Director of the Aspire Trust, he leads the research on Closing Schools for the Future: a research programme which aims to examine what is lost from a school community in the final stages of a programme of school closure. He is also currently editing Developing Creative Curriculum: Innovative Teachers at Work for Routledge and writing a chapter for the forthcoming Routledge International Handbook of Creative Learning.

Steve has worked in education for over 30 years, been a Headteacher for over 10 years and is currently Head of The Oldershaw School in Wallasey. He has underpinned this with an outstanding National reputation for care and support that places Every Child Matters at the heart of an aspirational education. Oldershaw was selected as a lead school for the national Curious Minds programme and is the Change school for Wirral. The 14-19 education agenda is also a strong interest as a Board member of the Merseyside Learning and Skills Council 2005-9 and a member of the Wirral Strategic Board 2005-10.

Following a recent excellent Ofsted Inspection in which the Leadership and Management of Oldershaw was judged to be outstanding he has been invited to join the National College for Leadership of Schools Consultant Head and Local Leaders in Education programmes. Ofsted said of the school, “The excellent curriculum leads to outstanding progress in a highly caring community that ensures every student succeeds” Community development and involvement in the school are important aspects of Steven’s work

Don Williamson is a former Head teacher in the Wirral of some 30 years standing. He currently works as School Workforce advisor for the Wirral LEA. His key functions are to promote and support a coherent and strategic approach with the local authority to the reform, modernisation and development of the whole school workforce; to continuously develop and promote the availability of effective training and development for the whole school workforce, having regard for the ECM and Extended School Agenda; and to mange a school workforce organisation team in order to secure a set of deliverable indentified to provide an overarching structure for school workforce reform.