Anne Heavey

Director of Insights, Ambition Institute

Anne is Director of Insights at Ambition Institute. Anne’s previous roles include Priority Project Lead: School Inspection Policy at Ofsted and National Director of Whole School SEND, as well as an earlier career as a music teacher, with extensive experience in schools and education. She has significant expertise in special educational needs and has advised the Department of Education on several occasions, most recently as a member of the 2025 expert group on inclusion in mainstream education.

Hall 8b

1 Series two

Designing mainstream settings in which children with SEND can flourish

This session will guide you to think strategically about the building blocks for mainstream settings in which children with SEND can flourish, such as workforce design, staff training, enhanced provision, curriculum, and parental engagement. We’ll learn about the practical strategies suitable for leaders at every stage of the SEND journey, combined with time for reflection with colleagues. You will leave inspired to review, improve or fine-tune your whole-trust approach to supporting children with SEND.

1 Workshop series two

Innovative provision in primary mainstream settings - Strategic deployment of resources to enable early intervention

There not being sufficient funding for schools to routinely employ class-based teaching assistants or 1:1 teaching assistants for children with EHCPs, mainstream primary schools are no longer able to operate in the ways they are used to.  River Learning Trust (31 schools) looked to a creative solution, exploring the legislation and guidance to open 'The Willows' at New Marston Primary School. Anne Heavey, Director of Insights for Ambition, will be joined in conversation with Katherine Walsh, Director for Inclusion and Beth Middleton, Willows Leader and Class Teacher.

15:05

1 Main programme

Keynote: Enriching inclusive practice: The Inclusive Teaching Framework

As trusts continue to steward SEND reform as a core element of school improvement, this keynote will introduce Ambition’s new Inclusive Teaching Framework. Developed to support educators in understanding the diverse ways children think, feel and develop, the framework has been rigorously evidenced and draws on insights from developmental psychology, speech and language, occupational therapy and physical development, building on teachers’ existing expertise in great teaching. Anne Heavey and Dr Neil Gilbride will explore how the framework can support trusts to better understand, anticipate and adapt to a broader range of pupils’ needs.