ASCL Conference for School Pastoral Leadership 2025

Millennium Gloucester Hotel London

A mission to establish belonging in schools

The ASCL Conference for School Pastoral Leadership 2025 will focus on how schools can foster belonging by strengthening SEND provision, attendance, and wellbeing, recognising the role that systems and processes can play in enabling improvement. 

This event is an excellent opportunity for all school leaders and education practitioners to access professional development, share learning, and seek out support which helps to grow inclusive schools and improve outcomes for all students.

Hear about stories of success that can support schools to the ever-better outcomes they seek by strengthening engagement, attendance, and positive school experiences with insights from recent research and great practice. 

The conference will focus on improvement for all, and particularly our most vulnerable of learners. 

Join us for an incredible day of professional development and networking for everyone who is passionate about improving outcomes for children.
Speaker
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Margaret Mulholland

SEND and Inclusion Specialist

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David Bartram OBE

Governor of Citizens School

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Tom Shaw

Director of Research & Development, Carr Manor Community School

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Nicole Ponsford FRSA FIESE

Inclusion, diversity and wellbeing specialist

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Soofia Amin

Assistant Head Teacher, Kensington Primary

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Kiran Gill

Founder and CEO of The Difference

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Phil Jones

National Chair, National Association for Pastoral Care in Education (NAPCE) 

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ASCL members: £290 + VAT
Non-members: £315 + VAT

10% discount per person for two or more delegates from the same organisation. 

08.30       Registration, refreshments and exhibition
         
09.20       Welcome and introduction
 Margaret Mulholland, ASCL SEND and Inclusion Specialist
         
09.25       Who is losing learning?           
Kiran Gill, Founder and CEO, The Difference

Nationally our learners struggling the most outside school are struggling to access learning inside school. So what does the national picture tell us and what can school leaders do about it?
         
10.10       Keynote
Speaker tbc
         
10.40       Headline Sponsor
         
10.50       Refreshment break and exhibiton
         
11.20       Time to rethink pastoral structures: cultivating belonging for all
Tom Shaw, Director of Research and Development, Carr Manor School

In this interactive session, Tom will describe the small group pastoral practice at Carr Manor Community School that cultivates connection by design.
         
12.10       Empowering Belonging: Enhancing inclusion, attendance and wellbeing through system-driven change
Nicole Ponsford, Inclusion, Diversity and Wellbeing Specialist

Nicole Ponsford, Doctoral researcher, author and Founder of the GEC (Global Equality Collective) will explore the balances of a strategic focus on systems with the practical goal of strengthening SEND, attendance, and well-being.
         
12.40       Panel session – Working in partnership – who should we care about most?
Q&A session featuring, Phil Jones NAPCE, Nicole Ponsford, David Bartram and Mat Carpenter, plus other speakers to be confirmed
         
13.10       Lunch and exhibition
         
13.50       Developing a whole school response to inclusive leadership
David Bartram OBE
 
David’s presentation will explore a model for inclusive leadership, with a particular focus on SEND and the role of pastoral leaders. This will include ideas for establishing your vision, working with stakeholders and the systems and processes required to deliver your strategy effectively
         
14.30       Moving from an EAL mindset to a MLL culture
Soofia Amin, Assistant Headteacher, Kensington Primary School

This presentation will explore the transformative potential of adopting a multilingual approach in an educational setting. By shifting from a deficit-based perspective—where English as an additional need is seen as a challenge—to an asset-based model which focuses on a Multilingual approach, schools can unlock the full educational, social, and cultural potential of their multilingual learners.
         
15.00       Refreshment break and exhibtion
         
15.15       Student voice session
         
15.40       Close

This conference is suitable for pastoral leads, DSLs, SENCos, Directors of Inclusion in secondary schools and across trusts.

NB this event is suitable for leaders in post-16 settings, however, this is not the main focus of this conference.

 

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