Elizabeth Smith is the assistant manager of Hillingdon Behaviour Support Team providing training, advice and support to school based staff, and delivering individual and group interventions to children and young people aged 3 to 19.  She has taught in mainstream and special education settings in and around London including a secondary pupil referral unit. Elizabeth is the author of many resources, including books that tackle issues such as self-harm and bullying and which provide training materials for staff development. She writes Social and Emotional Learning Update e-bulletin.

Gill has written many articles for Optimus Education. Her book, Practical Health and Safety in Secondary Schools: A whole-school resource was published by Optimus in 2012.

Gill was a teacher for 13 years working in state and private sectors and has worked with nursery pupils through to adults. Since leaving teaching she has worked as a community project coordinator, education researcher, freelance writer and a H&S advisor with Spot On Health & Safety, working on international and national exhibitions and events as well as providing practical support to schools, small businesses and charities.

Eddie O'Donnell

After 27 years in HM Forces and spending time in manufacturing and creative events industries, Eddie set up Spot On Health & Safety in 2000. Since then he has advised on major national and international shows, product launches, film sets, corporate events and AGMs as well as working with small businesses and charities.

Together Gill and Eddie believe in adopting a practical approach to H&S so that it enables people to do what they want to do –  but safely!

Jackie Beere spent three years as an Advanced Skills Teacher, leading and implementing innovative teaching and learning strategies nationwide before becoming a headteacher in 2003. She was awarded the OBE in November 2002 for services to education, having trained many teachers and school leaders in the latest theory and practice of learning to learn and emotional intelligence. She is now an author, trainer and school improvement partner delivering training all over the world. Jackie has written several books and articles, including Creating the Learning School with associates from the University of Leicester; The Learner’s Toolkit and The Competency Curriculum Toolkit. Her latest book The Perfect Ofsted Inspection was published in March 2012.

John served for 28 years as a primary headteacher (he was appointed young!) and has led five schools including a successful training school and a large coastal school in challenging circumstances. He has inspected for Ofsted for well over a decade and carries out denominational inspections for the Church of England. John is now a full-time writer, teacher trainer and consultant with Adept Education Associates, providing bespoke services from early years to post-16. He writes Primary Headship e-bulletin and a blog, and his book, Leading a Faith School was published by Optimus in 2009.

Julia is an experienced class teacher at Whaley Bridge Primary School, an Enhanced Resource school in Derbyshire, where she currently teaches a Year 1 class. She has taught in the Foundation Stage, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, and has experienced life in rural, town and inner city schools.  She has taught single age and mixed age classes, both alone and as part of a multiple form entry teaching team. 

Julia has managed the One to One Tuition initiative in her school, and leads the curriculum in music, RE, collective worship and modern foreign languages. She helps coordinate student teachers, and leads a variety of extra curricular activities.

Having written several articles about language learning for scholastic publications, she has a keen interest in languages in primary schools, and has pursued research about how young children learn to write.

Julia’s focus on teaching and learning in the primary school has seen her stay in the classroom, concentrating wholly on the development of her pupils.

Linda has over 40 years' experience in education as a teacher, headteacher, adviser and lead officer for early years for a local authority. She is passionate about developing children’s thinking and learning, valuing creative learning environments and encouraging educators to think about the ‘why’ as well as the ‘how’ in their approach to teaching. Linda provides consultancy and training for early years and multi-agency professionals in local authorities across the UK.

Together with Pat Brunton, Linda edits Early Years Update newsletter and e-bulletin and has co-authored many books on early years learning and development.

Micon Metcalfe is the Director of Finance and Business at Dunraven School. She is a Specialist Leader of Education and was one of the first 100 to be awarded the Advanced Diploma in School Business Management. Micon has worked in schools across the 4-19 age range and has wide experience in maintained and academy school finance, HR and capital programmes. She is also experienced in change management and is interested in how School Business Professionals can contribute to the changing educational landscape.

Follow her on Twitter @miconm

Paul Haigh is Director of the Hallam Teaching School Alliance at Notre Dame High School, Sheffield. Notre Dame is an outstanding Catholic comprehensive school. Paul is a secondary teacher of 16 years' experience, he has also led his school to award-winning national reputation for its use of new technology. He is a regular conference speaker and author of two books on new technology in schools and many articles. He currently works closely with the National College, TDA, Schools Network and several professional organisations, subject organisations and universities. Follow Paul on twitter @paulhaigh