Things We Learnt at This Year’s Festival of Education (Part One)
Teach Secondary editor Helen Mulley reports back from Wellington College, where some tough choices are being made…
- by Helen Mulley
The 10th annual Festival of Education has been taking place today (20 June) in the imposing buildings and seemingly endless grounds of Wellington College, and will continue tomorrow – with up to 36 sessions on offer for delegates in each of seven daily sessions.
Just deciding what to see (and by implication, of course, what not to see) is pretty exhausting; and if you plan your programme according to content, rather than geography, sensible walking shoes are a must.
But most visitors would agree that it’s well worth the effort; the list of speakers is impressively star-spangled, the range of topics covered is breathtakingly comprehensive – and most importantly, few events in the education calendar offer such rich opportunities for both CPD and networking.
So, what were my key takeaways from the first day of #EducationFest? Well…
1 | Everybody is talking about curriculum
I mean, obviously, of course they are – Ofsted has put it at the top of everyone’s to-do list, and quite rightly so. Whether everyone is having exactly the kind of conversation that Amanda Spielman would like, on the other hand, is a different question.
John Blake – former teacher, ex-Policy Exchange and now fully signed up Ark evangelist – presented a neat, comprehensive and practically argument-proof overview of the history of curriculum development in the first session I attended, pointing out where the system has been going wrong in the past (too much left to individual teachers; no overarching plan for where students need to be by the end of their time in school), and how these issues can be addressed for the future (subscription to Ark’s own curriculum programmes entirely optional, naturally).
2 | It’s STILL different for girls
Alison Kriel, #WomenEd’s newest National Lead, was engaging and passionate in her session, titled #genderedcheese (look it up).
But my overwhelming impression was that a) she wasn’t saying anything I hadn’t heard umpteen times before, and b) how utterly, utterly depressing it was that what she was saying absolutely still needs to be said, and heard.
3 | Good behaviour DOESN’T come from relationships
…at least, that is the fervent belief of Mark Lehain. Instead, he told us, it comes from lots of very clear and simple rules, consistently and firmly reinforced, so everyone knows exactly where they are.
And whatever side you’ve picked with regard to the B-word, there’s no denying that Lehain is someone who cares deeply about young people, and ensuring they get the education they deserve.
His organisation, Parents and Teachers for Excellence (PTE), is about to launch a Behaviour Toolkit, and although not everything in it will work everywhere (as he is happy to confirm), I suspect it will be well worth checking out.
“We don’t talk enough about love, in education,” he said. Hear, hear.
4 | Rory Bremner is very, very funny
He also has a strong message he wants to share about ADHD, and how to support young people living with this often misunderstood ‘disorder’ (he doesn’t like that word).
They are the disrupters, the game-changers, the innovators, he pointed out, standing on the stage of Wellington’s recently-completed and insanely high-spec new performance arts centre – and whilst they might not fit easily into a system designed for those who can sit still and learn, they may well be essential for our survival as a species.
They eat the poison berries; and they take us to places the rest of us wouldn’t dare visit without them.
5 | Will Self’s students almost certainly don’t know how lucky they are
That’s it, really. If you’ve never heard him speak, and you get the chance, grab it. That’s all I’m saying.
6 | Lord Agnew can fix your budget; and Amanda Spielman is, in fact, Doctor Who
Apparently, Damien Hinds was suddenly busy this afternoon for some reason – so he sent Lord Agnew to deliver a keynote speech in his slot; and be interrogated by Laura McInerney, too.
His speech was nothing remarkable (the predictable list of achievements and promises), but hearing the peer, under charmingly relentless pressure from the inevitably yellow-clad McInerney, explain his stance on school funding (he’s yet to see a school budget in deficit that can’t be fixed without the need for more cash; offering additional funding to schools that aren’t yet getting the budget right is simply throwing good money after bad; education is essentially about ‘closing the productivity gap’) was strangely fascinating, especially after 45 minutes spent with Will Self.
Finally, Amanda Spielman spoke with her customary no-nonsense eloquence, comparing her ‘character’ as Chief Inspector with that of Doctor Who – and noting with an arched eyebrow that both incarnations are currently female… and yet to be seen in the same room together.
Oh, she also talked of the importance of giving children the knowledge they need to navigate an increasingly polarised society and recognise reality when they see it, by way of bringing the conversation back to where this started: curriculum. Because everyone is talking about it.
(By the way, there’s one more thing I learnt: if you are in a heavily oak-panelled library, temporarily being used as a press room, before you complain about the total lack of plug sockets, it’s worth turning the lights on…)
