Speakers

Alice Brown is the Director of Inclusion at Sherborne Area Schools' Trust (SAST), a multi-academy trust of 18 schools in North Dorset and South Somerset, spanning the two-19 age range. She has worked in education for over thirty years, during which she has been a consistent advocate for equity and exhibited deep commitment to securing better outcomes for vulnerable learners.

Bushra Kamal is the national Safeguarding and Child Protection Lead at Star Academies, providing strategic leadership for safeguarding, child protection and welfare across the trust. She leads safeguarding policy, quality assurance, workforce development and safeguarding improvement to strengthen compliance, practice and outcomes for children.

Bushra is a standing member of the Lancashire Child Safeguarding Assurance Partnership Executive Board, representing the education sector, and serves on the Education Strategic Delivery Group for Blackpool and the Safeguarding Strategy Group for Manchester.

She is a Child Sexual Abuse Practice Lead and Co-Chair of the North West Child Sexual Abuse Network Group, supporting multi-agency safeguarding arrangements, practice development and the dissemination of learning to improve responses to child sexual abuse.

Dai is a recognised safeguarding expert and regularly supports trusts with complex safeguarding issues including handling disclosures of abuse, managing allegations against staff and involvement in Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews. He also supports trusts with safeguarding governance reviews.

Dai is an experienced trainer and national coach and mentor for trust designated safeguarding leads (DSLs). He provides "invaluable” guidance and a "reassuring, safe place” where individuals can improve their knowledge and learn from best practice. As well as speaking at national safeguarding conferences and delivering his tailored courses to trust DSLs, Dai also delivers CST's masterclass on safeguarding and the safeguarding module of the CST Essential Trustee Programme.

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).

Helen has been the head of safeguarding at REAch2 Academy Trust since 2016. REAch2 is unique in being a very large trust, and also a primary-only trust. She works across all 62 of its primary schools, located across the South East and the Midlands, many of which are based in deprived and under-served communities. Prior to joining REAch2, Helen worked as a senior manager for NSPCC, based in the ChildLine helpline and managing high level risk for young people seeking help. For ten years, she was also a teacher, assistant headteacher and DSL in primary and middle schools in Bedfordshire.

Jo is an experienced education professional with a strong track record in developing and delivering strategic partnerships to improve outcomes for children and young people, particularly those from disadvantaged and vulnerable backgrounds.

Prior to joining YEF, Jo was a Regional Delivery Lead at the Education Endowment Foundation. In this role, she collaborated with regional and national system leaders to support education settings to embed evidence-informed approaches and sustain improvements to teaching and learning.

Since 2018, Jo has been a School Governor at a local Secondary Academy and in 2023, she stepped into the role of Chair and Safeguarding Link, helping to shape the school’s strategic direction and ensure children feel safe. Jo has a Masters in Education and is currently completing a PhD in Education and Social Justice. Her research focuses on the educational experiences of children affected by parental alcohol misuse.

Matt Cannon is National Safeguarding Lead at Oasis Community Learning, where he leads safeguarding policy and practice across the trust. With more than a decade of experience across schools and local authorities, he has worked at both strategic and operational levels to strengthen safeguarding and promote the welfare of children and young people. He is also a member of the National Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel's Expert Reference Group helping shape national safeguarding learning.

Alongside his professional role, Matthew is a foster carer for teenagers who have experienced exploitation, bringing together strategic expertise and frontline experience to improve outcomes for vulnerable children. He regularly shares learning and best practice through training, workshops and speaking engagements, driven by a belief that every child should grow up safe, valued and able to thrive.

Nicola Law is an experienced safeguarding leader with a strong background in education. She began her career as a family support worker and designated safeguarding lead, later becoming a specialist leader in education supporting schools across multiple partnerships and trusts. Nicola has held senior safeguarding roles in large academy trusts, including regional safeguarding lead and deputy director of safeguarding, overseeing safeguarding strategy across a diverse range of schools. She now serves as Director of Safeguarding at Liberty Academy Trust, an autism specialist trust, leading safeguarding, behaviour, attendance and therapeutic strategy across the trust.

Sarah has over 20 years’ experience in education and safeguarding leadership; the last 10 of which have been in MAT and systems leadership for safeguarding at scale across five different national and regional trusts. Sarah has also worked in senior safeguarding positions in the elite sport and charity sector to further her own professional development in examining safeguarding culture in other sectors. Sarah holds an MA in Education Safeguarding (2024) and an MSc in Education Leadership (2023); both of which focussed on different aspects of a culture of safeguarding. Sarah is also a Chartered Manager (L7) and holds BA (Hons) in History and Literature, PGCE and a L5 in Leadership and Management.

Steve Rollett is Deputy Chief Executive of the Confederation of School Trusts (CST), the national organisation and sector body for school trusts in England. Before joining CST, he was Curriculum and Inspection Specialist for the Association of School and College Leaders. Steve has sat on a range of advisory bodies, including Ofsted’s curriculum advisory group. Most recently he has supported Oak National Academy and the Department for Education’s remote learning advisory group. Originally trained as a history teacher, Steve was a vice principal of one of England’s most improved secondary schools before moving into a career in education policy.