Wednesday, 8th October and Thursday 9th October 2025
2.30pm-5.30pm

ONLINE ONLY

Descriptions of the main themes and topics that our speakers intend to cover in their sessions are outlined below to assist you in gaining a strong overview of the conference and to help you choose the workshop sessions that best suit your needs and areas of interest:

DAY ONE

Which tool for which task? Your guide to AI deployment in schools
Rob Robson

To open our second national AI in Schools conference, Rob Robson will begin with a summary of the latest trends in AI in education, including emerging opportunities and his evaluation of the risks and their implications for schools. He will then offer a practical overview of some of the most common and frequently used AI tools in schools – looking at what each tool offers, in which areas and for which tasks it can most usefully and effectively be deployed, and what considerations we must keep in mind when using each tool. His review will include tools such as Microsoft Copilot, Claude AI, Google Gemini among others. Find out how schools are using these tools and for which education teaching and leadership tasks they are best employed.

Your guide to rolling out AI tools in school
Jo Stone

This practical workshop will dissect the lessons learned during the roll-out of three AI tools in primary schools within the Discovery Schools Trust. Jo Stone, the trust Ped Tech Lead, will describe their work to identify the right AI tools for their context, to plan for the testing and deployment of these tools, to train staff and students, and the lessons they have learnt along the way. The tools in question are Microsoft Copilot, Adobe Express, and School.ai – although the lessons learned and much of the advice Jo will offer will be applicable to the roll-out of any AI edtech. Having said this, Jo will also discuss how these three tools in particular have been put to work in the school.

Digital citizens in the age of AI: Media literacy and ethical use
Helen Blachford, Liz Moorse and Bryden Joy

In a world where generative AI is rapidly reshaping how young people access, interpret, and produce information, schools have a vital role to play in developing students’ critical thinking, ethical understanding, and digital responsibility. This session will explore practical ways schools can embed media and information literacy, and the concept of digital citizenship, into their curricula, with a particular focus on navigating AI-generated content. Our three expert presenters will outline a cross-school approach to teaching digital citizenship through citizenship and the wider curriculum with concrete examples of classroom practice and resources to build students’ awareness of AI’s ethical, societal and legal implications. The session will offer practical guidance on how we can support students to become discerning consumers and responsible producers of digital content. Finally, the workshop will consider how to build a coherent approach to AI education that goes beyond tools and tech, and centres on values, critical thinking, and pupil empowerment. The session draws on the work which the three presenters are taking forward in collaboration at the Association for Citizenship Teaching.

Your students and AI: Finding and fixing the gaps
Ben Merritt

In this session, we will find out how student voice and surveys have been utilised to identify and address crucial gaps in students' knowledge and learning around AI – and how this work has influenced the creation of staff and student AI policies at King Ecgbert School. Ben Merritt will discuss the key questions about AI that he has asked his students and will present some of the (perhaps surprising) results that this work has produced. He will then outline the AI teaching and learning that happened as a result, including examples of lesson and assembly resources and activities. Finally, Ben will discuss how this work has influenced the school's AI policies for staff and students, with examples for delegates to take away.

DAY TWO 

From key stage 2 to 5: AI at the Three Spires Trust
Aimee Williams

In this session, Aimee and Chris will explore how AI has been meaningfully embedded across the curriculum at the Three Spires Trust from key stage 2 to key stage 5. The trust has designed a progressive, age-appropriate approach that develops technical fluency, ethical awareness, and critical thinking. From playful, real-world projects that foster technical understanding as well as a strong emphasis on ethics, fairness, bias, and responsibility at primary level, to interdisciplinary learning and oracy-rich assessment in secondary, AI is not a bolt-on but woven into computing, STEM, and project-based learning. Aimee and Chris will share their AI Prompt Cycle (a structured approach that supports students in engaging with generative AI tools thoughtfully and effectively), protocols for AI citation, and their bespoke KS5 EPQ module linking AI literacy to future careers – ensuring learners grow into thoughtful, responsible users of the tools shaping tomorrow’s world.

AI tools to support SEND & inclusion: Practical strategies from St Mary's Primary School
Louise Stevenson

St Mary’s Primary School has developed a suite of approaches that harness AI to support the outcomes of pupils, especially those with SEND. In this session, we will take a practical look at the different strands of this work, sharing tools, lessons learned, evidence of impact, and demonstrating how we can integrate AI meaningfully as a cornerstone of inclusive pedagogy. At the heart of St Mary's approach is AI-enhanced inclusive teaching, including the use of AI to differentiate content to support SEN such as dyslexia, DLD, and SEMH. The school uses AI to support CPD and resource/lesson-planning for staff, to reduce teacher workload, to help with curriculum planning, and to address emotionally based school avoidance and support complex needs, reflecting pupils’ interests, developmental stages, and wider SEND targets. AI is also used as part of EHCP target-mapping, creating cohesive intervention plans, enabling strategic staff deployment, and more effective inclusive support. Finally, we will hear about how AI is used at a leadership level to support school improvement planning and governance. The session will also touch upon other initiatives including the school's Digital Classroom Connection, which enables SEN pupils to access live teaching from a sensory-appropriate environment, and the SEND & Wellbeing Hub, a centralised platform for parents/carers that has significantly improved family engagement and support.

A range of uses for AI in teaching, assessment and feedback
Dr Pete Atherton

In this wide-ranging session, Dr Pete Atherton will report on the work he is undertaking into practical and effective uses of AI in the classroom. He will discuss three areas of practice - the use of AI tools to provide personalised tutoring support to students; the use of AI to bolster formative assessment in the classroom; and the use of AI video feedback tools to support teaching and learning. Dr Atherton will discuss his findings and "lessons learned" when using these technologies and offer practical tips and ideas for classroom practice.

Teacher preparedness for AI: Getting staff CPD right
Jon Garner-Richardson

A crucial part of rolling out AI in schools is ensuring our teaching staff are fully prepared to maximise the impact of this technology and can access the CPD and training required to develop their skills. This practical session will outline findings from a recent research project into secondary school teachers’ preparedness to integrate AI technologies into their practices undertaken by King Edward's School and the University of Bath. Jon Garner-Richardson, whose involvement in this research has led him to write the short book You, AI and Your Teaching, will highlight some of the practical implications of the research for the planning and delivery of CPD and training in schools. He will discuss how we can motivate all teachers to be excited about the potential of AI, how we can identify and overcome areas where staff feel uncomfortable using AI, and he will offer his practical tips to ensure that CPD hits the right spot.