Speakers

• 

  Ayush A K Agarwal Co-Founder and CEO Pencil Spaces
  

  Ayush A K Agarwal

  Co-Founder and CEO Pencil Spaces

  Ayush has a deep passion for learning and teaching, and it’s been a driving force in his life. His diverse experiences have led him to the realization that better tools can greatly assist educators in their important work of teaching, and this has motivated him to co-found Pencil Spaces. Pencil Spaces makes teaching and learning easier and more effective. Students and tutors love the platform and it is now being used in more than 200 countries! Prior to Pencil Spaces, Ayush worked at Google, Facebook, Madrona Venture Group and McKinsey & Company. He lives in San Francisco with his wife and six-year-old son.

• 

  Christine Nicholson Founder
  

  Christine Nicholson

  Founder

  Christine is a multi award-winning UK Business Mentor. She has authored 4 business books and is a regular keynote speaker on Succession and Exit Planning. As a businesswoman who has built multi-million turnover businesses over the last 30 years, she has worked with many business owners in all sectors including taking one from bankruptcy to 8-figure exit in 18 months. She has spent a few years accidentally running a zoo! Her latest book, SELL IT, helps business owners get their business and themselves ready for the hardest part of the entrepreneur journey, leaving their business in the hands of others.

• 

  Dame Alison Peacock Chief Executive of the Chartered College of Teaching
  

  Dame Alison Peacock

  Chief Executive of the Chartered College of Teaching

  Professor Dame Alison Peacock is Chief Executive of the Chartered College of Teaching, a new Professional Body that seeks to raise our status through celebrating, supporting and connecting teachers to provide expert teaching and leadership. Prior to joining the Chartered College, Dame Alison was Executive Headteacher of The Wroxham School in Hertfordshire. Her career to date has spanned primary, secondary and advisory roles. She is an Honorary Fellow of Queens College Cambridge, Hughes Hall Cambridge and UCL, a Visiting Professor of both the University of Hertfordshire and Glyndŵr University and a trustee for Big Change. Her research is published in a series of books about Learning without Limits offering an alternative approach to inclusive school improvement.

• 

  Dr Leila Khouja Walker Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer at Persona Education
  

  Dr Leila Khouja Walker

  Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer at Persona Education

  Dr Leila Khouja Walker is an edtech expert and ex-teacher focused on social issues. A thought leader in online learning with wide experience of R&D in technology for social benefit, she has over 25 years experience in teaching, curriculum design and educational research.
  As the Co-Founder of Persona Education, Leila is on a mission to boost the wellbeing and employability of young people through developing their social-emotional skills.
  Leila is also a Senior Lecturer in Education and Childhood at the University of the West of England, focusing her teaching and research on skill development needed for successful social, learning and work outcomes.
  Lucy Spencer – Support Your Students – Best Practice in Alternative Provision
  Described by the Goods Schools Guide as “one to watch”, Lucy is the ‘2021 Female Entrepreneur of the Year’ in the Thames Valley and was also awarded the UK Educators Community ‘Outstanding Leadership Award 2021’. In November 2021, she was a finalist in the ‘Women to Watch’ category in the Global Education Investor Awards 2021 and made the final three in the ‘Female Entrepreneur of the Year’ in the Great British Business and Community Awards.

  Her achievements to date have included founding Education Boutique and growing it to acquisition by the UKs leading educational jobs board and Edtech recruitment specialists, Eteach.

  Lucy is incredibly passionate about tutoring being available to all. Her team support parents to secure funded tutoring, when school refusal impacts learning.

• 

  Georgina Green Founder, Green Tutors
  

  Georgina Green

  Founder, Green Tutors

  Georgina is a retired scientist, current personal tutor, and owner of Green Tutors. With her tutor team of scientists, engineers, and programmers, she has been inspiring students in their STEM studies and career choices since 2011.

  Since March 2020 Georgina has been coaching teachers and tutors to bring their lessons online and grow their online businesses through her free Facebook group, one to one mentoring, and group coaching sessions.

  You can join the group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/tutorsneedtutors.
  In 2022 Georgina was a member of the STEMAzing Women Inspiration Academy. Georgina also delivers STEM workshops and careers events in local schools as a volunteer through STEM Learning and ELSA Next Generation.

• 

  Hannah Knowles Speaker & Trainer at Art of Brilliance
  

  Hannah Knowles

  Speaker & Trainer at Art of Brilliance

  Hannah loves nothing more than engaging and inspiring individuals to realise their full potential.

  Before joining Art of Brilliance, Hannah spent a number of years implementing whole school wellbeing programmes. She now delivers workshops and keynotes across the spectrum of Art of Brilliance clients; kids, teenagers, adults, businesses, NHS…

  Hannah is on a mission. Be it an individual, school or business setting, she comes armed with strategies and insights that will help you thrive. She knows that life is busy, so she is all about giving short, practical tips that won’t take up any more of your time, in fact they might just help you save time.

  Beneath it all, Hannah is a realist. She realises that she can’t change the world, but she might be able to help you change YOUR world. Whatever your age and circumstances, Hannah wants to help you inch closer to your ideal you.

• 

  Jen Fox Deputy CEO, Action Tutoring
  

  Jen Fox

  Deputy CEO, Action Tutoring

  After graduating from Trinity College Dublin with a degree in Genetics, Jen emigrated to the UK and spent three years teaching in a secondary school in south London.

  While there she specialised in programme design for high achieving disadvantaged pupils and completed the Teach First Leadership Development Programme. In 2015 she achieved a ‘Masters in Leadership’ through University College London. After the position of Programme Director, Jen became Action Tutoring Interim CEO in 2017 and again in 2021, both maternity covers.

  As Deputy CEO, she now leads the Impact & Quality Team and the Programme Team as well as being involved in strategy implementation.

• 

  Joanne Kaminski Founder, Online Tutor Coach
  

  Joanne Kaminski

  Founder, Online Tutor Coach

  Hi, I’m Joanne Kaminski, an Online Tutoring Consultant. I help great tutors like you learn how to find your voice so you can market your tutoring services to a worldwide market. This will help you get more students and work the hours you desire. Creating the freedom and flexibility you have always wanted. It will also make you a highly successful tutor bringing in 4 and 5 figures a month.

  As an experienced online tutor business coach, I have helped countless tutors like you turn their businesses around. I’ll work with you one-on-one to help you identify and eliminate the obstacles holding you back, and create a comprehensive plan to attract more students and increase your income. Join the hundreds of successful online tutors who have transformed their businesses with my help. Sign up today!

• 

  Julia Silver Founder, Qualified Tutor
  

  Julia Silver

  Founder, Qualified Tutor

  My ‘why’ is to contribute to the change that needs to happen in education to make it more nuanced, sustainable and fit-for-purpose.

  As a school leader, my passion is for shifting culture by developing the people around me.

  I created Qualified Tutor, a much-loved community and training provider, and the Love Tutoring Online Community to provide confidence and connection for tutors. My book ‘Love Tutoring: Turn your Plan B into a Plan A’ is coming soon.

  My husband Simon and I have the pleasure and privilege of raising five amazing children ranging in age from 6 to 16.

• 

  Kirstin Coughtrie Founder, Gaia Learning
  

  Kirstin Coughtrie

  Founder, Gaia Learning

  Late-diagnosed ADHDer, Kirstin Coughtrie has a squiggly career tailored to her own neurodiversity and that of her children. A South African born, Australian residing in Salisbury, UK, Kirstin is an Online School Leader, Neurodiversity Advocate, and ADHD Coach. Her passion for helping neurodiverse learners led her to establish Gaia Learning, an online education platform catering to students aged 8-16 who may struggle in conventional educational environments. Gaia Learning offers structured, engaging, and skills-based national curriculum-aligned sessions for these students.
  In her role as an ADHD coach, Kirstin provides invaluable support and guidance to parents, teenagers, and educators, assisting them in overcoming the challenges associated with living and working with ADHD. In 2022, she joined forces with entrepreneur Kate Carney to co-found Hybrid School Ltd. The duo aims to revolutionise traditional education by harnessing technology to create more human, flexible, and valuable learning experiences. Their mission is to help independent schools expand their reach by building custom online schools to serve local communities in hybrid learning hubs.
  Kirstin’s expertise and impact extend beyond neurodiversity and ADHD, as she is also a Postgraduate Fellow at the Royal Geographical Society. A dedicated advocate for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and a Climate Champion with Take Action Global Climate Action Schools, Kirstin works to promote the implementation of these goals in education on both local and global scales.

• 

  Liberty King Senior Strategy Consultant
  

  Liberty King

  Senior Strategy Consultant

  Liberty has always had a strong passion for education. Her career started in the classroom as an English teacher on the Teach First programme, before embarking on a masters at Harvard University in International Education Policy. From there, she joined the Education Endowment Foundation and whilst at the EEF she was part of the team who designed and ran the National Tutoring Programme in its launch year. She is now a senior strategy consultant for the education sector working on growth strategy and performance improvement for a wide range of companies in the education space, including leading nationwide tutoring companies.

• 

  Michael Gibben Founder and Coach, Coach for Tutors
  

  Michael Gibben

  Founder and Coach, Coach for Tutors

  Michael Gibben is a certified teacher and coach. He began his education journey as a private tutor and classroom teacher. With time, he felt he could better guide students in a one-on-one or small group setting. In 2011, he founded his mentor-tutoring company (I.M. Success Tutoring). After 8 years with I.M. Success Tutoring, he decided to transition from being the owner of a tutoring company to being a full time business coach. He established Coach for Tutors for private tutors or tutor company owners eager to build their practices.

  Michael is also the author of two tutoring business e-books for those looking to launch and/or scale their tutoring practices and, last year, started the Coach for Tutors Podcast to help tutors with growing their tutoring businesses with each episode.

• 

  Nicola Kelting Founder, NK Tutoring
  

  Nicola Kelting

  Founder, NK Tutoring

  Passionate about empowering students with their own science & maths education, Nicola has grown her bespoke tuition business, NK Tutoring that enables students to create a toolbox of transferable skills. Building a positive and reflective student-tutor relationship is core to our values. Students leave tuition more knowledgeable, skilled and reflective learners.

  Nicola is a highly skilled & dedicated science teacher (PGCE & QTS) with a wealth of experience under her belt from over a decade working in UK grammar and comprehensive secondary schools. Qualified with MSc & BSc (Hons) in Biological and Plant Sciences with a background in biodiversity conservation research and programme management.

  A busy mum of two, Nicola is also a school governor, enjoys hiking, travel, outdoor fitness and loves all things green with a passion gardening and outdoor learning.

• 

  Robert Jennings Co-founder of ‘The Dyscalculia Network’
  

  Robert Jennings

  Co-founder of ‘The Dyscalculia Network’

  Head of Maths for the last 5 years at Emerson House, a specialist learning centre for children with special educational needs.

  I regularly train teachers to become specialists at helping children with any form of maths difficulties.

  I have developed along with Jane Emerson, a new dyscalculia assessment (‘Maths and Dyscalculia Assessment’), which provides a diagnostic assessment of the pupil’s maths strengths and weaknesses.

  I work at Westminster Abbey Choir school as Head of Learning support.

  Member of the British Psychological Society (No: 508474).