Free Breakfast Seminar with Dr. Matt Silver & Mandy Gage, Deputy CEO – Thinking Schools Academy Trust
Date: 11th June 2025
Time: 8:00am–11:00am
Location: The Historic Dockyard, Chatham, Kent
It is a trying time to be a Trust, school, or college leader. Today’s education leaders face rising expectations, shrinking budgets, staff shortages, and mounting accountability pressures. They are expected to deliver high-quality education, drive improvement, support wellbeing, and lead inclusively—all while under intense scrutiny from Ofsted and performance frameworks. These challenges leave little room for strategic thinking or sustainable leadership.
So, what if ethical leadership is the key?
Ethical leadership helps restore trust, model integrity, and build cultures where both staff and students thrive. Ethical leaders guide difficult decisions with a moral compass, prioritise wellbeing, and foster inclusive environments that reflect and support diverse communities.
Join Dr. Matt Silver and Mandy Gage in conversation with Jo Malone to explore how ethical leadership can shape the future of education.
Key Questions:
- What are the key trends and shifts redefining the future of learning and what does this mean for leaders?
- How can we harness the strengths within a school or college community so that all can flourish and achieve?
- Which leadership practices foster cultures of mutual respect and real collaboration?
- What happens when decisions are led by core values and principles?
- What is the role of advocacy and how can leaders champion meaningful change?
Meet the Speakers
Dr. Matt Silver
Matt is a former Head Teacher, researcher, and executive coach dedicated to uniting education through the development of individuals at every level. His book, Reinventing Education: Beyond the Knowledge Economy, offers a framework for navigating the hidden forces shaping education’s future. As founder of the Glass House Leadership Lab, Matt works locally and internationally to remove systemic barriers through coaching, digital innovation, and strategic partnerships. His focus is on creating ethical, sustainable tools that tackle the root causes of education’s challenges. Grounded in the belief that human development is key to lasting change, Matt helps leaders and learners build self-awareness, deepen connection, and co-create a shared vision for meaningful educational progress.
Mandy Gage
Mandy began her career in Performing Arts before moving into state education in 2004. She joined the Thinking Schools Academy Trust in 2015 as Principal of The Victory Academy, leading the school to its first “Good” Ofsted rating. She went on to serve as Executive Headteacher and Director of Education before becoming Deputy CEO. Now overseeing 26 schools across the South, Southeast, and Southwest, Mandy focuses on cultural development and educational improvement across the Trust. Passionate about cultural entitlement and personal development, she empowers leaders to support young people in becoming their best selves. Mandy also led the creation of the Trust’s Leadership Principles—a values-based framework promoting accountability, collaboration, and excellence at every level.
Jo Malone
Jo is an education consultant, adviser, and coach focused on creating a more inclusive and equitable education system. She is an executive member of the Foundation for Education Development, where she contributes to national policy discussions shaping the future of education. Jo is also CEO of a small charity Operation Spitfire 4 Schools, which she has led from concept to scale. With a background that includes a decade as Senior Education Adviser at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and 16 years in state secondary education, Jo brings deep expertise in both policy and practice both nationally and internationally.
Hays Education and The Foundation for Education Development (FED) work in partnership offering a series of breakfast leadership seminars on a range of topics impacting the system and requiring long-term, systemic solutions. Please contact [email protected] for more details on upcoming seminars on AI in London.
