Meet our judges

Amanda is the headteacher of St Alfege with St Peter’s CofE Primary School and has over 20 years’ experience in the education sector. 

She has a Master's in Coaching and Mentoring Practice and her dissertation focused on the experience of coaching for Black headteachers. Amanda is a UKCP registered trainee transactional analysis psychotherapist.

She is a mentor on the Church of England Leaders Like Us programme and in 2023 she published her fourth book Letters to a Young Generation: Aspiring School Leaders which aims to encourage the next generation of Black school leaders.

Annamarie Hassall MBE is Chief Executive of nasen – the National Association for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) – the leading membership charity that exists to champion, connect and support those working in the education community from the early years to schools, post-16, specialist schools and wider settings, with and for children and young people with SEND and learning differences.

Annamarie has held local, national and government advisory roles that span the breadth of education, children’s social care, early years and SEND. Annamarie is steadfast in her resolve that high quality education should be a right for all children and young people.

Dame Alison Peacock is Chief Executive of the Chartered College of Teaching and was previously Executive Headteacher of The Wroxham School. She is an Honorary Fellow of Queens' College Cambridge, Hughes Hall Cambridge and UCL, a Visiting Professor of Glyndŵr University, a trustee for Big Change, the Helen Hamlyn Trust and an adviser to the Institute for Educational & Social Equity.

Dame Alison is a Director of the Edge Foundation, has honorary degrees from the University of Brighton and University of Bath Spa and is a Deputy Lieutenant for Hertfordshire. Her research is published in a series of books about Learning without Limits.

A former secondary school headteacher, Christine was Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector at Ofsted from 2006 to 2011. She has substantial local authority experience as both director of education and chief executive.

Christine is the Chair of the Education Endowment Foundation. An Honorary Fellow at UCL and a Visiting Professor there for over 10 years, she is involved in a range of education projects. Christine has a keen interest in place-based school partnerships. She chairs Camden Learning, a schools’ company and co-chairs the national organisation for area-based education partnerships (AEPA).

Dr David James is an English teacher and a Deputy Head at a leading independent girls’ school in London.

He is the author of several books on education, an editor of study guides and literary texts, and a regular contributor to national newspapers and magazines on cultural, as well as educational, matters. His latest book, co-authored with Jane Lunnon, is Schools of Thought: Lessons to learn from schools doing things differently, which was published by Bloomsbury this year.

Durell is Head of Governance at RSAcademics and has been closely involved in the development of iGNIS. After 20 years in school leadership positions, he spent 11 years at ISI where he was responsible for liaising with heads, governors, local authorities, ISC Associations, Ofsted and the DfE about safeguarding and quality assurance.

He has been a governor in a variety of independent and state schools. From 2018-2022 he was Chair of ISEB. Currently Chair of the ISBA inspections committee, he is also a specialist education partner at Alder, a communications and crisis management consultancy, and on the advisory board of The Wellbeing Hub.

Gwen has a wealth of educational experience after almost 30 years of teaching and leading in boarding and day, single sex and co-educational, maintained and independent schools in the UK.  She has led teams in some of the UK’s most prestigious schools, including Roedean School and The Cheltenham Ladies’ College.

From 2011-2018, Gwen led Loughborough High School. She was President of the Girls’ Schools Association in 2018 and since September 2019 has been Director of Education Strategy for North London Collegiate School International, responsible for supporting the development of new projects and all aspects of education in the NLCS international group of schools.

James Bowen is Assistant General Secretary at the NAHT, where he leads the organisation’s policy, research, press and communications teams. He is the former headteacher of a junior school in Hampshire and has held a number of other leadership positions in schools, including deputy headteacher, SENCO and subject leader.

James has particular expertise in a number of key policy areas including: funding, assessment, accountability and curriculum. He is a regular education blogger and appears regularly on television and radio as an NAHT spokesperson. 

John is Director of Product and Engineering at Oak National Academy. He was previously a teacher and senior leader in the North West.

John has worked with a wide range of organisations across education from start-ups to school trusts, and established companies and charities, including Teach Your Monster (Usborne Foundation). John is also chair at Edapt, having co-founded the organisation in 2011.

Julie Robinson began her career as a teacher and head in Sussex prep schools. She worked for the prep schools’ association, then joined the Independent Schools Council in 2015.
 
ISC represents independent education at national level in the media and across government departments. It is a coordinating body bringing together independent schools’ associations representing heads, governors and bursars to inform and promote independent education. 
 
Julie is a governor for a state school and an independent school. She is an enthusiastic advocate of partnership for all kinds of schools.

Leora Cruddas is the founding Chief Executive of the Confederation of School Trusts – the national organisation and sector body for school trusts in England. She has advised successive governments and sits on several DfE advisory and partnership bodies. She also sits on the advisory board for Evidence Based Education and is a fellow of the RSA.

Leora is an English teacher and has spent many years working in local government, latterly as a Director of Education in two London local authorities. She is Visiting Professor at UCL Institute of Education. Leora was awarded a CBE in the New Year’s Honours, 2022.

Lucy is Director of Education at Shakespeare’s Globe. Her career spans professional theatre & school drama education with 20 years’ experience as a Head of Drama, lead practitioner for Greenwich & Director of Drama & Theatre for a large MAT. Specialising in directing productions with and for young people and families, she is twice Olivier award nominated for the family productions, Midsummer Mechanicals and Rough Magic with Splendid Productions. For schools, Romeo and Juliet (2024) and Macbeth (2025) in the Globe playing to more than 26k students on free tickets. She is passionate about young people’s access to quality, live theatre.

Margaret Mulholland is ASCL’s SEND and Inclusion Policy Specialist, and is a leading voice in inclusion policy and practice, leadership development and teacher education. She sits on various DfE boards and is External SEN Advisor to the States of Jersey.

Previously she led the Research & Development Centre & Teaching School Alliance at Swiss Cottage School, worked in teacher training at the Institute of Education and taught in Oxfordshire and London schools. Margaret is Honorary Norham Fellow at Oxford University and a columnist for Tes.

Mei leads the Reach Foundation's cradle to career, place-based initiatives in Feltham, Hounslow. This includes the Feltham Convening Partnership, a collective impact initiative that brings together over 100 cross-sector individuals from 30 different institutions, to improve outcomes for babies, children, young people and their families in the local community.

Prior to joining Reach in 2019, Mei was a headteacher and has experience in primary and secondary school leadership. She volunteers as a Governor for Capel Manor College, London’s specialist environmental FE college, and a Trustee for the charity Delight, which delivers arts-based learning programmes in primary schools across Surrey and Croydon.

Pepe Di'lasio was most recently Headteacher at Wales High School, a 11-19 High school in Rotherham, from September 2012 to March 2024. Pepe began his teaching career in Doncaster before moving as Deputy Headteacher to an 11-19 outstanding school in Sheffield. Pepe has also worked as an Executive Headteacher of two high schools and more recently has been Assistant Director of Education for Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council.  

Pepe is also a former Chair of ASCL Equality, Inclusion & Ethics Commitee and ASCL President 2021-2022. He was elected as ASCL General Secretary in 2023 and took over the role in April 2024. He recently became High Sheriff of South Yorkshire for 2025.

Eunice Lumsden is the Professor of Child Advocacy and Head of Childhood, Youth and Families at the University of Northampton. She has considerable experience in the early years and has advised on early childhood policy, workforce qualifications and is a member of the Institute of Apprenticeships and Technical Qualifications, Education and Early Years Route Panel. She has received awards for her ‘Changemaking’ work and research.

Nationally, she has been a member of several external expert groups advising the government on Early Years qualifications and inequalities in the early years, and was an academic adviser for the Early Years Healthy Development Review.

Professor Samantha Twiselton, OBE is Emeritus Professor at Sheffield Hallam University and was its founding Director of Sheffield Institute of Education. She is an independent education consultant and advisor for the English and other governments and many other organisations. 

With highly regarded expertise in teacher development, Sam has been involved in shaping government policy. She sits on many government advisory groups and chaired the DfE Core Content in ITT group. In June 2018 she was named in the Queen's Birthday honours as a recipient of an OBE for services to Higher Education.

Simon has sat on DfE panels developing both the Professional Standards for Teaching Assistants and the Standard for Teachers’ Professional Development and is currently representing SEND on the Teaching School Hubs Council.

Simon has also supported the writing of the NPQ Behaviour and Culture, NPQ SENCO and DfE guidance on Initial Teacher Training: Special Schools and Alternative Provision. He regularly contributes comment and content to a range of publications and events on the theme of SEND and has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Education by Brookes University for his work in SEND.

After a career in the performing arts as a dancer, then business publishing in the technology sector and now education, Simon is leading one of the UK's specialist vocational performing arts schools.

Simon is a writer and commentator on education, a trustee of a bursary foundation for choral singing and a Fellow of the RSA. A keen cyclist, his hobbies include gardening, cooking and playing the trumpet. Simon is married to Dawn, a senior director in the tech sector, and they have a very noisy Airedale terrier.

Sinéad McBrearty is CEO at Education Support, the mental health and wellbeing charity for the education workforce across the UK. She advocates for a systemic approach to wellbeing for the education workforce, attending to the individual, the workplace and the wider policy environment. She works with governments in England and Wales, using independent mental health and wellbeing research to amplify the voice of the education workforce. 

Sinéad spent the first part of her career at KPMG before moving to leadership roles in the not-for-profit sector. She has worked as an organisational development consultant and a university lecturer and has been a school governor and charity trustee.

Sir David was the product of a comprehensive school in Cardiff, and was the first member of his family to go to university. Making a difference to the lives of disadvantaged children has been a huge motivation to him throughout his career, which he began as a music teacher in 1983.

In 1997 David was appointed to be Headteacher of Cirencester Deer Park school and then in 2003 became the Principal at John Cabot City Technology College. After John Cabot was judged outstanding, he was invited to create one of the first multi-academy trusts in the South West, becoming the first CEO of the Cabot Learning Federation in 2009.

David was appointed as the first Regional Schools Commissioner for the South West, Sir David in 2014 and National Schools Commissioner in February 2016. Since leaving the NSC role, he has been a trustee of Centrepoint as well as being on the board of the Talent Foundry. Sir David continues to place family, music, golf and Cardiff City FC at the heart of his relaxation time.

Steve Lancashire, founder and former CEO of REAch2, the largest primary academy trust in England, has over 35 years of educational experience, including 20 years as a headteacher in challenging settings. Knighted in 2016 for his contributions to education, Steve has influenced education nationally and internationally, including as Lead Adviser for the Department for Education’s London Challenge initiative.

In collaboration with Forum Strategy, Steve co-authored Reflections on Being the CEO, exploring leadership, public sector politics and societal impact. Currently, Steve works as a consultant, coaching CEOs and helping leaders enhance their strategic, leadership and organisational skills.

Vijita Patel is Principal of Swiss Cottage School Development & Research Centre, a primary, secondary and sixth form state special school for 260 pupils in London. The school has seven consecutive Ofsted outstanding inspection outcomes, is an accredited Centre of Leadership and Educational Excellence with Apple Distinguished School status, research incubator for EdTech and Youth Sports Trust Centre of Inclusive Excellence.

Vijita trains educators on the neuroscience of learning and future mainstream school leaders. She supports policymakers, executive leaders and international delegations on system architecture as a National Leader of Education. Vijita is also on the Leadership Council for the World Schools Summit, Trustee for Challenge Partners, Special Olympics Great Britain, Expert Advisory Group member and Fellow of Chartered College of Teaching.