London Borough of Havering Annual 2019 Headteachers’ Conference & Exhibition

Andy Buck – Author and Presenter

A geography teacher by trade, Andy went on to become a headteacher for thirteen years at two schools in east London. In the last year of headship, his school was judged outstanding in all categories and Andy was designated a National Leader of Education. In 2009 he become a Director at the National College for School Leadership, leading on the London Challenge programme. He was subsequently responsible for setting up the government's flagship Teaching Schools programme before being appointed as Managing Director at United Learning, one of the country’s largest academy groups. Since 2014, Andy has founded two organisations: Leadership Matters and #honk. Both aim to improve the educational outcomes for pupils by supporting great leadership development. Leadership Matters is a web-based membership organisation that offers school leaders access to high quality online development tools and other leadership articles, videos and blogs. #honk is the organisation through which Andy works directly with educational leaders on executive coaching, team development, training and conference keynotes. His website honk.org.uk also offers hundreds of free-to-download leadership resources. Andy was invited to become a Fellow of the RSA in 2015 and was made a Founding Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching in 2018. He is also Honorary Vice President at the Geographical Association and Honorary Education Adviser to the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Former board membership has included the Teacher Training Agency, the National College for School Leadership, Partnerships for Schools, the Teacher Development Trust and the Teaching Awards. He was also the Chair of the Education Committee of the education charity, Ambition School Leadership, which was formed from the merger of Future Leaders and Teaching Leaders. Andy has written five educational leadership books: Making School Work - 2007 What Makes a Great School? - 2009 (now in its third edition and eighth reprint) What Makes a Great Middle Leader? A Handbook for Middle Leaders - 2014 What Makes a Great Middle Leadership Team? A Handbook for Senior Leaders - 2015 Leadership Matters - 2016 (now in its third edition)

Dr Pooky Knightsmith - Mental Health Educator, Speaker, Author & Adviser

An internationally respected face of child and adolescent mental health, Pooky works tirelessly to ‘be the change she wants to see’. A prolific keynote speaker, lecturer, trainer and author, she develops and shares practical, evidence-informed approaches to promoting mental health – arming health and education staff with the skills, information and knowledge they need to support the children in their care; whilst also working hard to drive collaboration and change at a national and international level amongst politicians and charity, business and service leads. Pooky has a PhD in Child Mental Health from the Institute of Psychiatry, is the author of five books and is the current Vice Chair of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition. She’s also a Mum of two who works hard every day to win her own battles against PTSD, anorexia, self-harm and depression.

Lord Jim Knight – Chief Education and External Officer at TES Global Ltd

Jim is now the Chief Education Adviser at TES Global, having successfully started its teacher training business, TES Institute. He is also a visiting professor at the UCL Knowledge Lab and a member of the House of Lords. Jim served as an MP from 2001-2009, during which time he was a Minister for Rural Affairs, Schools and then Employment, spending his final year as a Cabinet minister in the Blair Government. Jim is a founder of XRapid Ltd, the first company to sell disease diagnosis commercially via an iPhone app. He is a trustee of the Centre for Accelerating Social Technology, and for Whole Education. Jim is also a member of the Future of Work Commission, established by Tom Watson MP, and the Brookings Institution’s Millions Learning 2.0 Advisory Group.

Sean Harford HMI – National Director, Education (Ofsted)

Sean Harford became Ofsted's National Director, Education, in September 2015. He oversees Ofsted’s inspection policy for early years, maintained, independent and unregistered schools, and further education and skills. Since joining Ofsted as one of Her Majesty's Inspectors in 2003 he has worked in the School Improvement Division, School Inspection Policy and he led on organisational restructuring in 2009. Prior to taking on his current role, Sean was the Regional Director for the East of England and National Director, Schools. He has led section 5 and section 8 inspections of schools in the primary and secondary phases, also specialising in the monitoring of schools in categories of concern. His particular area of subject expertise is in science. Prior to joining Ofsted, Sean held teaching and senior leadership posts in maintained secondary schools. While teaching, he also had a role as the associate adviser for science for a local authority.

Viv Grant - Executive Coach, Author, Public Speaker

Viv is the Director of Integrity Coaching, London’s leading provider of coaching services for Headteachers and senior school leaders. Viv has been in the teaching profession for over thirty years. When she was just 31 and expecting her first child, she was appointed as one of the youngest Heads in the country to turn around a failing primary school. It was because of her experiences as a Head, that Viv developed a deep interest in approaches for supporting the emotional and psychological well-being of school leaders. As an Executive coach, Viv now works extensively with Headteachers and school leaders, helping them to overcome the challenges of their roles, so that they are able to maintain their humanity, joy, love for the profession and the communities they serve. Her book “Staying A Head” is considered a seminal work in this area. Recognised as an expert in the field, she has contributed to various books and periodicals on the subject. As an expert commentator, her contributions have also been featured in The Guardian, London Live, Sky News, Radio Four, Woman’s Hour and the World at One. Viv is also an Advisory Board member of the UK’s first Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools, at the Carnegie School of Education, Leeds University. Prior to setting up Integrity Coaching, Viv worked as a lead consultant on a range of leadership development programmes for the Institute of Education, the National College, the National Union of Teachers [NUT] and the Department for Education [DfE]. Viv is currently involved in research with Leeds Beckett University and the National Education Union (NEU) on ‘The Role of Coaching as a Support Mechanism for Headteachers.’