10:00 – 10:30

An introduction from our Next Generation Schools Conference host: Ed Dorrell

Ed Dorrell is a Director at Public First. Before taking up this role, he was deputy editor of the Times Educational Supplement (TES), a role he combined with being comment editor and before that he was news editor for five years. He is known for his sharp policy analysis, his wide ranging network in the media, and his skill at writing and shaping news and opinion from leading politicians, chief executives, high profile individuals, and large and small organisations.

A word from Liz Robinson, CEO of Big Education

Liz is CEO and founder of Big Education, an organisation seeking to change the education system so that it offers pupils a more expansive education. Social justice and wider change underpin her views that school simply must be about the whole child, the whole family and the whole community.

Inclusive, inspirational, international: delivering an IB education for a better world: Victoria Hearn, Executive Headteacher, Eastern Learning Alliance, representing the International Baccalaureate

Victoria is committed to ensuring that students receive a high quality education, to enable them to achieve their full potential. She is proud to lead the UK’s leading non-selective IB World School and one of the country’s top comprehensive schools.

10:30 – 11:20

Creating the right culture for positive change in schools

Liz Robinson

CEO, Big Education

Liz is CEO and founder of Big Education, an organisation seeking to change the education system so that it offers pupils a more expansive education. Social justice and wider change underpin her views that school simply must be about the whole child, the whole family and the whole community.

School leaders do so much more than the job description would suggest, and building relationships is at the heart of their role. This workshop explores how a set of culture building tools can support leaders in building effective teams and in creating school cultures that enable innovation. The Big 8 is built on insights from psychology and client-centred coaching, and the tools focus on how to empower individuals to think and act with autonomy by creating overall team coherence and psychological safety. The tools are practical and learnable – and in this workshop, you will benefit from some hands on experience of using them, as well as considering how they might support you in your leadership role.

What if maths was more meaningful?

Sarah Seleznyov

Big Education

Sarah is Associate Headteacher at School 360, a member of the Rethinking School project and Strategic Lead for Learning and Development at Big Education Trust.  Sarah is also a researcher and author of numerous publications on leadership and professional development.

This workshop shares the work of the Rethinking School project on developing project based drop down weeks in maths which try to give maths teaching more meaningful contexts and inject fun and pupil agency into maths learning. The workshop showcases some of the projects we have been developing and offers you the possibility to try out some of the project plans in your own schools.

I am more than just my grades: how can learner profiles evidence a breadth of skills and strengths?

Fran Wilby

Rethinking Assessment

Dr Fran Wilby is Project Manager for Rethinking Assessment working with schools, education professionals and researchers to make the case for change, and provide effective tools and solutions for teachers and leaders. She is passionate about redesigning education and was Head of Education for the first UK Lumiar school. Previously Fran worked in Higher and Further Education.

Learner profiles are being developed globally as well as across the UK in order to create a more holistic picture of student achievement. This  workshop will share progress of the work with our Rethinking School working group over the past two years, together with wider learning from the sector. The session will offer insights and guidance for teachers and leaders who want to explore the potential of Learner Profiles in their schools and colleges.

The science behind outdoor learning

Gemma Goldenberg

Co-founder, Nest Kids

Gemma is a psychologist, writer and education expert with two decades of teaching and school leadership experience. She co-founded www.nestkids.co.uk which supports schools to use neuroscience in their practice and her PhD research explored how indoor and outdoor learning environments affect children.

This session presents an overview of the latest research evidence about how being outdoors affects attention, memory, behaviour and physical and mental health. Findings will be shared from a brand new outdoor learning experiment, conducted in primary schools in Newham, and the first of its kind worldwide. You’ll also hear practical tips about how to support children’s behaviour, wellbeing and academic progress by  spending more time outside, even in urban settings and without a budget for forest school or specialist equipment.

Talk Learn is the Atelier 21 way!

Hayley Peacock

Founder, Atelier 21 Future School

Hayley is a distinguished educator, entrepreneur and positive disruptor in the field of education. Her mission to “change a million children’s lives” is evident through her groundbreaking work.  Hayley is founder of Atelier 21 Future School, a pioneering independent school for pupils aged 4-16 that integrates mainstream education with a research centre and democratic practices, focusing on providing professional development worldwide.

This workshop will help you develop a language of metacognitive classroom talk and routines that create personally responsible learners.  Drawing from the world renown Atelier 21 School, a member of the Rethinking School project, the A21 Curriculum Model has crafted bespoke  metacognitive classroom engagement tools that deepen a culture of self-adjustment in pupils who learn to talk articulately and reflectively about their learning, and identify the language to design their own self-development pathway at school in any subject. This session gifts leaders and teachers with the language, visuals and routine take aways to use in any classroom to help pupils of all ages reflect on their skills, attitude and knowledge to develop a motivated, self driven learner with the essential skills to enjoy and succeed at school, and at life!

Play matters: infusing play throughout the school

Andrea Silvain

Headteacher, School 360

Andi is headteacher at School 360, an experimental school in East London and part of the Rethinking School project and Big Education Trust.  She is passionate about social justice and inclusion.

Many schools in England abandon play as a learning methodology once children leave Reception, but at School 360 we have been exploring play both as a curriculum principle and a key pedagogy across the school. We have found that it improves both learning and wellbeing, and is more enjoyable for staff with no extra workload. Join this session to find out more about our approach, the challenges we faced and the positive response we have had from staff, children and families. School 360 is a Rethinking School school.

Peer Review

Sarah Marriott

Headteacher, Pinner Wood Primary

Sarah is Headteacher at Pinner Wood, an Outstanding School in Harrow, North-West London and member of the Rethinking School project and an Oracy Hub.

Tom Raw

Head of School, Wapping High

Tom is Head of School at Wapping High, a member of the Rethinking School project.  Tom is committed to bringing about reform when it comes to the current accountability system.

This workshop explores what happened when a small group of schools decided to develop and trial a new approach to school improvement. Moving away from a reliance on external inspection and judgemental review, the schools created an invitational peer review process based on a self-evaluation framework of considerably more breadth than the Ofsted framework. The process ensured the voices of pupils and teachers were valued, and gave valuable insights that made a difference to practice. This is a Rethinking School project.

Developing a storytelling curriculum

Kath Bransby

Waldorf Education

Previously a teacher and senior leader, Kath now works as national education coordinator for Waldorf UK, with responsibility for developing curriculum and quality of education across the group of schools. She is also a lecturer in Education at Sheffield Hallam University.

Storytelling can be a powerful pedagogical tool for sparking imagination and developing comprehension. This workshop will explore some  storytelling techniques, ask you to think about the role of  storytelling in  the learning process, and inspire you to include storytelling across your curriculum. We might also make sheep…

11:35 – 12:25

Creating a sense of belonging: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Andrea Silvain

Headteacher, School 360

Andi is headteacher at School 360, an experimental school in East London and part of the Rethinking School project and Big Education Trust.  She is passionate about social justice and inclusion.

Emma Lee

Ladybridge High

Emma is Head of English at Ladybridge High School in Bolton,  part of the Rethinking School project.

How can schools create cultures in which all pupils, staff and parents/carers feel a sense of belonging? This workshop showcases a tool which assesses the degree to which the school has considered and taken action on the experiences of those members of the community experiencing the nine protected characteristics, and supports the development of a whole school plan of action. School 360 is a member of the Rethinking School project.

Creating the right culture for positive change in schools

Liz Robinson

Big Education CEO

Liz is CEO and founder of Big Education, an organisation seeking to change the education system so that it offers pupils a more expansive education. Social justice and wider change underpin her views that school simply must be about the whole child, the whole family and the whole community.

School leaders do so much more than the job description would suggest, and building relationships is at the heart of their role. This workshop explores how a set of culture building tools can support leaders in building effective teams and in creating school cultures that enable innovation. The Big 8 is built on insights from psychology and client-centred coaching, and the tools focus on how to empower individuals to think and act with autonomy by creating overall team coherence and psychological safety. The tools are practical and learnable – and in this workshop, you will benefit from some hands-on experience of using them, as well as considering how they might support you in your leadership role.

What might collaborative professional learning look like?

Professor Geoff Wake

Collaborative Lesson

Research UK

Geoff is a Professor of Education at the University of Nottingham where he has led substantial programmes of research and worked closely with colleagues in Japan. He is Chair of Trustees of the charity Collaborative Lesson Research that seeks to support lesson study development in the U.K.

In this interactive workshop we will explore the features of individual and collective learning through collaborative lesson research. This draws on the Japanese model of lesson study and considers how it might be adapted for use in the context of schools in the U.K. There are many different manifestations of lesson study around the world but not all are effective in improving student outcomes. In this workshop we will try to understand what really works.

Tackling the climate crisis: creating a more sustainable school

Matt Morden

Headteacher, Surrey Square Primary

Matt is headteacher at Surrey Square Primary School, a member of the Rethinking School project and part of Big Education Trust.

Ethan Dent

Matthew Moss High School

Ethan is a History teacher at Matthew Moss High School.

This workshop explores the work of four schools (primary and secondary) in tackling the climate crisis, for, with and alongside the pupils. Data from pupils revealed the degree of climate anxiety they feel, and the schools began to actively engage pupils in taking action in order to reduce their anxiety. Projects included curriculum work leading to action in reducing the school’s carbon footprint, introducing outdoor learning as a key curriculum component, and developing the school grounds as a Community Garden. The session showcases a toolkit on how you can reduce eco-anxiety in your school by auditing your sustainable practices, developing a strategic plan and implementing various projects. Surrey Square Primary and Matthew Moss High School are members of the Rethinking School project.

Transactional Analysis: Moving away from zero tolerance behaviour policies

Mark Moorhouse

Chris Jennings

Watergrove Trust

Mark led the improvement of Matthew Moss High School, a member of the Rethinking School project, enabling it to become one of the strongest performing schools in Rochdale.

This workshop explores the work of Matthew Moss High School, a member of the Rethinking School project, who have moved away from zero tolerance behaviour policies to enable a more inclusive and relationship focused school culture. Using the model of transactional analysis from the field of psychology, through an extensive training programme for staff and students which encourages everyone to consider the perspective of others, the school has created a culture of trust in which students thrive. This workshop explores the approach and offers practical advice on its implementation.

Developing agency through playful learning in primary school

Sara Baker & Soizic Le Courtois

PEDAL, Cambridge University

Soizic is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge and a member of the Centre for Research on Play in Education, Development and Learning. Her work centres around children’s love of learning and inner motivation, and in particular how teachers can foster this through supporting children’s autonomy and agency in the classroom.

Sara is a Professor in Developmental Psychology and Education at the University of Cambridge. Her research aims to improve children’s lives by identifying factors at home and school that can support their agency over their own learning, for example using playful approaches to build self-regulation.

In this workshop we share the theory behind learning through play, showing how it can support children’s agency in learning, and through this, their motivation and self-regulation. We will share practical strategies that educators can try, and resources for trouble-shooting the challenges that might come up when giving children more agency. Together, we will explore what learning through play might look like in the early years, through Key Stage 1, and into Key Stage 2.

Developing skills in young people that matter: beyond subjects

Paddy Russell

Headteacher, Ladybridge High School

Paddy is Headteacher of Ladybridge High in Bolton, a member of the Rethinking School project. He strives to ensure that all learners develop the knowledge, sense of direction and moral purpose to thrive in the future and has been particularly focused on implementing the progressive teaching of non-subject skills in recent years.

Robert Lobatto

Headteacher, The King Alfred School

Robert Lobatto has been the Headmaster of King Alfred School, a progressive, child-centred, co-ed school in Golders Green, since September 2015. The school’s broader mission is to influence the wider system away from a reductionist data-driven approach towards a more enlightened, child-centred, authentic educational experience.

There is an increasing recognition that skills beyond the National Curriculum are crucial not only for learning, but for life. This workshop explores approaches to integrating the teaching of skills such as collaboration and creativity into the curriculum, enabling teachers to teach them progressively and pupils to self and peer-assess. Participants can access a handbook of good practice and a series of case studies of implementation to support this approach in their own setting. School 360 and The King Alfred School are members of the Rethinking School project.

How to deliver amazing active citizenship and social action education

Keren Mitchell

Superkind

Keren is the co-founder and CEO of www.superkind.org, an award-winning active citizenship platform for schools and the world’s only fundraising platform for people under 16. SuperKind is currently in use by several hundred schools and tens of thousands of children in the UK.  Keren is passionate about the importance of empowering young people with a sense of agency, and the enormous benefits that engaging in active citizenship and charity work brings to children.

In this workshop, delegates will learn about the enormous benefits of engaging children in Active Citizenship and Social Action and how to do it in the easiest and most meaningful way possible. The workshop will cover the benefits, frameworks for implementation and case studies from schools who use SuperKind to engage their students in brilliant examples of active citizenship.

13:15 – 14:05

Yes there is a magic bullet: Social and emotional learning in schools

Jean Gross

Jean is a best-selling author and popular speaker on children’s issues. She co-authored the EEF Early Intervention Foundation guidance report Improving social and emotional learning in primary schools, and the recent Anna Freud Centre/Early Intervention Foundation wellbeing toolkit for secondary subject teachers.  She was awarded a CBE for services to education in 2011.

Social and emotional learning has been shown to raise attainment (by as much as fifteen percentage points) as well as significantly improving behaviour and wellbeing. In this workshop Jean will share practical  resources and examples of great practice in this area from across the country, including the impactful work of a group of teachers and leaders involved in a recent Big Education research-into-practice programme in London.

Understanding the drivers of attendance in your school

John Atkinson

ImpactEd

John is School Partnerships Officer at ImpactEd Evaluation.  He previously worked in primary schools for 8 years as a classroom teacher, subject leader and head of department.

Last year we launched our Understanding Attendance national research project to help schools and trusts identify the drivers behind low attendance in their contexts and what initiatives they can put in place to

address this. This session will summarise our national findings and give you the opportunity to consider how the data may inform your own school’s future attendance interventions.

New models of leadership development for changing times

Sarah Seleznyov

Big Education

Sarah is Associate Headteacher at School 360, a member of the Rethinking School project and Strategic Lead for Learning and Development at Big Education Trust.  Sarah is also a researcher and author of numerous publications on leadership and professional development.

Whilst the NPQs have provided a national accreditation system and an agreed set of knowledge leaders need to have, they have done less in terms of considering the kinds of people leaders need to be and the kinds of cultures leaders must create, if schools are to be successful. This session explores new approaches to developing leaders that consider their wellbeing, values, beliefs and actions and enables them to take their teams with them.

Children as campaigners: creating a citizenship curriculum

Matt Morden

Headteacher, Surrey Square Primary

Matt is headteacher at Surrey Square Primary School, a member of the Rethinking School project and part of Big Education Trust. Matt believes that schools should be places that give children the confidence in themselves to be true to who they are to enable them to thrive in life and is currently exploring what assessment could look like in the primary phase, with a focus on measuring more than just academic outcomes.

This workshop explores what it means to build a curriculum focused on developing pupils as active citizens, with the confidence, knowledge and skills to tackle real life issues that affect them. Surrey Square pupils have successfully campaigned both on local issues and to change the law at national level. The school has developed community projects that teach the children the tools to make positive change both locally and globally which will be shared in the session. Surrey Square is a member of the Rethinking School project.

A different approach to community engagement

Nicola Noble & Tiffany Barone

Big Education

Nicola is Associate Headteacher of Surrey Square Primary School, a member of the Rethinking School project and part of Big Education Trust.  Nicola is a passionate teacher, rooted in the potential of every child, and always looking for engaging and meaningful contexts for learning.

Tiffany is the Old Kent Road Family Zone Coordinator, an organisation which seeks to create the right conditions for local people to engage and collaborate and have the mindset to seek to unlock and build capacity locally.

This workshop explores a new approach to supporting families in the community. The Old Kent Road Family Zone formed to create a collaborative of organisations that can support a multitude of difficulties families in challenging circumstances might face. This workshop explores the approach and how it might enable better community engagement in your own context.

Why all schools need to be Well

Ben Levinson

Kensington Primary

Ben is Director for School and Trust Development at The Tapscott Learning Trust. In 2020, Kensington, where he was headteacher, was named primary school of the year in the National Teaching Awards and in 2021 Ben was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to education.

An introduction to the Well Schools movement, the Well Schools framework, and how we can all work together to make our schools the healthiest and happiest in the world. Kensington Primary is a member of the Rethinking School project.

Developing an inclusive school by empowering pupils and parents – participatory approaches

Jenny Griffiths

CFEY

Jenny is Head of Research at the Centre for Education and Youth. Her particular interests are in teacher recruitment and retention, and inclusion, as well as developing participatory research approaches.

How do you know whether your school is truly inclusive? The only way we can know if our policies and approaches are having the intended impact is by listening to the voices of all of those involved. In this session we will explore different tools and approaches for engaging with pupils and parents that ensure all voices are heard. Attendees will be encouraged and supported to design their own tools and plans to use in their school.

14:10 – 15:00 Next Generation Schools Conference Workshops

New models of leadership development for changing times

Sarah Seleznyov

Big Education

Sarah is Associate Headteacher at School 360, a member of the Rethinking School project and Strategic Lead for Learning and Development at Big Education Trust.  Sarah is also a researcher and author of numerous publications on leadership and professional development.

Whilst the NPQs have provided a national accreditation system and an agreed set of knowledge leaders need to have, they have done less in terms of considering the kinds of people leaders need to be and the kinds of cultures leaders must create, if schools are to be successful. This session explores new approaches to developing leaders that consider their wellbeing, values, beliefs and actions and enables them to take their teams with them.

Engagement, inclusion and creativity through a maker pedagogy

Dr Alison Buxton

Dr Angela Colvert

Maker Schools, Sheffield University

Dr Alison Buxton is an Innovation Fellow specialising in Makerspace Education and Director for Maker{Futures} in the School of Education at the University of Sheffield. She has over 20 years of experience in developing and delivering STEAM and maker education through non-profit organisations, universities, schools and libraries.

Dr Angela Colvert is a Lecturer in Education and Deputy Director for Innovation in the University of Sheffield’s School of Education. She is committed to shaping socially just policies and practices in relation to children’s education and is a founder member of the UK Literacy Association’s Digital Literacies Task Group.

A hands-on workshop exploring the Maker{School} approach for primary and special schools. Full of practical ways to get started with embedding materials and tools, electronics, digital literacies and coding across the curriculum. We will share with you snippets of our research highlighting the impact being a Maker{School} has on engagement, inclusion and creativity for children and teachers.

Values matter: how values can shape education

Andrea Silvain

Headteacher, School 360

Andi is headteacher at School 360, an experimental school in East London and part of the Rethinking School project and Big Education Trust.  She is passionate about social justice and inclusion.

School 360, a member of the Rethinking School project, is a new school in Newham, East London, which is built on a foundation of five core values: courage, curiosity, joy, kindness, responsibility. This session explores how these values have shaped relationships, culture, curriculum and systems at the school. Firstly, we’ll explore the values and their relationship to the mission of the school to ‘Think differently, learn together, change the world’. We’ll then explore how the values have shaped school culture and relationships, amongst staff, families and children.

‘How wolves can change rivers…’ – a systems theory approach to whole school adaptation

Max Girardeau

The Visionaries

Max is a radical educator and facilitator creating powerful encounters for eco-centric learning. He is Co-Founder of The Visionaries – an educational community and learning platform for educators and young people to learn to lead change with nature.

In this workshop, Max invites participants to explore how schools can draw on systems theory to effectively respond to the emerging polycrisis – the cascading and connected crises we find ourselves in (global cost of living, ecosystem collapse, sixth mass extinction, social unrest & polarisation…) We look at the transformative role education can, and must, play in response, seeing whole school change management efforts can be enhanced when looked at through an ecosystemic lens.

Well-being at the core of school life

Nicola Noble

Surrey Square Primary

Nicola is Associate Headteacher of Surrey Square Primary School, a member of the Rethinking School project and part of Big Education Trust.  Nicola is a passionate teacher, rooted in the potential of every child, and always looking for engaging and meaningful contexts for learning.

Surrey Square Primary, a member of the Rethinking School project, is a school that puts well-being at the core of its practice. In this workshop we will share what this means for staff, children, parents and the wider community.

Developing teaching and learning: enabling teacher agency

Moray Dickson

Headteacher, School 21

Moray is headteacher at School 21, a member of the Rethinking School project and part of the Big Education Trust. Moray is passionate about raising students’ aspirations and developing a culture of excellence through engaging, relevant and challenging learning experiences. He is also committed to developing schools at the heart of their communities.

Emily Thomas

Pinner Wood Primary

Emily is Key Stage 1 Leader at Pinner Wood Primary School, part of the Rethinking School project.

This workshop explores the principles of a system of professional development, appraisal and quality assurance that raises the quality of teaching and learning whilst ensuring teachers feel agency and ownership. It begins by identifying five core principles for such a system and then offers a series of case studies from both primary and secondary schools. School 21 and Pinner Wood Primary are members of the Rethinking School project.

Stepping Up: Empowering pupils to take the lead

Sarah Marriott

Headteacher, Pinner Wood Primary

Sarah is Headteacher at Pinner Wood, an Outstanding School in Harrow, North-West London and member of the Rethinking School project and an Oracy Hub.

Join us to discover the innovative strategies used by Pinner Wood, a member of the Rethinking School project, to empower students and use their voices to shape our school community. Explore practical examples showcasing our commitment to fostering pupil leadership as a core practice at the heart of our school.

15:10 – 15:50 Next Generation Schools Conference Panel Discussion

‘Finding the gaps in the hedges’, in memory of Sir Tim Brighouse

A panel discussion to explore the opportunities and potential of the current state of play in education, with an opportunity for the audience to engage in the debate.

Panelists:

Kulvarn Atwal

Kulvarn has spent his entire career teaching and leading in East London schools, and is currently Principal Learning Leader of two large primary schools. He has been a Headteacher of three different schools One of his schools, Highlands Primary, has been awarded the Mayor of London’s Schools for Success Award for five consecutive years. He has published two books: ‘The Thinking School’ and ‘The Thinking Teacher’.

Jean Gross

Jean is a best-selling author and popular speaker on children’s issues. She co-authored the EEF Early Intervention Foundation guidance report Improving social and emotional learning in primary schools, and the recent Anna Freud Centre/Early Intervention Foundation wellbeing toolkit for secondary subject teachers.  She was awarded a CBE for services to education in 2011.

Mark Moorhouse

Mark led the improvement of Matthew Moss High School, a member of the Rethinking School project, enabling it to become one of the strongest performing schools in Rochdale.

Liz Robinson

Liz is CEO and founder of Big Education, an organisation seeking to change the education system so that it offers pupils a more expansive education. Social justice and wider change underpin her views that school simply must be about the whole child, the whole family and the whole community.

Chair: Ed Dorrell

Ed is a Director at Public First. Before taking up this role, he was deputy editor of the Times Educational Supplement (TES), a role he combined with being comment editor and before that he was news editor for five years. He is known for his sharp policy analysis, his wide ranging network in the media, and his skill at writing and shaping news and opinion from leading politicians, chief executives, high profile individuals, and large and small organisations.