Missing Mothers: retaining & supporting valued colleagues in the workforce

The MTPT Project's annual two-morning virtual conference with The New Britain Project.

The MTPT Project is back with their annual virtual conference, this year called Missing Mothers following the success of our summer 2024 report with The New Britain Project.

Spread across two mornings, we've got a brilliant line up of sessions and speakers to support leaders to retain their parent-teacher colleagues, and parents to build a sustainable and fulfilling career in education.

Friday 21st March, 09:30-12:30

For school, MAT and system leaders

09:30 - Keynotes

Join Emma Sheppard, Founder of The MTPT Project, and Anna McShane, Director of The New Britain Project to understand more about the motherhood penalty, and its damaging impact on our workforce, as well as the findings and recommendations from the Missing Mothers report.

We'll follow our two keynotes with a choice of nine sessions across three carousels providing practical guidance to boost retention, gender equality and wellbeing in your organisation.

10:00 - Session 1

Choose from:

• Timetabling for Flexibility - Damien MacKinney, MacKinney Education

• Common Examples of Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination (and how to avoid them) - Rosie Kelly-Smith, MTPT Project

• Family Policies: options to boost gender equality - Zahara Chowdhury, Buckinghamshire New University / Diverse Educators

10:45 - Session 2

Choose from:

• Why isn't my gender pay gap improving? - Sue Prickett, WomenEd

• Supporting Trainees who are, or become parents - Cheryl Abbiss, Chiltern TSH

• Sustainable Workload: whole school practices that support staff working part-time and flexibly - Laura-May Rowlands, Woodlands Community College

11:35 - Session 3

Choose from:

• A Supportive Return to Work - Policies and Implementation - Mary Hallett, Northgate High School

• Managing Flexible TLRs - Lindsay Patience, Flexible Teacher Talent

• Family Policies: changes to boost inclusion - Jonny Uttley and Emma Collins, TEAL

12:20 - Closing

Saturday 22nd March, 09:30-12:30

For parent-educators

09:30 - Keynotes

Emma Sheppard, Founder of The MTPT Project, and Anna McShane, Director of The New Britain Project will be back again on Saturday morning, highlighting different areas of the Missing Mothers report and the research around the motherhood penalty in education to empower our parent-educator audience.

We'll follow our two keynotes with a choice of nine sessions across three carousels providing practical tips to help you design a career in teaching that fits you and your family's needs.

10:00 - Session 1

Choose from:

• Negotiating Your Worth - Vivienne Porritt, WomenEd

• Sustainable Workload: managing and protecting your time when working flexibly - Laura-May Rowlands, Woodlands Community College

• Maternity Coaching: a magic retention solution? - Panel hosted by Emily Pringle, MTPT Project Lincolnshire Representative with Laura Nwanya and Yookti Kotecha-Davda

10:45 - Session 2

Choose from:

• Fair Pay for Flexible TLRs - Josie Bailey, Thetford Academy

• Flexible Working at Senior Leadership Level - Panel hosted by Farihah Alam, Northern Education Trust with Andy Duncan and Nikki Cunningham-Smith

• Balance Through Boundaries - Alice Ballantine-Dykes, MTPT Project Coach

11:35 - Session 3

Choose from:

• Maximising Maternity Pay through Shared Parental Leave - Kinza Barrett, Shared Parental Leave for Teachers

• Motherhood and Headship - Panel hosted by Nadine Bernard, Aspiring Heads with Aisha Raymond and Helena Marsh

• Is Teaching a Father-Friendly Profession? - Panel hosted by Paul Hunter, MTPT Project Diversity and Inclusion team member with DeMarco Ryans and Tom Turnham

12:20 - Closing

This event is generously sponsored by Outwood Grange Academies Trust, The Ogden Trust, Edurio, Ambition Institute, the National Institute of Teaching, The Key Group, Culham St Gabriel's Trust, ASCL, United Learning Trust, Best Practice Network and Harris Federation.

Supporting Partners

The work of our Supporting Partners helps to address the motherhood penalty in education, and helps to retain more of our valued parent-teachers in the profession.

We are priviliged to have representatives from WomenEd, Teacher's SPL, Flexible Teacher Talent, Aspiring Heads and Diverse Educators speaking and hosting panels at our Missing Mothers event.

Proceeds from our ticket sales go towards the running costs of The MTPT Project as a small charity.

FAQ

Who are the different ticket options for?

We want to make sure that everyone has a chance to access the event, and are particularly mindful of colleagues currently on parental leave (and pay!). We therefore have a variety of ticketing options available. Choose the best one for your situation / team.

• Friday Standard Ticket - £45 for individual attendance to Friday's event.
• Friday Multiwatch Ticket - £180 to allow your whole team to attend, or multiple attendees to access different parts of the morning. Recommended for teams of 4+.

• Saturday Standard Ticket - £45 for individual attendance to Saturday's event (pay what you can).
• Saturday Concession Ticket - £10 for individual attendance to Saturday's event (pay what you can).
• Saturday Complimentary Ticket - free for colleauges currently on a period of parental leave, or who otherwise wouldn't be able to attend - limited number available.

• Full Conference Ticket - £60 to attend both Friday and Saturday sessions.

Will sessions be recorded?

This is a live event. If you cannot make these dates but are interested in further training or coaching with The MTPT Project, please explore our other offers, which include self-directed and recorded access options:

• 1:1 coaching programmes for colleagues on parental leave and with young children
• Group coaching programmes for colleagues on parental leave and with young children
• Life Friendly Leadership programme for senior leaders working in schools, MATs and other educational organisations
• Supporting Maternity Returners webinar for line managers
• Flexible working webinars from the DfE's Flexible Working in Education programme

Is the conference only for teachers?

All our events are fully inclusive of teachers, leaders, support staff, and central Trust staff. Friday sessions will also be relevant to union secretaries, local authority colleagues and anyone else working in and around teacher retention and recruitment.

My baby / children / pet will be with me during the event - is that okay?

100%, yes. We are all familiar enough with virtual events now to use the "mute" and "cameras off" buttons to our advantage, but we always love saying hello to little people on the screen at our events. Do whatever feels right to you.