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Speakers

Headshot photo of Rob Faulkner
Speaker
Rob Faulkner
Founder and Lead Practitioner of Space to Bee and Head of Middle School
Al Dhafra Private School, Abu-Dhabi

Rob has worked in a large number of roles in the UK, starting off as a trainee teacher through to a member on SLT. His subject is Physical Education and roles have included academic and pastoral ones. He found himself at a crossroads a few years ago battling the idea that schools weren't providing enough support to people with often complex emotional needs and this was a systemic issue rather than an individual school, town or borough one. Therefore he made the leap to set up an alternative provision called Space To Bee. They work using 3 main strands: Sports and exercise to help young people become more active. Mentoring to develop relationships and tackle barriers that may prevent a young person from accessing their education. and, they teach emotional management strategies to help young people self-regulate in moments when they feel anxious, frustrated or angry. As part of the Space To Bee offer I was asked to deliver a week of CPD to a school in Abu-Dhabi, Al Dhafra and from there offered the amazing opportunity to work full time. Rob's journey in the UAE is a fantastic challenge to use the skills and expertise from over 25 years of working in schools, but also the huge learning from his time developing programmes for young people whilst they have been engaging with Space To Bee. In addition to working in education Rob has worked as an academy football coach for over 10 years for a professional club and worked for the FA in England as a coach education tutor.