Dr Faye Acton

Faye is a research fellow in the Veterans and Families Institute for Military and Social Research with a background in primary school education and health improvement.

Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/faye-acton-791737306
ResearchGate: www.researchgate.net/profile/Faye-Acton

Background

Faye joined Anglia Ruskin University as a researcher following a professional practice-based career in health and education. Faye worked as a Health Improvement Practitioner in the NHS working with primary and secondary schools to develop, deliver and evaluate health and wellbeing interventions and programmes of support for children and young people. Faye subsequently trained as a primary school teacher, where she worked as a classroom teacher, PSHE lead and gained the national award for Special Education Needs Coordination to work as an Inclusion Manager.

Within the VFI Faye is the lead for military connected children and young people. As a qualitative researcher at ARU she has been involved in research projects spanning health, education and social care, with a focus on school aged children and professional practice in schools and her doctoral thesis was an exploration of the enactment of public health and multi-agency practice in primary school settings.

Research interests

• Military connected children and young people
• School nursing and public health
• Multiagency working

Qualifications

• PhD. Anglia Ruskin University. (2025)
• Post Graduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning with HEA fellowship (2021)
• National Award for Special Educational Needs Coordination and Postgraduate Certificate in Special Educational Needs Coordination, University of East London, (2016)
• Qualified Teacher Status, Southend Teacher Training Partnership. (2012)
• BA (Hons) Health Studies, DeMontfort University (2009)

Memberships, editorial boards

• Fellowship of Higher Education Academy
• Academic advisor and research committee member for the Schools and Public Health Nurses Association (SAPHNA)

Selected recent publications

• O'Brien, N, Acton, F, Hajisoteriou, C, Stefanek, E, Echsel, A, Hipp, K, Hahn-Laudenberg, K, Schulze, C, Spiel, G & Valimaki, M 2024, Student voices, migration, and bullying: A narrative review across six countries. in H Fandrem & J O’Higgins Norman (eds), International Perspectives on Migration, Bullying, and School: Implications for Schools, Refugees, and Migrants. 1st ed. edn, Taylor and Francis (Routledge), pp. 15-35. Available at: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003439202-2
• Dadswell, A., Bungay, H., Acton, F. and Walshe, N. 2024. ‘Branching out: mobilizing community assets to support the mental health and wellbeing of children in primary schools’, Frontiers in Public Health, 12, pp. 1386181-. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1386181.
• Välimäki, M., Hipp, K., Acton, F., Echsel, A., Grădinaru, I.-A., Hahn-Laudenberg, K., Schulze, C., Stefanek, E., Spiel, G. and O’Brien, N. 2024. ‘Engaging with immigrant students’ voices in the school environment: an analysis of policy documents through school websites’, BMC Public Health, 24(1), pp. 1083–1083. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-18427-8.
• Spencer, G., Dankyi, E., Thompson, J., Acton, F. and Kwankye, S.O., 2022. ‘The Health Experiences of Young Internal Migrants in Ghana-Identifying Priorities for Sustainable Health Promotion’, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(22), p. 15229. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192215229
• Walker, S., Piercy, H., Shearn, K., Acton, F., 2019 What consultation resources are available to support delivery of integrated sexual and reproductive health services? A scoping review BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health Published Online First: 02 November 2019. Available at: https://doi.orh/10.1136/bmjsrh-2019-200414

Recent presentations and conferences

Acton, F., 2024. Discussing the use of a theoretical lens and conceptual framework to explore the enactment of public health in primary schools. Eighteenth Annual Postgraduate Researcher Conference. Anglia Ruskin University (UK) July 2024

Acton, F., 2023. Between policy and practice: A qualitative case study exploring the enactment of healthy public policy in primary school settings. 9th Annual Faculty Research Conference. Anglia Ruskin University (UK) May 2023.

Acton, F., 2018. Leading public health for school aged children: The experiences of school nurses. Oral presentation at A Child’s World Conference, Wales, UK. July 2018

Acton, F., Taylor, R., Page, P., Turnbull, P., Weeley, F., Gillin, N., 2018. An evaluation of coaching practices in Nurse Education in the East of England. Oral presentation at the Sigma Theta Tau International 4th Biennial European Conference. Leading Nursing in Times of Change: Education, Research and Practice. Chelmsford, UK. June 2018.