Speakers

Claire is an Executive Director at Steplab, having previously led schools and trust-wide school improvement. Claire is the co-author of Symbiosis: the Curriculum and the Classroom and is Standards Officer for the charity LitdriveUK, a subject association that provides PD and resources for English teachers.

Craig Follett is the Senior School Improvement Lead at Roseland Multi Academy Trust, where he has driven rapid strategic improvement to secure 100% ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted judgments across a portfolio of previously inadequate sponsored and re-brokered schools.

He acts as a practising Ofsted Peer Inspector and School Improvement Adviser, bringing extensive quality assurance expertise from his previous roles as a PiXL Associate and Challenge Partner Reviewer. Additionally, he serves as an NPQEL Facilitator, training the next generation of executive leaders.

Prior to his current role, Craig was a Head of School within the Greenshaw Learning Trust and is a graduate of the Reach Foundation Trust 100 cohort.

Dr Neil Gilbride CPsychol is Associate Dean at Ambition institute, and is a subject matter expert on SEND, inclusion, and leadership.

He is also an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Worcester . As a Chartered Psychologist, he applies the principles of psychology to leadership, learning and organisational behaviour. Neil's research explores the intersection of complexity theory and adult psychology to ask how we can better understand decision making within complex and wicked problems at strategic levels of responsibility. He is also an Associate Dean with Ambition Institute and advisor to the DfE NPQ framework review.

John is originally from Liverpool and spent his secondary years on the Isle of Man, giving him experience of both urban and rural education. His teaching career began in 2001 in a middle school in Settle, North Yorkshire, before moving to London in 2003, where he has remained.

During his time in London, John has held senior roles including SENCo, inclusion leader and deputy headteacher, and has been headteacher in three schools across Newham, Barking and Dagenham, and Croydon and Sutton. He is now Executive Director of Primary at STEP Academy Trust.

John’s work has consistently focused on serving communities facing high levels of deprivation, with a clear moral purpose to raise aspirations and improve outcomes for children. Since joining STEP, he has been recognised as a National Leader of Education and now leads trust wide leadership development and the strategic oversight of SEND, including training, coaching and talent mapping.

Kat Howard is Executive School Improvement Lead at Windsor Academy Trust, working with schools across the West Midlands region and leading curriculum and assessment across the trust.

Previously, she was a director for a large school trust Teaching School Hub serving over 200 schools across the north and north east Lincolnshire region. She is a writer, speaker and in previous roles, a senior leader and subject lead in secondary schools, as well as an English specialist.

Prior to her career in education, Kat gained extensive experience in the financial sector, overseeing recruitment, training and operations for a leading high street bank flagship project across the North West. In addition to her in-school role, Kat was an Expert Advisor for Teacher Development Trust, writing curriculum content for the Reformed NPQ Leadership Suite. Kat is also a council member at the Chartered College of Teaching and a Trustee for Education Support.

Lauren Meadows works as a Curriculum Lead for Unity Schools Partnership, serving over 40 schools in the East of England and several hundred schools as part of their international curriculum partnership. Lauren has worked with a wide range of national organisations, advising on curriculum and assessment design and strategic school improvement, including partnering with Alex Bedford to co-author Curriculum with Unity Schools Partnership (CUSP). She has dedicated her life to improving educational outcomes for children across the sector. Driven by her servitude to children and the belief that it is possible for every child to receive an excellent education, she has worked with primary, secondary, special and alternative provision settings across the country. She also works with the Research Schools Network, delivers NPQs and is currently studying assessment design at Cambridge University.

Sam Crome is a school leader, currently a Deputy Headteacher and Director of Education for a school trust in Surrey. He has been a head of year, head of department, head of sixth form, lead teaching and learning, and most recently lead pastoral teams across a secondary school. For the last few years, Sam has studied high-performing teams, trying to better understand how teams can become more than the sum of their parts. He regularly blogs, speaks, and works with schools regarding their teams, helping educators to maximise their effectiveness. He remains convinced that this is an area that needs more attention and exploration.

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.