Search results

Now Chief Marketing Officer at Dolphin Computer Access, Simon has enjoyed over 17 years in the assistive technology industry. During this time, Simon has helped to ensure that Dolphin products empower people with vision impairments and dyslexia to read and succeed. 

Annamarie Hassall MBE is the Chief Executive (CEO) of nasen with responsibility for strategic direction and operational delivery across the full breadth of nasen’s activity. nasen CEO is the main point of contact for the board of trustees and has a close working relationship with the Department for Education (DfE). Annamarie also has overall responsibility for external relations and business development.

Vicky Cull is the Chief Examiner for Art and Design at UAL Awarding Body. She has over 25 years of teaching experience in both Further Education and Higher Educations, specialising in Textiles and Drawing. She fundamentally believes that the creative arts are for everyone and that they transform lives for the better, enabling confidence building, a sense of community and above all fun! 

Marc is both an academic and practitioner in the creative arts sector and brings substantial practical expertise and academic insight to his role as Chief Examiner for Performing and Production Arts at UAL Awarding Body. Marc has extensive experience in curriculum design and qualification development and is an advocate of the transformative power of the arts. Marc’s research interests extend to creative environments/spaces and his directing practice has a focus on cross-arts collaborative storytelling. 

Ginny has been teaching longer than she hasn't. She has been a Headteacher, Senior
Manager and Class teacher, teaching all ages in the Primary age range.

Working to support SENDCOs and teachers across special, primary and secondary
schools, Ginny is able to bring experience, wisdom and common sense to an area
that can sometimes get bogged down in jargon and paperwork.

Through her highly-regarded book and also her published articles, podcast
appearances and speaking engagements for schools, MATS and national events
such as The National SEN Conference, The Education Show Wales and NASEN
Live, Ginny shares straightforward tips and ideas that save time and energy for all
those working with our most vulnerable children.

Helen Battelley, an internationally respected Early Years Physical Development consultant, trainer, author and brings energy and a motivational approach to raising the profile of PA in the early years. As the chair of the National Early Years Active Start Partnership (NEYASP), she leads a diverse group of stakeholders from across the UK to address the systemic challenges in the early years sector to ensure that every child benefits from the positive outcomes of play and PA. NEYASP are taking positive action to inform and support policy makers and inspection bodies to ensure the sector is taking an evidence-informed approach and valuing the place of physical development in a child’s life, right from the moment they enter the world! 

Sarah holds an MSc in Social Cognition and a BSc (Hons) in Psychology. At the University of Oxford, she worked on research into the effectiveness of the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) using LanguageScreen and also supported the rollout of NELI to thousands of schools across England. In her role at OxEd, Sarah supports schools to deliver the NELI programme in the UK and internationally. 

Webcasts

This session will be delivered by Ginny Bootmnan

Heba is the Assistant Headteacher and inclusion leader at London's Mayflower Primary School. She has taught in inner London primary schools since 2007, and holds a Masters in Special and Inclusive Education from University College London Institute of Education (IOE) .

As a specialist leader, Heba provides support to schools locally and more widely through her secondment role as a deputy regional lead at Whole School SEND (NASEN). Heba is passionate about research and implementing innovative practice.  She has secured funding for a variety of school projects including the use of sensory integration to provide whole class support for children aged 3-7 years and helping children with  special educational needs improve their recall strategies. 

She was awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship in 2019 to look at inclusive practices in mainstream schools in New York for Autistic pupils.  This year, she has received another grant from the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust to pilot a project at her school in collaboration with the Centre of Research in Autism Education (CRAE), UCL.  Heba is also a PHD student at CRAE (Centre for Research in Autism Education) UCL , exploring the collaboration of caregivers of autistic children from minority ethnic backgrounds with school professionals.

Damian Matthews is Headteacher at The Marvell College, Hull.  Having previously worked in private industry, he has been a teacher for nearly 18 years, 12 of them in senior leadership roles.  Whilst working in an outstanding school, he was first seconded to The Marvell College as Deputy Headteacher playing a key role in helping the school improve from special measures to good.  Damian has a wide range of experience in managing system and culture change and has led a wholesale review of practice and attitudes in relation to SEND and inclusion in the school over the last 4 years.

Amjad Ali is regarded as one of the most engaging and empowering voices in the fields of inclusive leadership and professional development. Having spent over 19 years working in diverse and high-need schools — including seven years as a founding leadership team member of a new secondary school — Amjad now serves as a Trust Training and Inclusion Lead, supporting leaders, teachers, and school communities to grow cultures of equity, ambition, and sustained professional learning. He also co-founded The BAMEed Network, a national grassroots organisation committed to diversifying educational leadership and ensuring equity across the system — a mission that continues to shape his work in inclusive leadership today. Amjad’s delivery is grounded in lived experience. He began his career as a Play Worker and then a Teaching Assistant in youth offender institutions before training as a teacher and went on to become an Advanced Skills Teacher in Teaching and Learning and eventually training as a SENDCO and a senior leader. This journey has shaped a leadership philosophy rooted in equity, high expectations, and transformational CPD. 

Ben has worked in Careers Education and Guidance for almost 30 years, including the last 7 years as part of the Careers Hub team at Devon County Council.  Ben supports specialist settings and alternative provision academies across Devon, Plymouth and Torbay, helping them develop their Careers Education programmes in line with statutory guidance and best practice. 

Dean Beadle is an autistic speaker, inset trainer and conference presenter who has spent twenty years using his personal experiences of being autistic to bring about a world that is more inclusive for neurodivergent people. Working with schools, Dean has delivered hundreds of twilight CPD sessions for staff as well as countless half day sessions at inset days across the country, supporting staff to challenge their thinking to make their practice both inclusive and neuro-affirming. Dean has delivered keynotes, workshops and chaired panels at conferences in every corner of the UK as well as having guest lectured for several British universities. In recent years, Dean has also been doing a growing amount of work to support businesses to make workplaces more accessible to autistic employees. This has included sessions for Balfour Beatty, Scotiabank, International Rescue Committee, Ambassador Theatre Group, Sony Pictures, YouViewTV and Sopra Steria. 

Click on the image to watch the recording from the first meeting which took place on Monday 29th January 2024.

A new (NI based) SEND Advisory Group was formed in October 2018. The group consists of a range of educational professionals, all with a passion for supporting children and young people with SEND.

Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and National Association for Special Educational Needs (nasen) are recruiting 160 secondary schools for a trial of the WSS Review and are focusing on the SOUTH WEST.