Julia Garvey

Deputy Director General of BESA, Chair of Judges

Julia has worked for BESA since 2019 and is responsible for operations and supports the Director General both in the UK and representing BESA overseas. Julia has worked in education publishing and EdTech for over 30 years, both in-house and as an external marketing consultant.

She has worked for a number of BESA members over the years and understands the needs of suppliers and schools. In her spare time she runs (a lot!) and is Vice Chair of Governors at Langley Park School for Boys.

Paul Edge

Member of the Senior Leadership Team at Ribblesdale High School

Bukky Yusuf

Senior Leaders, Edith Kay School

Bukky Yusuf is a Secondary Science teacher, Science senior leader and consultant. She has spent over a decade in London schools, teaching Science, A level Chemistry and Level 3 BTEC. In her previous school leadership role, she led whole school Ed Tech programme to enhance teaching & learning.

As part of her commitment to increase diverse leadership within education, Bukky uses social media to participate with a number of initiatives including WomenEd and BAMEed. She is a London Regional Leader for WomenEd and is registered as a leadership coach in programme run by the Department for Education.

She presents at regional and national conferences to support the development of educators at all levels. She also champions grass root projects that help colleagues maintain their well-being. Bukky is a prolific member of the Twitter community (@rondelle10_b) and regularly blogs.

Suzanne Ship

Trustee at the Amadeus Primary Academy Trust

Suzanne has worked in education for over thirty years, serving across a number of varied roles and sectors both in the UK and worldwide.

Suzanne was appointed as Trustee at the Amadeus Primary Academy Trust which is a Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) of six schools across Kent, in October 2021. She recently returned from Singapore where she has worked since Sept 2013 as a freelance Educational Consultant. She undertook a range of roles in the region, writing and delivering training as the South East Asia Consultant for Oxford University Press and for Singapore Airlines. Suzanne was an invited speaker at the ‘Building World Class Schools Summit’ in Malaysia, attended by senior education leaders in the region.

Prior to her move to South East Asia, Suzanne was an exceptionally successful head teacher of a large primary school. During this time she was appointed as a ‘National Leader of Education’ (NLE) after leading the school to ‘Outstanding’ and its subsequent ‘National Teaching School’ status. Suzanne is a previous holder of the ‘Leadership in Education’ ERA award.

Denise Hart

A publishing professional with extensive experience in educational publishing and commercial operations. Denise has spent her career working with both start-ups and corporates, making a significant impact to process, efficiency, and operating profit. In February 2019 she began her freelance career journey, consolidating all that she learned and offering it on a consultancy basis. 

Assignments so far have been in supporting CEOs, in both fast paced and growing SMEs (and start-ups), reviewing and auditing workflows to ensure maximum efficiencies and optimisation at all stages.Comfortable with both print and digital resources for international and UK markets, including blended and online learning environments, Denise understands learning impact and how that is best delivered.

Moira Cross

Executive Headteacher of Dordon and Wood End Primary Schools

Moira has been the Headteacher of Dordon Primary School near Tamworth since 2015 and took on the headship of Wood End in September 2017. Wood End was a school in Special Measures at the time but has since been judged to be good by OFSTED. Moira promotes the use of technology and resources in schools to support teaching and learning, streamline workload and harness effective communication with all stakeholders. Twitter is used actively in both schools to promote events happening within the communities and provide a wider audience for celebrating success. Children love nothing more than having their work tweeted for the whole world to see – if they choose to look for it! Moira is proud of the impact this initiative has had for some of her most vulnerable pupils.

Philip Wesolowski

Managing Director of Staedtler (UK)

Philip Wesolowski has been Managing Director of Staedtler (UK) Limited for the last 6 years and believes passionately in excellence in Education. As a key supplier to the Education sector, Staedtler UK have always seen their role as going beyond that of pure resources supply and wish to engage with the Education sector on as many levels as possible. Philip is also a member of the BESA Executive Council, having joined in 2021 and plays an active role in delivering the best for the Education Suppliers in our industry via the association.

Jane Harley

Jane Harley was until recently Policy and Assessment Director for Education Services, Oxford Education, Oxford University Press. She has over 35 years’ publishing experience in the education field: print and digital, working both for the UK and overseas. Jane believes passionately in the importance of supporting learners and teachers with the best pedagogies, programmes and professional development support to make a real difference in the classroom. She also recognises the huge value that can come when working in partnership.

Amanda King

Primary Assistant Principal (Y4-6), Harris Chobham Academy

Amanda has been teaching in inner-city London schools for 8 years and she has been leading on implementing a robust computing curriculum across the primary phase for the last 3 years. She is committed to resourcing the most efficient Ed Tech for the needs of the pupils and also that which offers enhanced communication tools to improve home-school relationships.

Amanda leads on online safety in her school setting, and she is an advocate for protecting young people from harm online whilst still enabling them to benefit from what the online world offers to them and their futures. She regularly engages with local and national online safety initiatives, and she provides CPD in this area to different stakeholders. She runs coding clubs to pupils from Year 1 onwards to help improve the outcomes of young people in computing and to prepare them for KS3 Computer Science and beyond.

Cat Scutt

Director of Education and Research, Chartered College of Teaching

A former English teacher, Cat’s roles have since focused on supporting teacher development both online and through face-to-face activities, with a particular focus on development through collaboration and through engagement with research and evidence. She has worked in education in both the state and independent sector, as well as in corporate learning and development.

Cat leads on the Chartered College Of Teaching’s work around teacher development and certification, including the Chartered Teacher programme, and their research activities and publications, including their award-winning peer-reviewed journal, Impact. She received an MBE for services to education in 2021 and has been a member of several government advisory groups.

Michael Freeston

Director of Quality Improvement - Early Years Alliance

Michael has worked for the Alliance for 19 years. He coordinates all aspects of the Alliance’s quality improvement support to the early years sector, including policy and procedures development, inclusion, workforce development and training. He also represents the Alliance on a range of policy forums with DfE, Ofsted and NCFE/Cache. He develops and delivers provision for international partners, most recently in China and Azerbaijan.

His background is in adult community education working as a further education lecturer and then working for The Workers’ Educational Association between 1995 and 2003.

He holds a BA (Hons) in Law and Politics, a Post Graduate Certificate in Education (FE) and a Masters Degree in Education Policy.

He was a member of the Expert Panel advising the Nutbrown review of early years qualifications and workforce development in 2012 and member of the Advisory Group for the Children’s Workforce Development Council for England until its demise in April 2012 .He was a Trustee of CACHE (Council for Awards in Care, Health and Education) until July 2015.

Amanda Gummer

I am passionate about giving children the best opportunities in life.

As a research psychologist specialising in child development, I have worked for over 20 years to promote the value of play and positive parenting in child development.

I have founded the research consultancy Fundamentally Children and the consumer-facing platform Dr Gummer’s Good Play Guide. I am also an NED for Families in Focus CIC, a founding member of the Children’s Activities Association, Genius of Play Ambassador and judge for the Future Skills category of the Play For Change Awards, a WIT mentor, and board advisor for a small number of mission-driven start ups in the children’s space.
I provide insight and advice on child and family related issues to a wide range of audiences and my book Play: Fun ways to help your children develop in the first 5 years, was published in May 2015 and to date has been translated into Russian and Romanian. I have developed an evidence-based model of family life called Parent-Centred Parenting which I use as the basis for parenting workshops and consultancy.

I am the UK Chapter Chair for Women In Toys and a member of the The International Toy Research Association, the British Psychological Society, LIMA, and Play England. I have been involved with parliamentary policy on children’s issues via APPGs and think tanks.

I am regularly on in the media – regional, national and international and have a media reach of over 4bn in 2021.

My specialties include: Child development, parenting, play, research, toys, toy design, product development, licensing, families, education, working parents, work-life balance, parent-centred parenting and psychology.