Event Date: 14 November 2025
Number of visitors: Almost 1,000 staff in attendance
Meeting spaces used: Princess Royal Stand (Exhibition Hall, Princess Royal Gallery, Tommy Wallis, Princess Royal Boxes, Princess Royal Suite); Queen Mother Stand (Valentine’s suite, Becher’s Suite); Earl of Derby Stand (Golden Miller Suite, Papillon Suite); and Lord Sefton Stand (Sunloch Suite, Corbiere Suite, Lower Saddle Bar)
The event:
The Merseyside SLD Schools Partnership Training Conference brings together 15 schools from across Greater Merseyside, all of which cater for pupils with severe or profound learning difficulties. The partnership was formed over 30 years ago and has grown from just half a dozen schools involved, with the central vision of the conference to provide a broader range of training at scale and on a budget.
A flagship event in the partnership calendar, the latest conference took place on 14 November 2025 bringing together almost 1,000 staff from both primary and secondary settings. The training conference has been held at Aintree Racecourse for more than 25 years after it had outgrown other venues.
The event is planned collaboratively by school leaders, with all 15 schools contributing to its funding. By pooling budgets and expertise, the partnership can deliver a broad, high-quality programme at scale – providing access to national experts and a wider range of training than individual schools could typically source alone.
Event setup:
The conference is designed to appeal to a wide range of roles and levels of experience, recognising that effective support for pupils with severe and profound learning difficulties extends far beyond teachers alone. The programme is carefully curated to meet the needs of teaching assistants, support staff and leaders, as well as classroom practitioners.
In 2025, the conference featured 19 different workshops covering a range of topics including teaching early accounting skills, supporting students with SEN through puberty, toileting and incontinence, developing communication skills in autism, staff wellbeing and understanding visual impairment.
The content of the conference is shaped by previous delegate feedback and by identifying practitioners and national experts who have built strong reputations in key areas. Ideas are pooled across the partnership to ensure the workshops remain relevant, forward-thinking and responsive to the evolving needs of pupils and staff.
While some specialist workshops requiring bespoke facilities are delivered within individual schools, the majority take place within the conference facilities at Aintree Racecourse. The venue’s flexible spaces allow multiple sessions to run concurrently, with rooms configured to suit differing technical and layout requirements, while ensuring clear sightlines and excellent audio-visual provision.
Keeping delegates together within a single venue was central to the brief and a key strength of the event, enabling networking, collaboration and knowledge-sharing across schools.
All stands were in use and rooms were set up in both theatre and cabaret style. Additional rooms were also set up as breakout spaces with round tables and food and drink stations for lunch.
Food and Beverage
Catering has evolved in line with the growth of the conference itself. Previously it consisted of a formal three-course sit-down meal, but the conference now offers a buffet menu, ensuring speed of service for large numbers while maintaining high standards. The catering team accommodates a wide range of dietary requirements and works closely with organisers to ensure service runs smoothly.
Event solutions:
The long-standing partnership between Merseyside SLD Schools Partnership Training Conference and Aintree Racecourse has enabled the venue team to develop a strong understanding of the client’s needs. As the conference has grown, Aintree has provided the scale and flexibility required. The venue’s ability to host concurrent workshops, manage complex room configurations and provide reliable technical support ensures that each session runs effectively.
Andre Baird, Merseyside SLD Schools Partnership Facilitator commented: “We have received excellent feedback in our post-conference evaluations and the current format we’ve got at Aintree seems to be a very successful way of doing the training. The venue staff are great to work with and support our evolving requirements.”
Venue selection:
Aintree Racecourse was selected as the conference venue due to its scale, flexibility and central location within the region. As the conference has expanded, previous venues were outgrown, making Aintree a natural long-term home for the event.
Its accessible location, combined with extensive free parking, makes it practical for large numbers of staff travelling from across Greater Merseyside. The breadth of rooms, adaptable layouts, strong technical infrastructure and competitive pricing were also key factors considered by the Merseyside SLD Schools Partnership when they selected the venue.
Testimonials:
Andre Baird, Merseyside SLD Schools Partnership Facilitator, said: “Aintree Racecourse is a great venue to work with, not only can it physically accommodate us, but their flexible spaces really lend themselves to the workshop format. We find it’s a cost-effective option but at a high standard and no other venues can compete with what Aintree has to offer.
“We regularly receive positive feedback from attendees and working with Aintree Racecourse helps us to maximise limited budgets to deliver high-impact training to a broad workforce.”
Feedback from delegates who attended the training conference included: “I absolutely loved this training. It was so valuable to our school and its pupils”; “The food was really nice and the staff at the racecourse were very helpful”; and “I found the speakers to be very informative and the venue was excellent.”
The next Merseyside SLD Schools Partnership Training Conference is expected to take place in 2027, continuing a long-standing tradition of collaboration and shared professional growth.
