PiXL SECONDARY NATIONAL CONFERENCE HUB
AUTUMN TERM 2026/27
Stronger beginnings need clear leadership
Eleven sessions, about ten minutes each, ready to watch with your leadership team. Start with the keynote, pick the session that matches your priority, then act on it straight away.
Leading from day one, the move to KS3, closing the disadvantage gap, young carers, behaviour and attendance, belonging, enrichment, curriculum and Ofsted. Short enough to fit in a leadership meeting. Practical enough to change what happens in your school.
Rachel Johnson - 24 mins
Stronger schools start with stronger leadership.
Dele Rotimi - 11 mins
Know who you are, where you are and what you want to build.
Richard Vaughan - 13 mins
Turn your vision into something staff own from your first day.
Jenny Gaylor - 11 mins
This year’s curriculum, Ofsted and DfE priorities in one place.
Rachel Johnson
24 mins
Rachel is an author, podcaster, leadership thinker and coach. She understands what really gets in the way of effective leadership, from how we think and make decisions to the barriers that affect performance, relationships and progress. Her podcasts have built a global audience and rank among the UK’s top three for educational leaders.
Stronger leaders. Stronger schools.
Stronger schools start with stronger leadership
Rachel made the case for putting leadership at the heart of building stronger schools. She looked at why it matters so much and where to start when developing leadership, both in ourselves and in others.
- Chief Executive Officer of PiXL
- Three-time published author, Hachette Learning
- PiXL Pearls and Leadership Bookclub podcasts
Start developing leadership in yourself and your team:
Dele Rotimi
11 mins
Dele is headteacher of The Urswick School, an inclusive Church of England secondary with a sixth form, where every student receives free school meals. Students make excellent progress from Year 7 to Year 11, and sixth form progress places the school in the top percentile nationally.
stronger beginnings in leadership
Get the start right: know who you are, where you are and what you want to build
Dele looked at what leaders need to get right from the start. He covered the values that hold a leader steady under pressure, how to read a school’s context before reshaping it, and why organisational health comes before strategy. He closed on building a team that feels able to tell you when you’re wrong.
- Headteacher, The Urswick School
- Free school meals for every student
- Top percentile nationally for sixth form progress
Get the essentials every new leader needs from day one:
Richard Vaughan
13 mins
Richard is headteacher of St Mary’s CoE High School, an 11 to 19 Church of England academy in Hertfordshire with 240 students joining Year 7 each year. Its most recent SIAMS inspection described it as an exceptionally inclusive and caring community.
Stronger leaders. Stronger schools.
Building the cathedral: leading long-term improvement from day one
Turn your vision into something staff own from your first day
Richard looked at how leaders can drive school improvement from their first day. He focused on turning a vision into something the whole team owns and making it visible in how the school works every day.
- Headteacher, St Mary’s CoE High School
- 11 to 19 academy, Diocese of St Albans
- Rated exceptionally inclusive by SIAMS
Lead long-term improvement from day one:
