East London and Essex Education Conference and Exhibition 2022

Dai Durbridge - Browne Jacobson LLP

Dai is based in Browne Jacobson’s Manchester office and heads up the firm’s education team in the North West. He advises schools, academies and colleges on frontline education matters, including school admissions and exclusions, parental complaints, disqualification from childcare settings and GDPR. He is also a leading expert on safeguarding in education, chairing and speaking at numerous national conferences and writing articles and providing comment for the sector and national press. From supporting schools with allegations made against staff, peer on peer abuse and student mental health issues, to serious case reviews and Ofsted inspections Dai has been on hand to help schools with the full range of safeguarding challenges.

Hope Virgo

Author and Mental Health Speaker. Hope is the Author of Stand Tall Little Girl, and a multi award winning international leading advocate for people with eating disorders. Hope helps young people and employers (including schools, hospitals and businesses) to deal with the rising tide of mental health issues which affect one in four people and costs employers between £33 and £42 billion annually. She has been described by Richard Mitchell, CEO of Sherwood Forest Hospital, as "sharing a very powerful story with a huge impact". Hope is also a recognised media spokesperson, having appeared on various platforms including BBC Newsnight, Victoria Derbyshire, Good Morning Britain, Sky News and BBC News. For four years, Hope managed to keep it hidden, keeping dark secrets from friends and family. But then, on 17th November 2007, Hope's world changed forever. She was admitted to a mental health hospital. Her skin was yellowing, her heart was failing. She was barely recognizable. Forced to leave her family and friends, the hospital became her home. Over the next year, at her lowest ebb, Hope faced the biggest challenge of her life. She had to find the courage to beat her anorexia.

John Galloway

John is a specialist in the use of technology to support the inclusion of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). His work has covered all phases of schools and the full range of SEND. John has worked with schools and local authorities across the country, and recently retired from Tower Hamlets where he was Advisory Teacher for ICT/SEN and Inclusion. He has developed and delivered CPD at every level, including post-graduate, and spoken at conferences in the UK and abroad. He has written a number of books and many articles that have appeared in TES, Guardian, Special Children, SECED, and Special World. His several books include co-authoring, ‘Learning with Mobile and Handheld Technologies’ – winner of Best Book in the 2015 Technology and Innovation Awards.

Kriss Akabusi MBE

Olympian, media personality, motivational speaker and businessman. Kriss rose to fame on the athletics track, having begun his international athletics career in 1983 as a member of the 4 x 400 metre relay squad. He will always be remembered for helping Great Britain clinch gold from the mighty Americans at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo. Having amassed three Olympic medals, as well as World, European and Commonwealth titles, Kriss was bestowed with an even greater honour in 1992: an MBE awarded by her Majesty the Queen in recognition of his services to the country through athletics. Kriss is also a qualified life coach, having earned his Masters in existential coaching.

Matthew Burton

Matthew isn't your ordinary television celebrity. He isn't a singer or an actor, but a teacher who won the hearts of the nation on the hit Channel 4 documentary TV show, Educating Yorkshire. An event featuring Matthew is candid and authentic, as this genuine individual's passion for teaching is infectious. When the show started, Matthew was the Assistant Headteacher and the English teacher at Thornhill Academy, but his love for his students' future has led to him becoming the appointed headteacher. Matthew has stated that people assume the TV show is the highlight of his career, but for him, it is his students' success that makes his hard work worthwhile. One of the pinnacle moments on the show was when a student with dyslexia flawlessly recounted a poem with Matthew's help, who was inspired by The King's Speech. When he reflected on the moment, Matthew described how it was "a symbol of the bond between a teacher and a student". In his motivational speeches, Matthew explores this moment in his career, discussing how it was the pinnacle in his understanding of the power of teaching. Matthew leads workshops on all things teaching - from getting the most out of an academically challenged child to maintaining order in a chaotic classroom. His hands-on presentations are honest and can drastically alter other people's perspective. Taking examples from his own work as a teacher, Matthew will offer tried and tested strategies to ensure both success and wellbeing for students, as he believes that you can't have one without the other. As an expert on academia, Matthew is also a popular keynote speaker, regularly booked for teaching events up and down the country. He has dedicated his life to raising the aspirations of the next generation, a sentiment that he inspires in his audience. He believes that no matter where a child is from, whether born in a privileged or underprivileged area, they all deserve to have the same opportunities, pride in themselves and dreams for their future.