School Attendance Digital Conference

Karen Stewart is part of the NASWE leadership team (National Association of Support Workers in Education) a professional association which promotes children’s welfare and school attendance regularly meeting with the DFE.

Currently serving as Strategic Lead for Attendance within a Local Authority conducting Targeted Support Meetings, supporting schools with strategies to raise attendance and close the gaps between different groups of students through analysis of systems, procedures and effective use of data to improve their attendance in line with Working Together to Improve Attendance.

Karen has over 20 years’ experience working in a school environment as Governor, Deputy DSL (Designated Safeguarding Lead) and Education Welfare Officer working in collaboration with a range of professionals from other disciplines. She is passionate about fostering discussions that drive innovation and impactful change.

Jayne Lowe OBE is an experienced practitioner and strategic leader, who has successfully developed and implemented strategy and leading practice with the DfE, local authorities, schools, colleges and independent providers.

Jayne has worked as a practitioner and leader as a teacher in mainstream, special ad PRU settings, SENDCO, PRU Headteacher, Local Authority Strategic Leader and DfE Adviser.

Jayne’s current portfolio includes.

Attendance Advisor to the DfE

Education Advisor to the Youth Custody Service

School Improvement and Safeguarding Adviser to around 75 schools

Panel member of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel for DfE

Warren Carratt is Chief Executive Officer of Nexus MAT, a trust providing education to children across the South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire regions, with a majority of special schools. A “first generation” CEO, Warren was recruited to post following national advert in 2015. Since August 2022, Warren has also been the CEO of the Evolve Trust, a failed MAT which he was appointed to lead with the specific brief of re-brokering its academies so that the Trust could be closed.

Warren has not come intro Trust leadership through the Headteacher route, instead having a background in local government and the NHS.

Warren is a sitting Magistrate on the Yorkshire & Humber bench, and is also an independent member of the Police & Crime Panel, a statutory body which holds the South Yorkshire Mayor to account. He is an advisory member to the Staff College, and is also a member of the Department for Education’s Attendance Action Alliance.

My name is Patrick Ackason and I am the Education Welfare Service Team Manager for Lambeth. I currently manage a team of 8 Education Welfare Officers (EWOs), 1.5 EWO/Family Support workers  and 2 support staff and in addition to this, I am the Pan-London Attendance Chair  and a representative for the Association of Educational Welfare Managers, Greater London

I have been working in the field of attendance since 2004. Initially as a learning mentor in a primary school, who oversaw attendance, until moving on to become an EWO in an east London local authority in 2007. During the austerity period of 2010, when the Education Welfare Services (EWS) were disbanded, I became an Attendance lead for a locality before progressing to become an Early Intervention Worker and Family Support Worker.  My passion for attendance brought me to Lambeth, as an EWO in 2013.

In 2014,  I became Lambeth’s attendance lead. Prior to the Covid-19 Pandemic, Lambeth’s attendance was in line or above the national average. Post Covid-19, Lambeth’s attendance  has been in line with or in some instances above average for the inner London area, but slightly lower than the national average.

I am proud of the fact that for the last academic year (2024/25), the gap was closed for primary  and secondary school attendance, which was above the national average. My aspiration is for Lambeth’s schools’ attendance to be consistently above the national average.

As a member of Lambeth’s successful SAFE task force, which  focuses on providing targeted support to young people aged 10-14, at risk of being drawn into serious youth violence, I play an intrinsic part in improving attendance, behaviour, and engagement in education, helping the young people to avoid negative outcomes like truancy, exclusion, and involvement in criminal activity.

As attendance becomes more data led, one of my key strengths is being able to contextualise data, in order to understand the issues impacting on attendance. Having an in-depth understanding of the issues which affect Lambeth has allowed me to lead and drive on Lambeth’s Education neglect strategy.

On a personal note, I believe that health is wealth. I am regularly in the gym and am an avid Liverpool supporter.

Edwina Langley is a qualified social worker with over 30 years’ experience working in education.  A background initially in residential care, then child protection assessment, and therapeutic approaches led her to change course and develop her passion for helping children to access the education entitlement  to which they are legally entitled.

Years of working as an Education Social Worker in Birmingham, including using legal intervention as a last resort, gave her the drive to look at a more preventative approach and she began working strategically with schools.  Edwina then trained with the National Strategies team as a Behaviour and Attendance Advisor in Birmingham, and she then worked across the city supporting schools to develop whole school approaches and collaborative working with other schools and partner agencies to improve attendance and therefore the outcomes for vulnerable children.

In 2016 Edwina became the Lead Attendance Officer for Birmingham City Council and reintroduced early help strategies into the procedures schools were using to improve attendance with individual children.  She was then privileged to be part of the DfE Local Authority Advisory Attendance group, working directly with the DfE policy team to develop ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ as well as being involved in consultations on changes to school attendance legislation etc.  During this time, Edwina was Chair of the Network for Legal Intervention in Education but since May 2025 has been the President of the Association of Education Welfare Management.

In 2023 Edwina was awarded an MBE for Services to Education.

Edwina is a devoted grandmother to her 2 year old grandson (who is the cutest child in the whole universe) and is a passionate advocate for adoption.

Ian was a teacher for 25 years and a senior leader specialising in pastoral care and attendance for 14 years before joining Star Academies in 2018. He has worked for Star Academies as its Attendance Improvement Lead for six years. In that time the Trust’s strategy has been continually refined and developed so that a comprehensive package of support that is available to Star schools. Elements of this were shared and included in the national attendance toolkit.

Ian has presented in two of the DfE’s best practice webinars on behalf of Star Academies and continues to present at conferences both in person and online for example The Greater Manchester Attendance Conference on behalf of the Children’s Commissioner in July 2024 and at the West Midlands Transforming Attendance RISE Conference in March 2025.

Star Academy schools have continued to have some of the best attendance statistics in the country both pre and post pandemic. Despite a period of significant national challenge, many Star schools regularly achieve attendance rates in the top 1% of the country.

Paul Haigh is headteacher since 2016 of King Ecgbert School in Sheffield at the heart of the Mercia Learning Trust. King Ecgbert is a large and inclusive 11-18 school rated outstanding in all areas by Ofsted (November 2024). He is also a DfE RISE adviser, member of ASCL council and editorial consultant and podcaster for SecEd. Bridgette Phillipson said King Ecgbert School is “proof it can be done” with reference to high standards with inclusion in March 2025.

Charlotte is an Executive Leader for the Community Schools Trust, a high performing national trust specialising in rapid school improvement particularly in areas of high deprivation.  Charlotte’s strengths lie in developing a school culture of high expectations and achievement, organising teams, implementing systems and pastoral care.  Her mission is to  ensure that every single child has opportunities to develop their passion and excel. Charlotte oversees a group of schools and also leads pastoral care across the Trust.  Recent impact has seen rapid improvements in attendance bucking the national trend with two schools in the Trust being in top 1% of schools nationally for attendance ( FFT). Charlotte has been a Headteacher of both Forest Gate Community School and Waterside Academy and is a mother of two teenage boys.

I am a secondary education leader with over 20 years of experience working in schools across West Yorkshire, particularly within communities facing significant social and economic challenges. Over the years, I’ve held a range of roles, including strategic leadership and alternative provision. In my current role as Commissioning Lead for the Bradford SAFE Taskforce, I support the development and implementation of strategic commissioning approaches that aim to improve outcomes for vulnerable young people. Additionally, I coordinate the Alternative Provision Specialist Taskforce, working to ensure that young people at risk of exclusion receive the tailored support they need to thrive.

Matthew was an English teacher and secondary school leader before becoming the Head of Suffolk’s Virtual School in 2016. He has been a trustee of the National Association of Virtual School Heads since 2018 and Chair of the association in 2023. He has worked closely with the DfE, supporting the implementation of Virtual School Heads’ extended duties, is a member of the Attendance Action Alliance and co-ordinates a national programme of webinars sharing best practice for all things related to the varied world of Virtual Schools.

Amy Murphy has spent the past 12 years working across education and, more recently, the third sector for School home support, with a strong focus on improving school attendance and outcomes for young people and their families. With a broad background in safeguarding, Amy has extensive experience supporting vulnerable young people and working with hard to reach families in some of the most deprived areas.

Now working within the third sector, Amy continues to champion inclusive, compassionate approaches to family engagement. She is deeply committed to relational practice, placing strong, trust based relationships at the heart of her work. Amy believes in the power of unconditional positive regard—meeting every child and family with empathy, respect, and without judgment—to create lasting change and promote better educational and wellbeing outcomes.

Amy’s work is guided by a clear purpose: to break down barriers, build trust, and support families in achieving the best possible futures for their children.

Karen Stewart is part of the NASWE leadership team (National Association of Support Workers in Education) a professional association which promotes children’s welfare and school attendance regularly meeting with the DFE.

Currently serving as Strategic Lead for Attendance within a Local Authority conducting Targeted Support Meetings, supporting schools with strategies to raise attendance and close the gaps between different groups of students through analysis of systems, procedures and effective use of data to improve their attendance in line with Working Together to Improve Attendance.

Karen has over 20 years’ experience working in a school environment as Governor, Deputy DSL (Designated Safeguarding Lead) and Education Welfare Officer working in collaboration with a range of professionals from other disciplines. She is passionate about fostering discussions that drive innovation and impactful change.