Innovate My School is a community-driven platform for showcasing the latest innovations and voices in schools.
Founded in 2010, the platform inspires a stellar audience of 50,000+ subscribers through a blend of practitioner-led blogs, industry news stories and hybrid thought leadership events. All content is shared through our website, newsletter and socials - and gets regularly cited across a myriad of publications, media and blog sites.
We're also proud creators of EdTech Impact, a global review platform for education technology. Through EdTech Impact we have gone on to contribute to the Department for Education's EdTech Strategy and co-found the EdTech Evidence Group to help improve evidence gathering across the sector.
Want to contribute? We’re always on the lookout for enthusiastic contributors to join our league of guest writers. Please email your blog / ideas / enthusiasm to [email protected] and our editorial team will review.
PR agencies and commercial organisations are encouraged to request a media pack for the latest advertising rates - this is how we keep the lights on.
Our vision
To empower every teacher to think beyond traditional boundaries, lead proactively and, most importantly, feel inspired.
Our mission
To share precisely what other schools are doing to push boundaries, and support the discovery of emerging tools and trends.
The team
We're constantly expanding our team with new talent that want to make a difference. Here we all are, so that you can put a face to the name.
Michael Forshaw
Founder & CEO
Mike came 13th in the world at Irish dancing when he was 12.
Kate Lewis
Commercial Director
Paula Vickery
Finance Manager
Tamsin Harrison
Events Co-ordinator
Tamsin inadvertantly wandered into the set of US Marshals, which resulted in a nice chat with Robert Downey Jr.
Jenna Downs
Events Co-ordinator
Jenna once flew a plane over the River Thames, before she had ever been a passenger in one.
Beth Hearn
Content Marketing Executive
Beth is a regional cosplayer.
Laura Carus
Events Associate
Laura once danced, dressed as a gorilla, in front of 35,000 people alongside Basement Jaxx
Joomla Gallery makes it better. Balbooa.com
Backstory
Innovate My School's story began back in 2009 when Michael was tasked with innovating his dad's secondary school with new resources to improve teaching and learning.
With a degree in Information Systems, and a specialism in web design, Michael built an "all-singing all-dancing” VLE using open-source technology. This quickly became an invaluable tool by transforming the way lessons were delivered and resources were shared amongst staff. Supported by a culture of openness and creativity, the school community began to thrive. Michael's dad was a happy man.
Other schools soon wanted in on the action, including the local education authority who invited Michael to join them on their quest in choosing a city-wide learning platform solution. "Moodle Mike" was in demand; however, he was about to give it all up to follow another dream.
Out walking his dog one day, Michael was musing upon a recent episode of 'Pimp My Ride'. Fascinated by the show's concept of turning the craziest of ideas into a successful end product, Michael immediately thought about how he could apply it to an educational setting. After contemplating registering the name 'Pimp My School' for all of 30 seconds, Michael finally settled on Innovate My School as "it does what it says on the tin". Michael set up the company in 2010 and has not looked back.
After seven years, one dog, and a relocation to Chester, Innovate My School has grown into one of the most popular destinations for discovering and sharing new ideas in education.
