Meet the Teaching Agency in Halifax

Jason Howard Regional Manager – Yorkshire

Jason has been recruiting teachers and support staff for the business since February 2008, and is one of the longest serving members of the Academics family! Prior to working in recruitment, after graduating in Music, Jason worked in publishing sales and retail, before taking a chance on a resourcing opportunity for the company in 2008, and he has been here ever since. From 2011, Jason has successfully grown the Academics brand within the Calderdale, Kirklees and Bradford Local Authorities. Jason manages the Halifax branch and still directly supports recruitment process in Calderdale primary schools. Because of the trust Jason has built with his client schools, he is also heavily involved with a large amount of permanent vacancy management, from TA’s to SLT. Jason holds Cert RP status with the REC.

Life outside of work for Jason is committed to his two young boys, drum kit, extensive vinyl collection and his long suffering wife!

Matthew Barrett Principal Consultant – Kirklees

Matt joined Academics in February 2019 after 8 years as an Estate Agent (don’t judge him!) in Halifax and Huddersfield where he gained skills in negotiations and communication with the last 3 years spent in managerial positions within West Yorkshire. Matt is a Principal Consultant as well as supplying Primary schools in Kirklees with daily supply, long term and permanent primary teachers & schools support staff.

In his spare time Matt enjoys playing snooker and cricket, is a keen follower of Huddersfield Town FC and enjoys spending time with his wife, travelling and relaxing away from work.

Jasmin Rhodes Recruitment Consultant, North Kirklees Primary

Jas has worked for Academics since March 2022, covering the Batley, Dewsbury, Spen Valley and Mirfield areas, and recently branching out into the Oldham/Ashton area. Previously Jas worked for three Years for an insurance company as a Broker Consultant, after spending time as an Au Pair in Australia and gaining experience within education settings. In her spare time, Jas loves spending time with her two cats, travelling, paddleboarding, camping and going out for food.

Louise Goodchild Business Support Specialist

Louise joined the company in 2005 as an administrator after working as a supervisor in an opticians but over the years her role has progressed and evolved. She quickly got to grips with the Education sector and took on more of a compliance role which she carried out for many years. After a short maternity break to have her son she returned to the company at the beginning of 2017 and began a brand new role supporting the Managing Director and Regional Manager with a number of tasks including looking after reporting, statistics and figures, the referral scheme and much more. Shortly after taking on the job of helping to build, create and run our most recent company intranet in 2022, Louise is now Business Support Specialist for the company assisting everyone in Academics with numerous tasks on a daily basis. She is also the second longest serving employee across the entire company.

Away from work Louise enjoys spending time with her family and friends, plays Goal Shooter for her netball team and loves being on stage in her local Amateur Dramatics group. She’s even been known to choreograph a show or two.

Emily Lonsdale Bradford Team Leader

Emily joined Team Academics in 2021 to further develop the brand in Bradford Primary Schools. In a former life, Emily was a KS1 teacher! Although Emily thoroughly loved being in the classroom teaching, her true passion lies in recruitment with 9 years credible experience in the industry. Being a former teacher, she fully understands the true meaning of candidate quality, setting the bar high with the calibre of staff and schools that she works with and is often seen supporting her own staff with their CPD needs including; school observations and personal statements.

Emily is now the Bradford Team Leader as well as supplying Primary Schools across Bradford with daily, long term and permanent supply cover. She is also responsible for the management of Alice Mordue and Scott Eastwood.

Alice is in charge of secondary schools across Bradford and Halifax, whilst Scott is also in charge of primary schools in Bradford alongside Emily.

Outside of work Emily can be seen exploring the Yorkshire Dales with her partner and dog Willow and can be found walking here there and everywhere! She enjoys yoga and swimming to relax.

Alice Mordue Secondary Consultant

Alice started with the Academics Halifax team in October 2022. Prior to joining Academics, Alice was a Primary teacher, with experience of supply teaching! Despite having a love for teaching and travelling to work in a varied number of amazing schools around Bradford, Kirklees and Calderdale, her true vocation is to use her experience in learning, teaching and assessment to find high-quality, committed, Secondary and SEND Staff to join her team; all wanting to make a difference within Education. Alice’s role is to put 110% into finding the best candidates, supporting them to find their dream school job within our fantastic schools. So far so good!

In her spare time, Alice loves to step back onto the ice as she is a former figure skater. Loves spending time with family, friends and her 3 doggies, as well as travelling to places hot when she gets the chance to escape from reality.

Tilly Taylor Recruitment Consultant

Tilly joined the team in April 2023 and has progressed onto our Calder Valley and Littleborough consultant. Having lived in Hebden Bridge her whole life, supporting her schools in the Calder valley feels natural to her. Prior to Academics, Tilly spent over three years in a high level, fast paced customer service role, which lends itself to the working styles of an established education recruitment business like ours. Additionally, Tilly has worked supporting young adults with additional needs, as a personal assistant. From both positions she has gained skills in communication, organisation and increasing levels of emotional intelligence. These skills are paramount in our business and Tilly will enabling the further growth of the Halifax Branch.

In her free time Tilly loves spending time with her family and friends, she loves to cook and is a keen bookworm. As well as this she has a love for travelling and seeing the world and a passionate gym goer.

Tilly brings organisation, positivity and a motivation to the Halifax office.

Jenny Simms Resourcer

Jenny joined Academics in July 2023, previously a teacher of 18 years and now the Resourcer at Academics! A Primary teacher in both Bradford and Calderdale; her career started with supply teaching which then led to a 12-year role in the same school!

She finds a variety of strong candidates to support, advise and guide to their perfect role. She brings with her the knowledge and experience of many schools, great communication skills as well as enthusiasm. She now uses her skills to support teachers and teaching assistants, and has made strong links with the local universities, colleges and training providers where she visits classes throughout the year to speak to potential students about the work we do at Academics. She also offers her expertise for workshops to the students such as CV writing and lesson observation preparation.

In her spare time Jenny enjoys spending quality time with her son and partner, doing yoga and swimming to keep fit and relaxed, treating herself to spa days, and going on city breaks.

Craig Fee Secondary Consultant

Craig joined Academics in February 2025 after working the majority of his career in secondary schools, in Halifax and the surrounding areas. Craig graduated from Huddersfield in 2008 with a degree in Music Production and moved straight into working in a school. In 2019 he moved to China where he taught English for two years, he then travelled South America before coming back to work for Academics as a supply teacher. After two years cover teaching, he has now made his way into recruitment. His extensive education experience means that he has a very good knowledge of the workings of the secondary school sector and an understanding of this business from the side of the candidate.

Outside of work Craig is a keen climber and gym goer. He also likes to play snooker. Craig became a father just a month before joining Academics, and is now the very proud father of a little boy. They say life begins at 40, and with a brand new career and his first child, it definitely has for him.

Scott Eastwood Primary Consultant - Bradford

Scott is a primary consultant, having joined the team in July 2025. He works on the Bradford team and services primary clients across the local authority, along Emily Lonsdale.

Before joining Academics, Scott worked at Lloyds Banking Group for 13 years and was responsible for delivering multiple digital initiatives within the Home Insurance industry. Alongside this, Scott led a team of colleagues to deliver an excellent, efficient customer service. Scott will be looking to bring his experience of stakeholder management and Continuous Improvement mindset to Academics to best serve the needs of our clients and candidates.

Outside of work, Scott previously played football for Leeds Utd & Halifax Town and still continues to play (albeit now at a local level!). Scott loves spending time with his daughter Elle (who was born in June this year), girlfriend Ashleigh and Chocolate Labrador Teddy. Hobbies include going to the gym, watching most sports there is but mainly Football, Rugby League and Cricket alongside a good Netflix/Amazon series!

Grace Connor SEN Consultant

Grace joined us at Academics in October 2025, bringing with her a wealth of experience from both business management and youth support work. She previously managed a team of five in her family-run business, where she built strong relationships with other companies and negotiated contracts to support growth and success.

Before that, Grace worked with children and young people who were victims of crime. Supporting them in and out of schools to ensure they received the care and guidance they needed. These experiences have given her exceptional people skills, empathy, and a real passion for helping others as well as building relationships with schools across Lancashire making sure the schools had everything they needed to support the child/young person once Grace’s support had ended. All of this experience Grace brings to her role as an SEN Recruitment Consultant.

Outside of work, Grace loves trying new foods and restaurants, walking her foxhound Ozzy, exploring new cities with her partner Tom, and spending time with family and friends.