Webinar: Positively responding to increasing complexity in our mainstream schools – collaborative learning opportunities to inform strategic and systemic thinking

Amelie Thompson has worked in education for over 20 years, including 12 years as a senior leader and headteacher. She now works at Greenshaw Learning Trust as Assistant Director of Education - SEND. She is also the regional lead with Whole School SEND for South East England and South London (SESLON) region and lead author of the Teacher Handbook: SEND. Amelie has a keen interest in how we, as leaders, build systems and create environments that enable ‘every teacher to be a teacher of SEND’ – driven by leadership that builds inclusivity into all aspects of school practice. As a school leader, she challenges herself to consistently reflect on the operational implications and implementation of this strategic vision and is strongly committed to cross-phase and cross-sector collaboration to achieve this.

Clare is Head of Southampton Inclusion Partnership and Outreach Service, based at Springwell Special School in Southampton. She holds an MSc in Specific Learning Difficulties from the University of Southampton and an MA Ed in Special Needs and Inclusion from the University of Winchester. Clare is also Director of SEND for the HISP Learning Partnership and provides coaching, training and strategic support for SEND improvement across a range of schools within and beyond Southampton.

Clare is the Deputy Regional SEND Lead for South East England and South London (SESLON) region.

Until July 2023, Tina was the Head of an Outstanding all age special school for children and young people with severe and profound learning difficulties including those with an additional diagnosis of autism. Tina held this post for over 30 years, during which time the school expanded its roll by 90%.

Tina trained at Birmingham University and holds a Master’s Degree in Childhood Autism, and has spent all of her career working within the special education field. Tina was a National Leader of Education until her retirement from Headship. Tina continues to work as a member of the South East South London Regional SEND team for Whole School SEND (nasen).  Aside from Special Educational Needs, Tina's particular interests are school improvement including ethical leadership and leadership development at all levels including governance. Tina firmly believes in the power of coaching as a supportive professional development tool for colleagues.

Tina is the Deputy Regional SEND Lead for South East England and South London (SESLON) region.

Margaret Mulholland is the Inclusion Policy Advisor for the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL). ASCL represents 20,000 school leaders and acts on behalf of the pupils in their schools. Her extensive teaching and leadership experience spans both mainstream and special schools. Margaret is an Honorary Norham Fellow of the University of Oxford. Margaret is also joint project director on the WSS and EEF trial of the SEND Review in mainstream secondary schools. She also writes a column on research and inclusivity for Tes and you can follow her on Twitter @MargaretMulhol2

Alistair is a Deputy Regional SEND Leader for Whole School SEND in the North. He currently leads two teaching schools and has extensive experience working as a teacher and senior leader across a range of specialist and mainstream schools. In his role as a specialist leader of education (SLE) and Teaching Schools lead Alistair has supported many schools and colleagues to develop their SEND provision and improve outcomes for all learners. More recently Alistair has enjoyed leading Physical development for Oak National Academy and is passionate about raising aspiration and participation levels for SEND learners in sport.