SPEAKERS
We are very grateful to the speakers who are giving up their time so willingly to be part of this day of discussion, CPD and inspiration.
Professor Mick Waters
Education Consultant who works with Authorities across the UK on innovative approaches to learning. Mick worked at the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority as Director of
Curriculum taking a leading role in helping schools to rethink thei
r approach to curriculum design and influencing national policy on aspects of the national curriculum.
Mick is an Honorary Fellow of the College of Teachers. He is a patron of Heads, Teachers and Industry (HTI), which seeks ways to build reciprocal understanding between sectors, and a Trustee of
the Children’s University which offers a range of learning opportunities beyond the school environment.
He is chair of Curriculum Enrichment for a Common Era, an organisation which promotes multicultural understanding through learning. Mick is also a patron of the Values Trust which endeavours to promote values driven approaches to learning. He is also the inaugural president of the Curriculum Foundation, which seeks to promote a voice for the power and potential of the whole curriculum.
Mick believes that learning should be treasured and valued and that it needs to be shaped to fit with children’s lives. Before joining QCA, Mick was Chief Education Officer for the City of Manchester. In a challenging education environment schools worked hard to break the cycle of urban deprivation,
promoting a wide and rich curriculum and encouraging all learners to achieve as much as possible.
Key agendas included the development of joint children’s services, the 14-19 strategy, the employment and skills dimension and configuring all this around Building Schools for the Future.
Mick speaks passionately and has an inspirational presentation style.
Vic Goddard
Headteacher
“What sort of example is this to set our children? Teachers call pupils ‘scumbags’ and the head flicks V-signs at his deputy in school praised as ‘outstanding’” so screamed the Daily Mail in September 2011 after seeing the first half of the first episode of Channel 4’s fly-on-the-classroom-wall documentary Educating Essex (they were excluded from the early screenings for being, well, the Daily Mail).
The subject of their ire was ‘worst headteacher in the country’ Vic Goddard.
Council-estate born and raised, Vic has worked his way up through the system from a PE teacher via Head of Department and a brief stint in Cairo, to being one of the most high profile, controversial, innovative and bluntly passionate heads we have met. And if you had seen Educating Essex (and not just read the story the Daily Mail made up based on half the show and a press release) you will know that for yourself. Vic, a qualified and experienced Dive Master to boot, not only brings drive, creativity and innovation to the role, putting the children he so clearly cares for centre stage at every opportunity, he also brings the human touch to what he unashamedly describes as ‘his other family’.
In his own words, ‘If you saw the programme, you’ll recognise me, I’m the one crying’.
His passion for education – an education that refuses to accept limits in what young people and their teachers are capable of – is matched by his genuine zeal for educational leadership. ‘It’s the best job in the world’, he says. He goes on to say, ‘Once I became hooked on teaching I realised that I wanted to be a head by 40 and on the golf course by 55’.
Since the airing of the BAFTA-winning TV show in the Autumn of 2011, Vic has been very much in demand, speaking to headteacher conferences such as the National College and the ASCL as well as talking to audiences of new teachers, encouraging them not only to embrace teaching as a profession but also have the ambition and drive to aim for headship.In an era of super-heads with equally super-salaries, Vic has never been in it for anything other than making a difference to young people’s lives and, having visited his school in Harlow, we have seen the spirit of innovation and enterprise that he brings to make this happen on a daily basis.
Steve Russell
Steve has never lost his belief in education as a powerful vehicle to promote growth, both for children and young people and also for those working with them. His involvement in and commitment to education has seen him hold a variety of roles, including classteacher, behaviour support teacher and leading a school improvement team.
Throughout this time he has focused on developing his knowledge and understanding of what makes people ‘tick’ and finding creative ways to share this with hard-pressed school staff and leaders. He has a particular interest in helping leaders and leadership teams to gain a greater appreciation of what they do well/well enough, and to use this as a basis for planning and supporting further growth.
The testimony that perhaps best encapsulates how Steve works comes from the principal of a school that was in special measures who spoke of how “(Steve’s) way of working with colleagues is subtle and takes people from where they currently are as a starting point.
He has an excellent pedagogical knowledge and brings considerable expertise …. He forms excellent relationships with staff and students and staff and students enjoy working with him. He connects things together – whether this is people with people or people with ideas. He is very modest and enjoys seeing people succeed.
Nina Jackson
Education is a world of very special people but you will meet few as special as Nina ‘Ninja’ Jackson. With a background in mainstream and special needs education and many years’ experience as a pedagogical and pastoral champion, Nina has a breath-taking grasp of what makes classrooms - and all the people in them - tick.
She is a highly creative educator and trainer as well as an Apple teacher and works globally to help teachers embrace learning technology, including those working in a SEND environment. Yet it is her work as an international emotional health and wellbeing ‘ambassador’ for which she is currently most in demand. Whether it’s receiving standing ovations from audiences of school leaders or working with children in their classrooms, Nina brings warmth, humanity, honesty and fun to every environment, making a truly lasting impression wherever she goes.
She is an Associate Director with Independent Thinking and works across the UK as well as in challenging environments in places such as Ghana, Chile and the Middle East. Her latest best-selling book, Of Teaching, Learning and Sherbet Lemons: A Compendium of Careful Advice for Teachers, has helped put the ‘fizz’ back into classrooms for thousands of teachers.
Resources
Resrouce Pack
Music Tracks: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3lwj2cf883sfyug/AADXGzcbIiOGINCQakwl3uwqa?dl=0
They go with the book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Classroom-Independent-Thinking-Motivation-Creativity/dp/184590091X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1537354401&sr=8-3&keywords=nina+jackson
or Kindle version: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Book-Music-Classroom-Independent-ebook-dp-B005QZVH2O/dp/B005QZVH2O/ref=mt_kindle?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1537354401
SPEAKERS
We are very grateful to the speakers who are giving up their time so willingly to be part of this day of discussion, CPD and inspiration.
Professor Mick Waters
Education Consultant who works with Authorities across the UK on innovative approaches to learning. Mick worked at the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority as Director of
Curriculum taking a leading role in helping schools to rethink thei
r approach to curriculum design and influencing national policy on aspects of the national curriculum.
Mick is an Honorary Fellow of the College of Teachers. He is a patron of Heads, Teachers and Industry (HTI), which seeks ways to build reciprocal understanding between sectors, and a Trustee of
the Children’s University which offers a range of learning opportunities beyond the school environment.
He is chair of Curriculum Enrichment for a Common Era, an organisation which promotes multicultural understanding through learning. Mick is also a patron of the Values Trust which endeavours to promote values driven approaches to learning. He is also the inaugural president of the Curriculum Foundation, which seeks to promote a voice for the power and potential of the whole curriculum.
Mick believes that learning should be treasured and valued and that it needs to be shaped to fit with children’s lives. Before joining QCA, Mick was Chief Education Officer for the City of Manchester. In a challenging education environment schools worked hard to break the cycle of urban deprivation,
promoting a wide and rich curriculum and encouraging all learners to achieve as much as possible.
Key agendas included the development of joint children’s services, the 14-19 strategy, the employment and skills dimension and configuring all this around Building Schools for the Future.
Mick speaks passionately and has an inspirational presentation style.
Vic Goddard
Headteacher
“What sort of example is this to set our children? Teachers call pupils ‘scumbags’ and the head flicks V-signs at his deputy in school praised as ‘outstanding’” so screamed the Daily Mail in September 2011 after seeing the first half of the first episode of Channel 4’s fly-on-the-classroom-wall documentary Educating Essex (they were excluded from the early screenings for being, well, the Daily Mail).
The subject of their ire was ‘worst headteacher in the country’ Vic Goddard.
Council-estate born and raised, Vic has worked his way up through the system from a PE teacher via Head of Department and a brief stint in Cairo, to being one of the most high profile, controversial, innovative and bluntly passionate heads we have met. And if you had seen Educating Essex (and not just read the story the Daily Mail made up based on half the show and a press release) you will know that for yourself. Vic, a qualified and experienced Dive Master to boot, not only brings drive, creativity and innovation to the role, putting the children he so clearly cares for centre stage at every opportunity, he also brings the human touch to what he unashamedly describes as ‘his other family’.
In his own words, ‘If you saw the programme, you’ll recognise me, I’m the one crying’.
His passion for education – an education that refuses to accept limits in what young people and their teachers are capable of – is matched by his genuine zeal for educational leadership. ‘It’s the best job in the world’, he says. He goes on to say, ‘Once I became hooked on teaching I realised that I wanted to be a head by 40 and on the golf course by 55’.
Since the airing of the BAFTA-winning TV show in the Autumn of 2011, Vic has been very much in demand, speaking to headteacher conferences such as the National College and the ASCL as well as talking to audiences of new teachers, encouraging them not only to embrace teaching as a profession but also have the ambition and drive to aim for headship.In an era of super-heads with equally super-salaries, Vic has never been in it for anything other than making a difference to young people’s lives and, having visited his school in Harlow, we have seen the spirit of innovation and enterprise that he brings to make this happen on a daily basis.
Steve Russell
Steve has never lost his belief in education as a powerful vehicle to promote growth, both for children and young people and also for those working with them. His involvement in and commitment to education has seen him hold a variety of roles, including classteacher, behaviour support teacher and leading a school improvement team.
Throughout this time he has focused on developing his knowledge and understanding of what makes people ‘tick’ and finding creative ways to share this with hard-pressed school staff and leaders. He has a particular interest in helping leaders and leadership teams to gain a greater appreciation of what they do well/well enough, and to use this as a basis for planning and supporting further growth.
The testimony that perhaps best encapsulates how Steve works comes from the principal of a school that was in special measures who spoke of how “(Steve’s) way of working with colleagues is subtle and takes people from where they currently are as a starting point.
He has an excellent pedagogical knowledge and brings considerable expertise …. He forms excellent relationships with staff and students and staff and students enjoy working with him. He connects things together – whether this is people with people or people with ideas. He is very modest and enjoys seeing people succeed.
Nina Jackson
Education is a world of very special people but you will meet few as special as Nina ‘Ninja’ Jackson. With a background in mainstream and special needs education and many years’ experience as a pedagogical and pastoral champion, Nina has a breath-taking grasp of what makes classrooms - and all the people in them - tick.
She is a highly creative educator and trainer as well as an Apple teacher and works globally to help teachers embrace learning technology, including those working in a SEND environment. Yet it is her work as an international emotional health and wellbeing ‘ambassador’ for which she is currently most in demand. Whether it’s receiving standing ovations from audiences of school leaders or working with children in their classrooms, Nina brings warmth, humanity, honesty and fun to every environment, making a truly lasting impression wherever she goes.
She is an Associate Director with Independent Thinking and works across the UK as well as in challenging environments in places such as Ghana, Chile and the Middle East. Her latest best-selling book, Of Teaching, Learning and Sherbet Lemons: A Compendium of Careful Advice for Teachers, has helped put the ‘fizz’ back into classrooms for thousands of teachers.
Driver Youth Trust
Anna Taylor
Anna became a SENCo in 2004 and has 14 years' experience in leadership roles in both primary and secondary schools. She is a Specialist Leader in Education (SLE) for SEND and a trained London Leadership Strategy SEND Reviewer.
In these capacities she has experience assessing, recommending and implementing change across schools. In 2017 a year 7 SALT screening initiative which Anna had co-designed won nasen’s ‘Excellent Practice in Secondary School’ national award.
Anna has guest lectured on BEd and PGCE courses at London South Bank University (LSBU) and provided 1:1 support to individual teachers and trainee SENCos. She previously worked in inner London schools and is now based on the South Coast.
Anna is committed to improving the outcomes of children and young people through accurate identification, targeted evidence-based intervention and a person-centred approach.
Resources
