Anne Heavey

Director, Insights, Ambition Institute

Anne is Director of Impact 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.

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.