About Us

David Bartram OBE

image16

A teaching assistant, history teacher and senior leader, David has led special educational needs and disability (SEND) provision in London schools for over 15 years. He has worked closely with the Department for Education to develop SEND policy and was an expert advisor to the Timpson Review on school exclusions. David has worked directly with over four hundred school leadership teams across the UK to improve their provision for disadvantaged children.


David was Director for SEND at the London Leadership Strategy,  advisor to the Mayor of London's education team and currently provides support to a range of teaching school alliances and local authorities on the strategic development of SEND provision. 


David is author of the SEND Review Guide, a national peer-review framework that has now been downloaded by over 5000 schools. He is also editor of Great Expectations, leading an effective SEND strategy in school, published by John Catt Educational:

http://www.johncattbookshop.com/great-expectations-leading-an-effective-send-strategy-in-school


David has sat on a number of SEND consultations at the DfE and gave oral evidence at the Public Bill Committee on the Children and Families Bill.  He has also spoken at a number of SEND conferences including The Academies Show, NASEN, TES SEN Show and international conferences in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, India, South Africa, Poland and Ethiopia.  


David is also a trustee of the KPMG Foundation, which seeks to bring about systemic change in business and society and unlock the potential of the most disadvantaged children in the UK.


David was awarded an OBE for Services to Education in the 2016 New Year's Honours list

International Work

image17

 David has a keen interest in International SEND and Inclusion policy development and he is working closely with governments in Malaysia, Seychelles and Thailand to develop and advise on policy. 


  Malaysia 

  

David was commissioned by the Ministry of Education in Malaysia to support development of their SEND policy.  The aims of this project included: 

  • To review, identify gaps and refine project modules that had been produced for teachers in all Malaysian schools  
  • To recommend and highlight examples of best practice in the areas of early transition and school to work best practice and UK resources that could support Malaysia in developing high impact, sustainable interventions in these areas.  
  • To collate examples of good practice school to work initiatives being delivered in Malaysia and to identify areas of need and potential for collaboration between stakeholders.

David continues to work with the Malaysian Education team to broker links in best practice between English and Malaysian schools.



image18

Thailand   


David worked with the Ministry of Education in 2016/17 Thailand to conduct a policy review on Inclusive Education by exploring 3 areas; policy, practice and culture.    The focus included:

  • Background research on Inclusive Education in Thailand. 
  • Scopings visit across four regions in Thailand and in-depth interview with related organisations including policy makers and practitioners.
  • Policy review and recommendation report on Inclusive Education in Thailand.    

  Seychelles  


In 2013, David was commissioned by Ms Macsuzy Mondon, Minister of Education in the Seychelles, to complete an audit of special educational needs provision and practice. 


David completed a series of visits and interviews with a number of stakeholders including:  

  • Ministry of Education officials
  • 9 schools including secondary, primary and special provision Headteachers and Deputy headteachers 
  • SENCOs, counsellors and pastoral staff
  • Pupils and Parents of children with SEN. 

As a result of the project, an eight-point plan was produced, and the final report fed into the national SEND policy framework.