Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead 2022 SEND Conference & Exhibition

Dr Nicola Crossley MEd, MA, NPQH, FCIEA

Director of Education and Children’s Services at the National Autistic Society and NAS Academy Trust, has over 20 years’ experience in education which spans primary, secondary, mainstream and specialist provision and her research interests are in the factors which contribute to educational underachievement. Her current role involves working with schools to enhance the learning experience for all vulnerable learners; however, her specialist interest areas are Autism and Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH). She is a trained Pupil Premium Reviewer, MAT SEND Reviewer, Chartered Educational Assessor and Fellow of the CIEA (Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors). She has previous experience as a Consultant Principal to two Special Academies, as a School Inspector, and has written and led leadership development training for middle and senior leaders in Primary, Secondary and Special education in England, Wales and Jersey. She is the co-author of Inclusion: A Principled Guide for School Leaders, published by Routledge, as part of the NASEN Spotlight series. Nic has contributed to the development of the Whole School SEND MAT Review Guide and was a recent member of the DfE roundtable to improve the availability and use of SEND data from the Get Information about Schools register, a recent member of the ‘Task and Finish’ group for the development of the Early Career Framework from a SEND perspective, and a recent member of the Ofsted and CQC Area SEND Advisory Group. She is currently a Council member for ASCL (Association of School and College Leaders), a member of the Ethics, Inclusion and Equalities Committee, the national SEND representative, and Chair of the Women Leaders’ Network. She is also a member of the Whole School SEND Steering Group and co-founder of the MAT SEND Leaders Group with fellow practitioner Simon Tanner of Bohunt Education Trust. Passionate about improving outcomes for all, Nic is currently a Trustee for the charity Football Beyond Borders, which works to address educational and social exclusion for disadvantaged pupils, and also a Trustee for the Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors, which seeks to improve standards in educational assessment. She is also a member of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Board for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, which is committed to improving access to targeted services in mental health. With a Masters in Educational Leadership and Management and a Masters in Practice-Based Educational Research, Nic is also an Associate Tutor at Leeds Beckett University delivering modules for undergraduates as part of the BSc Educational Psychology and PGCE Primary Education and is an Honorary Teaching fellow at the Centre for Teacher Education at the University of Warwick.

Luke Rodgers BEM

Luke Rodgers began his career by founding Foster Focus, an organisation which provides fostering organisations opportunities to improve services by involving young people. Luke won multiple awards for his work with Foster Focus including the ‘Entrepreneur of Excellence Award’ in 2015 from the National Diversity Awards, the ’Young Social Entrepreneur Award’ in 2014 from Unltd and ‘Children’s Achievement Award’ in 2013 from Children and Young People Now. In 2017 Foster Focus was placed in the list of top10 best global ‘youth development’ companies by The International Youth Foundation. Whilst at Foster Focus, Luke took the organisation to the USA, Europe and nationally in the UK, working with leading organisations in the children’s sector including The Fostering Network, University of Oxford’s Rees Centre, a wide range of Local Authorities and Fostering Agencies and The Department for Education. After the success of Foster Focus, Luke brought his expertise to founding The Care Leaders in order to provide better opportunities to young people in and leaving care. His ambitions are to create a platform for young people to develop their own social enterprises and use their experiences in care as a driving force to move them forward, not hold them back. Most recently Luke was recognised in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours List by being awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) for his commitment to work with children and families.