Embarking upon the Rethinking School project has provided a number of opportunities to step inside the stories of other schools doing things differently, exploring their signature practices and networking with like-minded professionals to challenge aspects of ‘normal’ school leadership and curriculum delivery. We have been inspired by the projects students have been undertaking up and down the country and have been keen to share these with colleagues.

It came as a refreshing perspective that we are not alone in our mission to prepare students for the modern world through providing rich learning experiences which enable them to make connections and build schema, whilst also making a difference to the communities in which they belong.

We have seen that educators in a range of settings are experiencing similar challenges and successes to ourselves. Schools of all descriptions are increasingly expected to do much more than schools of the past and the impact of poverty on our school communities is increasingly pervasive. We saw how a London primary school attempts to tackle social deprivation and its impact on education in a range of ways. By opening up their school kitchens, the school allowed those in temporary accommodation with no cooking facilities to provide hot meals for their families. The school also worked closely with immigration services and charities to support families seeking citizenship for their children. These primary aged pupils were given the opportunity to contact their local councils and MPs in order to highlight the poor standards of social housing in the area and the negative impact that overcrowding, rats, damp and foxes were having on their ability to learn. This powerful, outward facing final product not only met a range of learning targets but made a tangible difference to the lives of the children and their families. We came away from this visit wondering how we might be able to design products and expeditions with such real world relevance to our children and their families.

Learning from schools who have torn up the rule book has motivated our small group to create a buzz around looking up and out in school, the impact on our personal professional development but also that of others across school has been palpable, with many staff raising in their most recent reflections the opportunity to lead visitor days at our own school or visit other schools to learn more about why we do what we do at XP Doncaster.

Part of the Rethinking School project has included working collaboratively with other innovative leaders on a project focus. One of our projects has been a deep reflection on deepening staff understanding of the students they teach inline with diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. This work has encouraged us to look up and out, learning from other settings and recognising that many schools are facing similar questions about diversity, equity and the student experience. It has been reassuring to see that we are not alone in striving for an education that genuinely meets the needs of all young people. A key aspect of our work involves supporting the development and framing meaningful insights and praise around inclusion and belonging. Our focus is on how DEIB connects to our own core practices. The information gathered through this project informs the creation of a visual demographic aid for each phase, helping staff build a clearer understanding of the students they serve. We plan to ensure the data collected maintains integrity to our narrative for success and focuses on the individual risks that are raised. As we begin to explore this work, important themes are already emerging, particularly around how we support multilingual and bilingual students. Staff are raising questions about how best to encourage these learners and how to move away from deficit-based language when discussing their needs.

A second group project has focused on AI in Education. Encouraged to push ourselves beyond our comfort zones, we enrolled on The Big AI Project to work with colleagues from around the world to produce a suite of training materials and policy guidance. At the time of writing, these training resources are being piloted in schools across the UK, including XP Doncaster. Training materials for school leaders were piloted at face-to-face conferences in London and Manchester during October. Initial feedback on this is extremely positive as 90% of delegates rated the training as 8 or above out of 10 with 38% giving it 10/10! AI is undoubtedly having a huge influence on the way learners and educators operate in schools. It is hoped that The Big AI Project will be able to provide support, consistency and reassurance as we all negotiate these changes and challenges.

Alongside building relationships, we were also challenged to reflect upon our own practice and pedagogy. Each session commenced with a guest speaker, hearing from experts such as Bill Lucas and Kate Robinson on their views around innovative educational practices.

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