Behaviour in Schools Digital Conference

Kathryn Riley is UCL Emeritus Professor of Urban Education and an international scholar whose work bridges policy and practice. She began her work in education as a volunteer teacher in Eritrea and has taught in inner-city schools, held political office in London – as an elected member of the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) – and been a local authority Chief Officer.
Kathryn’s International work has included two years with the World Bank, heading its Effective Schools and Teachers Group and contributing to the development of the Bank’s leadership programme for national leaders. She has carried out reviews for the World Bank, the OECD and UNICEF.
She is an Associate of the Staff College and co-founder of theArtofPossiblities (https://www.theartofpossibilities.org.uk). Download her most recent book, Compassionate Leadership for School Belonging free at (https://www.uclpress.co.uk/products/171324). ‘When belonging is a school’s guiding principle’, Kathryn argues, ‘more young people experience a sense of connectedness and perform better academically. Their teachers feel more professionally fulfilled and their families more accepted’.

Marie Gentles grew up in East London with her mum, dad, older sister and younger brother. She is now a married mother of two children and still resides in London. Marie grew up in an inclusive, extended family with a number of fostered and adopted children and qualified as a primary school teacher 20 years ago. After working as a class teacher and middle leader in the mainstream sector for ten years, Marie began working in a Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) and Social Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) Provision. She became the Deputy Head Teacher, then Headteacher of the provision and worked there for ten years in total.

In 2010 Marie was appointed the strategic lead for a London Borough’s Nurture Group project and set up a Nurture Group model to serve the entire Borough, the first of its kind nationally. It had immense success in modifying pupil’s behaviour and significantly reducing the rate of permanent exclusions in the borough, with a 95 – 100% success rate year upon year, measured by the number of pupils who modified their behaviour following a Nurture Group intervention and sustained reintegration back into mainstream school. This data and how the provision was supporting children was outstanding and the PRU & SEMH Provision received Outstanding gradings by Ofsted. Marie was awarded an OBE for her service to education in 2020 and set up a training and consultancy business, Gentles Guidance Ltd. Marie also works as a Behaviour Advisor for the Government and is part of the National Behaviour Hubs Programme. Marie’s work has been documented by the BBC in a two part documentary, in which Marie demonstrates her methods to support young people with emotional and behavioural needs. Series 1 aired in September 2021 and was based in a primary school and series 2 airs in 2023 and is based in a secondary school.

Marie’s book, Gentles Guidance: How to Understand, Inspire and Empower Your Kids was published in June 2023. Marie’s ambition is to support as many children and young people nationally and internationally as possible. Her aims are for all children and young people to feel seen, heard, understood, empowered and safe; and for the adults supporting young people to adopt inclusive practices, that are preventative rather than reactionary.

After completing his degree in The Teaching of English and career as an American Football player at The University of Illinois in the USA, Stephen Steinhaus turned down a professional wrestling contract to move as a Fulbright Scholar to the United Kingdom to study for an MPhil in Shakespeare Studies and English Literature at the University of Birmingham.

Steinhaus has now lived in England for 24 years. and, in April 2018 he opened Solihull Academy (an Alternative Provision Free School for students in danger of Permanent Exclusion). In the nearly six years since then the Academy has continued to expand and became a Multi-Academy trust in September 2022. In his spare time, he is or has been a singer and songwriter, music director and presenter of a number of festivals, a founding trustee director of The Institute for Recovery from Childhood Trauma, and a published poet. He has also blogged on a variety of educational, fitness and musical topics.

Whitney is Associate Director for Mental Health, Wellbeing and Inclusion at the Education Policy Institute. EPI is an independent, impartial and evidence-based research institute that aims to promote high quality education outcomes for all children and young people, regardless of social background. At EPI, Whitney has led on research exploring the prevalence of unofficial exclusions in English schools, drivers of mental health issues and low wellbeing in childhood and adolescence, access to and quality of mental health services for young people, and policies to improve services for young people with mental health needs.

Shazam Mahmood brings over 15 years of dedicated experience to the field of education. Having worked in primary to secondary to sixth form settings, Shazam has demonstrated a versatile and dynamic approach to improving student behavior and attitudes. In roles ranging from classroom practitioner to Assistant Head Teacher for Behaviour and Attitudes, Shazam has been instrumental in shaping school cultures that promote inclusivity and foster positive student outcomes. With a focus on developing explicit routines, consistent behavior management strategies, and effective reward systems, Shazam specialises in creating environments where students can thrive academically and socially. Additionally, Shazam’s expertise extends to parental engagement, ensuring that families are actively involved in supporting their children’s education journey.

Edel Gillespie’s career in education spans 25 years. During this time, she has progressed from classroom practitioner to the post of headteacher of an above average sized primary school in an area that is classed as “deprived”. Edel has also worked as a teaching and learning consultant for the local education authority where she supported schools with multiple challenges. During this time, she has completed a number of postgraduate modules, gained a master’s degree in education, worked as a lead moderator for Key Stage 1 and served as an Ofsted inspector for a number of years.

Pete is the Headteacher of Perryfields  Primary PRU in Worcester which provides behaviour support to the 113 primary, first and middle schools in South Worcestershire. Perryfields has been judged to be outstanding by ofsted  on 4 consecutive occasions and was one of the initial 22 national  lead schools on the DfE Behaviour Hubs programme.

This requires Pete to support and train schools across the country in developing a positive behaviour culture.

Pete is a strong advocate for Quality First Teaching and the importance of building strong and nurturing relationships with all pupils. He has been at Perryfields since 2005.  He was awarded an OBE for services to education in the King’s 2023 New Years Honours list.

Tom Bellwood is a Department for Education advisor on the Behaviour Hub Program as well as the Director of Attendance and Behaviour Hubs at Chiltern Learning Trust. Tom has worked as a pastoral senior leader for over a decade and supported over 650 schools nationally.

Sam Strickland is the Principal of a large all-through school and has helped to guide its GCSE results from the bottom 20% nationally to the top 20% and A Level outcomes to the top 5% nationally. Sam began his teaching career as a History teacher in Bedfordshire having completed his PGCE in secondary history at the University of Cambridge under Christine Counsell. His career quickly accelerated and he became Head of History and Classics. He then moved on to become a Lead Professional and worked for a SCITT Consortium. During his time as an Assistant Head teacher, he had responsibility for the Sixth Form and led a Post 16 consortium arrangement. Sam also served as a Vice Principal, where he directly oversaw student care, the Sixth Form, the curriculum and served as the safeguarding lead for an entire trust. Sam has served as an Associate Principal, with GCSE and A Level results under his tenure receiving commendation from the DFE, Nick Gibb and the SSAT. The organiser of ResearchED Northampton and author of Education Exposed, Education Exposed 2, The Behaviour Manual, They Don’t Behave For Me and Is Leadership A Race?, he is a leading voice in the current conversation in education. He has had educational resources and research published, he regularly delivers courses and keynotes nationally and he has served as a lead facilitator for a variety of NPQs.

Martha Evans (BA Hons FRSA) is Director of the Anti-Bullying Alliance, supporting its 230 members in all aspects of bullying across policy, campaigns and practice improvement. She coordinates the national Anti-Bullying Week campaign reaching 7.5 million children and young people. Martha sat on the Royal Cyberbullying Taskforce, led by the Duke of Cambridge, and currently sits on the UK Safer Internet Centre Advisory Board and the Internet Matters Expert Group.

Martha has project managed significant anti-bullying programmes including United Against bullying and has developed a series of CPD reaching tens of thousands of children’s practitioners each year and resources covering discriminatory bullying, online bullying and supporting children who bully.

Kathryn Riley is UCL Emeritus Professor of Urban Education and an international scholar whose work bridges policy and practice. She began her work in education as a volunteer teacher in Eritrea and has taught in inner-city schools, held political office in London – as an elected member of the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) – and been a local authority Chief Officer.
Kathryn’s International work has included two years with the World Bank, heading its Effective Schools and Teachers Group and contributing to the development of the Bank’s leadership programme for national leaders. She has carried out reviews for the World Bank, the OECD and UNICEF.
She is an Associate of the Staff College and co-founder of theArtofPossiblities (https://www.theartofpossibilities.org.uk). Download her most recent book, Compassionate Leadership for School Belonging free at (https://www.uclpress.co.uk/products/171324). ‘When belonging is a school’s guiding principle’, Kathryn argues, ‘more young people experience a sense of connectedness and perform better academically. Their teachers feel more professionally fulfilled and their families more accepted’.