WE Network Newsletter
WHAT WE LEARNED FROM THE STAND OUT PRATICE OF WE SCHOOLS // IGNITE SPEECHES // LAWEP SPOTLIGHTS // LEADERSHIP BEYOND COVID
Dear colleagues,
Welcome back! WE hope you are having the best start to the new school year and we are looking forward to another year working with schools and trusts.
Whole Education exists to connect, empower and inspire teachers and leaders through the challenges they face. WE believe this mission is vital as schools return – so WE will be running our core offer as planned to support teachers and leaders at all levels.
As you may expect, currently most events and programmes are running virtually – however this will be monitored monthly and government guidance will be followed.
The Covid-19 crisis created increased isolation for us all. This was reflected in the WE community, however our members have told us how valuable they found the collaboration opportunities WE created. Carving out the opportunities to continue to collaborate continues to be vital for us to emerge stronger.
We can’t wait to see you again and look forward to supporting your priorities this year.
The Whole Education team
www.wholeeducation.org // twitter.com/wholeeducation
Providing a whole education | The principles and practice of stand out secondary schools
SOSI Ignite Speeches
The WE stand-out secondary initiative showcased schools' stand out practice; the ways they provide a whole education in their local context.
A key part of school visits was ‘Ignite speeches’ - 5 minute presentations with 20 slides advancing automatically. It forces speakers to get the point - fast.
You can now watch the ignite speeches and download our 2019-20 SOSI report.
What stand out schools do well
What are the conditions of success for a truly high-quality whole education for all students, sustainably and over a prolonged period of time?
We hope that the learning captured from SOSI visits will be an inspiration to other school leaders up and down the country who are committed to delivering a whole education for their students.
Discover the key themes from our first cohort of stand out schools.
Lessons from the crisis | What WE learned from all our events with schools and trusts during Covid-19
Whole Education has a strategic partnership with Nesta, the innovation foundation that turns bold ideas into reality.
During the pandemic, Whole Education hosted a series of virtual meetings for leaders to share ideas, problem-solve and innovate new solutions in response to the fast moving national picture.
Nesta joined these meetings, and worked with leaders and teachers from the WE network to discover the key things they were wrestling with: from student agency to a changing understandings of disadvantage; from schools at the heart of their communities to better harnessing technology.
This is a brilliant opportunity for teachers and leaders to really influence the education debate. Discover the key things NESTA learned from you in their writeup.
WEsources | Useful toolkits and spotlights
Leading a Whole Education primary: how schools developed their whole education provision
Leading a Whole Education supports primary leaders to complete a diagnostic of their whole education provision and develop in 1 priority area per year.
You can now download 3 LAWEP spotlights, focused on:
+ Developing a curricular offer by empowering subject and senior leaders
+ Redefining vision and values to consistently embed core values
+ Developing a growth mindset to create a culture of shared expectations and responsibility for learning.
Diversity in education toolkit: Training and resources for WE schools
Hannah Wilson, WE Associate Director and Co-Founder of Diverse Educators, has created a toolkit of resources on diversity in education.
WE also hosted two webinars and a forum as a pilot, to feed into our offer to schools this academic year.
You can watch recordings of these three WE summer 2020 diversity and inclusion virtual events, with amazing expert guests, and download Hannah's toolkit of resources on our blog.
Something completely different...
As we begin to return to something approaching our old routine, we thought it would be interesting to ask friends and leaders across the WE network what they have learned from the past few months.
In particular, we wanted to find out how the period had changed them as leaders - and what they hoped we would do differently in the future.
Thank you for all you're doing. Share your stories and practice at #wholeeducation @wholeeducation!
