PHAB School Leaders Conference 2025

PHAB 2025 Conference for School Leaders

Unlocking Innovation, Inspiration, and Wellbeing

Join us for an unmissable two-day conference that brings together leading experts, inspiring stories, and practical strategies for school leaders. The PHAB 2025 Conference is your opportunity to learn, connect, and take actionable steps.

Conference Agenda

Day 1 – Innovation: Rethinking Education Keynote Speaker: Liz Robinson – Big Education

Liz Robinson is a trailblazing school and system leader, passionate about redefining education to meet the needs of the whole child. Since beginning her headship in 2006, Liz has worked tirelessly to design school practices that consider children as multi-faceted individuals, deeply connected to their families and communities. As the co-founder and CEO of Big Education, a Multi-Academy Trust serving underserved communities in inner London, Liz leads projects that challenge the status quo and promote a vision of education encompassing the "heart, head, and hand." Big Education run several projects and programmes, including Rethinking Assessment, Rethinking Leadership, the ‘Rethinking School’ project and the Big Education Leadership Programme, to facilitate innovation, build capacity in others and advocate for change. Liz is part of the Bell childcare review for the Labour party.

Morning Session:

Hannah Woodhouse, Hannah Woodhouse, Executive Director Children’s Services (DCS), Children and Education, Bristol City Council, will speak to school leaders at the beginning of Day 1.

Liz will share her leadership journey, offering insights into the innovative approaches of Big Education and how these strategies transform children’s lives and their communities.

Afternoon Session:

A facilitated, hands-on workshop where participants will explore strategies for collaboration and collective problem-solving. This session will empower leaders to work together to address challenges and spark meaningful change in their schools and communities. Joining Liz will be Andi Silvain, Co-Headteacher of School 360 Andrea trained as a primary school teacher and has worked in education for the last 12 years. She was born in Newham and has spent her career working in and around East London. Prior to teaching, Andrea worked at the BBC and in theatre in diverse roles that have provided opportunities that enhance her skills as an educator and leader. She is an advocate of the Arts and worked as a Stage Manager in theatrical productions across the country. Using creativity-driven thinking, Andrea enjoys crafting the big picture and shaping this into an on the ground reality. This has directly translated into her work building and developing the Middle School at School 21, where, as Deputy Head, she specialises in wellbeing and embedding school culture. Andrea is a skilled teacher and holds a particular interest in the Early Years and is passionate about the development of the whole child – head, heart and hand. Her drive and passion centres around social mobility, equality and the empowerment of young people. She thrives on developing those around her and being authentically engaged within all aspects of the community she serves.

Day 2 – Inspiration, Wellbeing, and Turning Challenges into Opportunities

Jessica Trahar Deputy Director for South West Regions Group, and Sarah King, Bristol Lead 

New Government’s Priorities, Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, RISE, Ofsted Consultation, and Sub-regional Landscape Delegates will have the opportunity to submit questions in advance for this session with Jessica Trahar, Deputy Director for South West Regions Group, and Sarah King, Head of Severnside Region (Bristol, Gloucestershire, & South Gloucs) DfE

Laura Aiken

Laura Aiken specialises in leadership and resilience, helping leaders handle pressure, build confidence, and create inclusive, connected teams. With a background rooted in neuroscience, practical tools, and holistic practices, Laura provides leaders with an evidence-based toolkit to tackle challenges and foster wellbeing. Her session will include: · Practical tools for navigating high pressure environments. · Strategies to promote wellbeing and build resilient teams.

Felicity Ashley

A mother of three, cancer survivor, and transatlantic rower, Felicity Ashley embodies resilience and the power of a strong mindset. Felicity has faced and conquered immense challenges, giving her a unique perspective on overcoming adversity. Drawing on her personal journeys of discovery, her work focuses on how a positive mindset is key to success – overcoming challenges, tackling biases, creating winning teams, thriving through change, embracing opportunities, smashing goals. Inspired by renewed mobility following a hip replacement, she put her body and mind to the ultimate test by taking on ‘The World’s Toughest Row’ as part of ‘The Mothership’ crew – a 3,000 mile, unsupported row across the Atlantic Ocean and in completing it, joined the ranks of only 280 women to have ever rowed an ocean. Her aim was to inspire women and children, and show them that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. Just weeks after this incredible achievement she was diagnosed with stage three bowel cancer, a challenge which would once again put her mental and physical resilience to the test. We will hear her extraordinary story and how she achieved success, the challenges she overcame along the way and the power of a strong mindset.