Helen Williams (British civil servant)

{{about||the British novelist|Helen Maria Williams|the retired Australian public servant|Helen Williams (Australian public servant)}}

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Helen Mary Williams CB (born 30 June 1950) is a British civil servant and Director of School Curriculum and Pupil Well-being at the Department for Children, Schools and Families.{{cite web|url=http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/aboutus/whoswho/schools.shtml |title=Department for Children, Schools and Families : About Us : Who's Who |publisher=Department for Children, Schools and Families |accessdate=2009-02-17 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204111644/http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/aboutus/whoswho/schools.shtml |archivedate=2009-02-04 }}

Born to Graham Myatt and Mary Harrison she was educated at Allerton High School in Leeds before matriculating to St Hilda's College, Oxford, where she gained an honours degree in Modern History.{{cite web|url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U39985/WILLIAMS_Helen_Mary_Mrs_D._M._Forrester?index=2&results=QuicksearchResults&query=0|title=WILLIAMS, Helen Mary, (Mrs D. M. Forrester) : Who's Who (subscription needed)|year=2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press|accessdate=2009-02-17}} She began work for the Department for Education and Skills in 1972, and between 1984 and 1993 worked as an Assistant Secretary in the Department for Education dealing with Research Council funding.{{cite web|url=http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/ws/s366.pdf |title=The BSE Enquiry / Statement No 366 |accessdate=2009-02-17 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040523221037/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/ws/s366.pdf |archivedate=2004-05-23 }} From 1993 to 1998 she was on loan from the Department for Education working for the Office of Science and Technology, reporting to first William Stewart and then to Sir John Cadogan. In 1999 she returned to the Department for Education, now the Department for Education and Employment, and became Director of School Organisation and Funding. In 2002 she became Director of Primary Education and e-learning, and in 2004 she was made Co-Director of School Standards before being promoted to Director of School Curriculum and Pupil Well-being in 2006. She was made a Companion of the Bath in the 2006 New Year Honours.{{cite web|url=http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/honours/newyear2006.shtml |title=Department for Children, Schools and Families : Honours System |publisher=Department for Children, Schools and Families |accessdate=2009-02-17 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314161507/http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/honours/newyear2006.shtml |archivedate=2012-03-14 }}