THE AGENDA
Day 1November 17, 2021
9:40 am - 9:50 am
Chair’s Address
9:50 am - 10:20 am
Knuckling Down to Level Up: How Moving Beyond Recovery is a Whole System Effort
- How trusts with a proven track record for school improvement are being supported to recover lost learning and recoup from the disruption of the pandemic.
- Targeted funding from the catch-up premium to opportunity area investment to ensure that money goes to the students and areas that need it most
Speakers
Rt Hon Gavin Williamson MP
Secretary of State for Education
Department for Education
Invited
10:20 am - 10:50 am
School Improvement: Evidenced-Based Best Practice for Planning from the EEF
- Promoting a three-pronged approach to re-igniting your school improvement planning including:
- High Quality teaching as the foundational element of any improvement plan
- Targeted Academic Support and making the most of a richer tuition market
- Wider strategies including a focus on supporting student transition
- Putting improvement techniques in the context of real school experiences with examples from across the UK
Speakers
Alex Quigley
National Content Manager
Education Endowment Foundation
Confirmed
10:30 am - 11:15 am
Securing the Surge of Post-Pandemic Teacher Supply
- Was too much emphasis placed on recruitment, when improving retention levels to that of a decade ago would stem the fall in teacher’s numbers?
- What role does pay really play in retainment and encouraging regional movement of staff?
- How effective can the Early Career Framework be as a support package if there isn’t the mentoring capacity available to support early career teachers?
- Is there a silver bullet to retention: wellbeing vs. progression vs. benefits?
Speakers
Darren Northcott
National Official for Education
NASUWT
Confirmed
Mark Gregory
Regional Director for Secondary
Ark
Confirmed
Paul Whiteman
General Secretary
NAHT
Confirmed
10:50 am - 11:35 am
Rediscovering the Purpose of Education
- Understanding the historical context of our education system and exploring what it takes to break free from political and institutional thinking.
- Why any future vision of education needs to be both conscious of generational and global challenges and designed to meet them.
- How are we uniting emerging learning from pedagogy and psychology and to estates, EdTech and employability?
Speakers
Sir Anthony Seldon
Former Vice Chancellor
University of Buckingham
Invited
Lucy Heller
Chief Executive Officer
Ark
Invited
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience
Cambridge University
Invited
Kiran Gill
Founder
The Difference
Invited
11:05 am - 11:35 am
Benchmarking and Budgeting Advice for Academies and MATs
- Analysing the growth of Academies and MATs during the pandemic
- How to manage your MATs budget post-pandemic and balancing savings with increased outgoings
- Have school closures masked the budgetary pressures of increased deep cleaning and edtech investment requirements?
- Benchmarking your organisation in the sector in relation to the Kreston Academies Benchmark Report
Speakers
Pam Tuckett
Chair
Kreston International Academies Group
Invited
11:05 am - 11:35 am
MAT Leadership: Cultivating Root and Branch Relationships
- What does the emerging importance of Civil leadership mean for Trust leaders and what does good look like in this context?
- Sustaining the pandemic-borne strengthening of relationships with parents and the place of schools in the local community
- How can trust leaders encourage and nurture network building across schools within a trust and what best practice is emerging?
Speakers
Steve Rollett
Deputy Chief Executive
Confederation of School Trusts
Confirmed
11:05 am - 11:35 am
SEND In Mainstream Schools: 5 Pillars for Improvement
- Expanding our understand of inclusion to recognise the hidden structural barriers in and out of the classroom
- Using incremental and iterative processes to build an ongoing understanding of pupil needs and empowering teachers to act on findings.
- Making sure teachers are equipped with a full arsenal of strategies to ensure high quality teaching for all.
- Being smart with targeted interventions to maximise impact and minimise exclusion through absence of SEND students
- Unlocking the power of teaching assistants by having a clear understanding of roles and evidence-based best practice
Speakers
Kath Davies
Programme Manager
EEF
Invited
11:05 am - 11:35 am
Supporting DSLs: Status, Training, Time and Tools
- Moving the Status of DSLs to that of the SENCO Model: What does this mean for DSLs and Leaders alike?
- Beyond Training for Governors, Staff and what specific national DSL training resources are available?
- Recognising the strain that essential responsibilities such as engagement with local safeguarding partners and the delivery of training has on DSLs timetable
- Creating a shared best practice for safeguarding tech and tools so that burdens are not made heavier through clunky processes and paper trails
Speakers
Jon Needham
National Safeguarding Lead
Oasis Community Learning
Confirmed
11:30 am - 12:15 pm
Watch Out Watchdog: Is Ofsted in Need of an Update?
- Are accountability systems necessary or do they perpetuate the education “market”?
- Schools haven’t had a chance to recover- are Ofsted inspections returning prematurely?
- Who does Ofsted serve and what impact has the pandemic had on its approach to inspections?
- Is removing the high stakes accountability of inspections the key to repairing Ofsted’s reputation with teachers on the ground?
Speakers
Daisy Cooper MP
Spokesperson for Education
Liberal Democrat Party
Confirmed
James Pope
Co-Executive Director
Whole Education
Confirmed
Sir Michael Wilshaw
Former Chief Inspector
Ofsted
Confirmed
Jules White
Headteacher
Tanbridge House School
Confirmed
11:45 am - 12:05 pm
Forget ‘Catch-up’. Now is the Time to Leapfrog
- Imagining a different vision of education delivery from an integrated curriculum to rethinking assessments
- Putting trust in leaders and removing constraints and cultures which prevent and discourage innovative thinkers from being bold
- Breaking away from organisational silos and structures to both create a more resilient sector as well as a more creative and adaptable staff and students
Speakers
Liz-Robinson
Co-Director
Big Education
Confirmed
11:50 am - 12:35 pm
Covid Keepers: Capitalising on Innovations from the Pandemic
- Have we taken stock of the new technological armoury and what efficiencies are schools seeing by adapting these technological practices to a post-lockdown environment?
- How have we seen an increase in school-to-school support and what does the proliferation of informal networks straddling schools, geographies and roles mean for further collaboration?
- How can we maintain the central role of the SBL in decision making processes an further embed the SBL perspective across?
Speakers
Ailsa Hoyland
Chief Financial Officer
Nurture Academies Trust,
Invited
Cheryl Campbell
School Business, Finance and Operations Director
Tomas Tallis School
Invited
Lesley Burton
School Business Manager
St John’s CE Primary School
Invited
11:50 am - 12:35 pm
SEND Review: What its Delay and Release Means for Schools and Students
- How does the review recommend changes to embed SEND considerations and needs into Covid Recovery support
- Does the review recognise the massive impact that the delay and lack of clarity surrounding SEND reform has had on children and families?
- What changes to incentives and accountability measures does the review reflect for schools and how does this align with that of colleges and local authorities?
Speakers
Maureen Brettell
Headteacher
Woolston Brook
Invited
Philippa Stobbs
Assistant Director: Education
Council for Disabled Children
Invited
Simon Knight
Headteacher & National SEND Leader
Frank Wise School & Whole School SEND
Invited
11:50 am - 12:20 pm
The Wellbeing Charter: Elevating the Status of Teacher Mental Health
- Highlighting school reception to the cross-sector charter and understanding how success will be measured
- Outlining the DfE’s commitments to baking wellbeing into policy and training, reducing workload, stigma and barriers to resources
- Exploring the way’s in which the charter is enabling schools to create and update their own bespoke wellbeing strategies
11:50 am - 12:35 pm
Extended Schools: From Nice-to-Have to Necessary
- Examining the evidence from historic and recent extended school pilots and the coronavirus summer school programme.
- Is there common ground on timetabling or have schools and students profited from bespoke arrangements?
- What inter-school and broader interorganisational partnerships have been successful and how might we continue partnerships into the future?
- Creative solutions to funding extensions and support services from parent contributions, sponsorship and smart income generation activities
Speakers
Sir Andrew Carter
Chief Executive Officer
South Farnham Educational Trust
Invited
Katrina Gardiner
Programme Manager
Ipswich Opportunity Area, University of Suffolk
Confirmed
Neil Wilkinson
Executive Headteacher
The Bemrose School
Confirmed
11:50 am - 12:35 pm
The Maturation of MAT Growth
- Mapping the successes of historic MAT growth from local and regional based strategies to mission or specialist approaches
- Settling the question of “critical mass theory” in MAT sizes and discussing the risks of over extension and too rapid growth
- Ensuring that available funding works for your growth plan and looking into emerging best practice for the use of the £24M Trust Capacity Fund
- Examining the rise of formal and Informal trust networks as a key to growth and critically assessing where inter-trust collaboration is falling short
Speakers
Rowena Hackwood
CEO
Astrea Academy Trust
Invited
Chris Hampshire
Chair and Trustee
Frank Field Education Trust
Confirmed
12:05 pm - 12:50 pm
Building Back Together through Inter-School Collaboration
- Celebrating collective, leader-led and evidence-based education policy and creating forums for leaders to speak truth to power
- How can we avoid the creation of MAT super-leagues and promote the voice of smaller trusts in the nation’s dialogue on education?
- What does good inter-school collaboration look like and on what formal and informal structures can we draw for inspiration?
- With technological hurdles cleared national groups can collaborate more effectively but what does this mean for the role of locality and regionality?
Speakers
Sir Andrew Carter
Chief Executive Officer
South Farnham Educational Trust
Invited
Liz-Robinson
Co-Director
Big Education
Confirmed
Tim Boyes
CEO and Headteacher
The Birmingham Education Partnership and Queensbridge Schools
Invited
12:30 pm - 1:15 pm
All Hands on Deck: The Future of Parental Participation in Education
- Will WFH and flexible working patterns lead to greater parental engagement in education?
- What will an achievable parental participation framework look like?
- Are schools doing enough to encourage parents to get involved in governance?
- Does greater parental involvement have the potential to hinder school wide progress in lieu of individual children’s progress?
Speakers
Mrunal Sisodia OBE
Co-Chair
National Network of Parent Carer Forums
Confirmed
Kerry-Jane Packman
Executive Director of Programmes, Membership and Charitable Services
Parentkind
Confirmed
Michael Power
Lead Teacher
Educational Diversity
Confirmed
Herminder Channa OBE
Executive Principal
Ark Boulton Academy
Invited
12:35 pm - 1:05 pm
A Whole Sector Approach to Whole-School Wellbeing
- What is the global research telling us about both the practicalities and impact of building positive psychology, physicality and relationships?
- Mapping the emerging national wellbeing partnerships, programmes resources to increase staff and student wellbeing
- Putting policy into practice and vice-versa: Are policy makers recognising wellbeing as a statutory and funding priority and what support can schools expect?
Speakers
Andy Mellor
National Director of Wellbeing
Schools Advisory Service
Invited
Jaime Smith
Director for the Mental Health and Wellbeing in Schools Programme
Anna Freud Centre
Invited
12:50 pm - 1:20 pm
Identifying, Reporting & Tackling Fraud in your School
- Cases of fraud within schools have increased annually – looking at the reasons why?
- Reviewing the key types of fraud occurring throughout the sector
- Ensuring your school has a process for reporting in place and escalating to ESFA where necessary?
- Who is responsible for fraud prevention in your school and a checklist for those responsible
Speakers
Senior Representative ESFA
ESFA
Invited
12:50 pm - 1:20 pm
An Unshakable Foundation: How SEND practice in Early Years affects Adult Development
- What is the lasting impact of childhood identified disability and what impact is this having on later development of students?
- Has the increased isolation and social disruption caused by the pandemic further set back development?
- How can we support Children with SEND apply and generalise their learning to help them achieve independence and confidence in adulthood?
- Looking beyond the baseline of communication and language development to the importance of feeling part of the school and local community
Speakers
Philippa Stobbs
Assistant Director: Education
Council for Disabled Children
Invited
12:50 pm - 1:20 pm
From Recovery to School Improvement: Teachers as the Key Ingredient
- Calling on Government get creative with pay such as phased retention bursaries to encourage teachers to challenging and deprived schools
- How can we ensure that initiatives from the Early Career Framework and National Professional Qualifications to the new Institute of Teaching designed to incentivise teachers to work at challenging schools
- What are schools doing to promote career progression and should the transition to senior leadership require time spent in disadvantaged schools and communities?
Speakers
Cat Scutt
Director of Education & Research
Chartered College of Teaching
Invited
Jon Hutchinson
Assistant Headteacher
Reach Academy Feltham
Invited
12:50 pm - 1:20 pm
Professionalising Academy Estates through the Trust Network
- Co-creating and disseminating tips and on-the-ground case studies to help schools quickly onboard the fundamentals of good estate management and investment
- Working with the Department for Education to help schools effectively manage their energy and water usage to reduce waste, consumption, and importantly cost
- Providing a network of support for projects from large scale builds to refurbishments, surveys and maintenance strategies
Speakers
Bryony Green
Director of Corporate Services
Cabot Learning Federation
Invited
1:20 pm - 2:05 pm
Eradicating Rape Cultures as a Generational Opportunity
- Why schools being accused of “consistently underestimating” the scale of the issue and how leaders and DSL’s can actively turn these accusations around.
- How can schools recruit and help parents to tackle underlying issues and take responsibility for unacceptable student behaviour?
- Are schools unlocking statutory RSHE and what best practice is emerging around embedding this as a whole-school practice?
- To what extend are phones in schools more of a danger and nuisance than a useful computer and is simply taking the tech away enough?
Speakers
Dr Carlene Firmin MBE
Principal Research Fellow Safer Young Lives Research Centre (SYLRC)
The University of Bedfordshire
Invited
Louis Donald
Director of Safeguarding
Stowe Valley Multi Academy Trust
Confirmed
Sarah Bloomer
Director of Safeguarding
Academy Transformation Trust (ATT)
Confirmed
1:35 pm - 2:05 pm
Compounded by Covid: SEND and Disadvantaged Students
- With 28% of SEND students eligible for FSM as opposed to 13% of those without Special educational needs, what can schools do to recognise and tackle these barriers
- Where are students falling through the gaps and how can schools ensure that SEND and Pupil Premium strategies both align and consider the unique situation of SEND + Disadvantaged.
- Will changes to the high needs national funding formula (NFF) fit the bill or are parent and school voices being unheard?
Speakers
Michelle Haywood
Strategic Lead for SEND/Inclusion/Safeguarding
University of Wolverhampton Multi Academy
Confirmed
Marc Rowland
Pupil Premium Advisor
Unity Schools Partnership
Invited
1:50 pm - 2:10 pm
The Funding Chasm: Where are Schools Falling Short?
- Was the Treasury ever going to foot the £10 to £15 billion bill for a generational recovery plan?
- How changes in eligibility to pupil premium have deprived schools of £118m and are schools able to to patch this gap?
- How has delay and over-centralisation impacted the most disadvantaged in terms of lack of timely access to funding?
Speakers
Luke Sibieta
Programme Director Education and Skills & Research Fellow
The Institute for Fiscal Studies & The Education Policy Institute
Invited
2:10 pm - 2:55 pm
School Funding: The Big Rethink
- Is the National Funding Formula fit for a ‘post-covid’ purpose and is it a case of back-to-the-drawing board or will bolt-on funding initiatives suffice?
- With national conversations emerging on rethinking assessments, overhauling the curriculum, and exploring alternative pedagogies, what impact will these changes have on funding?
- How can we build flexibility into funding to ensure that we can react to emerging needs and unexpected challenges on the long road to recovery?
Speakers
Stephen Morales
Chief Executive
Institute of School Business Leadership (ISBL)
Confirmed
Dr Robin Bevan
Past President, NEU; ISBL Patron; Headteacher
Southend High School for Boys
Confirmed
Tom Goldman
Deputy Director, Funding Policy Unit
Department for Education
Confirmed
2:20 pm - 3:05 pm
Counting the Costs: The Multi-Billion Repairs and Replacements Bill
- DfE’s condition data collection has found school repairs and replacements required will cost £11.4bn – where do we start?
- With only 10% of this figure allocated in the previous spending review, how can schools maintain service whilst in requirement of repairs?
- How do schools access current funding for repairs and replacements?
- Where do suppliers fit into the solution?
Speakers
Julian Wood
Acting Director of Capital Group
Education and Skills Funding Agency
Invited
Laura Brackwell
Director
NAO
Invited
2:20 pm - 3:05 pm
SEND Innovation Opportunities & Closing the Digital Divide
- Giving students with neurodiversity access to unique opportunities and developing empathy through virtual reality technology.
- Developing in house research projects that help educators push the boundaries of pedagogy and character development
- Linking up with local businesses to help develop aspects of student development within the context of work related learning and enterprise.
Speakers
Andrew Bacon OBE
Chief Executive Officer
Enactus UK
Confirmed
Kerrie Henton
Principal
Stone Soup Academy
Confirmed
Berni Dickinson
Employment Engagement Enterprise Coordinator
Derby City, D2N2 LEP
Confirmed
2:20 pm - 2:50 pm
Combatting Xenophobia and Racism through Evidence-Led Policy Initiatives
- With over 60,000 racist incidents being recorded by some schools over the past 5 years what is or isn’t being done to examine the true extent of racism in schools?
- How the Welsh government is leading the way in making BAME history mandatory in the Welsh Curriculum
- Helping to embed a culture of anti-racism through the training for teachers and scholarships for BAME students looking to enter teaching
Speakers
Chantelle Haughton
Senior Lecturer in Primary Education and Early Years
Cardiff Metropolitan University
Confirmed
2:20 pm - 3:05 pm
Headteacher Standards: What Does Effective Leadership Mean in the New Normal
- How has the commitment and professionalism demonstrated by school and Trust leaders during the pandemic altered or emphasised our understanding of standards?
- The evolution of research and practice on the ethics and behaviour and exploring how well the Nolan Principals are being adopted by the profession
- Understanding the impact of the direction of travel towards a MAT majority education landscape and its impact on leadership
Speakers
Malcolm Trobe
Educational Specialist Consultant and NPQEL Programme Director
ASCL
Invited
Evelyn Forde MBE
Headteacher
Copthall School
Invited
Kieran Bird
Executive Head Teacher
BeyondAutism
Invited
2:20 pm - 3:05 pm
Try-Before-You Buy: What it Takes to Turn Trust Partnership into Membership
- Learning from the trials of past loan and temporary arrangement projects and overcoming the ‘hearts and minds’ hurdle
- Are smaller MATs getting equal access to schools and are schools losing out by not having a clear market-place of trusts to try?
- Formal arrangements should focus on teaching and leadership, what student and culture centred benefits however, should trusts be capitalising on?
- Accessing and effectively using the Trust and school improvement support to identify and address improvement areas
Speakers
Lorrayne Hughes
Chief Executive Officer
Cumbria Education Trust
Confirmed
Paul Tarn
CEO
Delta Academies Trust
Invited
Amarjit Cheema OBE
Chief Executive Officer
Parry Hall MAT & National Education Leader
Invited
Joshua Coleman
Chief Executive Officer
East Midlands Academy Trust
Invited
2:30 pm - 3:15 pm
Schools Out: Is Home Schooling the Future of Education?
- Is school really the best place for all students?
- What factors influenced the rise in registrations for elective home education in the past year?
- Is home schooling socially harmful?
- What safeguarding concerns arise when the additional protection of school is removed?
Speakers
Hannah Titley
Founder and CEO
Home Schooling Association
Confirmed
Annie Hudson
Chair
Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel
Invited
Fiona Forbes
Co-Founder
Sept for Schools
Invited
Tarlochan Singh
Manager for Elective Home Education
Birmingham City Council
Invited
3:05 pm - 3:35 pm
Autism Excellence and the Challenges and Opportunities of Post-Pandemic Landscape
- Understanding the effects of Covid-19 through the Eyes and Experiences of Autistic Children and Their Families
- Speaking to school leaders about their role in empowering practitioners to create positive change within the classroom
- What is the ‘bio-psycho-social-insider’ framework and how might it serve as a fundamental rethink of autism practice in schools
Speakers
Professor Karen Guldberg
Director of the Autism Centre for Education and Research
University of Birmingham
Invited
3:05 pm - 3:35 pm
Online Harms and E-Safety for Schools
- Until government and tech companies can fix encryption and authentication what powers do schools have to monitor and restrict access to harmful content and channels?
- How can teachers be expected to understanding and combat the ever proliferating avenues, risks and tell-tale behaviours of dangers as varied as radicalisation to gaming and gambling?
- How schools can work with parents to empower students to make the right decision whatever the circumstance?
Speakers
Andy Burrows
Head of Child Safety Online Policy
NSPCC
Invited
3:05 pm - 3:35 pm
Inspections Moving Forward: Ofsted and their Role in Education Recovery
- Evaluating school leader reception of the “renewed” Inspection Framework from workload to areas of focus
- How the parent-focused design of the reports can help school set their school improvement plans?
- What catch-up, recovery and wellbeing focuses will Ofsted be considering and what local demographic factors are inspectors taking into account
- What does an extended inspection window mean for schools and when will Ofsted return to the 5 year maxim?
Speakers
Amanda Spielman
HM Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills
Ofsted
Invited
Day 2November 18, 2021
9:50 am - 10:00 am
Chair’s Address
10:00 am - 10:30 am
The Children’s Recovery Plan and Beyond
- What additional resources are needed to help schools source and secure specialist counselling and mental health support?
- Breakfast, Dinner and Lunch: Investing in extending school meals and extracurricular activities to fuel and inspire students
- Tackling long-term deprivation by working with schools and businesses to end a regional lottery in social mobility
Speakers
Kate Green MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Education
The Labour Party
Confirmed
10:30 am - 11:15 am
More than Hashtags: What It Takes to Commit to Diversity and Anti-Racism
- Has enough commitment been made to diversity in education or is it still a bolt on approach?
- What does it take to be an anti-racist school?
- What role does the curriculum play in supporting their journey towards this?
- How do we address the lack of diversity at school leadership level?
Speakers
Sajid Gulzar OBE
Chief Executive Officer
Prince Albert Community Trust
Confirmed
Shalina Patel
Head of Teaching and Learning
Claremont High School Academy
Confirmed
Sarah Seleznyov
Headteacher
Big Education
Invited
Dr Halima Begum
Chief Executive Officer
Runnymede Trust
Invited
10:40 am - 11:25 am
Stemming the Mental Health Legacy of Covid
- An overwhelming proportion of KS4 and KS5 students are feeling stressed, worried, sad, and lonely so how can schools provided targeted support?
- Understanding the types of trauma and adversity experienced by students during the pandemic and preparing for the types of trauma to come from delayed social and economic impact
- Exploring the effectiveness of wellbeing catch-up activities from summer support, to after school and out-of-term time physical and supported recreational activities
Speakers
Javed Khan
Chief Executive Officer
Barnardos
Confirmed
Charlotte Ramsden
President
Association of Directors of Children’s Services
Invited
Jane Calladine
Executive Head
Redwood Primary School
Invited
11:05 am - 11:35 am
Empowering Students by Empowering SENCOs, TAs and All Staff
- Giving SENCOs an honest picture of the challenges ahead in tackling the learning-loss and entrenched disadvantage of SEND students across the country
- What resources and networks are available to supporting new SENCOs onboard with responsibilities, policies and codes of practice?
- Understanding the rules and regulations for accessing funding for SENCO and general staff development to garner the skills to tackle emerging and persistent challenges
Speakers
nasen Representative
nasen
Invited
11:05 am - 11:50 am
The Cost of Safeguarding: Are Schools Being Left to Pick up the Bill?
- Mapping the ever increasing role of safeguarding against the greater demands on schools, where does the buck stop with school responsibilities?
- As the surface area of child protection increases for schools with extended days, term times and online learning, is this increased responsibility being met with funding?
- From widespread bans on mobile phones in school to a national behaviour surveys are government initiatives enough to stem the tide or simply paying lip service?
Speakers
Debbie Clinton
Chief Executive Officer
Academy Transformation Trust (ATT)
Confirmed
Jon Needham
National Safeguarding Lead
Oasis Community Learning
Confirmed
11:25 am - 11:55 am
More than a Part-Time Programme: Embedding a Culture of Tutoring in Schools
- What have been barriers to scaling the NTP and do school have sufficient flexibility to serve their bespoke needs?
- How can schools get the most milage out of the NTP and a richer tutoring market and are schools evaluating value for money?
- How are we ensuring that tutoring can reach the areas and students who would most benefit and what specific initiatives exist to serve SEND, disadvantaged and AP students?
- What are school experiences of the Online vs. In-Person debate and are we being too quick to dismiss the gains in digital learning?
Speakers
Judith Kidd
Head of Dixons Teaching Institute
Dixons Academy Trust
Invited
Jody Clarke
Deputy Headteacher - Director of Achievement & Standard
Wood Green Academy
Invited
11:30 am - 12:15 pm
How to Measure Progress and Benchmarking: A Year Lost in Data
- Will the disruption caused by Covid be the last straw for Progress 8 as we know it?
- Has Generation Covid pushed the agenda for the eradication of GCSEs?
- Teacher assessments are often biased against disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs- can we really look to them as accurate indicators?
- How can schools plan improvement if the data needed to enact change is not available?
Speakers
Joanne Harper
Chief Executive Officer
Activate Learning Education Trust
Confirmed
Dr Lucy Prior
Research Associate in Quantitative Methods in Education- Centre for Multilevel Modelling
University of Bristol
Invited
11:50 am - 12:35 pm
When Every Penny Counts: Procurement for Tighter Budgets
- How are schools re-setting their policies and internal thresholds to manage recovery spending?
- What are pre-established frameworks doing to support schools as spending becomes more vital to respond to increasing obligations?
- What will the post-Brexit ‘Transforming Public Procurement’ Green Paper means for Schools and what will added pressures such as carbon-zero mean for procurement trends
Chair
DfE Representatives
Invited
11:50 am - 12:35 pm
Uniting Schools, LA’s and Parents to tackle the EHCP Crisis
- Will the trend of an 80% increase of EHCP numbers over the past 6 years continue or can we expect numbers to level out?
- Money or Methods: To what extent is the pot simply too small or is the real issue one of inefficient and disjointed systems?
- With tens of thousands of children with EHCPs designated as NEET, where is the urgency on supporting and serving SEND students?
Speakers
Sheridan Dodsworth
Children's Services Manager for SEND
Lincolnshire County Council
Invited
Matt Keer
Parent and Contributor
Special Needs Jungle
Invited
Sharon Smith
PhD Student
University of Birmingham
Confirmed
11:50 am - 12:20 pm
Countering the Rise Far Right Extremism in Schools
- How far right extremism has proliferated over the lockdown and what early exposure can mean for the long-chain of radicalisation
- What does the revised pre-vent duty say about far right and white supremacist radicalisation?
- Educating schools about the specific exposure risks to extremism via online mechanisms from social media to gaming
- Recognising the language, sub-cultures, and iconography of modern far right extremism to build a culture of preventing radicalisation
Speakers
Owen Jones
Director of Education & Training
HOPE not hate
Invited
11:50 am - 12:35 pm
Rethinking Estates Improvement in a Post Pandemic Environment
- What are the post-pandemic implications for schools and is there a continued need to build in ventilation and -distancing capacity into estates improvement plans?
- Have bolstered digital learnings and resources and experience from extended school timetables impacted our understanding of school estates planning
- What can we learn from the 50 Schools taking part in the 1bn National School rebuilding project?
- Evaluating the long-awaited findings of the condition data collection: Are schools spending unnecessarily on needless maintenance and what do the benchmarks mean for individual schools?
Speakers
Rory Kennedy
Director of Capital
Department for Education
Invited
Dr Jos Boys
Senior Lecturer in Environments for Learning
University College London
Confirmed
James Miller
National Director of Estates & Technology
Ormiston Academies Trust
Invited
11:50 am - 12:35 pm
Trusts as Families: Trends in Trust-wide Wellbeing and Workforce Support
- How trust models proved to be resilient structures for staff support and how trusts can build on this culture of community
- Exploring MAT based CPD and training exemplars and opening the intricate relationship between happiness and progression
- Evaluating the need for a centralised staff support role and making wellbeing an organisational priority from board agendas to strategic decisions
Speakers
Annie Wiles
CEO
Aquila Trust
Invited
Lorrayne Hughes
Chief Executive Officer
Cumbria Education Trust
Confirmed
Mark Grundy
Chief Executive Officer
Shireland Collegiate Academy
Invited
12:05 pm - 12:50 pm
Teacher Development Reform: Ambitious or a Case of Over-Engineering?
- Unpicking the Initial Teacher Training market overhaul: What does this mean for schools, providers and Ofsted?
- Will the national role out of the Early Career Framework be enough to stem the trend of nearly 1 quarter of newly qualified teachers leaving the profession after three years?
- Evaluating the reception and effectiveness of Teaching School Hubs in supporting providers and targeting disadvantaged communities
Speakers
Ian Bauckham
Chief Executive Officer
Tenax Schools Trust
Invited
Sam Twiselton
Director- Sheffield Institute of Education
Sheffield Hallam University
Invited
Emma Hollis
Executive Director
National Association of School-Based Teacher Trainers (NASBTT)
Invited
Aniqa Khaliq
Senior Lecturer in Initial Teacher Education
University of East London
Invited
12:35 pm - 1:05 pm
Rethinking Art as the Untapped Resource for Recovery
- Examining the role of creative arts in both repairing and fending off mental health issues during and after the pandemic
- How employing creative enrichment should be understood both as an avenue for expression and healing as well as a co-factor in academic progress
- With extended schools and more inter-school community support available is now the time for a revolution in extra-curricular creative offering for children?
Speakers
Emily Campbell
Director of Programmes
Creative Education Trust
Invited
Joshua Coleman
Chief Executive Officer
East Midlands Academy Trust
Invited
12:50 pm - 1:20 pm
Is Income Generation Costing you Money?
- How can school leaders survey and employ evidence-based interventions and funding policies to improve school specific outcomes?
- Opening a discussion on the causal link between resources and attainment and considering wellbeing and health as both outcomes and important baselines for increasing attainment?
- What persistent and successful trends are school leaders employing from spending on education support staff to one-to-one tuition for disadvantaged students?
12:50 pm - 1:20 pm
Requires Improvement: Mainstream SEND Provision in the UK
- Closing the gap between teacher ambition and praxis for student-centred knowledge and SEND provision
- Prevented a compounding of social-exclusion of SEND students by avoiding excessive use of out-of-class interventions
- Getting real about multi-agency working in the light of a breakdown in bureaucracy and a national backlog of EHC plans
Speakers
Anne Heavy
Project Lead
Ofsted
Invited
Gary Aubin
SEND Lead and Host
Future Academies & SEND Matters
Confirmed
12:50 pm - 1:20 pm
Tutoring to Fit the School: Case Study from the University of Birmingham School
- Evaluating the tutoring needs based on a context of a diverse student body and the school’s individual experience of the pandemic
- How starting from scratch with tutoring enabled the university of Birmingham school to approach it with a fresh perspective and one which could serve the specific recovery needs of each student
- Building structures of continual advice and feedback with students, teachers, tutors and importantly parents
Speakers
Arthur Reeves
Assistant Vice Principal
University of Birmingham School
Confirmed
12:50 pm - 1:20 pm
Governance and the Academy Trust Handbook
- How can and should trustees govern the effectiveness of trust structures as MATs grow and shift and with so much variability in the sector is there such as think as growth governance best practice?
- Innovative governance models to combat the weakened representation of schools in geographically dispersed trust models.
- What is the ideal make-up of trustees, ad why should trustees and school governors be separate roles
- What does good MAT board behaviour look like and what should MAT leaders expect in terms of scrutiny?
Speakers
Sam Henson
Director of Policy and Information
National Governance Association
Invited
1:20 pm - 2:05 pm
Getting RSHE Right to Build Healthy Relationships & Happy Students
- What role can RSHE play in shifting sexual harassment and abuse from being normalised in schools and
- From training time, resources and confidence, what barriers are schools and teachers experiencing in implementing RSHE
- The importance of addressing psycho-social factors and of giving students the space and guided opportunity to engage in explorative discussion
- Ensuring that RSHE is inclusive in teaching and delivery with consideration for SEND, BAME and LGBT specific inclusion
Speakers
Mo Wilshire
Director of Education & Youth and Designated Safeguarding Lead
Stonewall
Confirmed
Vic Raynor
Inclusion Director
Archway Trust
Confirmed
Jonathan Baggaley
Chief Executive Officer
PSHE Association
Invited
Lucy Emmerson
Director
The Sex Education Forum
Invited
1:30 pm - 2:15 pm
Is Closing the Gap on Social Mobility Through Education Achievable?
- Is the power of schools to fix inequality overstated?
- Significant gaps in laptop provision remain- is the encouragement of online learning elitist?
- What impact will the changes in allocation to pupil premium have on families who have recently qualified for the provision?
- Is additional learning time focused on core subjects and distributing more data/laptops enough? Do we need a more holistic Covid learning recovery strategy?
Speakers
Sammy Wright
Commissioner - Schools and Higher Education & Vice Principal
Social Mobility Commission & Southmoor Academy Sunderland
Confirmed
Sir Peter Lampl OBE
Chairman
Sutton Trust
Invited
Pascale Rollings
Director of Learning – Mathematics
Holyhead School
Confirmed
1:35 pm - 2:05 pm
SEND Governance for MAT Trustees
- How are successful MATs overcoming the geographical variance in health and social care support?
- Why SEND leaders should be working to share and review policies across trust expedite SEND best practice for MATs and how Trustees can support this?
- How can trustees make SEND more prominent and central to a trust’s mission and ethos?
Speakers
Chris Rossiter
Chief Executive Officer
Driver Youth Trust
Invited
1:35 pm - 2:15 pm
Allowing Regional Educational Strengths to Shine Through
- Unlocking REACT Teams to help communication and school-to-school learning and support flourish in aid of the recovery of schools and student development.
- How are national recovery funding and policy programmes translating to different regions and how is this being fed back to policymakers?
- Are we doing enough to celebrate and showcase great schools, trusts and networks at both regional and national levels?
Speakers
Dominic Herrington
National Schools Commissioner
Confirmed
Andrew Warren
Regional Schools Commissioner for the West Midlands
Department for Education
Invited
2:20 pm - 3:05 pm
Pro-Tips and Pitfalls for a Primary School Converting to an Academy
- Preparing your application and gaining management, parental and governance buy-in from the outset
- Weighing up the risks and rewards of setting up vs. joining an Academy Trust
- Transferring responsibilities – Land Arrangements, Commercial Transfer Agreement, Staff, Loans and Facilities
- Communication, communication, communication: to all stakeholders and opening
Speakers
Jenny Clegg
Headteacher
Heartlands Academy
Invited
Darryl Asbury
Executive Headteacher
Forest Hill Primary
Invited
Elaine Radley
Chief Executive Officer
Keystone Academy Trust
Confirmed
Ellie Ballinger
Headteacher
Greysbrooke Primary School
Invited
2:20 pm - 2:50 pm
All Together to End SEND Bullying in Schools
- Developing a hub and resources for 25,000 parents and 4,000 schools to help inform staff, students and families on appropriate anti-bullying policies to tackle SEND bullying
- Reducing instances of bulling across 71% of schools with the biggest reduction in SEND related bullying
- What the dip in student bullying data means for students return to school after the pandemic and what increased demand is there for All-Together services?
Speakers
Martha Evans
Director
Anti-Bullying Alliance
Confirmed
2:20 pm - 2:50 pm
Putting Physical Education at the Core of Recovery
- Emphasising the unique place of PE in repairing the social, emotional, physical and cognitive development loss of children during lockdown.
- What lessons have PE leaders learned from the return and how are practitioners helping children to re-engage with sports and physical education?
- How Schools should use the £320M Primary PE and Sport Premium to help kickstart their back-to-sports plan
Speakers
Sue Wilkinson MBE
Chief Executive Officer
Association for Physical Education (AfPE)
Invited
2:20 pm - 3:05 pm
Theory into Practice: The Education Staff Wellbeing Charter
- Celebrating the importance of improved wellbeing among education staff as not only essential for improved student experience and school retention but also as a core outcome of good education policy
- Working together to liberate the education sector from the negative cultural perspectives on workload and mental health,
- Exploring best practice on how leasers can develop emotional intelligence and build nurturing environments for staff to flourish
- Making the most of funding initiatives such as the use of pupil premium funding to ensure that happy teachers produce engaged and empowered students
Speakers
Gary Wilkie
CEO
Learning in Harmony Trust
Confirmed
Nansi Ellis
Assistant General Secretary
National Education Union
Invited
Sinéad Mc Brearty
Chief Executive Officer
Education Support
Invited
2:20 pm - 3:05 pm
Tipping the Scale from Centralisation to Devolution
- Identifying when centralisation can relieve burden from policy oversight to creating a central-functions for HR and finance
- How centralisation can translate to empowerment of school leaders and what are MAT’s doing to encourage, highlight and celebrate the increased capacity of heads?
- Understanding the impact of the pace and scale of change both on effectiveness and reception of centralisation
- Are we misunderstanding the centralisation discussion and what emerging organisational philosophies form industry might better serve the MAT model?
Speakers
Jenny Lane
Operations Manager
Severn Academies Educational Trust
Invited
Sharron Philpot
Chief Executive Officer
Victoria Academy Trust
Confirmed
Anthony David
Executive Head Teacher
Monken Hadley & St Paul's Primaries
Invited
2:25 pm - 3:10 pm
Assessments Reform – It Takes a Whole System
- What does the “fairest possible assessment arrangements” look like and are we being bold enough or conversely risking more disruption through change?
- Balancing the need to put stock and store in the teachers who have guided students during the pandemic whilst eliminating bias in center grade assessments
- Employing the best of technological innovation to build flexibility and speed into the new arrangement for assessments and appeals
Speakers
Phil Avery
Director of Education
Bohunt Education Trust
Confirmed
Dr Philip Wright
Director General
The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ)
Invited
Colin Hughes
Chief Executive Officer
AQA
Invited
2:30 pm - 3:15 pm
Schools are Evolving, Is Governance?
- What is an effective governance structure for MATs and how does this change according to its size?
- How will governors hold schools accountable in this new post-covid recovery era?
- The shift in new ways of working has opened up the possibility of a more flexible future of school governance- what opportunities for recruitment does ‘flexi-governance’ offer?
- Are schools doing enough to encourage diverse recruitment of governors?: Evaluating strategies from economic incentives to more targeted marketing
Speakers
Will Durham
Head of Key Accounts and London Operations
Governors for Schools
Confirmed
Naureen Khalid
Commissioner & Co-Founder
Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities & @UKGovChat
Confirmed
Clare Collins MBE
Head of Consultancy
National Governance Association
Invited
Mr Keith Deane
Chair of Governors
Sir William Ramsay School
Invited
3:05 pm - 3:35 pm
The Importance of SEND Inclusion Now more than Ever
- How the post-covid landscape represents a golden opportunity for Leaders to think differently about inclusion
- Championing the bolstered role of families as agents for change in inclusion and giving students agency through the continuation of covid-emergent practices
- What have the experiences of the pandemic taught us in removing the “Can’t be done” attitudes for inclusion and what past policies should we be reconsidering
Speakers
Michelle Haywood
Strategic Lead for SEND/Inclusion/Safeguarding
University of Wolverhampton Multi Academy
Confirmed
3:05 pm - 3:35 pm
The Practicalities of Assembling the Wellbeing Puzzle
- Promoting positive relationships with students as the golden thread to a school’s muti-pronged wellbeing strategies
- Embedding improvement practices around social and emotional learning (SEL) by demonstrating these behaviours as staff
- Supporting students to confidently grapple with Metacognitive and self-regulated learning styles by promoting language and enforcing positive behaviours
Speakers
Matthew Fuller
Headteacher
Woodhall Primary School
Invited