Dr Haili Hughes is Director of Education at IRIS Connect and mentoring lead at the University of Sunderland. She was a teacher of English and senior and middle leader for sixteen years. She also works as an ITT Quality Advisor for the DfE, facilitates the ECF and NPQs for two national providers and is the lead subject coach at a SCITT. She has recently been appointed to the Teaching Commission researching recruitment and retention. She’s written 5 books and has 8 on the way.

Caroline has been an economics teacher for 20 years and is currently Deputy Headteacher in a large comprehensive secondary school in Hertfordshire where she leads the curriculum, timetable, teaching and learning and teacher professional development. Caroline is committed to teaching being a research-informed profession, has been a Research School Director and completed her Masters and Doctorate in Education at the University of Cambridge. Caroline has experience in advisory and governance roles, including being a member of the DfE’s Early Career Framework reference group and having been a trustee at University College Oxford.

Kat is an Executive Director of School Improvement at a Multi Academy Trust in the West Midlands. In previous roles, Kat led a Teaching School Hub overseeing the professional development of over 200 schools, and a senior leader in a Single Academy Trust. Kat holds a Master’s in Expert Teaching, NPQEL and is a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching. She has published work on the topics of curriculum development, teacher workload and system- level change management and implementation in education.

Kate has been a teacher for over 18 years and is currently teaching Physics and PE in a Girls School in Hertfordshire. She is the Head of Habs Diploma a KS5 enrichment program and has 15+ years experience in middle management. Kate achieved Chartered Teacher Status in 2023 and is an advocate for increasing Girls participation in Physics and Sport. She is a Trainer for Physics Partners a charity that helps non-specialists master Physics Teaching and Co-Chair of the Practitioners Council for the Foundation of Education Development.

Alex has been a secondary school teacher for 25+ years. She is currently the senior deputy headteacher of a large comprehensive secondary school in Bingley, near Bradford in West Yorkshire. Her subject area is English. She is particularly interested in the areas of teachers’ professional development, ECT provision, teacher recruitment and retention and staff well-being. She is a Visiting Fellow facilitator on NPQ and ECT programmes as part of her interest in teacher development.

Jackie’s teaching career began in Further Education (Northern Ireland), then switched to Secondary MFL (Stockport).  As a committed mentor for Early Career teachers, she became the Leader of a large Training School, and then made a move to the TDA to support Training Schools in the North West and the West Midlands.  Subsequent regional and national roles in teacher recruitment, initial teacher training and inspection, professional learning and school partnership followed.  Jackie is Co-Founder and Network Leader for WomenEdNI, and supports the values and vision of the WomenEd movement.  An advocate of DiverseEd, she was a chapter editor for DiverseEd: A Manifesto.  Jackie is passionate about helping schools to celebrate diversity, and become inclusive and equitable places for staff, students and their families.  She is very proud to be a Founding Fellow of the Chartered College.

Meena is a former HMI Ofsted, Local Authority and DfE Adviser, and Principal of both an Adult College and a Secondary Academy. An educational trainer, author, and leadership coach, she holds an MBA in Educational Leadership. She is an Honorary Fellow of the Education Leadership Academy (University of Birmingham), Patron of the English Speaking Board, and serves on The Day’s Editorial Advisory Board.

A registered KHDA inspector in Dubai, Meena works across British and International education sectors, specializing in curriculum and assessment. She speaks at UK and international events, including FED, BSME (Dubai), and Eduexcellence (India), and has provided evidence at Government Select Committees.

Meena has written for Impact (Chartered College of Teaching), RSA, TES, and more. Her books include Assessment of Prior Learning & Bilingual Learners (1995) and Secondary Curriculum Transformed (2020).