Anna Hassan

Dame Anna Patricia Lucy Hassan, DBE (née Fusco; born 1946, Northern Ireland) is a British educator. She is Consultant Head at Daubeney Primary School, and a former Executive Head of Millfields Community School (Hilsea Street, Hackney, London).

Teaching career
1963: Trains at Coloma College, West Wickham, Kent (a Catholic teacher training school)

1967: Starts teaching at St Joseph's Primary School in Southwark, London

1979: Works in schools throughout Hackney after taking a break to raise her son

1983: Appointed deputy head at Grasmere School, Hackney; later named headteacher

1993: Invited to take charge of Millfields

2009: Retires from Millfields and takes up consultancy

Millfields
Hassan was credited with turning the Millfields Community School, one of London's worst-performing schools, around academically, although it took a dozen years.

Biography
Anna Patricia Lucy Fusco was born and raised in Banbridge, County Down, Northern Ireland, by Italian parents, where she initially went into the family business managing a small chain of ice-cream parlours, then soon after took up her calling as a teacher. A Roman Catholic, she is married to Najad Hassan, a British Pakistani Muslim, and has been since 1971; they have one son, Zishan Najad (born 1972, London).

Honours
In 2005, Hassan received an honorary fellowship from the University of Gloucestershire. The following year, in 2006, for her service to education, Hassan was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.