Schools’ Conference – Courageous Leadership

‘The best yet’ was how more than one delegate at this year’s Schools’ Conference described our annual event for school leaders and governors. Entitled ‘Courageous Leadership’, we were truly inspired by the content delivered by our own educators; Glenn Sanderson, former Headteacher at St Aidan’s Catholic Academy, outlined how his dramatic and brave culture change completely reformed the school, transforming it into the outstanding and loving community it is today. Headteachers and governors present were astounded at the valiant approach and fantastic outcomes that the school experienced as a result of the leadership decisions Glenn and his team took.

We also heard form Sarah McManus from St Ambrose College about her research and work on tackling misogyny in a school context. Again, a brave approach by the college in facing up to uncomfortable truths around societal sexist attitudes and behaviours which are reflected in our schools is to be commended. Steps are being taken by the College; actively educating to change this injustice and hopefully creating a fairer, safer environment for women and girls, and a more emotionally open and supportive environment for boys.

‘AI in Education’ was a fascinating and informative session, delivered by Kate Peaston, Headteacher at Runnymede St Edward’s Catholic Primary. Very much ahead of the curve in their employment of AI, Kate outlined how engaging in a positive use of generative AI is saving her teaching and administrative staff huge amounts of time thanks to effective lesson planning software and data analysis tools. Kate shared policy templates, beneficial platforms, and practical examples of how “Century”, a platform the school has been involved in the pilot scheme with, has greatly helped their SEND students and increased performance data as a result.

We were delighted to be joined by key staff from the Demond Tutu Foundation in South Africa, who outlined the course ‘Courageous Leadership’ and the wisdom behind such a course. We hope staff and senior students in schools will take up the opportunity to complete the free online course based on the teachings of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the spirit of Ubuntu.

In the evening, we were joined by Asylum Link Merseyside and the students of St Ambrose College, who performed excerpts from their play real people which was put on last summer. The students wrote the play themselves in response to the injustices of the asylum system and bad press surrounding the refugee crisis in the UK.  This was such a powerful end to our conference. Many who watched the spontaneous’ ‘flash mob’ performance, were moved to tears. The college donated £1000 to ALM collected at the play.

Conference materials, including presentations and AI links can be accessed here.