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Meet
Our Speakers
Alice Coleman
Head of Year 9
Braeburn School, Kenya
Alice Coleman
Alice Coleman is a newly appointed head of pastoral care at Braeburn Group of International Schools.
Her passions lie in making sure teachers are supported in using all available lenses to make sure students feel that they are valued and belong in their chosen school.
She has over ten years teaching internationally in both English Literature and her specialism of Drama & Theatre.
She has worked as a resident tutor in boarding and as a Head of Year before recently accepting the post of Head of Sixth Form.
Rachel O’Neill
Assessment Insights Manager
GL Education
Rachel O’Neill
GL Education’s Assessment Insights team help schools to gain greater understanding of their data, through a detailed, bespoke guided analysis of their own school’s data leading to actionable insights. In this session Rachel O’Neill will deliver a walk-through of the preparation that goes into an AI review. This will include the different types of reports available, how to dig deeper into key demographic groups including using different ways of combining, filtering and sorting the many data points in a sample data set, what each aspect of the reporting means and how this can be used to facilitate conversations with teachers back in the classroom, with SLT or other external stake holders. Combining all this together will then result in how this can impact specific groups and individuals to then help action plan for possible whole school, groups or individual intervention or support.
You are encouraged to carry out your own analysis in advance of the session or have some of your own school's data alongside you, during the session.
This session will be particularly useful for data/assessment co-ordinators, academic and pastoral leads and anyone responsible for embedding good data practice within their school.
Gene Kerns
Vice President and Chief Academic Officer
Renaissance
Gene Kerns
Gene is a third-generation educator with teaching experience from elementary through the university level and K-12 administrative experience. He currently serves as Vice President and Chief Academic Officer of Renaissance Learning.
With more than 20 years of experience in leading staff development and speaking at national and international conferences including South by Southwest (SxSW) EDU, London’s Westminster Education Forum, the ASU/Global Silicon Valley (SGV) Summit, the 42nd Annual Mexico TESOL Conference, and the Global Education Technology Forum of China, his former clients include administrators’ associations across the country and the Ministry of Education of Singapore.
Gene received his Bachelor's degree and Master's degree from Longwood College in Virginia, and also holds a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) from the University of Delaware with an emphasis in Education Leadership.
His most recent work has been focused on assessment and literacy. His first book, inFormative Assessment: When It’s Not About a Grade is published by Corwin Press in both English and Arabic. His second book, Unlocking Student Talent, was released by Teachers College Press in December of 2017. This latest book, Literacy Reframed, was released in 2021 through Solution Tree.
Georgina Cook
Assessment Specialist
GL Education
Georgina Cook
After studying for an English Literature and Education Degree, then a Masters in English Literature, Georgina took up a career in teaching.
She is an experienced Leader of English and Literacy and led English across a MAT in the East of England. She has also worked with the National Literacy Trust and Whole Education in their work with schools to promote positive reading cultures.
After joining GL Education as an Education Advisor, Georgina is now one of our Assessment Specialists, championing our Language and Literacy assessments and providing our Product team with crucial customer feedback that enables us to be truly responsive to what schools need from our assessments.
Dan Norbury
St Julian's Lisbon
Dan Norbury
Dan has been Secondary Principal at St. Julian's School, Lisbon, having moved to this post from Malaysia in 2019 where he served as a senior leader at Garden International School.
Dan is passionate about giving all students the best opportunity to make the most of their potential and to make a positive change in the world.
David Bartram OBE
Director
Prescient Education
Emma Dibden
Assessment Specialist Owner
GL Education
Emma Dibden
Before joining GL Education, Emma taught for over 20 years in primary schools across the UK as a class teacher, SENDCo and inclusion lead.
Emma continues to be passionate about supporting the whole child and values the important role that data plays in developing an understanding of a students’ strengths and challenges.
Her prior strategic roles in SEND, and experience of using GL assessments in context, helps to inform her practice as the Assessment Specialist for SEND and Wellbeing. This is a role that ranges from utilising knowledge learned from supporting colleagues across multi-academy trusts to managing the health and development of assessments within the SEND and wellbeing portfolio. Emma works actively to ensure GL remains a trusted partner for SEND provision.
Melissa Meyers
Head of Junior School, Wellington College International, Tianjin
Melissa Meyers
Melissa Meyers is an experienced educator with over 30 years of teaching and learning globally. She is passionate about promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion in education, drawing on her unique perspective as a Third Culture Kid raised in the Middle East, the United Kingdom, and the Caribbean.
Melissa has facilitated learning through curriculums such as the National Curriculum of England, the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme, the New South Wales Curriculum, and the National Curriculum of New Zealand.
She believes that an inclusive learning environment requires a diverse curriculum that reflects the experiences and perspectives of all students. As Head of the Junior School at Wellington College International Tianjin, Melissa is dedicated to supporting pupils and staff to achieve beyond their expectations, fostering a safe and inclusive learning environment where all pupils and staff feel valued and supported to reach their full potential.
Chris Short
Managing Director,
Nord Anglia Education, India
Chris Short
Christopher Short is as an international educational leader who has led schools and delivered highly effective and influential educational projects in three continents over 30 years.
Christopher was born in London in the UK and has lived in Kenya, Sierra Leone, Venezuela, Australia, Dubai, Ascension Island , Vietnam, Singapore and China before moving to India. After attending Gordonstoun in Scotland, he received his degree and teaching qualifications from St Mary's College, then part of the University of Surrey Christopher has been with Nord Anglia for 10 years, having been the founding Head of Secondary in Hanoi, Vietnam and was then Principal of the multi award-winning Dover Court International School, Singapore, before moving to Shanghai in August 2020. As Principal of many multi-campus K-12 schools running the Cambridge and International Baccalaureate curriculums, Chris has led the schools to several achievements, including outstanding examination results, CIS and WASC accreditations and rapid expansion. As Principal of Dover Court International School, Chris was responsible for developing the school in a few short years, into one of the most highly regarded schools in the Nord Anglia Group.
As the current Managing Director for Nord Anglia- India, Christopher leads the group’s strategic development and supports the leadership teams of all five Oakridge International Schools (OIS), based in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mohali, and Visakhapatnam. The schools are part of the Nord Anglia group of schools, the world’s leading premium group of international schools, with 84 schools in 32 countries.
Chris, along with his wife, is based in Hyderabad , India and has 2 adult children, Sophie and Jaimie, who both live in the UK.
Jess Watson
Training Content Manager
GL Education
Jess Watson
Jessica Watson develops the GL training programmes which support schools across the world to analyse, understand and maximise the use of their assessment data.
Jessica has previously worked in inner-city schools as a Mathematics and Spanish teacher and as a Head of Maths. It was in this role that she realised how powerful data is in informing school development planning and transforming teaching practice by recognising where our actions are most effective.
Hywel Benbow
Data Consultant,
eira analytics
Hywel Benbow
Hywel brings a wealth of experience in data and analytics with a dynamic and collaborative approach and a sharp ability to solve problems.
With over 16 years of experience spanning both the public and private sectors, Hywel’s career has seen him develop expertise in data strategy, analysis, visualisations, storytelling, data management, customer experience and policy development.
Currently working as a consultant, Hywel provides strategic guidance and services to help build data-informed organisations and turn opportunities into value.
Previously, Hywel served as the Senior Vice President of Global Data & Analytics at GEMS Education in Dubai, where he played a pivotal role in building and bridging the organisation's data and analytics capabilities across commercial and educational landscapes.
Hywel's contributions to the field have been recognised by his peers, who have included him in the ‘100 most influential people in Data & Analytics’ list by DataIQ for both 2021 and 2022.
Iain Sallis
Regional Managing Director,
International Schools Partnership
Iain Sallis
Iain grew up in the seaside town of Brighton in the UK and has been working in education for over twenty years. He graduated from Greenwich University with a teaching degree in Sciences and PE, and later achieved a Post Graduate Certificate from Brighton University and a National Professional Qualification for Headship.
Iain has worked in seven schools in differing contexts during his career and has held leadership roles for 20 years. He has supported several educational groups and universities. Before moving into his current role of Regional Managing Director – Malaysia, Iain was the proud Campus Principal of Tenby Schools Setia Eco Park, our flagship school in the region in Malaysia, with 2,000 students and two curriculums.
Passionate about partnership, he has supported several educational groups including Brighton and Hove Headteacher Collaboration and Tomorrows Leaders and taken part in international collaborative projects such as the British Council Malawian leaders project in Africa. Iain’s other educational passions range from Educational Leadership and using data to impact learning. Iain worked as a youth coach at Brighton and Hove Albion FC Academy for 10 years. He is always learning and in his spare time enjoys snowboarding, golf, travelling and watching live professional sport.
Luke Sanders
Group Product Manager,
GL Education
Luke Sanders
Luke Sanders is an accomplished product leader with over a decade of experience in the development and expansion of digital products for some of the biggest global tech brands.
In his role as Group Product Manager at GL Education, Luke is responsible for overseeing the Product Management and Design teams, with a central mission to deliver an exceptional customer experience through the Testwise assessment platform.
Sadie Clayton
Education Advisor
GL Education
Sadie Clayton
Sadie gained her Primary Education BA Hons at The University of Roehampton before teaching in a three-form primary school in Hackney, London for 4 years. From here, she moved to Devon and taught in Torbay for 5 years.
During her time within the classroom, she worked alongside pupils in KS2 as well as focusing on leading subject areas in PSHE, RE and mental health and well-being.
While working with students in Years 5 and 6, Sadie developed strategies to meticulously analyse data in order to drive pupil outcomes to the highest possible standard. Her ethos within education is to help develop pupils’ self-belief and drive success across the curriculum to become well-rounded citizens of the future.
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Dr Rob Loe
Director of Research and Learning
Scots College, Sydney
Dr Rob Loe
Dr Rob Loe is the former Group CEO of the Relationships Foundation in England. He joined the wider family of relational organisations back in 2013 to found Relational Schools, having worked as a teacher and senior school leader for over a decade. He studied Education at Cambridge University where he pursued areas of specialism such as schooling and exclusion, the family and community dimensions of social exclusion and school improvement and effectiveness.
Having completed a doctorate in 2015, which focussed on the measurement of human relationships, Rob now researches, writes and speaks on the importance of fostering positive relationships between key stakeholders in schools.
Having moved to Australia in mid-2020, he worked for a peak association as a leadership coach and specialist in organisational culture and community development. Rob took up the post of Director of Research and Learning Innovation at the Scots College in Sydney this year.
