...
) was the Director General of Schools in the UK government department, the
Department for Children, Schools and Families Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) was a department of the UK government, between 2007 and 2010, responsible for issues affecting people in England up to the age of 19, including child protection and education. DCSF was repl ...
. He held the position from March 2006 until March 2009.


Early life

He attended Plymouth College and then
Gonville and Caius College Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges an ...
, Cambridge University, gaining a MA in Economics, Social and Political Science in 1976. He gained a PGCE from
Brunel University Brunel University of London (BUL) is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution. It became a university ...
in 1977.


Career

Tabberer worked as a teacher in
Hillingdon Hillingdon is an area of Uxbridge within the London Borough of Hillingdon, centred 14.2 miles (22.8 km) west of Charing Cross. It was an ancient parish in Middlesex that included the market town of Uxbridge. During the 1920s the civil pari ...
LEA, then in research and in government IT programmes, including MEP and MESU, before moving into education administration in 1989. He worked for almost 10 years at the
National Foundation for Educational Research The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) is an educational research charity which creates a range of insights on educational policy and practice that aim to strengthen practice in the classroom and inform and influence policymake ...
. He first joined the Department for Education and Skills (DfES, later renamed the DCSF) in 1997 where he worked with Professor Sir Michael Barber in the School Effectiveness Unit. He was Head of the
National Grid for Learning The National Grid for Learning (NGfL) was a United Kingdom, UK government-funded gateway to educational resources on the Internet. It provided a curated collection of links to resources and materials of high quality. The NGfL was established to su ...
from 1999 to 2000. From February 2000 – March 2006, he was Chief Executive of the TTA (Teacher Training Agency), which became the TDA (Training and Development Agency for Schools) in March 2005. His leadership coincided with a very successful period in teacher recruitment and teacher training, as the government turned round historically low performance. Tabberer left his position as Director General of Schools at the DCSF some months after the death of his wife, Helen. To nurse her, he had partly left in May 2008, being replaced by Jon Coles. He became Chief Schools Officer and Chief Operating Officer at
GEMS Education GEMS Education, founded as Global Education Management Systems (GEMS), is an international education company. It is one of the world's largest private school operators, and as of late 2022 it operates more than 60 schools across the Middle East ...
, the worldwide education conglomerate headquartered in
Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
, in March 2009. In January 2012, he left to set up his own series of businesses, under the collective name of BBD Education. He sold BBD Education in 2022, but has retained his UK businesses and continues in a full-time role in International Education.


Recognition

In the 2009 New Years Honours, he was honoured by The Queen with the award of a Companion of the Most Honourable
Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...
(CB). He was awarded an Honorary Degree from the
University of East London University of East London (UEL) is a public university located in the London Borough of Newham, London, England, based at three campuses in Stratford, London, Stratford and London Docklands, Docklands, following the opening of University Squar ...
in 2000, and he is a visiting professor at both the University of London Institute of Education and the University of Warwick.


Personal life

He has a daughter, named Holly, and a son, Joseph. He has three stepsons and two stepdaughters by his previous marriage. When in England, he has lived in
Farnham Farnham is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a tributary of the ...
, Southwell and now in
Royal Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply LeamingtonEven more colloquially, also referred to as Lem or Leam (). (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Pri ...
.


References


External links


Announcement in December 1999 of becoming Head of the TTA

Teacher training at the BBC in February 2001

Improving Teacher Training Provision in England
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tabberer, Ralph 1954 births Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Alumni of Brunel University London British educational theorists Civil servants in the Department for Children, Schools and Families Schoolteachers from London People from Romford Living people People educated at Plymouth College GEMS schools