Katherine Walsh

Director of Inclusion, River Learning Trust

Katherine Walsh is the Director of Inclusion for River Learning Trust. She is an experienced teacher and school leader and has led SEND provision in primary and secondary schools in England and America. Over the past ten years, Katherine has developed particular expertise in working with leadership teams to develop school-wide systems, establishing shared and inclusive visions for the education of children and young people with SEND. Katherine was a lead author on the Department for Education commissioned Whole School SEND Teacher Handbook: SEND.

1 Workshop series two

Distributed leadership of SEND: Discussion and networking

This session will be an opportunity for attendees to connect and network in an informal setting. Facilitated by an experienced trust leader, this time will be focused on distributed SEND leadership, and an exploration of strategies to implement accountability and ownership in your trust. Join this session for solution-focused conversations and be prepared to share your own practice with other colleagues. Speakers to be confirmed.

09:20

1 Main programme

Welcome remarks

Welcome remarks from Katherine Walsh, Director of Inclusion, River Learning Trust and Chair of CST's SEND and inclusion professional community.

11:25

1 Main programme

Keynote panel: From policy to practice

This panel will reflect on the policy landscape post-White Paper and explore what this means in practice for our young people, schools, and trusts. Katherine will be joined by a panel of trust leaders, who will discuss how we move forward in planning our policies and processes to enact change in the lives of our young people and families. Panellists: to be confirmed

15:40

1 Main programme

Final reflections and close

1 Workshops series two

SEND reform: Implications for governance

The reform of the SEND system places significant new responsibilities on governance. Boards will be accountable for developing a workforce that can deliver, repurposing school estates, and stewarding the cultural shift toward a more inclusive mainstream. This session offers practical guidance and clear takeaways on how boards can approach their strategic role in SEND reform, strengthen oversight, and ensure their trust is ready to meet the expectations of a more inclusive, high‑accountability system.