Engagement & Progress in Reception - Speakers

Neil Farmer
Independent Early Years Adviser

Neil is an independent educational consultant supporting schools and setting development across London, the Midlands and the South East.  He is also an improvement Adviser to a number of schools and Early Years settings in the Middle East.

Andrea Hamshaw 
Lead Adviser for the Leading Parent Partnership Award (LPPA)

Andrea is a lead Adviser at Prospects for the LPPA, which recognises and celebrates school commitments to parental engagement. 

Leah Morris
EYFS Manager, Richmond Avenue Primary School and Nursery School

Leah began her career in Richmond twenty years ago as a parent volunteer and then teaching assistant, before qualifying as a teacher.  Her child-centered, play-based approach is shared with the numerous practitioners that come from a variety of early years settings and schools to experience best practice in action,

Linda O'Callaghan
Executive Headteacher, St Mary's Catholic Primary Schools Trust

Linda is the Executive Headteacher of a successful Multi-Academy Trust in South London.  She also supports other schools and settings as a consultant and, as the Headteacher of an outstanding infant school, has a particular interest and expertise in Early Years and KS1

Heather Rick
Early Years and Literacy Consultant

After teaching in primary schools and working in a literacy centre, Heather worked as an early years consultant for fifteen years.  First as a 'communication, language and literacy' consultant, then expanding to incorporate training and school support across the range of teaching and learning in early years, developing tools and techniques (such as ELIP) to support those efforts.

Ruth Swailes
School Improvement Adviser

Ruth has over twenty years of experience in senior leadership roles in primary schools including Headship and as a Local Authority Early Years and School Improvement Advisor. Ruth is passionate about Early Years, having taught in this phase for most of her career, and currently combines her part time school improvement advisor role with national consultancy, inspection and advisory work.

Victoria Mitchell
Early Years Lead, St Mary's Catholic Primary Schools Trust

Vicky Mitchell is an Assistant Head of an Infant School and has been working across the Early Years for 13 years. She is a local authority moderator and has supported many other Early Years throughout the country..