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FREE THRIVE IN ACTION
The Schools White Paper & Inclusion at Scale: How ready is your trust to deliver?
We’re connecting online between 4pm - 4.45pm on Tuesday, 5th May. Can't join live? Sign up anyway and we'll send you the recording.
The Schools White Paper Every Child Achieving and Thriving raises expectations for inclusion - earlier, more consistently, and across every school, backed by £1.8bn in new investment.
But for many trusts, the challenge isn’t understanding what’s expected. It’s making it work in practice, at scale.
Practice varies between schools. Capacity is stretched. Needs are more complex. What works in one school doesn’t always translate across others.
Research from Thrive and ImpactEd, based on over 1,000 education professionals, highlights a clear “inclusion readiness gap” - between expectations and the conditions needed to deliver them.
At the same time, £1.8bn in new investment creates a significant opportunity - but only if it’s used to strengthen delivery across the trust.
In this session, Tom Preston, Viv Trask-Hall and Liz Murray will share what they’re seeing across the system and what seems to be making a difference.
You’ll learn:
- What the White Paper means in practice for trust-wide inclusion
- Where delivery tends to break down across schools
- Why some approaches don’t scale - and what to do instead
- How to use new investment to build capacity across your trust
- How to assess and strengthen inclusion readiness
Meet the speakers
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Viv Trask-Hall B.Ed(Hons), DFIFIP, NPQH
Head of Theory and Practice, Thrive
Viv began her Thrive journey as a Headteacher in Barnsley's primary schools, transitioning from a Licensed Practitioner to a Thrive Trainer. She witnessed the approach's positive impact on behaviour, attendance, and wellbeing, which ignited her passion. Now, Viv focuses on developing high-quality, evidence-based training for Thrive, with the goal of positively impacting as many children and young people as possible.
Tom Preston
Director, Thrive
Tom leads Thrive’s work in building partnerships that help every child flourish. With a background in teaching, educational leadership, and research at Harvard University, he’s passionate about working with schools, trusts, and local authorities to embed a whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing. Tom finds it deeply rewarding to see the real difference this work makes in the lives of children and young people.
Liz Murray
SEND Director, Supporting Education Group
Liz leads SEND and Inclusion strategy across Supporting Education Group, working with trusts and executive leaders to strengthen inclusive practice at scale and improve outcomes for pupils with SEND. She specialises in helping leaders turn strategy into practical action through tailored implementation and professional development that builds sustainable capacity across schools.
Liz also contributes to national policy and sector development, including work with the Department for Education to support the future of SEND leadership in England.
