North East ADCS SEND Conference:
RIIA Celebration of Learning
Thursday 12 March 2026
The Durham Centre Limited, Belmont Industrial Estate, Durham DH1 1TN
Event Programme
Welcome to our 2026 SEND conference site. Click the individual headings below to learn more about each item in our programme. You can learn more about North East ADCS, our regional networks and project activity.
9.00am – Arrival and welcome refreshments
9.30am – Conference opening and welcome – Audrey Kingham, Northumberland County Council and NE ADCS REG & SEND networks Chair
Delegates will be welcomed with a short address from Audrey Kingham, Executive Director of Children, Young People and Education and Director of Children’s Services, Northumberland County Council.
North East ADCS members will be familiar with Audrey’s passion for regional collaboration around SEND, in her valuable dual role as Chair of both our Regional Education Group and our SEND Strategic Network. With a background in education leadership, Audrey is a strong advocate for the education agenda in regional DCS meetings and a central voice in our North East DfE-funded RIIA (Regional Improvement and Innovation) activity.
9.40am – Themed Focus: Speech, Language & Communication
Several local authorities chose to prioritise investment in the themed focus area of speech, language, communication or oracy. Hear from Newcastle, Darlington, and South Tyneside and their varying approaches to improve support for North East children within this theme.
You may wish to take a look at their learning journey documents ahead of this session, these have been circulated.
At the end of this session there will be an opportunity for a few moments of reflection and we would love to hear your thoughts and feedback. Please use this form to record your reflections.
10.55 – 11.10am – Morning break and go to breakout rooms (15 mins)
11.10am – First Carousel Session
Delegates will now move to their allocated carousel sessions. Please check your allocation on the sign‑in sheet and refer to the learning journey previously circulated.
Durham: Holistic Inclusion In reach (A – Main Hall)
Middlesbrough: SENCo leadership development in Middlesbrough as DBV follow-on activity (C – Room 1&2)
South Tyneside: Understanding Need, Changing Response: Boxall Profiles and Relational Practice (E -Room 4)
11.35 – 11.40am – 5 minutes for delegates to go to rooms for carousel 2
11.40am – Second Carousel Session
Delegates will now move to their allocated carousel sessions. Please check your allocation on the sign‑in sheet and refer to the learning journey previously circulated.
Durham: Holistic Inclusion In reach (A – Main Hall)
Gateshead: Belong Project and Thrive Tier 1 interventions (B – Room 1&2)
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council: Whole Education: SENDCo workforce development and SEND Support Expansion (D – Room 4)
Stockton: Supporting Strengthening Mainstream Inclusion (F – Room 5)
12.05 – 12.10pm – 5 minutes for delegates to go to rooms for carousel 3
12.10pm – Third Carousel Session
Delegates will now move to their allocated carousel sessions. Please check your allocation on the sign‑in sheet and refer to the learning journey previously circulated.
Gateshead: Belong Project and Thrive Tier 1 interventions (B – Room 1&2)
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council: Whole Education: SENDCo workforce development and SEND Support Expansion (D – Room 4)
Stockton: Supporting Strengthening Mainstream Inclusion (F – Room 5)
North Tyneside: Additional SENDCo capacity supporting relationships and good practice sharing (G – Main Hall)
12.35pm – Return to main room for lunch break (lunch provided)
1.30pm – DfE National Update: Schools White Paper and SEND Reform Overview – Katherine Cowell, Regional Director, North East Regions Group
Katherine Cowell will be sharing a general update on recent national developments around the schools white paper and SEND reform. The North East region has been highlighted as an areas of special interest under ‘Mission North East’ although details of what this means for our region are not yet known.
1.45pm – Co-creating Inclusive Futures: Hartlepool’s SEND Cluster Model – Fiona Stobbs & Mark Tilling
In this session, a summary of achievements in Hartlepool around the SEND clusters approach will be shared. Fiona Stobbs (Hartlepool Borough Council) and Head teacher Mark Tilling (High Tunstall College of Science) will share their insights and progress. This will be followed by a period of discussion at table, please see below.
2.20pm – Workshop discussion: SEND Clusters
This will be a period of table discussion to explore reflections as well as local and regional opportunities in this area. Please use this form to record your individual reflections.
2.45 – 3.00pm – Afternoon Break
3.00pm – Regional Workforce Activity – Mark Patton, Education Consultant
North East ADCS commissioned consultant Mark Patton in September to undertake a short piece of work exploring the needs of our local authority workforce at a local and regional level.
Mark recently retired as the Assistant Director for Education with Newcastle City Council after almost four decades working in education in the north-east. He is now an independent consultant in the fields of education, leadership and governance, and is also a DfE-commissioned SEND Adviser supporting local authorities in the north of England.
Mark will be sharing his insights and recommendations today.
3.15pm – Whole School SEND Workforce Offer – Sarah Watson, Deputy Regional SEND Lead – North East
Whole School SEND provide a comprehensive programme of support for education settings and their workforce. To complement Mark’s previous talk focusing on the Local Authority workforce, Sarah will provide an insight into a programme of activity supporting the Schools workforce and together, these updates will provide a foundation for table discussion.
3.30pm – Workshop Discussion: Next Steps
This session encourages delegates to reflect on what they’ve heard at today’s event and to discuss how the North East region might maximise opportunities ahead, including best use of any future regional funding to support local authorities through the upcoming period of reform.
4.10pm – Reflections and Closing Remarks – Audrey Kingham, Chair
Please take this moment to complete our feedback form for this event. This is important to us to help inform ongoing regional development activity.
A thank you to our speakers and delegates, with closing remarks from Audrey Kingham, DCS Northumberland County Council and Chair of the North East ADCS Regional Education Group and SEND Strategic Network meetings.
4.30pm – Conference end
We hope you have enjoyed the event, and please don’t forget to complete this feedback form at the end of the day. This is so important to help us to evaluate the success and value of this type of regional event to inform future planning, and to clearly justify the use of regional improvement funding on events like this one. The QR code below can also be used to access the feedback form.
