Dyslexia Hub: News and events

1. 9.30 Registration Radcliffe Centre (Coffee/Tea)
2. 10.00 Welcome: the VC to launch the HUB and welcome Lady Howe (5)
3. 10.05 Lady Howe (10)
4. 10.15 Intro – Dyslexia Hub (DH) (Sarah & Patricia) + Bethany Kelly – Icebreaker exercise (10) [How many people know someone in their life with dyslexia?]
5. 10.30 Speaker – Nick Hillman: What can Post-16/Further and Higher Education expect from the new government? (30)
6. 11.00 – BREAK (Refreshments) (30)
7. 11.30 Speaker – Andrew Howard: What the hell is inclusion anyway? (35)
8. 12.05 Andy Cook (15): Re: Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity and their work
9. 12.20 Explore results of the Icebreaker (10)
10. 12.30 Interactive activity – Sarah and Patricia: DH/Research/Need for FE/HE Awareness in Educators (30)
11. 13.00 Lunch Networking – Louis Restaurant (60)
12. 14.00 Interactive activity – Sarah and Patricia: Sarah’s Video/Effective Supportive Study Strategies (30)
13. 14.30 Darren Clark – his story and mission (10)
14. 14.40 Two Student Neurodiversity Stories with Darren (15 each)
15. 15.10 Bethany Panel: Q&A with Speakers and Audience (30)
16. 15.40 Ten Tips to Take Away (10)
17. 15.50 Closing the day (10)
18. 16.00 Finish

Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, The Countess Howe

The Countess Howe was brought up in Buckinghamshire enjoying a childhood filled with many delights including ponies and hockey. Educated at Headington School Oxford, she moved away to complete a BEd Hons degree at Cambridge, and her early teaching career took her to Newmarket and London.

Marriage to Frederick Curzon in 1983 was quickly followed by his inheritance of the title Earl Howe, which led to a move back into Buckinghamshire to run the family estate in Penn and bring up a family of four children.

Involving herself in local schools as a Governor, and a volunteer music teacher, Lady Howe also immersed herself in the work of a range of local charities.

She was made a Deputy Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire in 1995 and had the honour of serving as High Sheriff for the year 2010-11. These two positions as well as her recent Chairmanship of Heart of Bucks, the Community Foundation for Buckinghamshire, have given her a deeper insight into the challenges facing the county and joys of living in such a beautiful area. Equally, as Milton Keynes has grown she has enjoyed discovering the vibrant and exciting city in the north of the county.

As Lord-Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, Lady Howe enjoys supporting the Monarch in celebrating Buckinghamshire, its businesses and charitable organisations, its history and culture and meeting the people who make this such a special place to live.

Nick Hillman has been the Director of HEPI since 2014. He worked for the Rt Hon David Willetts MP (now Lord Willetts), the Minister for Universities and Science, from 2007 until the end of 2013, as Chief of Staff and then Special Adviser in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Previously, he was a History teacher and worked at the Association of British Insurers. At the 2010 general election, he was the runner-up in Cambridge.

Nick’s recent research for HEPI includes papers on the sixtieth anniversary of the Robbins Report of 1963, the Graduate Route visa and free speech.

Nick has written for a range of think tanks and journals. His journal articles include pieces on the Coalition’s higher education reforms for the Oxford Review of Education, on access to schools and selective universities for Higher Education Review and on the fifty-year history of student loans for Contemporary British History. He also wrote the authoritative account of being a special adviser for the Institute of Government.

In 2020/21, Nick was shortlisted for the first Prospect magazine Think Tanker of the Year Award. He is an Honorary Fellow of both Queen Mary University of London (2016) and the National Conference of University Professors (2022) and also a Companion of the British Academy of Management (2022).

He is currently a governor of the University of Manchester and the University of Buckingham as well as a Trustee of the National Foundation for Educational Research.

Andy has a passion for helping people become the very best version of themselves that can be and believes that there is an urgency to challenge the status quo in order to achieve this. With almost 35 years experience in education, he has also extensive experience in every aspect of supporting young people through their journey. For over a decade and a half, Andy has held leadership roles, developing innovative curricular programmes, assessment schemes designed for the 21st century, staff development and coaching systems and behaviour structures supporting all pupils.

For the last 12 years, Andy has led settings in both the mainstream and specialist sector, working to improve the life chances for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged young people. He is an experienced international speaker, having spoken on diverse topics, from the impact on technology in education, through to the need to change our perception of mental health for young people. The common theme always comes back to his belief in a need to think and act radically within education to adapt to the needs of young people today. He is a strong advocate for young people who have additional barriers to their best selves, and is a champion for young people with SEMH needs.

Andy is a Founding Fellow of the Chartered College of Teachers, and a Distinguished Fellow of the International forums of Inclusive Practitioners (IFIP). He also has received a Global Inclusion Award from the IFIP for his work at building inclusive settings for young people.

Andy is Chief Executive at Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity, a charity whose mission is to remove barriers to learning, employment and life for people with dyslexia, by providing expert, personal and life-changing support.

Andy is responsible for overseeing Helen Arkell’s ongoing drive to reach out to more people with dyslexia, and those around them, over the coming years. Both he, and the Charity, are supportive of everything that the University of Buckingham are doing to become a flagship hub of dyslexia knowledge and support.

Previously, Andy was Chief Executive at other charities before moving into the dyslexia field in 2017.

Andy graduated from Cambridge University in 1988 with a degree in Modern Languages, specialising in Italian. There is dyslexia in Andy’s family, from which his personal passion for the cause of dyslexia arises.

Unable to complete his formal schooling due to undiagnosed dyslexia and ADHD, Darren first built a career in retail, rising through the ranks of Sainsbury’s and Tesco until he reached managerial level in Safeway. In 2011, with his business partner Kelly Holbrook, Darren set up Spotless Cleaning, which became one of the biggest cleaning companies in the South West. They then set up several successful businesses to create the Spotless Group. Since then, Darren and Kelly have created jobs for more than 400 people and established a substantial portfolio of successful businesses.

Darren and Kelly went on to create a group of companies under the banner Global Dyslexia Group, which included a digital marketing agency for the dyslexia sector, motivational speaking, and support for schools and parents in understanding dyslexia. They also provided corporate training for large companies focusing on how to support staff with dyslexia and other Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs).

In 2020, during the national lockdown, Darren and Kelly set up an online Global Dyslexia Group Inclusive Network and its monthly meetings attract a succession of inspiring speakers and the network continues to flourish. At the end of 2020, they made the decision to simplify their business model so that Darren could move forward under his own personal branding as an independent neurodiversity consultant, offering the full range of marketing, speaking, training and advocacy services previously offered under the Global Dyslexia Group banner.

It is only a couple of years since Darren decided to do what he could to raise awareness and campaign for dyslexia. He knew that many children today have the same unhappy experiences in school because of undiagnosed dyslexia and he asked his old school if he could go in and speak at an assembly. Since that first talk, Darren’s success as an inspirational speaker has generated invitations to speak at hundreds of venues all over the UK and across the globe.

In 2019, Darren was recognised as SWA Male Entrepreneur of the Year for his string of successful businesses. His activism for dyslexia was also recognised that year, when he was invited to become a global partner for the International Dyslexia Association, an Ambassador for the British Dyslexia Association, and a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group advising the UK government on issues associated with SpLDs.