Rebekah Iiyambo

CEO, Compass Eko Trust

As well as being CEO of Compass Eko Trust, Rebekah provides high quality school improvement work to a range of schools and trusts. Previously, Rebekah has been a headteacher, co-headteacher, deputy headteacher, and an advisor for science, early years and English as an additional language in two local authorities before becoming a senior advisor for continuing professional development (CPD). This role included specific responsibility for developing leadership capacity across primary, secondary and special schools. She has also taught in schools in Britain and Namibia.

Hall 11a

1 Series four

Listening to parents: Strengthening school communities through collaboration

This session explores how schools are engaging with parents to forge effective partnership in children's education. Speakers from Eko Trust and Big Education Trust will share their approaches to building inclusive, community-rooted relationships with families. Nicola Noble will reflect on Surrey Square Primary School’s Old Kent Road Family Zone project and its impact on local engagement, and Rebekah Iiyambo will highlight in-depth work with parents and carers to foster a deep sense of belonging through an inclusive and active listening approach. You’ll leave with grounded insights and practical ideas to consider and adapt in your own school communities.

School Improvement

1 Breakout sessions: Series three

Connecting attendance, belonging and support: What attendance mentoring is teaching us

This evidence-informed session explores early learning from the national attendance mentoring programme. We will examine how trusts are addressing persistent absence through relationships, belonging, family engagement and wider wraparound support. Speakers will share emerging findings, reflections from live delivery and practical considerations around sustainability, scalability and implementation across different trust contexts. You will gain practical insight into approaches that can strengthen attendance, inclusion, and pupil engagement. Ideal for directors of education, inclusion and school improvement, alongside attendance, safeguarding and pastoral leaders.