Conference 2022 speakers
We're delighted to have hosted a fantastic range of experts from across the education and governance landscape at our 2022 conference. Keep scrolling to find out more about their backgrounds and the sessions in which they were involved.
David Ardill
Head of Trustee Recruitment at Governors for Schools
David joined Governors for Schools as Head of Trustee Recruitment in June 2022, having previously worked for more than five years on trustee recruitment in the education sector. David previously worked as a Marketing Manager for British Cycling, where he was responsible for the delivery of Sky Ride, Britain’s largest initiative to get people into recreational cycling.
David presented on 27th September at 1:00pm for the session 'Trustee recruitment with Governors for Schools'.
Pat Barber
Member of IGovS - Independent Governor Support
Pat is currently Chair of four schools, including maintained schools and academies, and works as a clerk for four additional schools. During her career, Pat has been asked to chair both interim executive boards and interim management boards to support schools in challenging circumstances. Pat is committed to supporting schools independently and free of charge through IGovS. She promotes this work through word of mouth and social media messaging.
Pat presented on 28th September at 8:00am for the session 'Keynote - my journey from failing to outstanding - a governor's reflection'.
Steve Barker
Head of Governance Services at Better Governor
Steve is Head of Governance Services at Better Governor and an experienced and regular speaker at national and regional governor conferences. He has had articles published in national titles and been interviewed as a governance expert on the Radio 4 Today Programme on several occasions. Steve has contributed to many national governance initiatives, including being part of the team commissioned by the National College of Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) to develop External Reviews of Governance.
Steve presented on 27th September at 9:30am for the session 'Good governance in 2022'.
Dr Tony Breslin
Public policy analyst and writer, Chair at Bushey Primary Education Federation
Tony is a former Chair of Human Scale Education and the Association for the Teaching of the Social Sciences. He has held various other governance roles across a range of education-focused organisations. In addition, Tony has served as a Chief Examiner at GCSE and a Chair of Examiners at A level and has worked in a range of school improvement, curriculum development and governor training roles. A teacher by profession, he has taught and held management and leadership responsibilities, including Head of Department and Director of Sixth Form Studies at schools in Haringey and Hertfordshire.
Tony presented on 28th September at 12:00pm for the session 'Staff recruitment and retention: The crisis of the education sector?'.
Sarah Bull
Senior Content Editor at The Key
Sarah is a senior content editor at The Key and has worked on The Key for School Governors for three years. Sarah has written about all aspects of governance, including school finance, compliance, cybersecurity, and multi-academy trusts (MATs). She is also a local governor in a MAT primary school in Kent.
Sarah presented on 27th September at 4:45pm for the session 'What does the SEND review mean for your school?'.
Georgina Burt
Development Manager - England at Child Poverty Action Group
Georgina Burt is the England Development Manager for the UK Cost of the School Day project at Child Poverty Action Group. She works alongside schools, local authorities, and policymakers to make schools more inclusive and equitable for children from low-income families. She believes young people’s voices should represent the basis for challenging education policy and encourages school leaders to think outside the box when it comes to enhancing the school experience and improving participation for children growing up in poverty.
Georgina presented on 28th September at 4:00pm for the session 'Pupil Premium'.
Juliette Cammaerts
Director of Policy, Planning and Delivery at The Office of the Children’s Commissioner
Juliette has been Director of Policy, Planning and Delivery at the Children’s Commissioner’s Office since April 2021. Prior to taking up this post, she worked in various roles in the Department for Education, including Private Secretary to the Children and Families Minister and Deputy Principal Private Secretary to the Secretary of State. Juliette is interested in child- and family-focused public services and how to involve children in designing and implementing policies.
Juliette presented on 28th September at 2:00pm for the session 'Improving attendance rates: How governors can help'.
Ellie Cheshire
Product Manager at GovernorHub
As Product Manager for governance at The Key, Ellie works to ensure The Key for School Governors and GovernorHub provide the tools governors need to do their job, grow their skills and evidence their efforts. With a decade of experience working in governor support and as Chair of governors at a primary school in Buckinghamshire, Ellie really understands the impact of good recruitment and induction.
Ellie presented on 28th September at 9:15am for the session 'Effective onboarding: Steps to creating a governor induction plan'.
Jackie Eason MBE
Consultant at the Confederation of School Trusts
Jackie works for the Confederation of School Trusts (CST) as part of the professional consultancy team, undertaking external reviews of governance, training and development for Trust Boards and mentoring support for Chairs. Jackie has worked in school governance since 2001 and is currently Chair of the Leading Edge Academy Partnership in Cornwall. She also works closely with Local Authorities to support and chair maintained schools requiring governance development.
Jackie presented on 27th September at 12:00pm for the session 'Conversations around academisation'.
Steve Edmonds
Director of Advice and Guidance at the NGA
Steve’s role as Director of Advice and Guidance at NGA involves the development of high-quality guidance for NGA members and supporting the organisation’s work on good governance practice. Before joining NGA, Steve was Governor Services Manager at Birmingham City Council, where he oversaw the council’s statutory responsibilities in relation to maintained school governing boards, as well as guidance provided to both maintained schools and academies.
Steve presented on 28th September at 10:15am for the session 'Succession planning: creating a strong foundation for the future '.
Annie Evans
Clinical Lead, Mental Health & Wellbeing Programmes at Place2Be
Annie is a clinical supervisor and counsellor with over 12 years’ experience in delivering therapeutic services for Place2Be in primary and secondary schools. Before becoming Clinical Lead across all schools and community programmes, Annie worked as Programme Leader for a suite of programmes designed to improve understanding surrounding mental health in the classroom. Prior to becoming a counsellor, Annie worked in the advertising and television production industry.
Annie presented on 28th September at 2:00pm for the session 'Improving attendance rates: How governors can help'.
Jane Griffiths
Chair at Radyr Primary School
Jane has over 25 years’ experience within the HR and Learning and Development field. She has held several senior HR roles across various industries and delivered consultancy services to businesses throughout Wales. She currently supports the NSPCC, helping the charity implement a performance and learning culture. She is also a Regional Lead of Governors for South East Wales and has supported a number of school leadership teams and governing bodies throughout their improvement journeys.
Jane presented on 27th September at 12:00pm for the session 'The Welsh curriculum in 2022'.
Jess Hughes
Programme Lead at The Difference
Jess is Programme Lead at The Difference, working with the Difference Leadership Programme participants undertaking two year placements in SLT roles within alternative provision before returning to mainstream leadership. Jess joined The Difference in September 2021, bringing expertise in professional learning, curriculum development, and literacy. Before joining The Difference, Jess was an English teacher and senior leader, most recently as Head of Professional Learning at a 4-18 school.
Jess presented on 28th September at 2:00pm for the session 'Improving attendance rates: How governors can help'.
Katherine Howard
Digital Safeguarding Specialist at Smoothwall
Katherine is Smoothwall’s Digital Safeguarding Specialist. She is passionate about safeguarding pupils and has been working with schools, colleges, multi-academy trusts and local authorities for over 17 years to develop their understanding of online safeguarding. Katherine supports leadership teams and governors in primary, secondary and further education settings to foster community engagement in our ever-changing digital world.
Katherine presented on 27th September at 4:00pm for the session 'Safeguarding: Keeping Children Safe in Education 2022'.
Andy Mellor
National Director of Wellbeing at Schools Advisory Service
Andy is the SAS National Director of Wellbeing and has over 30 years’ experience in England’s state education system. Andy was headteacher of a two-form entry primary school in Blackpool for 17 years, leading the school to Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ in March 2016. Since then, he’s helped launch and run the Blackpool Teaching School Alliance and joined the board of the Blackpool Opportunity Area and the Blackpool School Improvement Board. From May 2018 to May 2019, Andy was the National President of the NAHT. In December 2019, he became National Director of the Wellbeing for Schools Advisory Service.
Andy presented on 27th September at 8:00am for the session 'Conference welcome: Wellbeing governors 2022'.
Faye McGuinness
Director of Programmes at Education Support
Faye is responsible for the development of Education Support’s services and programmes. Prior to joining the organisation, she was Head of Workplace Wellbeing Programmes at mental health charity Mind, helping to develop campaigns and programmes related to mental health in universities, COVID-19, and improving wellbeing in the workplace.
Faye presented on 27th September at 8:00am for the session 'Conference welcome: Wellbeing governors 2022'.
Dominic McGonigal
Trustee at Governors for Schools
Dominic is a director, entrepreneur, and composer. He is Chair of C8 Associates, JiveBird, CICI, and DashboardFX, and a non-executive trustee director of Governors for Schools. Dominic has a reputation for driving business growth, developing robust commercial strategies, turning around under-performing organisations, and establishing startup companies in the creative sector. His non-exec work builds on his deep experience as a successful executive in the creative industries.
Dominic presented on 28th September at 8:00am for the session 'Keynote - my journey from failing to outstanding - a governor's reflection'.
Francesca Paul
Sub Editor at The Key
Francesca has been a teacher for over seven years and a deputy head teacher for more than two years. Francesca recently joined The Key as a Sub Editor and enjoys working on governance-related content.
Francesca presented on 27th September at 4:45pm for the session 'What does the SEND review mean for your school?'.
Claire Skidmore
Headteacher at Radyr Primary School
Claire has taught in Cardiff for over 25 years and has worked as a school leader in a variety of educational settings. Claire is a System Leader in South Wales and has supported a number of schools on their improvement journeys. She is currently Headteacher at Radyr Primary School, which has been recognised for its work in developing the New Curriculum for Wales. Claire personally shares the school’s vision to unlock every pupil’s potential.
Claire presented on 27th September at 12:00pm for the session 'The Welsh curriculum in 2022'.
Hannah Stolton
CEO at Governors for Schools
Hannah has been CEO of Governors for Schools since January 2020, having joined the organisation in 2017 to manage the development of operations. After starting her career as a primary teacher, Hannah moved into the recruitment field, managing the UK operations of an in-house agency. She brings 20 years’ experience in this area to Governors for Schools, where she focuses on expanding our reach across England and Wales. Hannah is currently Chair of governors at a primary school in Essex.
Hannah presented on 28th September at 4:45pm for the session 'Whitepaper takeaways: Developing an action plan for your board'.
Jenny Tosh
Chair of Trustees at Children First
Jenny is a governor and trustee for a number of schools and settings, both mainstream and special. She worked as a teacher and leader across all phases of education, trained as an Ofsted Inspector, qualified as a School Improvement Partner (SIP), and worked with the DfE developing the Special SIP role.
Jenny presented on 27th September at 4:45pm for the session 'What does the SEND review mean for your school?'.
Nicola Townson
Head of Recruitment Operations at Teach First
Nicola has worked in recruitment for around 12 years, serving a range of sectors including aviation, IT and law. She has been with Teach First for six years and currently works within the recruitment operations team. As part of this, Nicola oversees Teach First’s end-to-end recruitment pipeline, working with internal teams to recruit trainee teachers and match them with schools across England for the duration of the organisation’s Initial Teacher Training (ITT) programme.
Nicola presented on 28th September at 12:00pm for the session 'Staff recruitment and retention: The crisis of the education sector?'.
Scott Walker
Attendance Advisor to the Department for Education
As part of the Department for Education’s (DfE) Attendance Policy Team, Scott supports schools and trusts to improve attendance rates. Scott has worked in various advisory roles throughout his career, including national advisor to the early academy programme, Ofsted inspector, and National Challenge School Improvement Partner (SIP). Throughout his career, Scott has helped to drive improvement in academies and support the opening of new schools.
Scott presented on 28th September at 2:00pm for the session 'Improving attendance rates: How governors can help'.
Linda Waghorn
Strategic Governance Lead at Better Governor
Linda is a nationally respected governance expert with experience in school governance and clerking across a variety of settings. Formerly Head of Governance Services in Kent, she is now an integral part of the Better Governor team. Linda is currently Chair of a local governing body within a multi-academy trust in Sussex.
Linda presented on 27th September at 9:30am for the session 'Good governance in 2022'.
Gavin Woodruff
Education Sponsorship Manager at Institute of Engineering and Technology
Gavin is Education Sponsorship Manager at the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET). He is responsible for forming links between industry and education, in turn supporting educators in the delivery of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths (STEM). With a background in engineering and STEM delivery, Gavin has experienced first-hand the benefit students gain from participating in STEM activities.
Gavin presented on 27th September at 11:00am for the session 'Delivering STEM Education with conference sponsors IET'.