Child Protection in Education 2016 - Manchester - Speakers

Andrew Gregory

Director of Research and Training, Victvs

He has worked in education since 2001 and as head of faculty, focused on civic education, community cohesion and promoting British values. Andrew has worked as teacher in the UNRWA refugee camps of the occupied West Bank, and developed research into the right to education in fragile states.

Ann Raymond 

Director, Child Protection and Safeguarding Consultancy

Formerly the NSPCC Education Adviser for South West England and national lead Education Adviser for safeguarding disabled children, Ann has extensive experience in supporting children’s services to meet their child protection and safeguarding responsibilities through the provision of specialist consultancy and training.

Dai Durbridge

Partner, Browne Jacobson LLP

Dai specialises in advising schools and academies on all pastoral education issues, including admissions, exclusions, parental complaints, use of force and searching pupils. A recognised safeguarding expert, he regularly supports schools on complex safeguarding issues including handling disclosures of abuse, managing allegations against staff and parental consent.

Katie Michelon

Solicitor, Browne Jacobson LLP

Katie is a solicitor specialising in education law. She advises schools, academies and colleges on matters including governance, admissions, allegations, safeguarding, information sharing, special educational needs and complaints. She regularly speaks at conferences and seminars on these topics, as well as delivering bespoke training and writing articles and briefing notes for the sector.

Kat Howard

Kat Howard has been involved in the education industry for over 13 years. She is a Senior Educational Consultant and is RM‘s Lead educationalist for Online Safety. During her time as a teacher she taught in primary, secondary and the independent sector. She has consulted with many schools to develop their understanding of Online Safety and supported school leadership teams to implement and embed policies, procedures, training and committees. She is passionate about the importance of Online Safety in schools and the wider community and supports schools with advice and support on a day to day basis.

Martin Baker

Director, One Team Logic

Together with Mike Glanville, Martin is one of the founding Directors of One Team Logic, the creators of MyConcern®, a safeguarding software solution for education. Martin's previous career was in policing, during which he served in both uniform and detective roles in five UK police forces (including the Metropolitan Police). He is an experienced school governor and is also a Board member of a Multi-Academy Trust.

Matt Miller

National Leader of Governance Advocate

Matt was selected in the first cohort of National Leaders of Governance (NLG) in March 2012 and have been mentoring and coaching Chairs of Governors in schools across north and east London as part of the ‘System Leadership’ programme run by the National College for Teaching and Leadership. His work also involves developing and improving governing bodies through a process of training workshops and supported self-reviews, and through external reviews of governance recommended by Ofsted.

Richard Hewitt

Senior Associate, Veale Wasbrough Vizards

Richard has worked exclusively with schools and education charities both locally and nationally for several years now and advises on a wide range of employment law issues. Richard assists organisations with safeguarding matters and inspection compliance and is acutely aware of the fundamental significance of dealing with such issues quickly, fairly and accurately.

Yvonne Spencer

Partner, Veale Wasbrough Vizards

Having worked for many years advising schools on child protection, inspection and regulation, SEN and equality, serious disciplinary incidents, complex complaints, reputation management and the media, Yvonne is well placed to assist schools when complex and often unforeseen incidents occur. She also leads on Veale Wasbrough Vizards work with academies and maintained schools and has overseen over 200 academy conversion projects.

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Gain one-to-one legal advice on your specific challenges and ensure your concerns are answered in a confidential environment. 

Contact james.allen@optimus-education.com to secure your slot - limited places available!