10 – 12 November 2026
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Dubai World Trade Centre Sheikh Saeed Halls 1, 2 & 3
Darren Goodall MBA
Group Director of Safeguarding - Maarif Education
Darren is an influential and passionate leader, strategist and mentor, having served almost 20 years with the Queensland Police Service (Australia) before transferring these capabilities to international, culturally and socially diverse management settings in the United Arab Emirates over a 4-year time period.
On returning to Australia, Darren moved into a senior leadership position as the Public Health and Local Laws Manager for the Moreton Bay Regional Council and was responsible for leading and strategizing public health and local laws operations across 9 dedicated business areas and comprising over 120 staff.
In 2020, Darren moved to another international executive leadership position at a private school in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, before joining Maarif Education in March 2023, and becoming the Group Head of Safeguarding in August 2023. In this role, Darren is responsible for providing expert strategic leadership in occupational health and safety, child protection and well-being for the 26 schools within the Maarif Education portfolio across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, directly leading dedicated Health and Safety, Child Protection and Wellbeing teams for over 1700 staff and 23,000 students.
Darren is a qualified child protection investigator and has worked extensively with children at risk for over 25 years. He considers safeguarding as being the most critical factor in schools achieving quality educational outcomes for students.
Speaker Sessions
Sustainability & Wellbeing
1610
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Why Safeguarding has to come first in schools
Session Summary:
Darren's presentation will be based on global research showing the vital role that safeguarding plays as the priority cornerstone of a school's culture. The presentation, entitled "Why Safeguarding Must Come First in Schools", looks at how as humans, both children and adults have to feel a sense of safety, security, connection and love within their schools in order to achieve their best possible educational outcomes. This approach puts safeguarding before academics, with the research showing this must occur for a school to have genuine quality outcomes. The presentation will also show the direct effect that staff well-being has on children's well-being and the impact that this can have on their overall educational experience. Darren will also show the work that Maarif Education is doing to forge new territory in the area of Safeguarding across its portfolio of schools within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
