ASCL Conference on Addressing Disadvantage in Education

America Square Conference Centre, London 

Key outcomes:
  • Explore key trends and research-led thinking to help develop effective strategies in your school, college or trust.
  • Understand more about the lived experience of pupils and how these impact on barriers to literacy and their subsequent access to the wider curriculum.
  • See how practitioners have reduced the gap in their settings with their approaches to effective transition from primary to secondary education.
  • Gain understanding of what to expect in future government policy changes, the national curriculum, assessment, and inspection for disadvantage related inclusion. 
  • Gain a greater understanding of how to lead this area in your school, college or trust and how to prioritise intervention strategies and assess effectiveness. 
This conference will support leaders across all types of education settings and phases to better understand disadvantaged inclusion, helping to develop and strengthen strategies to improve outcomes. 

The conference will also build on the latest research and evidence in this area of leadership and  help delegates understand the political landscape, covering policy changes, the Curriculum and Assessment Review, and the new inspection framework through a disadvantage inclusion lens. 

Our programme of speakers, all of whom are expert practitioners in their field, will ensure delegates leave with clarity and direction.

We are delighted that Marc Rowland, a national expert on disadvantaged provision, is one of our keynote speakers and has helped programme this event to enable leaders to deal with some of the biggest challenges facing this area of school or college leadership. 
 
Speaker
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Tiffnie Harris

Data, Disadvantage and Primary Specialist

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Marc Rowland

Pupil Premium and Vulnerable Learners Adviser, Unity Schools Partnership

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Professor Jessie Ricketts

Professor of Psychology and Vice Dean for Research and Knowledge Exchange at Royal Holloway University of London

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Andy Jordan

ASCL Inspection and Accountability Specialist

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Nathan Atkinson

Co-Founder, Rethink Food

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Pepe Di'Iasio

ASCL General Secretary

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Phil Stock

Deputy Headteacher, Greenshaw High School

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Susannah Gray

Head of Literacy and Intervention for Tarporley High School

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Emma Gildea

People Strategy Lead for Sandstone Trust

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08.30       Registration, exhibition and breakfast 
         
09.10       Welcome and introduction
Tiffnie Harris, ASCL Data, Disadvantage and Primary Specialist
         
09.15       Keynote One 
Pepe Di’Iasio, ASCL General Secretary
         
09.50       Addressing educational disadvantage through academic and social inclusion
Marc Rowland, Pupil Premium and Vulnerable Learners Adviser, Unity Schools Partnership
         
10.35       Refreshments and exhibition
         
10.55       Vocabulary and reading across the transition from primary to secondary
Professor Jessie Ricketts, Professor of Psychology and Vice Dean for Research and Knowledge Exchange, Royal Holloway University of London
         
11.40       Discussion and reflections
         
11.50       The renewed Ofsted framework and the focus on inclusion
 Andy Jordan, ASCL Inspection and Accountability Specialist

In this session Andy will share information about the focus on inclusion in the renewed inspection framework. Andy will also reflect on inspections that have taken place so far so that school leaders can be better informed about how inspectors are approaching this new evaluation area.
         
12.20       Breaking Bread, Building Trust: Using food to bridge gaps and open doors in disadvantaged communities -  A health equity approach to nurturing trust, resilience, and opportunity
Nathan Atkinson, Co-Founder, Rethink Food

This session explores how food can be a powerful tool for connection in disadvantaged communities. Using a health equity approach, the presentation examines how shared food experiences help build trust, strengthen resilience, and create pathways to opportunity. It highlights practical examples of how food based initiatives can reduce barriers, open conversations, and support communities to feel seen, valued, and empowered.
         
12.50       Discussion and reflections
         
13.00       Lunch
         
13.45       Adaptive Expertise: evidence-informed decision-making for inclusive classroom practice
Phil Stock, Headteacher, Greenshaw High School
 
This session frames Adaptive Expertise within an Inclusive by Design classroom framework and explores how adaptation operates at both whole-class and individual levels. It presents a model of Adaptive Expertise that places the Assess Plan Do Review cycle at the heart of teacher decision-making, supporting teachers to identify and respond effectively to the needs of vulnerable learners in everyday classroom practice.
         
14.15       Case Study: Sandstone Trust’s Disadvantage and Literacy Project
Susannah Gray, Head of Literacy and Intervention, Tarporley High School
Emma Gildea, People Strategy Lead, Sandtone Trust
         
14.45       Discussion and reflections
         
14.55       Refreshments and exhibition
         
15.05       Interactive session: Evidence informed practice - Driving strategies that work
Marc Rowland and Phil Stock
         
15.50       Final words
         
16.00       Close

ASCL reserve the right to amend the programme should circumstances dictate
 

Members: £260+VAT
Non Members: £295+VAT

Special rate for delegates on the ASCL Leading Effective Disadvantaged Provision programme (primary and secondary): £245+VAT

This conference is suitable for primary, secondary and post-16 and college leaders in all settings, including PRUs and special schools. 

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