London Borough of Havering Annual 2020 Headteachers’ Conference & Exhibition

Cat Scutt - Director of Education and Research, Chartered College of Teaching

A former English teacher, Cat’s roles have since focused on supporting teacher development both online and through face-to-face activities, with a particular focus on development through collaboration and through engagement with research and evidence. She has worked in education in both the state and independent sector, as well as in corporate learning and development. Cat leads on the Chartered College of Teaching’s work around teacher development and certification, including the Chartered Teacher programme, and their research activities and publications, including their award-winning peer-reviewed journal, Impact. In addition, Cat is studying part-time for her doctorate at the UCL Institute of Education, looking at school leadership development.

Craig Pinkney - Criminologist and Urban Youth Specialist, Birmingham University

Craig Pinkney is a Criminologist, Urban Youth Specialist, Lecturer at University College Birmingham, UK. Craig is an experienced Youth Worker and academically holds a BA (Hons) in Youth & Community Development, Post Graduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning, Post Graduate Certificate in Research, Masters in Criminology and is currently a PhD Researcher in Social Sciences at Birmingham City University. Craig has over 15 years of experience as an outreach worker, transformational speaker, international gang exit strategist, mediator, mentor and filmmaker. He is well known for working with some of countries most challenging young people, potentially high-risk offenders, victims of gang violence and youth who are deemed most hard to reach. Craig is the UK lead for the EU Gangs Project, an advisor for the Ministry of Justice in Jamaica, an advisor for the West Midlands PCC on Gangs and Youth Violence and full-time lecturer at University College of Birmingham, specialising in youth violence, urban street gangs, social media and violence, trauma and Black men’s desistance.

Gyles Brandreth - Author, Broadcaster, Actor and Public Speaker

Gyles Brandreth is a writer, broadcaster, actor, former MP and Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, and now Chancellor of the University of Chester. A veteran of QI, Have I Got News For You and Celebrity Gogglebox, a reporter on The One Show, a regular on Just a Minute, his many books include The Oscar Wilde Murder Mysteries, two royal biographies, two volumes of diaries and two recent best-sellers: The 7 Secrets of Happiness and his celebration of good English, punctuation, spelling and grammar: Have You Eaten Grandma? He is the founder of the Poetry Together project encouraging younger people and older people to get together to learn poetry by heart (and have tea!) and one of the UK’s most sought-after public speakers. In his time he has worked for, interviewed and met a wide range of leaders of many varieties, including prime ministers, presidents and princes, from Richard Branson to Richard Nixon, from Boris Johnson and Donald Trump to Archbishop Tutu and Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai.

Kate Harris - Co-Founder and Director of Education, Votes for Schools

Kate is the Co-Founder and Director of Education for Votes for Schools. She taught for a number of years in the secondary sector during which she was a school senior leader heading up the community cohesion strategy. Kate has a passion for student voice and making politics relevant to young people. Her mission is simple: give all children access to learn about the social and political issues that affect them and the tools to speak up and have a voice on them - making them informed and engaged citizens of the future. Votes for Schools works with Government departments, charities, celebrities and influencers to continually share what children and young people think about different issues. Votes for Schools was created to give all young people a better knowledge of current affairs and get them voting.

Robert South - Acting Director of Children’s Services, London Borough of Havering

Robert is a qualified social worker with over 25 years of experience and was appointed to the role of DCS for Havering in October 2019. His enthusiasm for work with children, families and young people was sparked through volunteering within his native city of Manchester, and via his own family’s commitment to fostering children. These experiences inspired his passion for working with vulnerable children and young people, and affecting positive change through hope-filled conversations, empowerment and relationship-based early education/help, and collaborative social care interventions. Since 2016, the London Borough of Havering has provided Robert with exciting daily opportunities to work with service users, colleagues across the council and partnerships, and an empowered group of managers and dedicated staff to successfully develop and implement the Face to Face Havering approach. This systemic, strengths-based and relational model of practice has had a marked impact upon improving outcomes for children, young people and families in the Borough by privileging direct work in partnership with families. The difference made to practice and outcomes was formally recognised by Ofsted in June 2018 when the Borough’s provision was seen to have progressed rapidly, moving from a grading of “Requires Improvement” to “Good” in under 2 years.

Sir John Jones - International Speaker, Author, Everton Supporter

Sir John is one of a small, select band of educational professionals who have not only had their achievements recognised in the New Year’s Honours List (2003), but have been able to help and inspire others with their knowledge and passion. One of the most entertaining, inspiring and sought-after speakers on the global educational stage, his achievements and reputation for straight-talking, leadership and creativity have led him to be invited on to a number of panels and think-tanks. When Headteacher of three secondary schools over a period of 17 years, he was asked to join the Government’s Policy Action Team for Neighbourhood Renewal at the Social Exclusion Unit. He was also a member of the Headteachers’ National Focus Group on Truancy and Exclusion and the Excellence in Cities Project at the DfES. Sir John was part of the National Remodelling Team and the Leadership and Development Unit sponsored by the National College for School Leadership. Working part-time at the Centre for Educational Leadership at Manchester University, he presented on a range of programmes as well as designing and delivering a Master’s Course at Liverpool University focused on the leadership of change. A Non-Executive Director on the board of Aintree Hospitals Trust, he was also a Governor of two schools on Merseyside.

Stephen Fraser - Deputy Chief Executive, Education Endowment Foundation

Stephen Fraser is Deputy Chief Executive of the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), an independent charity dedicated to breaking the link between family income and educational achievement. Stephen has spent most of his working life in the Australian education system. He led the development of the Australian Teaching and Learning Toolkit, and has worked as a senior advisor to the Deputy Premier and Minister for Education, as Executive Director of the Victorian Department of Education and Training’s Implementation Division and as Regional Director for the South Western Victoria Region. Since joining the EEF, Stephen has led the development of the EEF’s international partnerships, creating a network of organisations focussed on getting better evidence into the hands of educators globally.