Dan Windsor

Director of Strategic Partnerships, BeReady Group

As Head of Partnerships at Be Ready, Dan is passionate about inclusion focused staff development for education that enables organisations and individuals to flourish. He has led the provision of fully funded professional development programmes for wellbeing and SEND for over 300 school trusts and thousands of schools across the country. Dan continues to champion and demystify how school trusts can access over £4billion of apprenticeship funding available to the education sector as part of staff development and retention strategies in a challenging fiscal environment.

Workforce

1 Breakout sessions: Series three

BeReady: An untapped opportunity? Unlocking the Growth and Skills Levy

Many trusts are looking for ways to strengthen workforce capacity without placing further pressure on already stretched budgets. This interactive session explores how the Growth and Skills Levy can support retention, talent development and inclusive provision, drawing on practical examples from trust leaders in both mainstream and special education settings. We will examine common misconceptions, practical implementation approaches and how funded development opportunities can be used to develop teaching assistants, create career progression opportunities and support staff into qualified teacher roles. Ideal for CEOs, COOs, and HR leads.

1 Workshop series three

Leveraging the levy: the strategic role of teaching apprenticeships

This session will explore how trusts can make strategic use of the apprenticeship levy to upskill teaching assistants and support staff into qualified teacher roles, while minimising costs. The levy is widely underutilised, often due to misconceptions about its relevance and complexity. This workshop will address myths surrounding the levy, share best practice, and offer a clear, operationally focused overview of how trusts can leverage the levy to create great career pathways. Attendees will hear directly from trust leaders who have used the levy to access the first TA to teacher pathway, without the need for a traditional degree. Join us to explore how integrated teaching apprenticeships can transform your workforce and talent development strategies.