SPEAKERS
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![Headshot of Dr Fiona Aubrey-Smith]()
Dr Fiona Aubrey-Smith
Founder of PedTech, Bestselling Author, Consultant Researcher
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![Headshot of Jenny Parkinson-Mills]()
Jenny Parkinson-Mills
Foundation Director of Digitally Enabled Learning at Warwick Schools Foundation
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![Lee Jepson]()
Lee Jepson
Director of IT at L.E.A.D. IT Services
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![Ben Riggott. Portrait of a man with dark hair and a beard, wearing a suit and a striped dress shirt, smiling at the camera.]()
Ben Riggott
Trust Development Lead, Embark Federation
Dr Fiona Aubrey-Smith
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Pedagody for the Digital Age
Dr Fiona Aubrey-Smith an independent consultant researcher who works closely with schools to support a deeper understanding of pedagogy and practice in a contemporary landscape.
She is a PhD supervisor and examiner, and co-author of the best selling book From EdTech to PedTech: Changing the way we think about digital technology. Fiona is Co-founder of the National PedTech Partnership and Open School UK, and sits on a number of advisory and charitable boards. In 2024, Fiona was granted Freedom of the City of London, and Fiona was named EduFuturist of the Year 2025.
Jenny Parkinson-Mills
Session Leader
Embedding the use of digital in Key Stage 4
Jenny is the Foundation Director of Digitally Enabled Learning at Warwick Schools Foundation, developing the use of digital across the five schools within the Foundation.
Jenny leads both technology and pedagogy teams that have supported two schools in the development of a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programme using Microsoft365 tools.
She is an avid user of Microsoft OneNote, both in her cross-Foundation role and as a teacher of A Level Chemistry.
Ben Riggott
Session Leader
A launchpad for innovation - Building a secure reliable and effective infrastructure
Ben is the Trust Development Leader of the Embark Federation. He believes strongly in the inherent strengths within all people, schools and communities. Ben is passionate about our collective potential to inspire children to thrive and to make the most of the opportunities available to them.
Ben has supported other schools from primary through to post-16. He has successfully completed the NPQH and NPQEL programmes as part of his own professional development, has been trained as an NPQ deliverer, and has supported the MA in Educational Leadership at the National Institute for Teaching and Education.
Ben is responsible for a number of aspects of trust development, including the wider family membership offer and the trust's sustainability and apprenticeships strategies.
Lee Jepson
Session Leader
A launchpad for innovation - Building a secure reliable and effective infrastructure
Lee Jepson is the Founder of L.E.A.D. IT Services and Director of IT at L.E.A.D. Academy Trust.
As a former student of Derbyshire school, Noel Baker Community School, Lee returned to take up temporary work in the IT team. This then led to him helping launch the new Noel-Baker IT Services, transforming the school’s in-house service into a company which would continue to support its hosts but also look for third-party work.
Lee spearheaded the growth of Noel-Baker IT Services, providing more schools and businesses with varied levels of IT support and then took on the major challenge of covering the full IT support of L.E.A.D. Academy Trust when Noel Baker joined, thus transforming Noel-Baker IT Services into L.E.A.D. IT Services.
Lee now oversees the IT support for over 200 schools across the UK including REAch2 Academy Trust, Flying High Partnership and Embark Federation. In addition to the education sector, L.E.A.D. IT Services also provides support to businesses, helping them transform their infrastructure and effective use of digital tools.