Networking and collaboration in the North region
The following information provides an update on National College activity in the North East, North West, and Yorkshire and the Humber regions, and enables you to learn from and share good practice with other leaders.
We would like to offer a warm welcome to the new School Associates from across the country who have recently started work with the College. Read their profiles and find your regional contact.
North East
In the North East we are looking forward to National College Chief Executive Steve Munby's visit on 17 September to meet the Chairs of Headteacher Associations. This will be a great opportunity to bring together the headteacher representatives from primary, secondary and special schools to listen to Steve, who will outline how the College will address Coalition priorities. The Secondary/Special Chairs Planning Group, which consists of representatives from the National College, Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT), the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA), Schools North East and Regional Strategies, are very keen to work together in order to provide more coherent support for headteachers. We have planned the meeting together and have devised an excellent programme for the day which includes plenty of opportunity for discussion and planning the year's agendas.
Outstanding staff development initiative award for North East school
Conyers School in Stockton on Tees recently achieved success by winning a TES Award for Outstanding Staff Development. The school was presented with the award on 17 June and impressed the judging panel with two innovative training programmes aimed at groups of new leaders and support staff.
Its New Leader Development Programme provides staff who have been teaching between two and five years the opportunity to join a team that will help them to develop leadership skills. Meanwhile, support staff have also benefited from Conyers' Whole School Workforce Leadership Development Programme, which is a personalised development scheme specifically for support staff who lead teams within the school. Each participant is allocated a mentor and a support buddy, as well as a participant handbook that sets out the professional attributes to work towards. Training workshops on topics including communication and emotional intelligence are delivered as part of the programme. The assistant head and school business manager (SBM) from Conyers School delivered a workshop on the programmes at the National College/TDA 2010 School Business Management International Conference in Manchester on 13 July, which was also supported by North East Regional SBM Advocate and Conyers Programme mentor, Michelle Charlton.
North West
21st century schools conference – a successful collaboration of student and adult leaders
Newall Green High School, a 3-19 Federation in Manchester, hosted a 21st century schools conference in July, sponsored by the National College and the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT). Through support from the Regions, Stakeholders and Networks team, it was a conference with a difference.
Delegates were asked to bring young people from their schools to participate in a parallel conference. The aim was to explore the issues around the challenges for schooling in the 21st century and invite the young people who will benefit from these programmes to comment. It was cutting edge. Workshops were run by the Federation staff with Benchill Primary School, and there was a lead address by Dame Pat Collarbone, Education Advisor. Kevin Buchanan from University Health Trust of South Manchester led the young person's conference. There was also young adult representation from The Prime Minister's Global Fellowship.
Evaluations show that the conference was a stunning success with 100 per cent good to excellent feedback by the 90 young people and 190 adults who attended. Workshop themes for pupils and adults were:
Pupil: carbon footprint and challenges; 21st century citizen; pupil voice; developing emotional health; family life and skills curriculum
Adult: raising standards; community cohesion; multi-agency working; SEAL/PLEATS; managing and integrating support staff; federations
Executive headteacher Neil Wilson commented, "The conference was a great success and the young people in particular gave it a distinctive flavour. It allowed adults and youth alike to explore the challenges of schooling in the 21st century. Some schools brought their school council members with them who were then to report back to their school the following week.
"I believe that this should be the face of conferences for the future. If we want pupil voice helping us to shape provision then this is a great opportunity for staff and young people to exchange ideas and develop further understanding. It is a sobering thought that some of these young people will live in three centuries. The young people aged 9 to 17 really gelled."
If you would like to discuss this event further please contact David Hall, National College facilitator, at david.hall@nationalcollege.org.uk.
Yorkshire and the Humber
Chairs of headteacher associations and local authority officers meet to understand the national landscape
A third meeting is planned at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park for 9.30am, Friday 24 September to try to make some sense of the rapidly changing educational landscape in the Yorkshire and Humber. Discussions around academies, Building Schools for the Future (BSF) and commissioning the local authority are likely to be key themes.
Contact us
If you have a story about recent effective networking that has made an impact in your setting and which you feel other leaders would benefit from, please contact National College Regions, Stakeholders and Networks Project Manager Jolene Booth at jolene.booth@nationalcollege.org.uk.
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