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

Margaret Mulholland

SEND and Inclusion Specialist

David Bartram OBE

SEND Adviser

Tom Shaw

Director of Research & Development, Carr Manor Community School

Nicole Ponsford FRSA FIESE

Inclusion, diversity and wellbeing specialist

Soofia Amin

Assistant Head Teacher, Kensington Primary

Kiran Gill

Founder and CEO of The Difference

Phil Jones

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

Fee

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

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

Programme

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 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

Who can attend?

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.

Related Events

23 January

Leading On - A Unified Approach to Driving Racial Inclusion Across MATs

Inclusion
Diversity

21 March

Empowering SENDCOs: Enhancing inclusive practices

Professional Development
CPD
SEND

Day

28 January 2025
time

08:30 - 16:00
location

London
Day

See 'Fee' tab