Marketing and Admissions Conference 2024
Future Facing Speakers
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Tom Rogerson has been working in the independent school sector for 33 years and is about to enter his 17th year of Headship at Cottesmore School.
Tom’s vision for Cottesmore is to combine Cottesmore's 127-year story of academic and sporting excellence with a fresh and dynamic vision to ensure that Cottesmore continues to deliver a future-driven world-class education to prep-school-aged girls and boys.
As an early adopter of AI in education, Tom has led the way in exploring how it can be used to remove some of the more admin-type tasks from teachers, freeing up more of their time to spend with the children.
Session Title: Crossing the Technology Bridge – What’s in Your Digital Backpack?
Rachell Fox is an accomplished senior marketing and communications professional with extensive experience of brand development, strategy setting and delivery of effective campaigns. She has worked in both the private and public sector, having spent a lot of her career in commercial radio, at the BBC and working for national charities before joining the education sector seven years ago.
As Director of Communications, Marketing & Development at Channing, Rachell spends her time raising awareness of the school’s distinctive ethos, growing demand for the school amongst prospective families, dispelling myths about all-girls’ education and independent schools and strengthening the bonds between former students and the school.
Session Title: Dancing in a storm - what Taylor Swift can teach us.
Described by FORBES magazine as ‘A Game Changer’ Geoff Ramm is an inspirational keynote speaker and the creator and author of Celebrity Service and Celebrity Service Superstars.
He’s challenged and inspired entrepreneurs, high performance teams and organisations across forty-nine countries to create award winning ideas to outperform the competition.
Geoff is trusted by some of the world’s leading brands to create the gap in their service experience they never knew existed. Including Emirates, Warner Brothers, Specsavers and McDonalds.
Session Title: Building great experiences for future facing parents and pupils with 'Celebrity Service'
With 20 years’ experience of collaboration and fundraising, Rachael Henshilwood now runs all partnership and development activity at St Edward’s School, Oxford having worked for leading schools and charities across the UK and Australia. As a proud state educated girl, she is driven to try to readdress paradigms of inequality within education by breaking down barriers, challenging preconceived ideas and creating opportunities for meaningful collaboration and learning for all.
Teddies growing partnerships and embedded service program ‘Teddies Collaborates’ provides exciting and innovative marketing and fundraising opportunities that Rachael looks forward to sharing with us.
Session Title: ‘Teddies Collaborates’
Claire Bath is a seasoned External Relations professional with a proven track record of driving strategic initiatives and building impactful relationships. As External Relations Director at Strathallan School she plays a pivotal role in shaping the image and reputation of the organisation while spearheading marketing efforts that resonate with target audiences.
With over 20 years of experience in the field of marketing and communications, Claire has honed her expertise across various industries, including education, hospitality and non-profit sectors. Her career is marked by a relentless pursuit of excellence, a passion for innovation and a deep commitment to fostering meaningful connections.
Driven by a passion for innovation and relentless pursuit of excellence, Claire continues to be a driving force in the realm of External Relations, inspiring those around her with her vision, leadership and unwavering commitment to excellence.
Session Title: Game-changing: a future-facing marketing strategy
Helen Lewis-McPhee is an accomplished marketer with a background in publishing and almost a decade experience in the independent education sector. Currently serving as Marketing Manager at Strathallan School, Helen has been instrumental in driving innovative, cross-platform marketing initiatives, enhancing brand visibility, and designing meaningful multimedia campaigns that resonate with a disparate range of audiences. In her role, she oversees a wide range of responsibilities and is the architect of the award-winning strategy that has helped deliver consistent growth in enrolment over the last four years.
With an MA in Psychology and an MLitt in Publishing Studies, Helen brings a wealth of insight and industry expertise into crafting and implementing strategic marketing initiatives that foster growth and deliver success in the competitive landscape of independent education.
Session Title: Game-changing: a future-facing marketing strategy
WORKSHOP SPEAKERS SO FAR MORE COMING SOON!
Christina Adamopoulou is a seasoned marketing leader with a wealth of experience crafting marketing strategies and executing digital campaigns, she has led high-performing teams to deliver marketing campaigns focusing on business growth successfully.
Christina brings eight years of experience in the education sector, where she has played a pivotal role in collaborating with Admissions teams and senior stakeholders, orchestrating successful events that prioritize customer experience, and facilitating the conversion of prospective families into enrollments. Her approach is the execution of highly effective marketing campaigns, meticulously focused on delivering tangible results and driving enrollment growth.
Workshop Title: School Open Days - A masterclass in unlocking enrolment success.
Sarah Secker-Baker is an experienced school marketer with 10+ years in the school marketing sector. A degree in branding was followed by a corporate career allowing her to understand the need for detail and organisation and how relationship building is key in boosting the power of a small team.
Sarah worked in a successful independent Special Educational Needs (SEN) school for nearly a decade as Marketing Manager, PA to the Headmaster and Office Manager. She spearheaded a full rebranding effort, introduced social media marketing strategies, and successfully executed pupil recruitment campaigns.
In her current role as Head of Marketing at Edgeborough Prep School, Sarah continues to apply her expertise and passion for marketing to support the school's growth and reputation.
Workshop Title: Impact in Focus: The Dynamics of Small Team Collaboration.
Carolyn Reed is the founder of Reed Brand Communication, a bespoke marketing
consultancy specialising in schools and education. Reed Brand Communication advises schools on:
- Research to inform strategy,
- Strategic workshops and direction for Governors and SLT
- Brand communication including podcasts
- PR for Change Management
- Identity Design
She also advises schools on developing and marketing their Nursery and Earlier Year
provision through ‘Your Independent School Nursery’ consultancy with Katie Cardona.
Carolyn is a member of D&AD, RSA and the Market Research Society and Chairs the
Governors Marketing Committee at The Granville Prep School in Sevenoaks, Kent.
Workshop Title: Unlocking the Future: The Role of Early Years in Shaping Your School
Katie Cardona is a Consultant with Reed Brand Communication, a bespoke marketing
consultancy specialising in schools and education. Katie’s expertise includes Research and Insight (she is a member of the MRS), Strategy and Planning, Brand Communication, PR and Copywriting.
She also advises schools on developing and marketing their Nursery and Earlier Year
provision through ‘Your Independent School Nursery’ consultancy with Carolyn Reed, is a
regular contributor to Independent School Management magazine and frequently speaks at
schools’ conferences.
She is also Chair of Governors at Rydes Hill Preparatory School and Nursery in Guildford.
Workshop Title: Unlocking the Future: The Role of Early Years in Shaping Your School
With over 22 years experience in school marketing and admissions, Catalina Gardescu currently heads the Admissions, Communications and Marketing at Copenhagen International School in Denmark. In her work at CIS and previously at AIS Bucharest, Catalina’s portfolio includes parent interviews, admissions projections, publications and communications, parent relations, fundraising, alumni relations and strategic marketing. She is part of the leadership team of the school and helps create the school budget, marketing and communication strategies, as well as participates in strategy building.
Over the past 20 years, Catalina has been actively involved in creating the first-ever ECIS Admissions Committee, Open Apply admissions workshops – of which she designed and led Admissions Certification Courses in Shanghai, Singapore and Sofia - founded the International Admissions Bulletin (currently published by Open Apply) and continues to support the profession in any way she can.
Workshop Title: Crafting a Data Protection Blueprint: Empowering Schools for GDPR Success
Laura Amza heads the IT Department at the American International School of Bucharest. Laura is a certified Data Protection Officer - Maastricht University (2020; recertified 2022), a certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM) and a certified Information Privacy Professional / Europe (CIPP/E) - International Association of Privacy Professionals (2018). Laura holds a Masters Degree in Information Technology from the International University of Applied Sciences (2023). As a part of her Masters thesis she developed a framework that supports the implementation of a Data Protection Culture in schools.
Laura has extended experience aligning technology to the organization's mission, creating technology strategy, and directing its implementation. Laura is interested in exploring new developments in technology, understanding how they can support us in facing the complexities of tomorrow and bringing on board what is useful.
Workshop Title: Crafting a Data Protection Blueprint: Empowering Schools for GDPR Success
