W E B I N A R
Your Online Device
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
15:00 GMT
Complete the form below and we will
save your placefor the upcoming webinar.
Supporting children and young people effectively requires safeguarding and wellbeing to work hand in hand, not in isolation. Education settings are increasingly expected to demonstrate how pastoral care, mental health support and safeguarding processes are aligned to provide the best outcomes for pupils.
In this webinar, Dr Jo Walker, Co-founder and Director at STEER Education and Frazer Smith, safeguarding leader at United Learning, join us in a discussion to explore what a joined-up approach to safeguarding and wellbeing looks like in practice. Drawing on academic research and real-world trust-level experience, they will discuss how education settings can create clearer pathways, stronger collaboration and better-informed decision-making to support children and young people.
Dr Jo Walker co-founded STEER in 2011 out of 20 years’ experience as a Deputy Head and Local Authority Advisor on BESD (Behavioural, Emotional and Social Difficulties). From her work with vulnerable students and families, Jo knew that schools lacked the tools to identify students before those risks escalated to a crisis. She founded STEER to enable schools to act earlier, reduce those risks and improve educational outcomes for all students. She believes passionately that young people are most often helped by teachers who know them best and that teachers need to be equipped with the right tools to do that
Simon Walker co-founded STEER in 2011 from a conviction that the road of adolescence was getting harder for young people to navigate. As a psychologist, Simon knew that the earlier schools could identify students with emerging mental health concerns, the better the chance of reducing its long-term negative impacts. As an influential author of books on leadership, Simon also believes passionately that the soft skills young people develop during their education, such as resilience, agency, emotional and social agility, will influence their long-term life and career opportunities.
Frazer Smith holds the position of Head of Safeguarding for the Group. In this role, he leads the safeguarding efforts across the organisation, ensuring that we meet all necessary statutory requirements to safeguard our apprentices effectively.