Aoife Mc Dermott is a qualified play therapist and clinical supervisor. Aoife has over 12 years’ experience working with children and young people. She specialises in supporting children and young people who have experienced complex trauma and attachment issues. Currently Aoife works as the Children Affected by Domestic Abuse project manager at Welsh Women’s Aid. Over the past two years WWA has been developing specialist modules for Children and Young People that educate and engage them around topics such as online safety, healthy relationships, tech facilitated abuse and supporting LGBTQAI+ CYP in relationships. These topics, and several others, form part of their strategy to embed the Change that Lasts approach to tackling VAWDASV across Wales. Aoife is looking forward to the day and share learning with other specialists.

Christian joined Brook in 2022 and has since delivered high‑quality Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) to thousands of young people across Wales. They also train teachers, youth workers, and school nurses in delivering RSE and developing whole‑school approaches that support young people’s wellbeing.

Christian has worked with more than 11 local authorities to design and deliver tailored education and professional learning on puberty, periods, and period dignity—contributing to Welsh Government’s ambition for a Period Proud Wales. They have also led Brook’s transformation of its bilingual service delivery, ensuring that young people can access protective and preventative RSE through the medium of Welsh. In 2025, Christian served as an in‑house expert on S4C’s Ar Led, a programme focused on sex and relationships for young people.

Christian currently coordinates a project funded by the National Lottery Community Fund on pornography, misogyny, and gender stereotypes across south Wales. They are passionate about children’s rights, youth work, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Prior to joining Brook, Christian worked with Stonewall Cymru, the Children’s Commissioner for Wales, and national youth work organisations.

Alongside their role at Brook, Christian volunteers as a Youth Support Worker with the IMPACT LGBTQ+ Youth Group in Cathays, Cardiff.

Harriet is the Partnerships Lead at Wellio Education. She graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2017 and completed a Master’s degree in Applied Theatre in 2018, focusing on resilience and mental health for adults with special educational needs.

Harriet has worked in education for the past eight years. She began her career as an Applied Theatre Practitioner, working with children and adults with special educational needs. She then spent four years working as a 1:1 coach and presenter, supporting students to develop effective study skills.

Following this, Harriet worked with schools on a consultative basis, helping them to design and implement whole-school study skills strategies. For the past two years, she has worked with Wellio, partnering with schools to build bespoke spiral curricula that support long-term student success.

Sarah Witcombe-Hayes is the Senior Policy Researcher in the Policy and Public Affairs team in NSPCC Cymru. Sarah joined the NSPCC in 2015, after completing a Social Science PhD at Cardiff University. In her current role for NSPCC Cymru, Sarah leads on designing, undertaking, supporting and reviewing research with the purpose of influencing policy production and practice in Wales, and ending child cruelty. Sarah leads on a number of policy areas for NSPCC Cymru, including relationships and sexuality education, early years and perinatal mental health.

Rebecca is the Project Development Manager for the NSPCC’S Talk Relationships service for secondary schools. The service supports schools to create a culture of safety, preventing harassment and abuse, through a whole school approach to sex and relationships education.

Before joining the NSPCC, Rebecca has nearly 15 years’ experience of working with children and young people directly in the prevention and recovery of domestic and teenage relationship abuse.

I am an experienced researcher, youth worker and RSE specialist with over twenty years experience of working with children and young people in a range of educational and community settings. For nearly fifteen years I have worked with universities, governments and the third sector to conduct research in the field of Relationship and Sex Education (RSE). I use primarily qualitative, participatory and creative approaches to engage young people in research and am passionate about using research to develop innovative RSE resources and professional training programmes. Key achievements in the past five years include publishing a well-received book of 200+ RSE activities for educators, delivering RSE training to hundreds of trainee and in-service teachers in England, Wales and Ireland and working with the Welsh Government to develop the new RSE statutory guidance and code.

Sophie Goodliffe is an experienced and dedicated education leader serving as Executive Headteacher of Ty’n y Wern Primary School and Bedwas Junior School. With a strong commitment to nurturing both academic success and personal development, Sophie is widely recognised for her compassionate leadership style and her belief that schools should support the whole child, the whole staff team, and the wider community.

Throughout her career in education, Sophie has championed inclusive learning environments where every child feels safe, valued, and inspired to achieve their potential. She places particular emphasis on mental and physical wellbeing, understanding that healthy, confident pupils are better able to learn, grow, and thrive. Under her leadership, wellbeing is embedded across school life, from classroom practices to staff support and community initiatives.

Sophie is also deeply passionate about working in partnership with families. She believes that strong relationships between schools and families create the foundation for children’s success, and she actively promotes open communication, support networks, and opportunities for parents and carers to engage with school life.

As Executive Headteacher across both Ty’n y Wern Primary School and Bedwas Junior School, Sophie is committed to building positive, inclusive school communities where pupils, staff, and families feel empowered and supported. Her leadership reflects a clear vision: that education should not only develop knowledge and skills, but also nurture wellbeing, resilience, and a lifelong love of learning.

Max is an early-career social scientist based at Cardiff University. He has longstanding research interests in school-based relationships and sexuality education (RSE), gender and sexuality, education policy, and public health. Max’s doctoral study, ‘Re\Assembling Welsh relationships and sexuality education: A post-qualitative journey through dynamic policy-practice contexts’ was completed in 2024 and focused on the professional learning and practice experiences of RSE-providing teachers as they navigated the implementation of Wales’ new statutory RSE curriculum. Findings from Max’s research have informed Welsh policymaking through public consultation responses on national RSE guidance and have contributed to the ‘CRUSH: Transforming Relationships and Sexuality Education’ resource for RSE-providing teachers.

Since completing his PhD, Max has worked in several roles within Cardiff University’s DECIPHer Centre, contributing to research on topics including young people’s use of vapes, mental health amongst gender-diverse young people, and outreach healthcare provision for people who are rough sleeping.

Marc has taught in Bassaleg school for 43 years and is Assistant Headteacher –  Safeguarding, Wellbeing, Attendance, Admissions and Transition lead.

Marc joined Bassaleg as a PE teacher in 1983 before becoming Head of PE in the early 90’s. Marc introduced A Level PE and at one point had over 100 students following the course. In 2007 Marc became Welsh Secondary Teacher of the Year before moving into a leadership role in the school.

Marc leads several Listening to Young People groups in school – N2R (No to Racism), EDR ( Everyone Deserves Respect) this group is challenging coercive behaviours and attitudes in school,  QSA (Queer Straight Alliance) and MHC (Mental Health Council) and these very active groups have led significant agendas in school which have resulted in many changes to our school community, ethos, culture and values.

Tanya is the Director of Standards for RVE and ‘Believing and Belonging’ in Bassaleg School. As a teacher in the classroom, she is passionate about helping learners to be the best versions of themselves, enjoy their learning and places teacher-learner relationships at its core. Skills, learner progress and learner enjoyment of their learning are key focuses, wanting learners to thrive, achieve and succeed, whatever this looks like. She leads a strong department of RVE staff who not only are responsible for delivering Religion, Values and Ethics across the curriculum, but also a newly modelled and bespoke to Bassaleg ‘Wellbeing’ curriculum, which has been rebranded ‘Believing and Belonging’. The successful learning environments that have been established in this part of the curriculum is allowing provision in this area to flourish and is complemented by the work she has done whole-school on agendas such as supporting learners to develop a Kindness charter. Alongside her teaching and leadership role, Tanya contributes to the whole school ‘Barod’ programme, aiming to get learners ‘ready’ for the day. She has also this year established a strong ‘Believing and belonging Listening to young People’ Council who meet each half term to contribute to the Wellbeing provision, sharing their ideas and feedback on how the curriculum is evolving in the school.

Dan is the Deputy Headteacher at Croesyceiliog School, where he leads strategically on wellbeing, attendance, behaviour, inclusion, and safeguarding. With over 11 years of senior leadership experience across two diverse school settings, Dan has developed a strong reputation for driving whole‑school improvement through relational practice, high expectations, a data and research driven approach, and a deep commitment to equity in education.

Passionate about ensuring every young person can succeed regardless of background or circumstance, he has led transformative work in pastoral systems, inclusion, and the development of supportive behaviour cultures. His leadership contributed directly to Croesyceiliog School’s recent Estyn inspection success, which featured spotlight recognition and case studies highlighting exemplary work in ALN, behaviour, and relationships.

Dan champions inclusive, restorative approaches and believes that strong relationships and belonging are central to pupil success. He continues to advocate for practices that remove barriers and create conditions where all learners can thrive.

Georgia Theodoulou is an experienced teacher, having worked in secondary, post-16 and alternative education settings across Wales. Georgia has worked for ‘Our Streets Now’ for the last four years, who tackle public sexual harassment through legislative and policy change and preventative education. She leads on their policy, education and sports work across England and Wales and advises the Welsh Government on national guidance around inclusion in education and misogyny. She is also the Arsenal team ambassador for Her Game Too, a UK wide organisation championing gender equality in sports.

Georgia has been appointed as a delegate for UN Women UK at the United Nations Commission for the Status of Women, attended the World Football Summit in Seville as part of their ‘Female Leaders in Football’ initiative and in November 2023, was awarded the Safe Spaces Champion award from UN Women UK.

I am an experienced researcher, youth worker and RSE specialist with over twenty years experience of working with children and young people in a range of educational and community settings. For nearly fifteen years I have worked with universities, governments and the third sector to conduct research in the field of Relationship and Sex Education (RSE). I use primarily qualitative, participatory and creative approaches to engage young people in research and am passionate about using research to develop innovative RSE resources and professional training programmes. Key achievements in the past five years include publishing a well-received book of 200+ RSE activities for educators, delivering RSE training to hundreds of trainee and in-service teachers in England, Wales and Ireland and working with the Welsh Government to develop the new RSE statutory guidance and code.