Bursar’s Review ISBA Annual Conference 2019

CONFERENCE SPEAKERS 32 Panel Maureen Adams Maureen has been working in the education sector since 1991; her first 10 years at a girls’ state secondary school. She joined the independent sector in 2000 as bursar and clerk to the governors, firstly in a co-ed day school in Surrey, then a girls’ school in Kent. She has been at Rokeby since February 2005. She attends the Surrey ISBA group meetings, is a trained compliance inspector and she mentors ISBA bursars. Maureen enjoys travelling, cycling, walking, skiing, mindfulness and taking her boat out on the Thames. Natasha Devon Natasha Devon MBE is a writer and activist. She tours schools and colleges throughout the UK, delivering talks as well as conducting research on mental health, body image, gender and social equality. She campaigns both on and offline to make the world a fairer place. Her current projects are the Mental Health Media Charter and wheresyourheadat.org, which aims to change the law to protect the mental health of British workers. Natasha regularly speaks at Parliament and gives evidence to the education and health select committees, representing the interests of teenagers and teachers. In 2015, she was awarded an MBE for her services to young people and in 2016, the Sunday Times and Debretts named her one of the 500 most influential people in Britain. Natasha writes regularly for the Guardian, is a former columnist for Cosmopolitan Magazine and currently has a weekly column in the Times Educational Supplement. Her ‘mind manual’ − ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Being Mental: An A-Z’ − was published in May 2018. Natasha is a patron for the charity, No Panic, which provides advice and support for people struggling with anxiety. She is also a member of the Men and Boys Coalition (specifically advising on reducing rates of suicide in men) and a fellow of University of Wales: Aberystwyth and advises them, as well as Coventry University: London, on campus wellbeing. Charlie Easmon In 2008 Charlie was awarded the Excel award for Innovation, Dedication and Excellence at the 8th Annual Ghanian Professional's Association Awards. Dr Easmon trained at St George's, London. He did his elective in Ghana (his country of birth) and has since worked with, among others, Merlin, Raleigh International and Save the Children in Rwanda, and ECHO in Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. With the Foreign Office he has visited Egypt, Israel, Tunisia, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines. His route in to travel medicine and public health was through medical evacuations, working abroad and stints at the Hospital for Tropical Disease's travel clinic. He enjoyed several years on the board of the British Travel Health Association and is one of the few UK medical practitioners to have obtained the International Certificate in Travel Health from the International Society of Travel Health. In 2008 Charlie became a member of the new Faculty of Travel Medicine − MFTM RCPS (Glasg). Charlie enjoyed one week of charity medical work in Rwanda in 2009 and has since done medicals or given talks in the Congo, Botswana and Mozambique. On 7th November 2014, Charlie was elected president of The International Association of Physicians for Overseas Services (IAPOS) on a three-year term. He has talked on mental health to pupils, teachers and parents in more than 40 schools across the UK. Kim Gregory After a career as HRD in financial services and retail sectors, Kim has been a leadership coach for over 20 years, enabling individuals and teams to lead themselves and others. She has spent the past 10 years coaching heads and deputy heads to become the inspiring, resonant and strategic leaders they aspire to and have the potential to be. She also runs the Independent Schools HR Forum that seeks to bring HR professionals together to network, learn and support each other. Rose Hardy Rose is the headmistress of St Margaret’s, Bushey, having previously worked in both the maintained sector and leading independent girls’ and boys’ schools, including more recently as head of the co-educational sixth form at St Albans School before moving on to the post of second master there. Rose is a governor of an international school and an independent boarding school. C3 11.55 – 12.55 REPUTATION MANAGEMENT ■ cyber ■ crises ■ insurance ■ KCSiE/IICSA Penny Rudge, chair Penny is vice-chair of ISBA and bursar at Wolverhampton Grammar School. She began her career with KPMG and trained and worked as a chartered accountant before moving to the independent school sector. She was bursar at the King’s School, Chester, for eight years and has been bursar at her current school since 2014. She has a diploma in charity accounting and is also a trained ISI compliance inspector. She gets involved in all aspects of school life and has led more than 10 personal development expeditions for pupils. This year she is taking a school group to Sri Lanka for two weeks. When time allows, Penny appreciates the outdoor life particularly where there is a challenge involved and over the past few years she has trekked to Everest base camp, climbed Kilimanjaro and is learning to sail. Panel Tabitha Cave Veale Wasbrough Vizards (VWV) has the largest specialist education legal practice in the country, acting for more than 800 schools and education establishments. Tabitha is a partner and heads VWV’s commercial litigation team and specialises in dispute resolution for the firm's education clients. She and her team advise schools on litigation and related issues, such as reputation protection, insurance coverage and representation in regulatory proceedings. Tabitha runs the firm's school fees recovery scheme and also offers bespoke debt recovery solutions to clients. She has extensive experience of advising bursars, heads and governing bodies on the legal and practical aspects of debt recovery. Tabitha regularly writes articles and delivers training on education issues, including for ISBA, NASBM, and Optimus Publishing. www.theisba.org.uk