Annemarie Whittle is the Chief Executive Officer of the Kent Catholic Schools’ Partnership and a passionate champion of children’s education. Beginning her career as a primary school teacher, Annemarie has spent many years working directly in and alongside schools, developing a deep understanding of how high‑quality education can transform children’s lives.

She is firmly committed to ensuring that every child receives a broad, rich, and well‑rounded curriculum that nurtures academic achievement, creativity, character, and spiritual growth. Annemarie believes that children flourish when education goes beyond the classroom, offering opportunities for learning through sport, the arts, oracy, service and faith, alongside strong foundations in literacy, numeracy, and knowledge.

Known for her visible and approachable leadership, Annemarie places great importance on visiting schools regularly, listening to pupils, staff and families, and supporting school leaders to create environments where children feel known, valued and inspired to learn. Guided by the values of Catholic education, she leads with warmth, integrity, and a strong moral purpose, ensuring that every school in the Trust is supported to provide the very best education for the children it serves.

“I am delighted to join the Current Affairs Education Commission, helping young people to understand and engage with the world around them is one of the most meaningful roles education can play. I am excited to see what the Commission will achieve and to contribute to work that strengthens curiosity, confidence, and critical thinking for children, both now and for the future.”

Bryden is the Senior Lead Practitioner for Personal Development at Ormiston Academies Trust. He has almost 20 years of experience in teaching and supports the delivery of Citizenship and PSHE in 45 academies within the trust.

Bryden is a Teacher Ambassador for the Association for Citizenship Teaching (ACT), and a member of the ACT Council. His work on media and information literacy has been published in the ‘Teaching Citizenship’ journal, and he co-developed an online training course to support teachers in delivering media and information literacy content in the classroom.

He is also a trustee for the Media and Information Literacy Alliance (MILA) and a member of the Expert Working Group for the National Institute of Teaching’s Centre for Digital Information Literacy in Schools.

“I’m excited to be involved in this commission because young people consistently show a real appetite to better understand the world around them. With National Curriculum reform approaching and the voting age potentially lowering, this is a crucial moment to examine the provision of current affairs education.”

Carol has been Chief Executive Officer of Bradford Diocesan Academies Trust since April 2014 overseeing the Trust growth from a three school MAT to Trust of 21 schools, educating more than 10,800 pupils and with a budget of over £100 million by the end of 2025.

In 2020, Carol was awarded an OBE for her services to Education in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours. In September 2022 Carol was elected as an advisor to the DfE Yorkshire and Humber Region Advisory Board.

Carol previously worked as a team leader in the Academies programme at the Department for Education covering Yorkshire and Humber and the North West. Carol was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for West Yorkshire in October 2025.

“At BDAT, we are committed to ensuring young people leave our schools equipped with the skills, confidence, and critical thinking they need to succeed in adult life. I am excited to contribute to this commission’s work to consider how we can systematically expand these opportunities so more young people have the opportunity not just to learn, but to truly flourish.”

Sir Dan Moynihan is the Chief Executive Officer of the Harris Federation, a group of academies educating over 44,000 young people in and around London. He has led the Harris Federation since 2004, starting with one school where he was head teacher to 55 Academies today, two thirds of which joined in a category of failure.

The group is regularly amongst the highest performing large multi-academy Trusts in England. He has co-authored various Economics and Business Studies textbooks for Oxford University Press.

From 2015 to 2022 Sir Dan chaired the Cabinet Office Education Honours Committee and now Chairs the National Institute of Teaching and sits on the committee of the Youth Endowment Trust and the Reference Group for the Police Leadership Commission.

“As Winston Churchill noted, democracy is the least bad system available. But democracy depends on citizens who can make sense of events for themselves. I am glad to support the commission’s work to strengthen that capacity, which I believe should be widely taught and not narrowly held.”

Dan Morrow is a highly respected leader in the education sector, recognised for his transformative approach and unwavering commitment to community-centred schooling. With over two decades of experience as a Headteacher and CEO, Dan has led a wide range of settings - from Nursery through to sixth form - across primary, secondary and all-through schools.

Since January 2025, Dan has been the Trust Lead of Cornwall Education Learning Trust (CELT), following a successful tenure as CEO of the Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust (DMAT), where he served from 2021. His leadership is built on a blend of strategic insight, operational expertise and a deep belief in education as a vehicle for social change.

Holding both an NPQEL and an MBA, Dan has driven substantial improvement across multiple sectors, supporting local authorities and Trusts in the role of School Improvement Partner. His governance experience is equally broad, having served as both trustee and member with a particular focus on audit, finance, risk and educational outcomes.

Dan’s professional journey is closely shaped by his own lived experiences, underpinning his strong advocacy for social justice. He is deeply committed to championing vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, placing equity and opportunity at the heart of educational provision.

His leadership style is distinctive - rejecting hierarchical models in favour of service-led, people-first approaches that prioritise collaboration, public good, and community engagement. Across every role he has held, Dan is known for his authenticity, moral purpose and relentless belief in the power of education to change lives.

“A commitment to genuine, well rounded and intentional social justice is the true purpose of all educational endeavours.”

“I think it's so important for every child to understand the world around them and have a safe space to learn and ask questions about the headlines."

Jo is CEO of Northern Lights Learning Trust, a growing primary and secondary multi-academy trust, in the North East of England which currently comprises twelve schools, a DfE Teaching School Hub, ITT and DfE Early Years Stronger Practice Hub. Northern Lights serves some of the most disadvantaged communities nationally.

Jo is committed to leading Northern Lights as an inclusive Trust that seeks for everyone to flourish and believes in a people-centred approach. Jo is passionate about collaboration and system leadership across the North East and beyond, having Chaired the Dfe Primary Headteacher Reference Group, sat on a wide range of Dfe Advisory groups and roles.

Jo is an experienced leader, particularly in the field of school improvement, who believes passionately in the power of collaboration for a stronger school system. She was awarded an OBE for Service to Children and Schools in 2022.

“I am really excited to be part of this commission into Current Affairs Education at a time in our country when I believe it is vital our young people understand how to think and evaluate with insight, independence and resilience, acting as citizens who will shape the future of things in our region and our country.”

Flora Letanka is the CEO of The Economist Educational Foundation, where she leads the charity’s mission to empower young people to think critically and communicate effectively about the world's most complex current issues.

The Foundation’s Topical Talk programme draws on the Economist journalists’ expertise, providing weekly lessons on complex current issues to teachers.

Prior to this role, Flora spent over a decade at Teach First in various senior leadership positions, including Executive Director. She began her career as a History and Politics teacher in London and holds a degree from the University of Oxford. A dedicated advocate for social mobility, Flora is committed to ensuring students from all backgrounds have the knowledge and skills to succeed in a changing world.

“High-quality current affairs discussion is schools is rare. In an age of mass polarisation, global instability, and high-speed technological change, I believe that the ability to navigate the news should be a fundamental right for all children, regardless of background. I am excited to convene such an eminent and diverse group of commissioners and experts to discover how deep the crisis is and develop recommendations that work.”

“I’m particularly interested in the role that current affairs education can play in developing communication skills, informed citizenship and balanced, evidence-based discussion across the sector.”

“I am thrilled to join The Current Affairs Education Commission because, in an increasingly complex world, students deserve a learning environment that prioritises the space to critically reflect on the events shaping their lives. Equipping young people with the tools to explore and understand global issues is not just an academic luxury—it is essential for fostering the informed, empathetic, and engaged citizens our future requires."

Louise is proud to be CEO of The Howard Partnership Trust, a family of primary, secondary and special schools in the South-East, serving nearly 8000 children and young people. Louise started professional life as a Geography teacher in London as part of the inaugural Teach First cohort.

She now has over 20 years’ experience teaching and leading complex schools, including at executive level and as Principal of an outstanding all-through Academy in South London with over 1700 pupils.

Throughout her career, Louise’s aim has remained ensuring that as many young people as possible are offered the same kind of transformational opportunities that her own teachers gave her, firm in the belief that great schools can create great futures.

“As our world changes rapidly, there has never been a more exciting time to be a young person, nor a more uncertain one. I’m very pleased to be part of this commission to find ways to develop young people’s skills to navigate these challenges and opportunities.”

Nick Canning is Head of Education at Faculty, where he leads the company’s work with governments, education institutions and companies to harness responsible AI for learning and wellbeing. His work focuses on helping education systems and organisations adopt AI that is safe, effective and grounded in curriculum, pedagogy and school contexts.

Before joining Faculty, Nick founded and led Kizazi, a global non-profit partnering with governments to support learning and wellbeing for around 40,000 children across South Asia, West Africa and Eastern Europe. He previously served as Chief Operating Officer of Teach For All, helping grow a 60-country network focused on educational equity, and as Deputy Director in the UK Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, advising on education and skills policy.

Nick also chairs The Huracan Foundation. Across his work, he has focused on scaling evidence-informed approaches that strengthen schools, support teachers and equip young people with the knowledge and skills they need to thrive in a changing world.

“It is critical—for young people and for society—that every young person is supported to understand the world around them, form and express their own views, and navigate complexity with confidence. I’m pleased to join the Commission because its work goes to the heart of how education can help young people develop the judgement, curiosity and voice they need to contribute to society and democracy.”

“It feels more important than ever to support young people to make sense of the world around them. They are navigating an overwhelming amount of information, opinion, and noise every day. Having spent the last few years listening directly to young people across the country, I’ve seen how confusing that can be.”

Vic Goddard is amazed that so many years after Educating Essex was on TV people are still interested in what he has to say. You will still see him in the media banging the drum for young people and education professionals as he is determined to use whatever platform he still has.

Vic is ‘South London and Proud’, as his beloved Crystal Palace often say, and he knows how lucky he was to have the parenting and schooling he received that allowed him to build a career. Vic, from a young age, wanted to be a PE teacher and following his degree course in Chichester enjoyed two years working on the south coast at Angmering School learning from two of the best PE teachers you could ever wish to meet.  This led to him moving on from jobs sad to leave but determined to make the next career step. Four years in Cheam followed by a three-year stint working in an international school in Cairo followed where he took on the role of Head of Faculty. Very early in his career Vic realised that he wanted to be a headteacher and set himself the target of being a head by 40 and on the golf course by 50; he made the first target but is a few years late on the second. On returning to the UK Vic was fortunate to work with a truly inspiring headteacher, Kevin Sadler in his first SLT role and in five years went from Assistant Head to Head at Passmores School (now Academy) in Harlow. 

Vic is the CEO of a Trust of six local schools across primary and secondary with specialist provision but is desperately trying to not lose the connection he has with his community. Vic feels privileged to be a headteacher and is humbled every day that parents/carers are willing to trust him to educate their children.

Vic has a passion for inclusion and has been very vociferous in calling out practices that go against this. “Family comes in many forms” is a phrase you often hear Vic use when explaining what makes his schools special places, although not always the easiest to work in!