BESA CORNER
This month in our ongoing feature highlighting the work of the UK education suppliers’ trade body BESA, we have news from Rethink Maths and Cosmo by Filisia.
Big news from Rethink Maths – two brilliant leaders join the team
Rethink Maths is delighted to share that two incredible educators are joining the team as they continue shaping what comes next for maths education.
The organisation welcomes Kate Henshall as Education Director. Kate will lead the education strategy and work with schools and teachers. She brings a huge amount of experience across maths education and curriculum development.
Rethink Maths also welcomes Kat Martin as Director of Foundations. Kat will lead the core Foundations mission – a commitment to giving every child, wherever they are in the world, the strongest possible start in maths. She brings deep expertise in early maths, school leadership, and system improvement in an international development setting. These appointments come at the perfect moment for the organisation as they build, explore, prototype, and shape what Rethink Maths will become.
As part of this next stage, Rethink Maths also confirms co-founder roles as the company grows.
Caroline Hamilton will step into the role of CEO, shaping strategic priorities, building trusted partnerships across the education sector, and empowering the team to deliver excellence at scale. Her leadership will help stay true to the mission while positioning the company for sustainable growth and continued innovation.
Tony Staneff will become Impact and Innovation Director, focusing on research-informed curriculum design, product innovation, and leading the creative development of new ideas and resources. Caroline said: “We feel really fortunate to have Kate and Kat joining us. They’re maths experts and brilliant teachers at heart. We’re building something special and bringing in leaders who share our values and vision makes all the difference.
Cosmo wins Nasen’s Inclusive Technology of the Year 2025 Award
for learners with a wide range of additional needs, including complex physical disabilities, sensory processing differences, and communication challenges. They remove barriers by giving every learner a simple, intuitive way to interact with technology, express preferences, and participate in learning. The system also works as an AAC access tool, a computer switch, a gaming controller, and a learning aid, which makes it one of the most flexible tools in the inclusive technology space.
Cosmo by Filisia has been named the Winner of Inclusive Technology of the Year 2025 at the Nasen Awards, a major moment of recognition for a company that has placed inclusivity at the centre of its mission from day one. The award highlights Cosmo’s impact on breaking down barriers for children and young people with additional needs, and strengthens its position as one of the most innovative leaders in British assistive technology. Cosmo is an interactive learning system built around the Cosmo Dots and the Cosmo App. Together, they create an environment where learners can build physical, cognitive, social, and communication skills through structured activities that feel enjoyable and achievable. This year’s judges were clear on why Cosmo deserved to win.
The Cosmo Dots are multi sensory accessibility devices that respond to touch, light up and provide feedback. They are designed
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The Cosmo App offers suites of activities used in classrooms, therapy rooms, and clinics. Each activity is aligned with real goals such as emotional regulation, communication, coordination, attention, and early problem solving. Teachers and therapists use Cosmo to bring structure and predictability to sessions, which is essential for many learners with SEND. Feedback from schools shows that Cosmo supports calmer sessions, more consistent engagement, and greater independence in tasks that learners previously found challenging.
Cosmo has been adopted by settings across the UK, Europe, North America, and Asia. Case studies from schools and therapy centres show improvements in turn taking, joint attention, expressive communication, and motor planning. Practitioners consistently report that learners who struggle to engage with traditional activities respond immediately to Cosmo’s feedback and clarity, which makes learning more achievable. Cosmo was designed to scale from the start. It works in early years, special schools, mainstream classrooms and therapy environments. It is used during individual sessions, group activities, and whole class work. The system runs on robust hardware and the app continues to expand with new activities and learning suites.
December 2025
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