Sally Rowe was appointed Executive Director of Children's Services in November 2017.

Sally began her career as a social worker in Walsall in 1989 becoming a Team Manager in 1993 and then Area Manager for the Darlaston, Bentley and Willenhall area. She left in 2002 joining Sandwell as a Children’s Divisional Manager and then moved to Staffordshire in 2004 where she was initially Assistant Director for Childrens Services and then Director of Families First. In 2012 Sally joined Ofsted as Deputy Director of Social Care Inspection and spent the next 2 years as part of the Ofsted senior team. Since 2014  Sally has been Director of People ( Adults and Childrens) at Luton Council.  

Sally said: “I am really pleased to return to Walsall and look forward to working with councillors, colleagues and partners to continue Walsall’s journey of improvement. Walsall’s  children deserve the best possible start in life, and the council sees delivering this as a  key priority. There is a strong commitment and a lot of good work going on to improve the outcomes and life chances of children and young people in the borough. I’m looking forward to making a significant contribution to the continued development of this work and am committed to strong collaboration with all partners that have a critical role to play in making things better for children.

Lynda Poole is the Assistant Director for Access and Achievement in Children’s Services.

Her responsibilities cover schools, school improvement and youth services. Although Lynda has had a range of roles in schools and local authorities throughout the country, she still describes herself as a teacher at heart and she’s up for the challenge to build on the range of improvements Walsall Children’s Services have already made. Lynda has always been one to seek out new challenges with every role she takes on and this is why she was attracted to Walsall. “Walsall is moving forward quickly, they are truly on the crest of a wave. The improvements that have been made already are phenomenal and I want to play a part in that and in taking Walsall even further on their improvement journey.

Information is available from Walsall Link and DCS briefings for 2014/5 and also for 2015/6.