Opportunity Areas Webinar:

Health and Education – what worked for us and how we approached it.

From an award-winning mental health and emotional wellbeing project in Stoke-on-Trent’s sixth form colleges, to using data innovatively to inform the early identification of autism, you will hear insights from successful projects in Oldham, Derby, Stoke-on-Trent, Hastings and Bradford. There will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions and discuss with other participants.

Our panel

• Liz Franey - Deputy Director and Opportunity Areas Senior Responsible Officer - chair. Liz has worked in a variety of roles in the Department for Education, including with the Regional Schools Commissioner and in Free Schools Division. Previously, she worked on trade and aid policies in the European Commission.

• Anne-Marie Canning MBE - Chair of the Bradford Opportunity Area Partnership Board. Anne-Marie is the Chief Executive Officer of The Brilliant Club and was previously the Director of Social Mobility and Student Success at King’s College London between 2012 and 2019.

• Professor Mark Mon-Williams – Programme Director for the Centre for Applied Education Research. Director of Impact for Medicine and Health at the University of Leeds, Professor and Born-in-Bradford executive member at the Bradford Institute of Health Research. Professor of Vision Science at The Norwegian Centre for Vision, and Fellow of the Alan Turing Institute.

• Jo Finn - Safeguarding and Support Manager at City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College. Jo has worked in a variety of young people’s support roles, including social worker for children and young people Looked After. She now works within post-16 education at Sixth Form, managing the safeguarding team and dealing directly with students with vulnerabilities and managing risk.

• Kirsty Cooper - Mental Health and Wellbeing Manager at City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College. Kirsty has a wealth of experience in supporting young people’s mental health, including in education, CAMHS, and an autism specialist service. Kirsty is a qualified clinical supervisor and now uses these skills to support her team of mental health practitioners and counsellors at the Sixth Form College.

• Natalie Williams - Mental Health in Education Manager, Oldham Council. Natalie worked in secondary education for 16 years as a Physical Education Teacher, progressing to a Director of Sport for the last 8 years, before moving into her current role in the local authority. She has led on many projects that embed a whole school and college approach to emotional health and mental wellbeing.

• Jane Calladine - Executive Head of Redwood and Parkview Primary Schools. Jane is an Opportunity Area Board member and acted as Chair of the Primary Strategy Group until July 2021. As Executive Head of Redwood Primary School, Jane was elected to manage the Emotionally Healthy Schools project.

• Sallie Thompsett – Practice Manager, East Sussex County Council 0-19 Early Help Service. Sallie has managed teams of family keyworkers within Early Help for the past 5 years, and was previously responsible for youth work delivery in Hastings and Rother. She has worked with children and young people in education and the voluntary sector for over 25 years.

You will receive a link to the webinar platform (Microsoft Teams) in reminder emails.

Opportunity Areas

The Opportunity Areas programme has been making a difference for children and young people by bringing together national and local partners from businesses, education, civil society and community organisations and addressing priorities identified by analysis of data and engagement with local stakeholders.

Further information on the Opportunity Areas, including the Health and Education Insight Guide that features five projects from the 12 areas, will be published here. (Publication of the guide is due early September.)

If you are a journalist, please direct your query to the Department for Education news desk on 020 7783 8300.

If you have any further questions about the webinar, please contact Opportunity.AREAS@education.gov.uk.

Opportunity Areas webinar - Health and Education - SECTOR