The First 100 Days Headteachers Conference is aimed at new, first time, and aspiring headteachers
This one-day conference will consist of keynote speeches, presentations, panels – and more than the odd anecdote – delivered by serving headteachers who have all been where you are or are hoping to get to. Most importantly, because all the heads who will be speaking on the day are serving headteachers, they are currently dealing with the same type of highs and lows you may encounter when you step into your role. We want you to know that you are not alone!
As well as experienced heads, you’ll also get to hear from headteachers who are coming to the end of their first year of headship and find out what the experience has been like for them; the good, the bad and the curveballs! Plus there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions to our panel of headteachers.
Venue – Hilton Hotel Euston, London
PROGRAMME
Refreshments throughout the day and a three-course lunch are included in the ticket price.
| Session Speaker | Session Title |
|---|---|
| Rae Snape | Opening keynote speech |
| Patrick Cozier | Why being a headteacher is still a great job |
| Evelyn Forde MBE Halil Tamgumus | What I wish I’d known… |
| Sonia Thompson | School Improvement |
| Kate Owbridge | Looking after your well-being |
| Q&A Panel | |
| Flora Cooper | Closing keynote speech |
CONFERENCE HOST
AMANDA WILSON is a headteacher, Founder of The First 100 Days Headteachers Conference and a qualified coach. When she’s not running her wonderful one-form entry primary school in Greenwich, she’s supporting teachers who want to get the most out of their careers and writing her MA dissertation. You can find out more about Amanda here.
SPEAKERS
RAE SNAPE is the author of The Headteacher’s Handbook – the Essential Guide to Leading a Primary School, and an experienced head teacher of 16 years, Rae believes for the sake of their children, colleagues and communities Head teachers should be “flamingos of hope and not lemmings of despair!” Rae started her headship journey in January 2007, formerly at The Spinney Primary School, Cambridge and at Milton Road Primary School since January 2020. Rae describes being a head teacher as the best job in the world! Interested in policy and passionate (some might say obsessed) about education, Rae was a member of the Primary Head teachers’ Reference Group at the Department of Education for 9 years. Rae is a co-founder of MyCambridge Cultural Education Partnership a member of the sponsoring committee of the Cambridge Chapter of Citizens UK and a Judge for the Smiley Charity Film Awards. Rae has contributed to several books on education and has written her first book “The Headteacher’s Handbook” which was published by Bloomsbury in August 2021. Keen to support new and aspiring Head teachers, Rae enjoys presenting at conferences as well as delivering training for local authorities and teaching school hubs. Rae is a Fellow of the RSA (FRSA), a Founding Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching (FFCT) and in October 2021 was delighted to receive an Honorary Fellowship from The University of Suffolk for her work in education. Rae is currently curating her second book called The Curriculum Compendium also for Bloomsbury and is studying for the National Professional Qualification for Executive Leadership. Rae loves making new connections and you can find her on Twitter @RaeSnape or on Linkedin.
FLORA COOPER has lived around the world – growing up for much of her life in California and London, attending schools in Tunisia, the former Yugoslavia, and Vancouver. School and education have always been key focal points in her life.
For the last 10 years, Flora has been the headteacher at Crowmarsh Gifford CE Primary School and more recently Executive Head of John Rankin Schools. She has worked in education for the last 21 years and been in leadership for the last 15 years. Flora began her career in education as a teaching assistant in an EBD school on the outskirts of Birmingham, sitting on the GTC as a council member, governor of a local private school and founder of Burn Brighter, a movement for change in education.
Flora believes in creating change – listening to everyone’s point of view, discussing things widely and coming up with a plan to evaluate, adapt and move things forwards. She leads with integrity at the heart and is a strong believer that building trust and rapport with those you work with is essential in making change happen. Flora is passionate about shining her light to give a platform to all those whose voices need to be heard so that everyone around her can, indeed, Burn Brighter.
EVELYN FORDE MBE is Headteacher of Copthall School in Mill Hill North London, a highly successful and diverse girls’ school which has been on an upward trajectory since 2016. Evelyn has been in the profession for over 20 years and is rooted in the belief that all young people must have equal opportunities and no child is left behind. Her own experiences of education and her journey to senior leadership are reasons for her commitment to working with and supporting aspiring leaders in any way she can. In November 2020, Evelyn won the coveted TES Headteacher of the Year award and received an MBE in the 2021 New Year’s Honours list for services to education. Evelyn has been an ASCL member since 2008, is an ASCL Council member and founding Chair of the ASCL BAME Leaders’ Network (now the Ethnic Diversity Network). She now works with and supports all three Leaders’ Networks: Ethnic Diversity Network, LGBT Leaders’ Network and the Women Leaders’ Network. The theme for Evelyn’s Presidential year is ‘Stronger Together – Empowered Leadership’. The ASCL Blueprint for a Fairer Education System also continues to be a focus for her work with the Presidential representing the views of ASCL members.
PATRICK COZIER is a successful and experienced secondary school leader. He has been a Headteacher of a large comprehensive school (over 1500 students) for the last 16 years. He has also been the chair of the Haringey Secondary Heads Forum for the last 9 years. In the last three years he has sat on the BAME Achieving Steering Committee as part of the Haringey Education Partnership and led the two most recent and successful conferences. In addition to being a Co-Vice Chair of trustees at Show Racism the Red Card, he has also recently been appointed as a trustee of Horizons which is the charitable arm of the Haringey Education Partnership. As an educationalist he is committed to doing everything that he can to support our young people to thrive and become the best adults they can be. As a member of the black community he is passionate about seeking equality, justice and fair outcomes for people of colour.
KATE OWBRIDGE has been in primary teaching since 1993, and leadership since 1997. She first became a head in 2004, and has now been head in three schools, an executive head in a fourth, and supported two others in an interim capacity, both Church and Community schools, across four different LAs, and three Dioceses. From inner city Lambeth and Southwark to the London suburbs, and the market towns and villages of East Sussex, there is very little that Kate hasn’t experienced as a school leader. She is keen to share this experience with others to grow leaders for the future.
SONIA THOMPSON is the Headteacher/Director, at St Matthew’s C.E. Research School. St Matthew’s is a National Support School and Talk for Writing Training Centre, in Nechells, Birmingham. Sonia has had articles published and regularly reviews blogs for Schools Week. She has a chapter in, The ResearchED Guide to the Curriculum and is a contributor to numerous books including WALKTHRUs 3 and Reading Teachers. Sonia is the author of An Ethic of Excellence In Action, which is part of Tom Sherrington’s In Action series. She is a trust and council member of various organisations, including the UKLA National Council, the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and the CofE National Society. Sonia has spoken at various conferences including, ResearchED and the Exemplary Leadership Programme.
HALIL TAMGUMUS is currently a Headteacher of a primary school in Leicester. He is in his 5th year of his first headship and in that time, he has, along with his amazing staff, moved the school from being 5 years as a Requires Improvement school to a good school. This was achieved in the first 7 months of being a headteacher and under Ofsted’s new framework
EVENTS SPONSORS
The SLA works towards all schools in the UK having their own (or shared) staffed library to help all children and young people fulfil their potential. School staff and children should have access to a wide and varied range of resources and have the support of an expert guide in reading, research, media and information literacy. Membership supports library staff, teachers and senior leaders in maximising these areas and is only £95 a year.
If you’re interested in supporting this event via sponsorship, visit our sponsorship page for more details.
If you have any questions regarding this event, please complete the form below and someone will get back to you.