EdTech Festival 

Welcome to the first day of Back to Reality.
28th March 2022

Today we will be kickstarting our 4 day EdTech Festival with a collection of inspiring keynotes and practical speakers. Each day we organise the sessions around a collection of insightful and pertinent themes to aid those of us working in education to prosper in the current climate, and to continue to stay a step ahead of the curve moving forward.

Today all sessions will draw on, and be organised into, these following four key topics:

Click the button to find the joining links to each session 

Rewatch Here

Today's Keynotes

Bridie Tooher

Bridie Tooher

Deputy Director of Digital Strategy, DfE


Session starts at 9:40am

Jonathan Bishop

Jonathan Bishop

CEO, Cornerstone Academy Trust


Session starts at 10:25am

Rick Herrmann

Rick Herrmann

Vice President, Industry Solution Group - Education, Microsoft

Session starts at 15:50pm

Sessions via Strands

Leadership and Strategy

11:05 - From EdTech to PedTech: Shifting the Narrative around Education Technology

11:05 - From EdTech to PedTech: Shifting the Narrative around Education Technology

Fiona Aubrey-Smith, Director of One Life Learning

Join Dr Fiona Aubrey-Smith, a former teacher, school leader and advisor who is now Director of One Life Learning specialising in strategic education consultancy. She will be discussing the pedagogy of the use of technology; the how rather than the what of using EdTech.

Browse speaker biographies

12:00 - Innovating with Technology to Drive CPD

12:00 - Innovating with Technology to Drive CPD

Steve Taylor - Robin Hood MAT

Steve will talk about the strategic approach to launching professional development sessions through curated podcasts and why the decision was made to take a resource that was built for the Trust and offer it out nationally. Steve will discuss the impact of this model, what has worked, what didn’t work and the strategic direction he believes professional development can head if schools and their leaders are bold enough.

Browse speaker biographies

12:35 - How to Take Your Whole Team on the Technology Journey

12:35 - How to Take Your Whole Team on the Technology Journey

Sarah Morgan, Headteacher at Danesfield School

Sarah will be talking about her passion for technology to be embedded in all areas of school life. Danesfield is both a Microsoft Showcase School and an EdTech Demonstrator School where she emphasises the importance of team work, collaboration, communication, perseverance and resilience.

Browse speaker biographies

14:20 - Making a Measureable Difference - Why switching from SIMs was worth it!

14:55 - Creating a Coherent EdTech Strategy from Scratch

14:55 - Creating a Coherent EdTech Strategy from Scratch

Matt Smith, Aspire2B

Implementing and managing digital change in schools requires more than the 'traditional' ICT action plan. In this session we will look at the typical, and not so typical, elements required for a comprehensive and coherent edtech strategy.

Browse speaker biographies

Finance, Reporting and Governance

11:05 - Producing a Headteacher's Report on Statistical Data in 20 Minutes or Less Using SIMS Discover

11:05 - Producing a Headteacher's Report on Statistical Data in 20 Minutes or Less Using SIMS Discover

Craig Allen, Scomis

Head Teachers are extremely busy people and one of the more mundane tasks is reporting to governors on school statistics.  We are also aware that Governor’s often have to juggle their time between their own careers and their governance role.  Using SIMS Discover we show how a detailed statistical report can be produced in twenty minutes, using charts and graphs to put the information across as concisely as possible.

Browse speaker biographies

12:00 - 5 Things to Consider When Investing in EdTech

12:00 - 5 Things to Consider When Investing in EdTech

Matt Koster-Macron, The EdTech Evidence Group

Everything works somewhere, but nothing works everywhere is a truism for EdTech often attributed to Dylan Wiliam. So how do schools know whether to invest in EdTech or not? Matt is a former teacher, CEO of Learning Ladders Education, Chair of EdTech at BESA (British EducationalSuppliers Association) and a Co-Founder of the EdTechEvidence Group, setup to support schools evaluating EdTech. In this session he’ll explore 5 things to consider when investing in EdTech

1. Am I clear on the problem I need to solve? Am I clear what success looks like? How will I measure ROI?

2. Does the product / supplier have evidence of efficacy and impact? How can we de-risk the decision.

3. Does the product / supplier have reference customers- like me - who I can speak to?

4. Is their support adequate for my needs? Tech is nothing without implementation.

5. Do they believe what I believe? Are we mission-aligned. Do they understand me, my school andthe challenge? Will they grow with me, and adapt to challenges?

Browse speaker biographies

12:35 - Getting Back to Normal with InVentry: Clubs, Trips and Covid Tricks

12:35 - Getting Back to Normal with InVentry: Clubs, Trips and Covid Tricks

Carl Sheen, InVentry

This session will look at how best InVentry can support you in getting back to normal. We’ll look at ways of using registration technology to assist with school trips, before and after school club registration and a few technological tricks to support you in the on-going management of COVID-19.

Browse speaker biographies

14:20 - The Power of EdTech to Support Good Governance

14:20 - The Power of EdTech to Support Good Governance

Fiona Collier and Zoe Briant-Evans, Babcock International

As school governors and academy trustees have had to review and change how they have operated through the recent pandemic, this session will explore the new ways of working, consider what best practice should be as we return to normality and will also consider the important decisions that governors need to make to implement a robust strategy for their schools moving forwards.

Browse speaker biographies

14:55 - Show Me the Evidence

14:55 - Show Me the Evidence

Dan Sandhu, Sparx

Dan Sandhu discusses why it’s vital for the EdTech industry to avoid smoke and mirrors. This session will explore the importance of evidence when selecting EdTech and why it is more important than ever to steer towards evidence-based approaches.

Browse speaker biographies

Teaching and Learning

11:05 - Discovery Education: A Platform for Teaching and Learning

11:05 - Discovery Education: A Platform for Teaching and Learning

Andrew Tidswell, Discovery Education

Prepare learners for tomorrow through curiosity, engagement and real-world experiences. In this session we will provide a deep dive into how digital technologies such as video, imagery, audio and digital text can be used to transform teaching and enrich learning across the curriculum.

Browse speaker biographies

12:00 - Exeter Science Centre: Connecting Schools and the Public with STEAMM Research and Industry

12:00 - Exeter Science Centre: Connecting Schools and the Public with STEAMM Research and Industry

Alice Mills, Exeter Science Centre

Exeter Science Centre is an educational charity working to create a STEAMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics and Medicine) Discovery Centre in Exeter for the educational, social and cultural benefit of the city and the whole of the South West region. We are passionate about connecting schools and the public of all ages, backgrounds and abilities with the incredible STEAMM research and industry in our region, whilst raising awareness and understanding of global issues, how STEAMM research and industry are working to tackle them and how everyone can play their part.

In this session I will give an overview of the educational, digital resources and events we are developing, along with the progress of Exeter Science Centre so far, our future aims and what opportunities we can provide for schools. Fundamentally, this session will give participants the opportunity to have their say and help to mould the development of Exeter Science Centre both in terms of the format and content of the resources/events that we offer in our outreach programmes as well as the plans for the building itself and how it will operate. We look forward to hearing how we can support you and work together.

Browse speaker biographies

12:35 - Building Positive Maths MindSet Using Personalised and Adaptive Online Practice

12:35 - Building Positive Maths MindSet Using Personalised and Adaptive Online Practice

Frances Kingston and Margaret Allen, Renaissance Learning

More Information Coming Soon...

Browse speaker biographies

14:20 - Best Free Apps in Microsoft 365 to Transform Your Teaching

14:20 - Best Free Apps in Microsoft 365 to Transform Your Teaching

Kevin Sait - Surface Evangelist, Microsoft

Join Kevin to discover the best free Microsoft apps that will make you more productive and streamline your teaching.

Browse speaker biographies

14:55 - Empowering Student Voice with Flipgrid

14:55 - Empowering Student Voice with Flipgrid

Jess Boyce, Flipgrid

Jess is Education Innovation Lead at Flipgrid, she is passionate about technology in education and trying new things. She works with teachers to make their classrooms as fun and innovative as possible. Jess will discuss the use of Flipgrid in the classroom. Flipgrid is a simple and accessible video discussion experience for learners that aims to ‘empower every voice.

Browse speaker biographies

Engagement Through Creativity

11:05 - The Importance of Developing Creativity

11:05 - The Importance of Developing Creativity

Mark Martin MBE

Mark, aka @Urban_Teacher, is recognised around the world for his insight and passion for education and technology. He has taught ICT for over 10 years and has become an expert in helping teachers and schools use technology to improve teaching and learning. He will be discussing the use of EdTech to develop pupils’ creativity.

Browse speaker biographies

12:00 - Making Your Technology Work for You: Creative Ideas to get Technology into the Classroom

12:00 - Making Your Technology Work for You: Creative Ideas to get Technology into the Classroom

Ben McGinnes, Danesfield School

In this session we will be looking at ways to utilise the technology that you currently have available at your school. If you are finding it challenging to invest in new tech, we can show you creative lessons ideas to make the most of low cost and free resources and get technology imbedded in the primary classroom.

Browse speaker biographies

12:35 - Top Apps to Improve Engagement

12:35 - Top Apps to Improve Engagement

Michael Kimber, Cornerstone Academy Trust

Michael is a Professional Development Lead, teacher, Microsoft Certified Educator, Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert and STEM Learning Science Learning Partnership Lead for Devon. Join him as he details the best apps to use in the classroom in order to keep your pupils engaged.

Browse speaker biographies

14:20 - A Return to Reality

14:20 - A Return to Reality

Andrew Hammond, Discovery Education

Join Andrew, Senior Director of Learning and Community at Discovery Education to discuss returning to reality. Andrew has worked in schools for over twenty years, as a Classteacher, Head of Department, Deputy Head and Headteacher in both independent and maintained sector schools. He is also a prolific author, having written over thirty titles for a range of educational publishers.

Browse speaker biographies

14:55 - Introducing Video Editing Into the Curriculum

14:55 - Introducing Video Editing Into the Curriculum

Dale Lawson, KS2 Deputy Phase Lead at Cornerstone Academy Trust

For years, teaching and learning has been supported by the promotion of high quality video resources. In the 21st century classroom, this is still the case. However, with increased pupil access to devices in school, the power of video can be placed into their hands. In this session, Dale will be highlighting the benefits of introducing video editing into the curriculum, as well as demoing some of these basic skills.

Browse speaker biographies

Back to the top