Strictly RE 2026 Speaker Line-up

Keynote: The Power of RE

Dr Vanessa Ogden CBE is CEO of the Mulberry Schools Trust (MAT) in East London. Vanessa is an NLE and has undertaken school turnaround work in urban and rural settings. Vanessa has a doctorate specialising in education policy and school improvement. She continues to work on initiatives to deal with London poverty. Vanessa is the Chair of the Fair Education Alliance and of the Unicorn Theatre. Vanessa is a member of the Haberdashers’ Livery Company Education Committee and she has recently been appointed as a RISE Advisor for the Department for Education. Vanessa is also an expert panel member to the government’s review of the National Curriculum.

Vanessa features in the first ‘Female Lead’ book by Edwina Dunn. Vanessa has founded Global Girl Leading, a global sisterhood of girls advocating for girls’ leadership, voice and visibility through investing in girls’ education. In 2015, she welcomed Michelle Obama to Mulberry School for Girls and was invited to take students to the White House to visit the First Lady. Vanessa was awarded a CBE in the King’s 2024 New Year Honours List.

Session: Sikh Panel – Authenticity, Belonging, Challenge

Amandeep Amy Ark is Senior Programme Manager of the Education and Learning Team at the interfaith charity The Faith & Belief Forum. She has over 20 years of experience working in the charity sector in both formal and informal education settings in the U.K.

Session: Exploring disciplinary approaches to RE Teacher

Catriona Card is a Primary teacher and RE Subject Leader with over 30 years’ experience, much of it in the Early Years Foundation Stage. She currently teaches Reception children in a large primary school in North Lincolnshire and is a part-time PhD student at Lincoln Bishop University, researching a disciplinary approach to RE in Early Years education.

Catriona is also a member of the NATRE Executive and of her local SACRE.

Session: A level RS

Chris leads a successful RE department in a large comprehensive school in Worcestershire, the specialist team of teachers attract large numbers to both GCSE and A level RS.

Chris enjoys supporting RE teachers across the West Midlands as RE Hub Leader and facilitates on leadership courses. He is also part of the editorial team of ReToday, NATRE Executive and Steering group.

Session: Exploring disciplinary approaches to RE Teacher and Primary Subject Leadership

Debbie Yeomans is a National RE Adviser for RE Today and East Midlands RE Hubs Lead, with a background in primary RE leadership and senior management in church schools. Formerly a Leading RE Teacher for the Diocese of Leicester, she is passionate about empowering teachers to deliver meaningful and inspiring RE in the classroom.

Session: Influencing change and securing our place in a crowded curriculum

Deborah Weston is an experienced RE teacher, trainer, and adviser to four local authorities. A NATRE Executive member and Research Officer, she has contributed to national RE policy, curriculum, and assessment reform, and was honoured in 2016 for her services to Religious Education and inter-faith dialogue.

Session: A level RS

Dr Rachael Jackson-Royal has been a teacher of Religious Education for over 25 years and a Hod of the subject for more than 10 years. Currently, in addition to being a HoD she is also a Trust lead for Religious Education for a group of schools in the West Midlands. She is an author, trainer and is the Exams and Higher Education officer for NATRE (National Association for Teachers of RE). Rachael has been involved in numerous research projects in RE and as well as holding a doctorate, is currently completing a master’s in educational leadership. She has also been a teaching and learning lead and previously was an exam marker for the subject.

Session: How I use AI in Secondary RE

Greg has been teaching for 15 years and has previously been a Head of RE, Head of Year, part of the teaching and learning team and currently an Assistant Head in a school in beautiful Cornwall! Gregg is also a consultant to Cornwall SACRE and leads a LTLRE Hub. He enjoys learning new ideas in the teaching and RE world to share with others and using this to develop his own and others’ practice. Greg loves sharing resources and looking for ways to make RE even more engaging to students!

Session: Sikh Panel – Authenticity, Belonging, Challenge

Harmanvinder Singh Panesar is a secondary school English teacher and pastoral lead who takes pride in supporting the RE department with teaching Sikhi and enhancing the students’ understanding of the religion.

Session: Hindu Dharma and Oracy – Enriching the RE Curriculum

Joanne is Secondary Vice Chair of NATRE and Head of RE in Lancashire, with over 30 years’ classroom experience. As an Assistant Headteacher leading on curriculum, assessment, and personal development, she’s passionate about inspiring engaging, thoughtful RE that helps students make sense of themselves and the world.

Session: A level RS

Karen has taught A-level RS for over 20 years. She now leads the secondary RE PGCE at the university of Worcester and leads the NATRE A-level which meets online and involves over 300 teachers.

Session: Teaching Christianity authentically

Katie is the Chair of NATRE and has been a primary school teacher for 19 years. She is an RE specialist who is regularly asked to speak at national and local conferences. Katie’s work in RE started with Learn Teach Lead RE (LTLRE), where she set up and led the Plymouth RE Hub. Katie was one of the writer’s for REToday/ NATRE Primary RE curriculum and has based her work on her school’s own RE curriculum. She has been part of the NATRE executive for eleven years, has served on the Church of England’s working party for RE and is a member of the RE Policy Unit. She is passionate about talking about diverse lived experience and creative approaches to Religious Education.

Session: Sikh Panel – Authenticity, Belonging, Challenge 

Kuljinder is a second-generation Indian Sikh, born in West London and now based in West Yorkshire.

She has been teaching Philosophy, Religion, and Ethics for over twenty years and serves as the Sikh representative for her local SACRE. Kuljinder is currently in her second year of the Culham St Gabriel’s Leadership Scholarship Programme.

Session: Holy Buildings and Sacred Spaces: The Architectures of Faith

Lat is a primary and secondary specialist who taught RE, Humanities and PSHE in Leicester for eleven years. Since joining RE Today, he has advised teachers, schools, SACREs, dioceses and local authorities. His CPD training attracts thousands of teachers annually, covering themes from creativity and art to assessment, GCSE and curriculum planning. He also leads large-scale learner conferences. Lat has created 11 BBC RE broadcast series, including the award-winning My Life My Religion. He has run the Spirited Arts competition for twenty years and edited RE Today magazine for 59 issues until late 2023.

Session: SEND Strategies 

Louisa has been an RE teacher since 2001 and has taught in secondary schools across the UK. She is now an RE Consultant for a large MAT in London, hosts The RE Podcast and is a grateful member of the NATRE exec. Originally from Brighton, she now lives in Surrey with her two sons.

Session: RE and the Climate Crisis

Matt Pitcher has been a Head of RS for over 20 years and is an experienced examiner and consultant for the past 10 years. His interests lie in developing environmental and ecology resources in the RE classroom and also teaching about tackling antisemitism through Holocaust Education. Matt is a member of the NATRE Executive and also chairs the AREIAC southern region.

Session: Hindu Dharma

Molly is an is an experienced secondary school RE teacher with over 25 years experience. She works to decolonise the RE curriculum and to present authentic voices in the classroom. She is a regular contributor to The REPodcast on aspects of Hindu Dharma

Session: Oh Islam…it’s so controversial’

Shabnam has been teaching secondary RS since 2012 and has had extensive experience leading RS departments within Church schools. As someone passionate about CPD, she led the Bradford and Leeds Secondary RE hub coordinating both face-to-face meetings and virtual conferences. Shabnam’s current role includes leading the Oldham and Tameside RS secondary network.

Session: Core Key Stage 4 RE Project

Nikki McGee is the Trust Lead for Religious Studies at Inspiration Trust. Having taught since the late 1990s, she brings extensive classroom experience to her work in teacher development, curriculum design, and assessment. Nikki continues to lead her own RS department and is at her happiest in her classroom.

Session: Oracy in primary

Ian is a primary RE co-ordinator in North Nottinghamshire and a member of the NATRE exec. He recently completed an MA in Religious Education whilst on the CSTG Master’s scholarship. Ian has written for RE Today and Professional Reflection and is passionate about using RE to build tolerance and respect.

Session: Understanding Muslims, Understanding Islam

Ian Nicholson is Senior National RE Adviser at RE Today and has been contributing author for Understanding Muslims, Understanding Islam. Ian has over 30 years of experience as a teacher, Senior Leader and LA Adviser for religious education. His specialist area is the study of Islam and the Dharmic faiths. This session will focus on how schools can make use of the resources for Understanding Muslims, Understanding Islam with practical approaches to engage pupils through the ways of knowing to ensure depth in teaching about Islam as a lived world religion.

Session: Sikh Panel – Authenticity, Belonging, Challenge

Jatinderpal Loyal, known to most as Jatinder, is passionate about all things related to faith. Outside of his work as a policy professional regulating doctors, he volunteers as a chaplain with Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust. He also actively supports SACRE and interfaith work, where he seeks to promote inclusion, kindness, and helping others through selfless service.

Session: Oracy – Enriching the RE Curriculum

Jenni Rawlinson is Head of RE and Communication Lead in a Secondary school in County Durham. She also sits on the SACRE, is a member of the NATRE Executive and leads a Local Group in the Northeast.

Session: Powerful questioning in the RE classroom

Joe Kinnaird is an experienced secondary school RE teacher and Head of Department teaching in London. He has worked with ITT providers and schools to deliver CPD on areas of pedagogy such as teaching writing, curriculum design and use of scholarship in the classroom.

Session: Sacred stories through 3 disciplines

Sarah Dennis is an experienced primary teacher RE. She teaches RE across her whole school. She leads a networking group for her academy chain, a local group for NATRE. She has written for REtoday magazine, Professional reflections and case studies for The Scaffolding Effect and an internation eBook on the REseachers approach.

Session: Primary subject leadership

Sally Brooman is a primary RE lead at St Peter and St Paul C.E. primary in Scunthorpe. She is also a member of the NATRE executive. Sally jointly leads the North Lincolnshire local NATRE group and supports colleagues locally. Sally has over 20 years teaching experience, leading RE for much of that time. She was a part of the Worldviews exemplar teacher- led group as well as working on an assessment pilot with other teachers across greater Lincolnshire.

Session: AI in Primary RE

Steve Gibson has been a primary teacher since 2004. He has worked with the National Centre for Computing Education and is currently studying for a Masters in Theology, including research into ethics and AI. Steve brings a contagious passion for teaching and learning.