Annual Designated Teachers' Conference
The Manchester Virtual School was very pleased to welcome over 200 delegates to our 2025 Designated Teachers' Conference on Monday 17th March. The day was full of inspirational content from our care experienced speakers and diverse workshop leads. We are pleased to be able to share the power points from the day. We will be following up on some of the themes covered during the day at our future Designated Teacher and Foster Carer Networks. The agenda for the day was:
8.30 - Tea, coffee, refreshments & registration
9.15 - Start, welcome and scene setting – Jane Johnson Virtual School Head, Manchester
9.45- Keynote 1 – Ashley John Baptiste - Broadcaster, TV Presenter, Author and Inspirational Speaker.
10.05 – Keynote 2 – Luke Rodgers - My Vision - Changing the Narrative for Care Experienced Young People | The Care Leaders
10.25 – Keynote 3- Matt and Andy Smith - Our Story - Smash Life | Talks | Mentoring | Training | Consultation (smashlifeuk.com)
10.45 – Keynote 4 – Sophie Willan - Sophie Willan | Comedian • Writer • Actor • Producer
11.05 – Break, Refreshments and Networking
11.30 – Discussion Panel with Keynote Speakers and Manchester Local Authority Officers Facilitated by Ashley John Baptiste.
12.30 – Lunch
1.30- 2.20 Workshop 1
2.20- 2.35 – Quick Break
2.35 – 3.25 – Workshop 2
3.30- 3.50 – Updates from Andrew Baxter - Department for Education
3.50- 4.15 – Plenary, close, evaluations and goodie bag distribution – Jane Johnson and the Virtual School Team
During the afternoon, delegates attended two out of the eight workshops on offer:
Workshop
Supporting Care Experienced Children and Young People in their education
Luke Rodgers
How mentoring can enhance the educational and life chances of care experienced children and young people
Andy & Matt Smith – Smashlife
Creating a sense of belonging in education settings
Carrie Bray, Senior Educational Psychologist - One Education Ltd
Supporting LGBTQ+ Young People in Education Settings
Rachel Williams – The Proud Trust
Supporting children and young people in their career aspirations – bringing Gatsby Benchmarks to life
Sean McLaughlin Career Connect
The offer from Independent Schools for looked after and other vulnerable children and young people
Louisa Fowler and Andrew Smith - Royal National Children's Springboard Foundation.
New Duties - Supporting children and young people in kinship care arrangements
Daniel Lyons, Kinship - The Kinship Care Charity
Supporting Children and Young People who have been adopted
Kirsten Roberts & Ella Buchanan - Rachel Booth Adoption Counts
We would like to thank all of the speakers, workshop leads and delegates for participating in our conference. We look forward to seeing you at Manchester Virtual School future events.
Jane Johnson and the Virtual School Team.