Ciaran O’ByrneCiaran has over 13 years of experience devising and facilitating workshops in education and non-formal settings. Since early 2021 he has been primarily leading enterprise, life skills and money management programmes in schools to groups of children and young adults aged between 6 and 18.
Prior to this he spent 10 years with Playbox Theatre in Warwick where he was responsible for devising and leading theatre skills based workshops weekly for children and young adults aged between 2-21. Most recently Ciaran has delivered workshops and programmes to young people throughout London and Kent exploring subjects such as healthy masculinity and relationships, anti-knife crime, social enterprise and Barclays Life Skills.
Avantika TanejaAvanti is a project and people manager, facilitator and educational content creator. Her career throughline has been about developing, delivering and growing school-based programmes to engage children and young people with a complex world, in order to flex their life skills within the formal education system. She works with a range of educational charities in the spaces of social mobility, careers education, social-emotional learning, citizenship and PSHE, from the littlest learners in early years to post-16. She is a governor in an East London primary school and has an academic background in child development and the anthropology of migration and diaspora. She loves being surprised by children and young people’s ingenuity and imagination, and tapping into this via her own children’s fiction writing (currently featuring a food obsessed cat in Istanbul).
Kate is a dedicated professional with a passion for teaching and learning. She graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University with a First-Class BA Honours Degree in Primary Education and has worked as an educator for over a decade, both in the UK and the USA. Kate is committed to helping students understand the world around them and to become responsible and engaged global citizens. Through interactive and thought-provoking sessions that encourage critical thinking and problem-solving, she encourages students to form their own opinions whilst developing empathy and understanding of diverse perspectives and cultures.
David is currently Head of 6th Form and PSHE/SMSC Lead at an Outstanding SEN school. David started out in SEN education before completing 16 years in secondary education, recently returning to SEN teaching to take up his most recent post. He believes passionately in the holistic development of young people and that PSHE/Citizenship/SMSC development should be the foundation of school life if we are to truly develop our young people into confident, self-assured adults who are able to be active citizens in their local communities. As a firm believer of learning outside the classroom, David has engaged multi-agencies from across the education sector to enhance and enrich the delivery of SMSC and British values to young people. He supports the delivery of the wider British Values and PSHE vision as Vice Chair on the governing boards of a Pupil Referral Unit and local primary school. In today’s world, the values which bind us have never been more relevant in helping to develop and sustain communities, provide safe spaces for discussion and critical thinking in the classroom, as well as ensuring young people have a voice and place in society from which to thrive. As educators, we must always remember that we hold the next generation in our hands!
Lucy’s background is in education, having worked in a number of different mainstream schools in a variety of support roles. Lucy has a degree in Applied Education Studies, which she pursued later in life while working full-time as a Speech, Language and Communication Specialist Assistant. After this, she was Head of FIRST LEGO League in the UK and Ireland, the largest global STEM programme, and supported over 43,000 children and young people to develop vital creative thinking and problem-solving skills. Most recently, Lucy has worked in the charity sector, both as a CEO and as a freelance consultant. Many of the charities she supports focus on supporting disabled and/or neurodivergent people, which, coupled with her experience within SEND support in schools, has given her particular interest in providing rich learning experiences to children and young people with additional learning difficulties, or those who struggle to engage with traditional teaching and learning.
Anne holds a PHD from Queens University Belfast and has had several reports and publications published. Anne also has a MSC in Communications from the University of Ulster. She has worked as a trainer and lecturer for over 25 years during her roles in the community, youth, education and research sectors. Her work in recent years has involved various legal initiatives across a wide range of schools in Northern Ireland. She is currently involved in the development Digital Inclusion programme for disadvantaged communities in Northern Ireland. Anne is also an OCN assessor and internal verifier.
