SNE Event

Rt Hon Justine Greening

Former Secretary of State for Education & Chair, The Purpose Coalition

Justine is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity, she championed social mobility as Secretary of State for Education, embedding it at the heart of the Department for Education's strategy. Recognising the transformative power of access to opportunities, Justine founded The Purpose Coalition, uniting business leaders, public sector figures, educators, and policymakers to create pathways for all. Through the Purpose Goals, an innovative framework for purpose-driven organizations, they promote collaboration, best practice sharing, and measurable impact on social mobility and social progress. Currently Joint Chancellor of the University of Southampton and Chair of the Sutton Trust Education Advisory Panel, she served as Member of Parliament for Putney, Roehampton & Southfields for 14 years, including six years in the UK Cabinet under two Prime Ministers. Justines cabinet roles encompassed Education, International Development, Transport, Treasury, and Equalities. Before politics, she spent 15 years as a finance professional in business and industry and now serves as a Non-Executive Director at On The Beach plc.

Tom Rees

Chief Executive, Ormiston Academies Trust

Before Ormiston, Tom was Executive Director for Programmes at Ambition Institute, an education charity providing professional development for teachers, school leaders and system leaders serving children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Tom was a headteacher for ten years and then the Education Director of a medium size Multi-Academy Trust before joining Ambition.

He served on the Regional School Commisioner's headteacher board for the North West London and South Central region and remains a trustee at two Multi Academy Trusts. A former Advanced Skills Teacher with 17 years of school leadership across different contexts and countries, Tom also experienced life in industry via an 18 month secondment in the EdTech industry working alongside schools, academies, local authorities and multi-national companies.

Leora Cruddas

Chief Executive, Confederation of School Trusts (CST)

Leora Cruddas CBE is the founding Chief Executive of the Confederation of School Trusts – the national organisation and sector body for academy trusts in England.  She is a teacher and has spent many years working at director level in local government. She is Visiting Professor at UCL Institute of Education. Leora was awarded a CBE in the New Year’s Honours, 2022.

Michael Heppell

Speaker, Coach & Author

Sunday Times No.1 best-selling author. Success coach to Davina McCall, Patrick Kielty, Simon Woodroffe, Sara Cox and hundreds of others who want brilliance as their benchmark.

https://www.michaelheppell.com/

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

Paul Green

Head of Opportunity North East

Paul is the Head of the Opportunity North East programme at the Department for Education. He originally trained as a maths teacher and taught in the North East and Eritrea. Before joining the department, Paul worked for several education charities including Teach First and One World Network North East.

Paul Whiteman

General Secretary, NAHT

Paul Whiteman took over as General Secretary of NAHT in September 2017.  NAHT represents the majority of school leaders in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Paul leads all of NAHT’s campaigns to improve schools for everyone, including the campaigns to achieve a fair funding settlement for schools, improving the systems of accountability and improving the recruitment and retention of teachers and leaders.  

Prior to taking over as general secretary, Paul was NAHT’s director of representation and advice, a post he held for five years. The representation and advice team includes regional officers, organisers, the advice team and the legal team, helping to promote NAHT’s voice across the country while providing highly-regarded assistance and protection to members when needed.

Before joining NAHT, Paul spent a decade as a national official at the FDA, the union for civil servants. He has a first-class grasp of education issues as well as many years’ experience in the wider trade union movement.

Dr Jill Berry

Leadership Development Consultant, Author & Education Commentator

Jill taught for thirty years across six different schools in the UK, state and independent, and she taught adults to GCSE and A level in the evenings for several years.  She was a head for the last ten years of her time in schools.  Since 2010 she has completed a doctorate, researching the transition to headship, written a book about it: 'Making the Leap - Moving from Deputy to Head' (Crown House, 2016) https://www.crownhouse.co.uk/publications/making-the-leap, and carried out an extensive range of leadership development work. 

She has given a TEDx presentation, ‘Take a Second Look: Bring Out the Best in Yourself and Others’: https://www.ted.com/talks/jill_berry_take_a_second_look_bring_out_the_best_in_yourself_and_others and she has published four novels: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/author/B01JSM9UXI

Jill is an advocate for the opportunities presented by social media for networking and professional development, on Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/jillberry102, on Bluesky: @jillberry102.bsky.social, on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-jill-berry-a5a55a21/ and blogging about education at https://jillberry102.blog/

Kath Hull

Chief Financial & Operations Officer, Lingfield Education Trust

Kath is the Chief Financial and Operations Officer for Lingfield Education Trust. She is a CIMA qualified accountant with over 20 years financial experience within the education and commercial
sector. She joined Lingfield Trust as a Finance Director in 2018 before progressing to her current position of CFOO where her remit expanded to include HR, Estates, H&S, Governance and Compliance.

She has led central services through a period of significant growth for the trust, and believes passionately in ensuring that high quality central services support schools and the wider communities. Her vision is to align resources to the strategic priorities of the trust, to ensure
finances are an enabler, and not a block, to achieving the key objectives for our pupils.

During her career Kath has also gained experience in HR, H&S, Governance and Compliance and holds qualifications in CIPD, SBM, Procurement, as well as coaching and mentoring.

Nick Blackburn MBE FRSA

CEO, Lingfield Education Trust

Prior to his move into school leadership positions in London, Nick was a Local Authority Lead Teacher for Numeracy, Literacy & Inclusion and provided exemplar/modelling of best practice for the National Strategies.  He also sat on the DfE National Strategies Steering Group as a teacher representative.

Following two deputy headships, one in Kings Cross, London, then in Darlington, he became a substantive Headteacher in 2007. In 2012 he became Executive Headteacher of two primary schools and subsequently led on the formation of Lingfield Education Trust.

He has successfully coached and developed leaders at all levels in schools and has a strength and a great track record in supporting leadership in schools that are in challenging circumstances.

He brings a very strong set of personal values coupled with very strong sector experience. Nick is very outward facing in leadership and has undertaken a wide range of roles across the sector from Peer Support to Quality Assurance of National Leadership Programmes and NPQEL Programme Delivery & Development. He has led & facilitated a number of TSIO projects in the sector set and has undertaken a wide range of mentoring activities for new CEOs and school leaders.

Nick is Founding Trustee of North East Wellbeing, a charity dedicated to building emotionally healthy school communities thorough high quality services. He is also a member of HMP Independent Monitoring Board and volunteers as an advocate for local refugee families.

Phil Latham

CEO, Endeavour Academies Trust

Phil is the Chief Executive of Endeavour Academies. He has worked in education for 27 years and was Principal of Macmillan Academy for 10 years. He holds a National Professional Qualification for both headship (NPQH) and executive leadership (NPQEL). He has worked as a National Leader of Education (NLE) and currently sits the advisory board for Schools North East, Campus School Teaching Alliance (CSTA) and is a governor of XP Gateshead.

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.

Glenn Sanderson

Chief Standards Officer, Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust

Glenn is A Chief Standards Officer for Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust which is Multi Academy Trust of 30 schools (5 secondary, 25 primary). With 27 years in education, Glenn's career began as a science teacher, advancing through diverse leadership roles that paved the way to headship. He served as a Headteacher for five years and later as an Executive Headteacher for two of the Trust's largest schools. Known for his focus on transformational change, Glenn brings expertise in strategic planning, curriculum development, and data-driven insights. Currently, he works across all phases of education within the Trust, dedicated to enhancing education quality and driving strong academic outcomes.

Sarah Burns

Co Founder & Director, Data2Action

Sarah is a professional strategic leader with extensive operational and organisation transformation experience across industry sectors. After spending most of her career in the Customer Service industry leading large teams across many continents Sarah setup Data Data2Action alongside her business partner Jason Turner.

Data2action provide Data Compliance (GDPR / DPO) and Data and Insight services to the education sector where their ambitions are to equip Trust/school leaders with the capability and culture to unleash true value from their data.

Dr Kimberley Hardcastle

Assistant Professor, Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University

Kimberley is an Assistant Professor in Marketing at Newcastle Business School (AACSB), Northumbria University, leading one of the largest Business & Marketing degree programmes in the North of England. Prior to entering academia, she has worked in various marketing and business management roles in the F & B service sector. She has a PhD in Marketing and is a researcher, writer, speaker & advisor in branding, sustainable consumer behaviour, AI, algorithms & platforms.

In particular, she is keen to understand how brands can use successfully proven influential buyer strategies to help consumers create good sustainable habits, her research also extends to examining the societal implications of emerging technologies. Her work has been published at several international conferences and in peer reviewed journals. Whilst working at the Newcastle Business School (AACSB), Kimberley has directly supported and trained many SMEs through European Regional Development Funding. As part of her leadership roles, Kimberley is Programme Leader for BA (Hons) Business and Marketing and leads on the Branding module on the MSc Marketing Programme & the Digital Campaign Management & Media module on the MSc Digital Marketing.

Kimberley is an external examiner at Bournemouth University for Programmes MSc Marketing Management & MSc Marketing and User Experience. She is also a reviewer for the Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, Journal of Consumer Behaviour, Journal of Marketing Management and the Academy of Marketing Science. Kimberley has been awarded Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy and has been a nominated finalist for the Student Led Teaching Awards numerous times. Kimberley is on the judging panel for the prestigious Effie Awards UK, The Prolific North Marketing Awards & The North East Marketing Awards. Her current projects include The Responsible Development of AI and the societal implications of this in the North East.

Kimberley is working with North East partners to understand how we can adopt a citizen well-being approach to safeguarding and upskilling the region to ensure the NE is not left behind with emerging technology. Kimberley initiated such discussions after organising and delivering the first 'The North East AI Safety Summit' October 2023, which aimed to articulate a regional voice on the opportunities & threats of AI, & the responsible development of AI for NE industries, businesses & individuals with the intention of informing policy and the first Global Summit. Kimberley's business and marketing expertise resonate beyond academia as she is also a contributor at the World Advertising Research Centre (WARC).

Tracey Field

Director of Strategy and Projects, James Carson Construction Group

Tracey is currently employed Director of Strategy and Projects, James Carson Construction Group. Tracey's previous employment includes Estates Manager for Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust where she managed a portfolio of 30 schools, ensuring they remained safe, operational and fit for purpose to serve their young people and the communities they serve. Tracey has over 20 years of experience in the UK and overseas, holding leadership roles in organisations such as LADOL in Nigeria, Interserve Defence in The Falkland Islands, The Royal Household, The Bedford Estates and other local authority sectors where she successfully led and executed complex projects, managed teams, optimised operational efficiency and implemented innovative solutions and strategic initiatives.

Tracey has a degree in Construction Management, a Chartered Fellow with the Chartered Institute of Building (FCIOB), achieved the IEMA Foundation Certificate in environmental management and the NEBOSH General Certificate in health and safety. She is passionate about fostering collaborative relationships, appreciating that there is always something to learn that supports improvements.

Gary Lee

Deputy Chief Financial Officer, Northern Education Trust

Gary joined Northern Education Trust in 2013 as the accountant for academies and supported the
Director of Finance in developing the finance systems and processes of NET, introducing new financial policies and procedures. In 2017 the trust restructured its finance team and appointed Gary
as Head of Finance.

Gary has overseen the transition from individual academy finance officers to a full central finance function introducing a new financial system, whilst continuing to deliver year on year a surplus budget and unqualified set of financial statements. In 2021, Gary’s role was expanded to include Procurement and was given the title of Director of Finance and Procurement.

In 2023 Gary was given the opportunity to act as the Chief Financial Officer on a temporary basis, whilst the substantive post holder was seconded to an external role. Gary works both locally and nationally with other directors of finance to support and advise on national finance topics and policies and has presented to both the Queens Street Finance Experts Group and the ESFA supported Working Group 2.

Gary has a background in local authority finance, with over 20 years previous experience in
accountancy, including a range of skills and knowledge in Treasury Management, Schools, Revenue
and Capital Funding and system development.

Warren Porter

Head of Education Strategy, IMP Software

Warren Porter is IMP Software’s Head of Education Strategy. Warren gained his chartered accountancy qualification whilst working at a 20+ school primary MAT, before moving on to become CFO at a Special/AP Trust in Derbyshire.

In his role at IMP, he analyses sector developments and trends, and works closely with customers to ensures that IMP’s financial management tools continually evolve to support smarter MAT finance.

Graham Vials

Head of Education Law, Ward Hadaway

Graham specialises in providing commercial advice to predominantly employer clients, advising on a full range of contentious and non-contentious employment matters to a variety of private and public sector clients, ranging from owner-managed businesses to large national companies, schools and academies and government departments and local authorities.

Graham provides pragmatic and strategic advice in respect of all day to day HR and employment related matters and has expertise in all aspects of employment law.

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.