Excellence in Education Conference:
Courageous heads, tough schools, holistic education
Headship is harder than ever — budgets squeezed, staff stretched, and pressure from all sides.
But some leaders are thriving against the odds. How?
When?
Thursday 19th November 2026
Where?
Delivered online using zoom (save money and time and learn together as a team)
What?
Meet a selection of headteachers who will share their incredible stories, inspiring insights and practical advice with you.
If you aspire to continuous improvement, this is the conference for you.
Join our online conference to hear how headteachers beat the odds to deliver excellence for their children
Sponsored by:
Outdoor play and learning
Amazing play, every day, for every child
OPAL is an award-winning, mentor supported school improvement programme that addresses all the areas that schools must plan for if they want to strategically and sustainably improve the quality of their play opportunities. OPAL is the only programme of its kind that has been independently proven to sustainably improve the quality of play in British primary schools.
Meet heads who are getting above average results, in below average circumstances
This conference is a chance to step back and learn directly from heads who’ve done it.
Practical tips from great schools
We looked at over 100 schools, to bring you 4 that have achieved excellence in tough circumstances. It’s not just theory — it’s practical, inspiring, and grounded in real school experience.
Learn with your SLT
Spend the day discussing great leadership ideas with your SLT so you’re all on the same page and buzzing with great ideas for your school.
Our annual conference is in it's 16th year.
Attendees consistently rate it a 9/10 event 🙂
What to expect
5 brilliant speakers
Including four serving heads and Sonia — all sharing how they achieved excellence in specific areas.
Reflection time
So if you can’t stay all day, your school still gets the full value.
Recordings of the talks
So you can use them in school with your wider team
1. Book onto ‘Excellence in Education: courageous heads, tough schools, holistic education'
One ticket covers your whole SLT (up to 6 people) — making this incredible value for money.
2. Get inspiration and practical ideas
3. Take the best ideas back into your school
2026 speakers
Ruth Boon, Headteacher
Our Lady Lourdes Catholic Primary School, Redbridge
A triple win
Supporting families, strengthening community, and bringing income into school
Ruth Boon is headteacher of the Outstanding (June 2025) Our Lady Lourdes Catholic Primary School in Redbridge. The school is part of the Good Shepherd Catholic Trust, serving a richly diverse community with higher-than-average numbers of pupils with free school meals and those who speak English as an additional language.
Ruth knows that schools today are balancing far more than education alone. With increasing financial pressures facing schools nationwide, she has led the development of a highly successful extended provision model that supports working families while generating significant additional revenue for the school.
Her approach is both practical and community-focused: provision should meet the real needs of families while supporting the long-term success of the school.
What began as a response to local demand has grown into a trusted “umbrella of provision”, including wraparound care, enrichment clubs, and family services that families actively value and use. By carefully balancing external providers with in-house staffing, she has created a sustainable model that increases access for families, strengthens parental engagement, builds community trust, and supports the school’s future growth.
Ruth has also been unafraid to rethink traditional models. Moving away from external childcare providers enabled the school to take greater ownership of quality, consistency, and relationships with families.
Importantly, this work has succeeded in an area of deprivation, challenging assumptions about what paid provision can achieve in different communities. With plans now expanding into two-year-old provision and wider early years growth, the school continues to build a model rooted in long-term strategic thinking and community need.
In this session, Ruth will share how school leaders can:
- Maximise wraparound care and enrichment provision to create sustainable additional income.
- Design services that genuinely support working families while remaining commercially viable.
- Balance external providers and in-house staffing to strengthen both quality and revenue.
- Build parental trust through accessibility, consistency, and reliable provision.
- Develop successful paid provision models in areas of deprivation.
Rob Francksen, OPAL CIC Managing Director
Is there a case for play in schools?
Outdoor Play and Learning (OPAL) has a vision that every child in every school has an amazing hour of high-quality play every day – with no exceptions.
Rob Francksen is going to share why play is so important, how it benefits your children school and school and how it can have a lasting cultural impact.
Malcolm Mckinlay, Headteacher
Parkgate School, Clapham, London
Standing out by being authentic
Maximising admissions and engagement in Schools, in a time of falling roll
Malcolm Mckinlay is Headteacher of Parkgate School, an Independent Primary School in Clapham. Parkgate was awarded Outstanding in all 5 areas of their recent inspection in June 2025.
Malcolm knows that the landscape of school admissions and parent engagement has changed dramatically. In a sector where families are increasingly selective and financially conscious, schools can no longer rely on traditional marketing alone to build trust and attract prospective parents.
The landscape of school admissions and parent engagement has changed dramatically – and Malcolm knows it. The Independent School sector has always had to win over parents and, with 20% VAT now payable on school fees, families are increasingly selective and financially conscious. This, along with falling pupil numbers, has meant the job of keeping a full school has got even harder.
Schools can no longer rely on traditional marketing alone to build trust and attract prospective parents. And most schools are faced with the challenge of decreasing pupil numbers.
Malcolm has seen how the most successful schools are shifting away from expensive print advertising and towards more authentic, relationship-led approaches. From open mornings and word-of-mouth recommendations, schools are increasingly focused on building trust and connection with families rather than simply promoting what they offer.
In this practical and experience-led session, Malcolm will share honest reflections on what has and has not worked, offering school leaders practical strategies for marketing their school.
In his session, Malcolm will explore how school leaders can:
- Adapt admissions and marketing strategies to meet changing parental expectations.
- Move beyond traditional advertising to keep a full roll.
- Build trust and communication with parents across diverse family contexts.
- Review marketing and engagement strategies to ensure both impact and value for money.
- How to use social media to increase engagement
Bernadette Rizzi-Allan, Headteacher
St Bede’s Catholic Primary School, Stockton-on-Tees
Transforming outcomes
Attendance first, culture always, excellence for all
Bernadette Rizzi-Allan is Headteacher of St Bede’s Catholic Academy in Stockton-on-Tees, serving one of the most deprived communities in the country. With well above the national average of pupils eligible for pupil premium, and English as an additional language, the school supports families facing significant social challenges, The school achieved Strong and Exceptional scorecard in their recent Ofsted inspection (Nov 2025)
Despite this context, St Bede’s has established a national reputation for exceptional attendance, behaviour, and academic outcomes. Attendance is consistently well above national averages, behaviour is calm and purposeful, and pupils eligible for pupil premium achieve at least in line with, and often outperform, their peers nationally.
Bernadette believes that background should never determine a child’s future. Her leadership is built on a “warm, demanding” culture that combines high expectations with deep care, rejecting the “soft bigotry of low expectations”. Every aspect of school life is intentionally designed to raise aspirations, creating a strong sense of belonging. She says, “her children’s futures are not determined by their postcodes.”
From carefully designed routines, distinctive uniform, Cambridge university visits, and targeted pathways for working-class boys, the school deliberately cultivates status, pride, and opportunity. Bernadette has developed a culture where behaviour and ambition are everyone’s responsibility.
Alongside her role at St Bede’s, Bernadette serves as a Department for Education Behaviour and Attendance Hub Lead ,a previous attendance hub school and national conference speaker, she has taken part in DFE webinars supporting schools across the country to strengthen culture and improve outcomes.
In this session, Bernadette will share how school leaders can:
- Improve and sustain attendance, including strategies for persistent absence and early years attendance.
- Supporting working-class children to achieve academically and develop ambitious futures.
- Building positive, trusting relationships with families while maintaining high expectations.
- Practical approaches to reducing exclusions through strong behaviour systems
Caroline Steward, Headteacher
Pineham Barns Primary School, Northampton
Exceptional early years provision
Building strong foundations for every child
Caroline Steward is Executive Principal Pineham Barns Primary School in Northampton, part of the Preston Hedges Trust. The school is part of richly diverse community and achieved Strong and Exceptional scorecard in their recent Ofsted inspection (February 2026)
Caroline is passionate about the impact of Early Years provision, and how this can determine children’s long-term success. Her strong focus on inclusion, and support for vulnerable children has shaped practice and outcomes.
The school creates engaging, nurturing environments where every child can thrive and this is key to the school’s success. Caroline believes that a magical and ambitious start to education can unlock opportunities for all children, regardless of background, this has led to Ofsted awarding the school Exceptional for early years provision.
It has meant that barriers to learning are identified quickly and more disadvantaged pupils make strong progress throughout the school. By the end of Key Stage 2, they achieve as well as other pupils in school, often better. Caroline’s commitment to providing early exceptional support, means every child has the opportunity to thrive.
In this session, Caroline will explore how school leaders can:
- Create engaging and nurturing environments
- How to create an ambitious curriculum in the Early Years
- What the power of a ‘magical’ start looks like
- How disadvantaged pupils can achieve as good, if not better than advantaged pupils.
Sonia Gill, Founder & Director of Heads Up
Brilliant schools don’t copy and paste
How to effectively embed ideas from other schools.
In this talk, Sonia will share:
How do you choose the ideas you are going to commit to?
Why most schools already have good ideas — and what actually separates the ones that turn into something brilliant.
How to stop surviving and start being unashamedly ambitious for your school — no apology required.
Real stories of borrowed ideas that worked, ones that didn’t, and what the difference actually was.
2026 Conference Schedule
| 09:30 – 09:40 | Welcome |
| 09:40 – 10:25 | Exceptional Early Years provision – Caroline Steward |
| 10:25 – 10:35 | Reflection & Break |
| 10:35 – 10:55 | OPAL |
| 10:55 – 11:00 | Reflection & Break |
| 11:00 – 11:45 | Maximising Admissions and Engagement – Malcolm Mckinlay |
| 11:45 – 12:15 | Reflection & Lunch Break |
| 12:15 – 13:00 | A triple win- Ruth Boon |
| 13:00 – 13:10 | Reflection & Break |
| 13:10 – 13:50 | Brilliant Schools don’t copy and paste – Sonia Gill |
| 13:50 – 14:00 | Reflection & Break |
| 14:00 – 14:45 | Transforming outcomes – Bernadette Rizzi-Allan |
| 14:45 – 14:55 | Reflection & Close |
FAQs
Yes, and you’ll be given access via our online portal.
Yes, they’ll be available for you in our online portal.
One ticket gives access to you and all of your SLT.
I understand, a lot of online training sucks! But not ours. How do we know? We’re consistently rated 9/10 by headteachers and school leaders like you. We also ask what people prefer and th e majority opt for online, as this way you don’t have to pay for trains and you can attend with your SLT. You save time and money.
The conference will be take place online using zoom. We’ll email the joining instructions to you a couple of weeks before the event and send reminders.
If you have any questions please contact [email protected]
Whilst anyone is welcome, the conference is primarily focussed on primary schools, so we don’t recommend the conference to secondary schools.
Yes, until 2025. We changed the conference name in 2026.
What’s my investment?
£360+VAT
1 day of inspirational learning
Your entire SLT can attend
Only 60 tickets available
Registration is open 🙂