London Regional Conference: Inclusion by Design: maximising collaboration to deliver equity

Karen Chamberlain is Headteacher at Lilian Baylis Technology School in South London and a passionate advocate for educational equity. Over a 25-year career spent entirely in disadvantaged schools, Karen has championed anti-oppressive practice and deep inclusion, creating an environment where Ofsted highlighted that pupils feel the school is "home."

Raised in Sandwell, UK, Karen’s own state education taught her the life-changing power of great teachers. Today, she combines headship with board roles at educational charities including SEO London and the Oval Learning Cluster to dismantle barriers and drive transformative outcomes for young people.

Warda Farah is Co-Founder of Rounded, a Critical Neurodiversity Fellow at Durham University, a Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist, and a writer whose work explores the intersection of language, race and disability. She founded Language Waves to work in a culturally, linguistically, and neurodiversity affirming manner, and collaborates with teachers and schools to rethink received wisdom and developmental theories shaping education in the UK. She is the editor of Language, Place, and the Body in Childhood Literacies: Theory, Practice, and Social Justice.

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I am an experienced school leader with expertise in Behaviour and Attitudes, Personal Development, Culture and Ethos, and Raising Standards. Having faced systemic barriers and significant challenges during my own schooling journey, I am deeply committed to removing obstacles and creating equitable opportunities for all pupils. As Founder & CEO of PGS-Educators, I prioritise collaboration and building strong partnerships with schools and organisations to deliver evidence-informed interventions that bridge the gap between pupil behaviour and academic success. It is of paramount importance to me that the work I undertake enables pupils to fulfil their potential and achieve their aspirations.

Matt McArthur is the Assistant Headteacher at Frank Wise School in Banbury, a special school for children and young adults aged between 2 and 19. Matt currently teaches in both primary and secondary classes, and is the subject-leader for Numeracy. He was Director of Teaching School at the school for five years, and continues to support the Oxfordshire Teaching School Hub with SEND-specific strands of Continuing Professional Development, School-to-School support and Initial Teacher Training. Matt enjoys cooking, keeping fit and reading, and is a committed life-long learner. He has just finished a Masters degree in Educational Leadership, and is currently doing his NPQH. 

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Laura McPhee is Director of Education for University Schools Trust. Prior to this Laura was an experienced headteacher. She has a proven track record of leading transformational change management and successful school improvement journeys across London.

Laura is facilitator for the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) on behalf of the London South Teaching School Hub and part of London South Learning Partnerships Better Futures Team. She holds a number of trustee and board positions and enjoys guest lecturing.  She is author of 'Empowering Teachers, Improving Schools (2026), co- author of ‘Tackling Poverty & Disadvantage in Schools’, Harris.S, & Morley,K.(2025) and writes for a number of national publications. She is a regular podcast interviewee, keynote speaker and has a keen interest in education policy.

Laura is a doctoral researcher at the University of East London exploring how cognitive diversity shapes team dynamics and performance.

She is a passionate advocate for social justice in education.

Margaret Mulholland is an inclusion consultant, policy specialist and regular commentator in the education press. Margaret is an Honorary Norham Fellow at the Department of Education, University of Oxford. She is currently, SEND policy lead for the Association of School & College Leaders, External Adviser on SEND for Jersey and is a monthly columnist for the TES. Margaret works with schools and trusts across the UK to support inclusive school improvement.

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Amelie is Assistant Director of Education (SEND and Specialist Provision) at Greenshaw Learning Trust. She is also a Trustee at Leo Academy Trust and is their safeguarding / SEND Trustee. Amelie is also regional lead for Whole School SEND in the London region and was a lead author on the Department for Education commissioned Whole School SEND Teacher Handbook: SEND - Embedding Inclusive Practice. Amelie has extensive leadership experience and is passionate about strong system leadership, including governance, that challenges and enables all leaders to deliver on distributed leadership for SEND. Amelie has worked in several roles, including as SENCO, Head of Inclusion and Headteacher and in all these roles focused on developing school-wide systems that built inclusive practices so that all children could thrive.