Our National Conference was a great day of sharing and learning as we explored the themes of Courageous Leadership, Sustaining Excellence and Inspiring Commitment.
Mulberry School for Girls provided a strong opening as pupils considered what it means to be British, in an extract from a play they took to the Edinburgh Festival. International conductor Charles Hazlewood pushed the boundaries with an inspirational speech which touched on leadership, celebrating excellence among people with disabilities, and the teacher who set him on the path to success. And our CEO Kate Chhatwal launched our Annual Report and shared news of the great progress made by partner schools.
There were stimulating masterclasses from Sir Kevan Collins of the Education Endowment Foundation, Nick Brook of the National Association of Head Teachers and Natalie Perera of the Education Policy Institute, plus a panel discussion on the curriculum. The heart of the conference was the 17 workshops run by our partner schools, sponsors Gaia and others which explored innovations to tackle recruitment and retention, new technology, curriculum development and much more.
We know there was a lot to take in so if you are already a partner school you will have a chance to revisit or find out about sessions you missed, as we add slides to the Members area of our website.
Our Executive Director Sue John also gave an overview of the programmes we are developing and rolling out, and there will be more news on these throughout the year. This was our biggest conference to date with more than 300 delegates and offers a great springboard for a year of collaboration and challenge across the country.