Past Event

Catherine McKinnell

MP

Catherine McKinnell is the Labour MP for Newcastle Upon Tyne, and has been an MP continually since 6 May 2010. She currently holds the Government post of Minister of State (Education).

Professor Paul McGee

The Sumo Guy

Paul McGee is an expert in human behaviour and performance and is a visiting Professor at the University of Chester.  He's spoken for over 1,000 organisations worldwide, from international conferences to individual work with elite athletes.

His bespoke messages have resonated with global brands including Harrods, GSK, Adidas, Virgin, The NHS, LLoyds Bank and Manchester City.

Katherine Cowell

Regional Schools Director for the North East, Department for Education

Katherine Cowell started in her role as Regional Director for the North East in July 2022 as part of a change programme within the Department of Education to bring improvement and intervention in SEND and CSC together with the stewardship of the schools system.

Prior to this Katherine was Regional Schools Commissioner for North in May 2020, following an interim position since July 2019.

Katherine is an experienced civil servant with a broad range of experience including:

 an area director within the Cities and Local Growth Unit
 FE and skills policy
 an education advisor in the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit

Andy Brown

CEO, Ad Astra Academy Trust

Andy has been in education for 45 years, he received the OBE in the 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to education. He is currently CEO of Ad Astra Academy Trust and previously a National Leader of Education and Headteacher for 21 years. He has worked as a consultant for the DfE and formally the National College of School Leadership. He is also a Trustee of Darlington Football Club Foundation.

Jennifer Duncan

Deputy CEO and Executive Head Teacher, Discovery Special Academy and SEND, Tees Valley Education

Jennifer has 25 years+ experience in serving a range of mainstream and specialist educational establishments at a school, Local Authority, and system level, where she has been committed to championing inclusion, opportunity, and life chances for all.

Kieran McGrane

CEO, Pele Trust & Schools North East Trustee

Kieran trained as a PE teacher at Loughborough University before starting his first teaching post in Northumberland. After a period of time studying in the USA, Kieran returned to England teaching in Durham before being appointed as Head of PE at Ashington High.

Over a period of 6 years Kieran moved from middle leadership to Deputy Headteacher before being appointed as Principal of Bedlingtonshire Community High School for the 2006-07 academic year. In September 2012 he moved to take up his second headship at Ponteland High School. In February 2019, Kieran was appointed CEO of Pele Trust; a Multi Academy Trust comprising six schools in the Ponteland area (five primary and one secondary school).

Anita Bath

CEO, Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust

Originally from the Southeast, Anita moved to the Northeast in 1988 where she began her career as an English teacher.  She was appointed headteacher of Sacred Heart High School for girls in Newcastle which became a sponsor academy in 2017 and a Trust of 3 schools.   In October 2019 the MAT began to expand rapidly.  By July 2022, Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust was a community of 39 schools.  Anita is a fellow of the RSA and currently sits on the Advisory Board for the region

Rob Coe

Director of Research and Development at Evidence Based Education and Senior Associate at the Education Endowment Foundation

Rob was previously Professor of Education and Director of the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring (CEM) at Durham University, and before that a secondary mathematics teacher.

Rob has contributed to a number of influential reports, including EBE’s Great Teaching Toolkit: Evidence Review, the Sutton Trust’s What Makes Great Teaching?, the Education Endowment Foundation’s Teaching and Learning Toolkit, and the Teacher Development Trust’s Developing Great Teaching. He is a member of advisory groups for a wide range of educational organisations.

Allyson Eden

SENCO and Base Lead, Tees Valley Education

Ally has 20 years of experience in a range of mainstream schools in both the private and maintained sectors. She has been a SENDCo across multiple phases from Early Years to Key stage 4. Four years ago, Ally made the move to unit provision within a mainstream primary where she now holds the post of SENDCo and Base Lead.

Gareth Edmunds

Chief Operating & Financial Officer and Trust Secretary, Northern Education Trust

Gareth has worked for over twenty years within the public, commercial and voluntary sectors.  Experienced in successfully leading corporate services and governance structures he has recently had the opportunity to act as a seconded CEO/Accounting Officer in a mixed-phased trust. He is CIMA, CIPA, Prince2 and CIPD qualified.  Gareth joined Northern Education Trust in 2013 as a Director and progressed in 2019 to lead a wider range of corporate services and governance responsibilities as the Chief Operating and Financial Officer and Trust Secretary.

Gareth has held several Non-Executive Director posts and in 2016 co-founded the North of England Schools and Academies Forum (NESAF).  In 2018 Gareth was recognised at the North East Accountancy Awards as Director of Finance of the Year.

Tracy Hanger

Assistant Headteacher, SEND unit, Tees Valley Education

Tracy has 20 years+  experience in serving a range of mainstream schools across all phases. As an Early Years Specialist she wanted to extend her expertise into special and unit provisions, where she strives to ensure inclusion for all.

Paul Harrison

IT Manager, Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust

Paul Harrison, currently serving as the IT Manager at Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust, brings over two decades of expertise in education-based IT roles across both private and public sectors.

His career is marked by a strong focus on developing comprehensive digital strategies, meticulous cyber planning, and securing IT infrastructure. With a keen insight into the evolving landscape of educational technology, Paul has been instrumental in ensuring robust and secure digital environments in his various roles, underpinning his commitment to enhancing the educational experience through technology.

Sue Lister

COO, Ad Astra Academy Trust

Sue has been the Chief Operating Officer for Ad Astra since 2015, leading the business function of the Trust from the first initial school, to what is due to be eight primary schools in February 2024.

She has worked in the business aspect of the public sector for 27 years in the civil service, a Local Authority, the police, and latterly in education for the last 20 years. She is also keen to contribute to the wider system and as such is a Chair of Governors in a catholic primary school in Hartlepool.

Ernest Jenavs

CEO, Edurio

Ernest is the CEO of Edurio, England’s leading stakeholder feedback platform for schools and school trusts. He is a frequent public speaker both in the UK and internationally on effective use of stakeholder feedback in schools and has published extensive research on stakeholder feedback, staff wellbeing and school improvement.

Chris Zarraga

Director, Schools North East

Chris has been part of the Schools North East team since its inception in 2007 and in 2019 he was appointed Director.

Chris works with other leaders across the North East, the education sector and charity sector to represent the voice of North East schools, and lobby policy makers to ensure that the North East is not left behind when it comes to education policy. Chris has overseen the launch of the Ednorth evidence-based excellence programme, as well as the partnership with SHINE bringing over £500,000 worth of funding to North East schools.

Under Chris, Schools North East has moved to a greater focus on lobbying around education policy, with the launch of the Manifesto for North East Education in December 2019. As well as being a trustee of a local MAT, Chris sits on various boards including the board for Opportunity North East. Prior to joining Schools North East, Chris worked with over 165 schools in the North East and various education organisations including local authorities, Excellence Partnerships, 14-19 Groups, the Specialist Schools & Academies Trust, and School Improvement Officers. He led a large scale culture change project in education across the North East and was the development consultant for the LEGI funded Wansbeck Enterprise Education Network.