Tom vodden

Tom is a freelance speaker, organisational development consultant and trainer who has worked with over 600 schools and organisations across the UK. His work is informed by broad-ranging professional and lived experience and is grounded in work and educational psychology. Tom is a member of the British Psychological Society. As a trained teacher, he
has worked in mainstream and specialist settings in the UK and Australia, founded and led his own educational software company and served as a school governor.

Tom draws on a rich knowledge of children’s behaviour, SEND, attendance and mental health and wellbeing, complemented by a thorough understanding of organisational development and the challenges faced by leaders responsible for driving change. Mindful of how easy it is to make recommendations, Tom works alongside leadership teams to ensure
change initiatives are necessary, possible and sustainable.

“He has particularly advanced skills in challenging and questioning whilst still being supportive and understanding. I know that his advice is highly prized by a wide network of special school Headteachers.”

Recent examples of work have focused on:

Learning Support Bases - SEND - Behaviour
Policy and Practice (including the use of restrictive practices) - Diagnosis and Development of Organisational Culture, Mission, Vision and Values - Workplace Wellbeing – Neurodiversity in the Workplace and Leading Change.

“His ongoing professional support for the school made a significant contribution to our rapid school improvements. This resulted in the first positive Ofsted judgement for the school in ten years, allowing us to overcome entrenched staff expectations.”

Tom has over 20 years of experience leading training across education and children’s services settings across the UK. He has designed training programmes which have been rolled out nationally, as well as carefully targeted and needs-led training for individual schools and groups. He is an accomplished keynote speaker whose speeches are described as being
‘powerful, captivating, challenging and inspiring’.