Vanessa Ogden is the founding CEO of the Mulberry Schools Trust (MST), a multi-academy trust in London, UK. The Trust is committed to outstanding education in challenging contexts and includes Mulberry School for Girls and six other schools. MST leads the Teaching School Hub for Tower Hamlets and Hackney. Mulberry has a parent and community centre and a STEM Academy, sponsored by Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Vanessa is an NLE (National Leader in Education) and has undertaken a range of school turnaround work over the past decade. She is an Honorary Academic at the UCL, Institute of Education and she has a doctorate specialising in education policy and school improvement.
Vanessa has published both academic and professional writing on education and she was recently co-opted by ministers to the Teaching School Hub Council. Vanessa is the Chair of the Fair Education Alliance and of the Unicorn Theatre. She features in the ‘Female Lead’ book by Edwina Dunn. Until recently, she was a trustee of the WOW (Women of the World) Foundation. Vanessa has established Global Girl Leading, building a global alliance of girls advocating for education for all girls across the world.
Read some of Vanessa’s contributions to system-wide education reform below.
The Story of London Challenge
Sir Tim Brighouse and David Woods CBE, supported by the London Leadership Strategy, have published The Story of London Challenge – a retrospective on the development of the London Challenge.
The Challenge model has received cross-party consensus that the model forms a strong basis for school improvement. Available in hard copy and e-book versions, The Story of London Challenge includes contributions from Sir Tim Brighouse and David Woods CBE, plus chapters from Dame Susan John, Peter White, Dr Vanessa Ogden, Dr Sara Bubb and Professor Chris Husbands.
Read more about the story of London Challenge here.
All-Party Parliamentary Group on Social Mobility inquiry into the Regional Attainment
The attainment gap, the gap in school exam results between pupils from different social backgrounds, is one of the key challenges in our education system. Differences in school achievement act as a block on social mobility and have real consequences for the life chances of those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Children with poor vocabulary age five are more than twice as likely to be unemployed aged 34. Such differences are not just social in origin, they are also geographical.
Read the report here.
NASACRE Silver Jubilee Conference
On 24th May 2018, Dr Vanessa Ogden was invited to speak at the NASACRE Silver Jubilee Conference. In her speech Dr Ogden focused on three themes:
- The character of social change, especially as we live through the technology revolution, with all its benefits and challenges
- The role of RE in schools, its nature and purpose in a harmonious, enlightened and prosperous society
- Our responsibility to our nation’s children, their future and a less dystopian, more utopian world
Read the speech here.
