2025 highlights

Jon is the National Safeguarding Partnership Facilitator for Education, working with the Department of Education to support colleagues at all levels within local safeguarding partnerships to effectively engage education in safeguarding, as stated within Working Together to Safeguard Children. He was, until July 2023, a primary headteacher and a designated safeguarding lead for 17 years and extremely passionate about safeguarding children. Jon is privileged to be in this new role and looks forward to hearing your views and ideas on how we can ensure education is further engaged in safeguarding partnerships and safeguarding decision making.

Helen Matthews is a Senior HMI responsible for teacher development policy within Ofsted. She is an highly experienced HMI, who has inspected across all remits and phases and currently works within the central policy team. Helen has extensive leadership and teaching experience. She has particular expertise in initial teacher education (ITE), curriculum design, leadership and management, secondary English, cross-phase literacy, alternative provision and SEND.

A diagnosis of ADHD and severe, uncontrolled epilepsy meant that Elliot always struggled to ‘fit’ within his secondary school, especially around their expectations for behaviour. That coupled with his friendships with other, often older young people who had their own ongoing issues with education only served to exacerbate his difficulties.

This all culminated in a managed move in year 9, because of ‘persistent disruption’. Elliot was moved to a new secondary school where his needs remained the same but now was left to cope with the changes in circumstances and initially felt unsupported by education.

That could have been the end of his story, but support from his family and local youth group saw him through this time and encouraged him to make the most of the new opportunities. Whilst far from perfect, the managed move changed his life by allowing him not only to settle but learn and enjoy education in a way that he understood.

His experiences left him with a strong desire to mentor and guide young people. He started his journey by embracing the apprenticeship pathway, where he worked for a virtual school that allowed him to enhance the holistic education of children and young people in care. This culminated in him winning an award for regional apprentice of the year in the West Midlands (2022)

He now works as a youth mentor for a local authority safeguarding service, where he takes an alternative attitude to holistically engaging young people at risk of harm through group and individual interventions The work that takes place is intensive, ‘turnaround work’ led by young people and values their voice and participation.

Working across adolescent safeguarding teams and an exploitation hub, he embraces a multidisciplinary approach to safeguarding and empowering young people. He remains committed to a local youth centre, where he works as a part time community youth worker.

Jon originally trained as a nurse specializing in adolescents with life limiting illness before moving to become an advisor to a large strategic health authority and a commissioner in a primary care trust. He worked briefly as a specialist advisor on two World Health Organization projects before becoming the lead for early help and multi-agency working in a large local authority.

He became an education safeguarding advisor 16 years ago managing the support offer to 530 schools and for the past six years has worked as the National Director of Safeguarding & Mental Health for the Oasis Trust.

He qualified as a PhD in Education Safeguarding at Liverpool Hope University and has recently published a book on managing sexting in education. He acts as a mentor to five young men starting out in industry ensuring that they develop to their full potential. In his spare time, he is a voluntary youth worker. When (if) he ever relaxes he is a keen fan of Korean dramas (though must use subtitles).