KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Bukky Yusuf is a senior leader, educational consultant and leadership coach, working with educators on a national and international basis. She has undertaken several leadership roles within mainstream and special school settings. Beyond the classroom, She is a Thought Leader with a wide variety of EdTech experiences and has been co-chair of the EdTech Leadership Group to support the Government’s EdTech strategy. She supports the development of educators at all levels and promotes projects that help colleagues to maintain their well-being. She is an ambassador for Leadership Matters, a Network Leader for WomenEd London and colead for WomenEd Tech.

Laura Knight is Founder of Sapio Ltd, a consultancy specialising in digital strategy and innovation. She was previously Director of Digital Learning at Berkhamsted School (2013 – 2024) and worked as a teacher for twenty years across both the maintained and independent sectors. She is an expert in leading the strategic development of technology for teaching and learning, 1-1 devices, artificial intelligence, staff training in digital skills, and online safeguarding. She is a disruptive thinker, international keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and is passionate about creative problem-solving. She supports leaders in schools, universities, and commercial organisations with exploring the art of the possible, and leverages technology to transform outcomes, systems, and teams. Her new book The Little Guide for Teachers on Generative AI will be published by Sage in the autumn. She works with the Independent Schools Council Digital Advisory Group, the EDUtech Europe Advisory Board, and is a leading member of the Bourne-Epsom Protocol; a national cross-sector working group on AI in education. She has also worked as an expert advisor to international governments on educational policy and provides training and input for associations such as the Independent Schools Association, the Independent Schools Teaching Induction Panel, the Society of Heads, and the Independent Schools’ Bursars’ Association.

Gary Henderson has over 25 years in education, as a teacher, senior leader and consultant in the UK and Middle East. He currently leads technology strategy and the technology services team as Director of IT at Millfield, a large UK Independent School, as well as being vice chair of the ISC Digital Advisory Group, a member of the Digital Futures Group and an Association of Network Managers in Education (ANME) ambassador. He was named as a finalist in the EduFuturist Network Manager of the Year 2022 and in the Global EdTech Awards 2023, Most Impactful Senior Member of Staff category, plus regularly speaks at conferences in the UK and internationally on subjects such as cyber security for schools, AI, digital citizenship and Technology Strategy.

Dale Bassett is an experienced, passionate educationist and an expert in educational assessment and public policy. He is currently Director of Assessment at United Learning, England’s largest schools trust with over 100 schools across all phases in the state and independent sectors. He is responsible for ensuring that both central and school-based assessment is effective across the group. For almost a decade He was a senior leader at AQA, the UK’s largest awarding organisation. As Director of International and Curriculum Strategy, he led AQA’s teams of subject experts supporting teaching, learning and assessment. He oversaw international qualification delivery as Chair of the Board of Directors of OxfordAQA, a joint venture with Oxford University Press, and led the development of AQA’s reformed GCSEs and A-levels. He was previously Research Director at the think tank Reform, where he led research into public service reform, specialising in education policy. He frequently appeared in both print and broadcast media and won the Prospect Think Tank Publication of the Year Award for his influential report, Every teacher matters. On secondment to the Cabinet Office, he served as adviser to the review of barriers to choice in public services. He is a director of the multi-academy Greater Manchester Education Trust, and was founding chair of governors of The Charter School Bermondsey, a free school in London. He is also a founding trustee of the National Baccalaureate Trust. He holds an MBA from Alliance Manchester Business School.

Rachel Evans leads on digital innovation at Wimbledon High School and works with teachers to evaluate the use of technology for teaching and learning, implementing evidence-based practices. She is passionate about using technology in an authentic way, keeping human relationships at the heart of learning, with a particular interest in the use of technology to allow students to develop skills of effective collaboration and creative problem-solving. WHS is part of the Girls’ Day School Trust, and has been a Microsoft Showcase School for many years. She is also a Trustee of the Folio Education Trust, a multi-academy trust in Croydon, where she focuses on digital learning and IT provision.

Dina Foster is an experienced former secondary school Deputy Head teacher and is currently a doctoral candidate at UCL with a research focus on how schools develop AI strategy to harness the benefits of AI, and augment teaching and learning. She gained her MA in Education and Technology and also holds a Master’s in Teaching, both from the Institute of Education. She is particularly interested in supporting school leaders with the development and implementation of successful EdTech strategies to address school priorities, and she works with Prof. Rose Luckin as Head of Educator AI Training at Educate Ventures Research.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

This event is aimed at middle and senior leaders in secondary and further education settings who would like to learn about how to harness AI, or those aspiring to promotion into such roles. No technical knowledge is needed, and complete AI beginners are very welcome, as well as those who have made some inroads into their exploration and would like further guidance.