Derby Inclusion Conference 2026

My 4th visit to this lovely day of celebration and sharing good ideas all about 'Inclusion' for the teaching community in Derby. This is a large paper mural, 3 metres wide and 1 metre tall.

Please click on the image to enlarge!

...and me at work on the piece on the day!

Discovery Trust - Schools in Leicester

Had a wonderful day last week working for the Discovery Trust up in Leicester. https://discoverytrust.org/

Some really great speakers, kicked off with Tier Blundell https://tierblundell.com/ who is passionate about keeping children in education. His experience of being excluded from school at a young age has led him on a journey from leaving school with no qualifications, to now studying for a doctorate at Oxford University. Quite incredible.

UKRI Community Forum

This was a really great day, sponsored by Ofgem with the aim of bringing together energy innovators and the general public to discuss improving the ways they share information about their services. 

I often ask clients what sort of image they prefer from a selection of examples I pre-share - and this circle with a swoosh seems to be very popular this year! I think it's because it allows the eyes to travel and has a feeling of onward movement/change. 

We're definitely in a period of massive change since the war started in the Middle East a month ago, who knows where we'll all be in another year...

Net Zero Festival - Live Scribing

 Just posting this because it's a subject that seems to be getting more and more urgent.

This was for the business community and it was a two day educational and networking day, to showcase what's happening now and ask questions about what more can be done to get to Net Zero. 

From blank page...

To two days later, and many conversations and drawings in-between!

Police and Crime Commissioners' Event, Nottinghamshire and the East Midlands Region

This was a VAWG (Violence against Women and Girls) centred event. There were PCCs for the region as well as many local charities present. Jess Phillips MP sent a video and other MPs were present, plus personal testimonies were given from survivors of domestic abuse. 

It was very moving and powerful day. 

I acted as a live graphic facilitator to capture the main points and create a memorable image to keep the work going. As one delegate said to me: "this is never going to go away."

For more about this particular PCC:

https://www.nottinghamshire.pcc.police.uk/about-us/pcc-office/pcc-team

And a big thank you to Angela Kandola, Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for Nottinghamshire for asking me to scribe at this event.

SEND conference in Leicester

Please click on the image to enlarge.

A couple of weeks ago I was live scribing at this conference in Leicester because they spotted me working on a similar conference up in Derby last year. 

This inclusion conference was for the Discovery Trust https://discoverytrust.org/ and was the first gathering for quite a few years. It was a big cohort of about 600 and the room was just buzzing with enthusiasm and a lot of laughter.

I was really amazed at how much this trust has achieved in only 14 years. They have a large network of SEND schools, with other more mainstream schools also in the process of joining and they pool resources. This means that the kids get to enjoy a really well rounded education and are really given so many chances to exceed everyone's expectations. It's really wonderful :)

UCL Research project into Intersectionality and access to Mental Health Services

I had a fascinating insight into the lives of South Asian women, working at the Stratford campus of UCL recently. So many stories of resilience and some very heartbreaking testimonies, as well as a rallying cry to improve services and take action to make change happen. Thanks to Labiba Rashid for asking me to scribe at this event.

 

Inclusion - Schools Conference, Derby

Had a wonderful morning up in Derby yesterday, drawing a slightly epic 4 metres of live scribing for a very enthusiastic and passionate crowd of heads and other inclusive teaching advocates. This is my 3rd year and I’ve already been invited back for next year! Thanks to Jo Wilkinson and the Inclusion Partnership https://inclusionpartnership.co.uk/inclusion-conference/

Also thanks to John Felix for the lovely portraits! https://johnfelix.com/

Kinship report

Some work I live scribed and then added to post-event for the charity ‘Kinship’ .https://kinship.org.uk/ 

A call to the government - to reform the support given to kinship carers, because they’re doing largely unpaid and unsupported work looking after vulnerable children.

Mental Health for Young People. UCL research project, London

Some recent work, I was digitally live-scribing at a young people’s Mental Health workshop. Professionals young people and students came together to work on ideas to collaborate across the sectors of health, charities and education in order to make the most of the limited resources available, and leverage what’s possible.

Scribing in Devon

Here is some recent live scribing work for Devon County Council for a training day for Children's services on the theme of child neglect. 

There have been some extreme cases of neglect in Devon and the service is keen to prevent this happening in future. 

To bring things very much to life the training involves a group of actors from a company called AFTA Thought, more on them here: https://www.aftathought.co.uk/

And above is the second job for Devon County Council I completed this week. A dedicated group of social workers, trying very hard to keep children not only safe but flourishing.

Cafcass Practice Week

 I've been asked to cover Cafcass Practice Week for the last few years and it gets better each time!

This image was commissioned in advance of the live work and represents the difficult balance that Cafcass' staff are involved in, between the voices of families and children and the law, and trying in the midst of it all to get it 'right' for the welfare of the vulnerable.

This was one of the compulsory sessions, it's so important that children know and understand what's going on, and in a child-friendly way:

These were two think-in workshops, they were interactive and about gathering ideas and suggestions from staff:

Part of the opening event:

This session was all about supporting the workforce:

A great session with Justice Gwynneth Knowles. All about a focus on policy and the need to protect people in cases of domestic abuse, as this has been on the rise nationally:

Neighbourhood Healthcare Forum, Whitechapel, London

This meeting was all about the healthcare needs of local people people in Whitechapel. 

The needs of the group were about accessing timely healthcare interventions and basic access to GP appointments, these concerns reflect the current situation nationally, as since 2020 there have been a lot less GP appointments available.

National Co-Production Week

I had a wonderful afternoon in Hammersmith recently, this was commissioned by Hammersmith and Fulham council, but the participants were local disabled residents who are mainly volunteers, speaking on behalf of all local disabled residents and steering services using the method of Co-Production.

Really energetic crowd, favourite phrase of the day: 'let's be ruthlessly inclusive!

More info on the work they're doing here: https://www.lbhf.gov.uk/councillors-and-democracy/co-production-doing-things-residents-not-residents/co-production-matters-hf

Cafcass Managers Conference

Had a busy week last week, this was done at the venue, but I scribed digitally on my Ipad. 

Cafcass are under considerable pressure due to the volume of families in the courts. They've also recently been judged as 'outstanding' by Ofsted, so the challenge will to stay at that level of performance, despite the huge workload. 

Listening to the child and being their advocate is at the heart of their work.