Education Support Staff (no line management)

Wednesday 27th August 2025

  • 09:30 - 12:30 - primary education support staff with no line management responsibility.
  • 09:30 - 12:45 - secondary education support staff with no line management responsibility.
  • 09:30 - 15:45 - education support staff managers should follow the Primary or Secondary agenda

You can view an agenda for the event below.  By clicking the drop-down arrows you can view the facilitator’s name, session description and facilitator bio. Some sessions will contain pre-reading or require you to have access to a particular website during the session, so it is important to check your agenda properly before the event.

Breaks & Lunch: There will be regular breaks throughout the day. During breaks and lunch, all sessions will be closed to reduce screen time. Before a break is due to start, the presenter will remind everyone when the next session will start. Please ensure you return from your break in time to join the next session.

The meeting links for each session will be sent to you via email. Please do not share these with anyone outside of United Learning, attendee lists will be monitored, and non-registered attendees removed.  

If you have any queries or are experiencing any problems on the day of the event, please email bie.induction@unitedlearning.org.uk.

Facilitators

Sir Jon Coles
Group Chief Executive

Sir Jon Coles

Since January 2012, Jon Coles has been Group Chief Executive of United Learning.

Prior to this, he spent much of his career in the Department for Education, including four years on the Board as Director General for Schools and then Director General for Education Standards. Previously, as Director of 14-19 Reform, he led work to raise participation post-16 and attainment at 19 and reduce NEET numbers.

As Director of London Challenge, Jon was responsible for developing and implementing the strategy to improve secondary education in London, which also led to similar approaches in other parts of the country. In his career, Jon has been responsible for various Green and White Papers and for taking the 2002 Education Act through Parliament.

A qualified secondary teacher, his previous jobs included implementing the infant class size pledge and, on secondment to the Cabinet Office, developing a strategy for e-government.

Facilitators

Darran Ellison-Lee
Director of Primary Education

Darran Ellison-Lee

Darran has a wide range of achievements in Education, including leadership in both Primary and Secondary phases as well as in Special Education.

Darran was a National Leader of Education, leading one of the first national teaching schools and a federation of primary schools in the North of England. The teaching school under his leadership provided a wide range of school improvement work and was one of the first schools providing training for Schools Direct.

Darran has overseen growth of our primary schools, which now includes over 35 schools. Darran’s leadership of improvement work has secured enhanced quality of teaching, resulting in schools moving from Special Measures to Good, at times requiring him to step in as Exec Head or acting Principal to support. In addition,

Darran is Director with responsibility for the Trust’s support, challenge and accountability on Safeguarding, ensuring that United Learning meets Statutory requirements and that Safeguarding processes across the Group are robust and effective.

Ben Antell
Director of Secondary Academies

Ben Antell

Ben Antell is the recently appointed Director of Secondary Academies in United Learning. Before taking up this role, Ben was a Regional Director in the trust and previous to that an Executive Principal with a responsibility for schools in Bournemouth and London. Ben is passionate about school improvement and the belief that education is the key to social mobility and future success. Ben also works as an Ofsted inspector in the south-west and counts himself fortunate enough to have worked with some of the leading educationalists in the country through both his Regional Director, Executive Principal and Ofsted roles.

Fiona Boulton
Director of Independent Schools

Fiona Boulton

Fiona became Director of Independent Schools in September 2022. She originally joined the organisation in 1995 when it was the Church Schools Company; it later became United Learning. She was Head of Guildford High School from 2002 – 2022. Guildford High became a Teaching School in 2013 and Fiona was appointed an NLE, leading the United Learning Teaching School Alliance from 2013 - 2020.

She has a variety of Governance roles; she is an Associate Director of Cumbria University (since 01.06.21), she is on the Governing body of Epsom College (since 01.11.09) and she is a member of the ‘Learning Partners Academy Trust’. Fiona is on the Advisory Board of the School Partnerships Alliance and she has helped to establish the West Surrey Partnership of all the state and independent schools in the Guildford area. She was Chair of HMC in 2019-2020, and on the Advisory Council of the Institute for Ethical AI in Education (IEAIED) (2018 – 2021). In 2023, Fiona was awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours list for services to education.

In this session we’ll taking through United Learning’s inclusion strategy relating to Quality First Teaching and Waves of Intervention. We’ll be discussing research that supports our approach along with recognising the high expectations for all learners and how effective deployment of support staff is essential to inclusive cultures and positive student outcomes. Furthermore, we will discuss the importance of adaptive teaching over differentiation to meet learners needs. An introduction to these concepts will provide a strong start for all new United Learning ESS. We want to debunk misconceptions that children need an adult 1:1 for long periods and encourage SEND learners achieving in line with their peers.

Facilitators

Kyle Bestley
Teaching Assistant Programme Lead

Kyle Bestley

Kyle has a strong background within the Education and Sports Coaching sector, working within mainstream Primary Schools and a Secondary SEND school setting in a number of support staff roles working with a variety of needs. On top of this, he has spent three years within a previous Apprenticeship Training Provider delivering across several different standards in the apprenticeship sector, with the main area of expertise being the Level 3 Teaching Assistant Apprenticeship Programme.

One of Kyle’s most memorable professional achievements within Apprenticeships was his support of an apprentice who faced numerous barriers to learning coming from a specialist SEND school who then went on to win Oxfordshire Apprentice of the Year along with gaining national nominations as well. This opened up opportunities for this learner to go back and support learners like themselves to show what’s possible.

Facilitators

Jennifer Reynolds
Primary English Subject Adviser

Jennifer Reynolds

Jen joined United Learning in 2018 and has worked in Primary Education for over 30 years, much of the time combining teaching with other roles. Jen is a former English Advisor for the CAM Academy Trust and facilitated writing moderation with large clusters of schools throughout Cambridgeshire sharing her work at Beyond Levels conferences. She is also a former English Adviser for Cambridgeshire and tutor on the PGCE and GTP at the Faculty of Education, Cambridge University. Jen has researched several areas of children's literacy, including gender differences in responding to texts and has written guest blogs for The Chartered College and No More Marking on the use of Comparative Judgement to assess writing. She was a researcher on the Cambridge University government funded project, ‘Raising Boys’ Achievement’, specifically researching the role of drama and talk to develop writing.

Facilitators

Jill Todd
Maths Subject Adviser (North/Midlands)

Jill Todd

Jill joined United Learning as Primary Maths Adviser in September 2018.

Prior to joining United Learning, she was the Primary Maths Lead for Bradford College ITT for 5 years and the Teaching for Mastery Lead for West Yorkshire Maths Hub (previously known as White Rose Maths Hub) for 2 years. 

Jill has 26 years’ experience in teaching mathematics in a wide range of schools.  She has a Master’s in Education and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Mark Stephenson
Maths Subject Adviser (South/Midlands)

Mark Stephenson

Mark joined the Primary team at United Learning in September 2019 as Maths Advisor supporting schools mainly in the South and the Midlands. Prior to joining the Primary team, Mark was a primary school teacher and maths subject lead for over 10 years in schools in Westminster and Hammersmith & Fulham, one of which was Langford Primary School, which is also part of the group. Mark has completed the NPQSL and is accredited as both an NCETM Professional Development Lead, and School Development Lead.

Facilitators

Laura Dawson
Secondary SEND Adviser

Laura Dawson

Laura joined United Learning in 2007 working in Salford as an English teacher. With over a decade of experience as Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo), she also held the position of Senior Assistant Principal for Inclusion before moving across to the Central Team as Secondary SEND Adviser in 2024.

Laura works collaboratively with schools to embed high expectations and inclusive practices that empower students with special educational needs to thrive. She is dedicated to building strong relationships and understanding the unique contexts of families and communities, ensuring that all stakeholders contribute to a supportive and inclusive school culture.

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