Speakers

Jo Warner

Assistant Director of Education, Church of England Dioceses of Newcastle & Durham

Jo Warner is Assistant Director of Education (with responsibility for school effectiveness) for the Church of England Dioceses of Newcastle and Durham. She works with primary, secondary and special schools, offering support and challenge to leaders, including governors and staff. This includes work on vision and values, curriculum, behaviour, the wider, holistic development of pupils and effective leadership. Jo is an Ofsted and SIAMS inspector. Jo started teaching over thirty five years ago, working as a headteacher of four schools in the North East. Jo is also a chair of governors in a three-form entry primary school in Sunderland.

Neil Collins

Director of GovernorHub at The Key Support

Aaron King

SEND Consultant, 9000 Lives

A former lead of SEND provisions, Aaron headed a team of 50 working to give pupils a second chance at mainstream education. This included pupils with mental health needs, autism, behaviour and learning difficulties.

Aaron now supports vulnerable pupils more widely. This often includes schools in Ofsted categories (mainstream and special) and Aaron’s guidance helps them return to ‘good’ as soon as possible. His work also includes good schools simply wanting to be even better.
A governor for almost 20 years, he is now a governor at an outstanding school in Sheffield. 
He has written for TES and also has published journal work.

Nicola West Jones

Director of Insights and External Relations, The Key 

Nicola is the Director of Insights and External Relations at The Key group, which collectively supports around 19,000 schools with leadership, governance (including GovernorHub) and MIS (Arbor and ScholarPack). She has led research into topics such as rural schools, governor diversity and trust growth, which have featured on the BBC, the broadsheets and trade press. She has worked in the education sector for over 20 years, including in NYC, at a major charity and as a primary school teacher, and prior to that worked in the corporate sector. She has been a school governor since 2009 and is currently vice chair of a primary school in Lewisham, South East London.

Ben Willetts

Content and Insights Specialist Insights Team, Edurio

Ben is a Content and Insights Specialist in the Insights Team at Edurio, which provides stakeholder surveys for over 300 Trusts/ 2300 schools. He has worked at Edurio since August 2022 and is working on multiple projects, including The Pupil Safeguarding Review. He writes Edurio's Blogs on various educational topics and relevant sector news. He has worked in the Education Sector for six years, working in schools, private tuition, and for Bristol City Council.

Tom Martell

Director, NELT Institute

Tom supports teacher development and school improvement with a particular emphasis on using research evidence to inform decision-making. Tom is an experienced governor across primary and secondary schools.

Lousie Castle

Senior Associate, StoneKings LLP

Louise is a Senior Associate in the Education Team at Stone King, with many years’ experience working in the education sector. Her more recent experience includes advising in connection with academy trust mergers, academy transfer projects, sponsored and converter academy conversions, as well as PFI, UTC and free school projects. Louise regularly delivers training to support education clients in the education sector, including on key developments and online training to support academy trust clients