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Our two day conference is aimed at anyone who has responsibility for pupil or school wellbeing and anyone who is looking to promote or further develop oracy in their teaching or school. Teachers, middle and senior leaders are invited to join us to focus on this. 28 November will focus on wellbeing and 29 will focus on developing oracy. Join us for one or both days depending on your school priorities.

Creating a culture where wellbeing is promoted for staff and pupils can make a huge difference to your school.

Daniella Lang, the headteacher of Brimsdown primary school, reported about the positive impact that a focus on staff wellbeing had in her school in an article in the Guardian in 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2018/feb/01/staff-wellbeing-team-school-improved . In their study Rob Briner and Chris Dewberry(2007) of Birkbeck College London found that there are links between how teachers within a school feel about their work and the performance of pupils in that school. They conclude that if we want to improve school performance we need to focus on teacher wellbeing. Wellbeing of staff has also being recognised by Ofsted in their emphasis on workload in their new framework.

We are joined by two speakers on Thursday to explore this issue and look at practical ways to improve wellbeing in your school community.

· Andrew Cowley - author of The Wellbeing Toolkit: sustaining, supporting and enabling school staff. Andrew, co-founder of Healthy Toolkit (@HealthyToolkit), draws on his experiences as a school leader to unpick the myths around wellbeing and set out a practical, authentic and values-driven model that will enable leaders to foster a positive atmosphere for the benefit of the whole-school community. Andrew will outline practical ideas that work well in schools and explore the challenges and opportunities associated with putting wellbeing at the heart of any school.

· Adrian Bethune - author of Wellbeing in the Primary Classroom is an experienced teacher and advisor on children's wellbeing. He will explore the latest evidence and research from the science of happiness and positive psychology to provide tried-and-tested activities and techniques that work in the classroom. https://www.teachappy.co.uk/

Developing oracy in the curriculum is fundamental to giving learners access to the curriculum and supporting them to read, write and reason. In their article for Oracy Cambridge, Lynne Dawes and Pete Dudley (2019) say that ‘An oracy strategy is the establishment of a framework for teaching the spoken language skills that are demonstrably central to thinking, to communicating, to learning and to succeeding in education – and in life’ . https://oracycambridge.org/2019/06/21/oracy-is-here-to-stay-heres-why/

Schools are increasingly finding that some children enter with low speech and language and limited vocabulary. With schools looking to consider the intent of their curriculum we are providing a focus on developing children to be articulate and confident speakers so that they can fully access the curriculum; have a clear voice and develop their confidence as citizens.

Our Friday speakers are

Mimi Hughes from the Oracy Hub who will talk about the latest research about oracy; practical examples and how the hub have successfully supported schools.

David Manning from Wychavon Disctrict Council will talk about the effect of oracy teaching on social mobility and the impact successful interventions can have on improving life chances for disadvantaged children

Rachel Sénèque Inclusion Head at Bengeworth Academy Worcester will speak about benefits to SEN and disadvantaged children https://www.bengeworthacademy.co.uk/ 

Will Collins programme lead for Voice 21 will talk about effective strategies.

We will also be joined by other schools who will share their successful approaches to developing oracy.

For deputies who join the two days the conference is a crucial opportunity for you to have your thinking challenged and reflect on and develop your leadership skills. Be inspired by our high quality speakers and network and hear about leadership approaches from colleagues across the region in a supportive atmosphere.
Delegates can choose to attend for the days only or have a full residential place in order to take full advantage of all the networking opportunities this provides to share and discuss with colleagues. Don’t miss your opportunity to sign up.

Many of last year’s delegates reported that the conference was thought provoking and inspiring. One said it was a “Fabulous opportunity to take a breath, reflect and learn.” While another valued the “wonderful opportunity to network with colleagues and be inspired and refreshed!” Perhaps the best accolade from an acting deputy was the conference “Made me want to stay in leadership and make a difference. I was full of doubt before today!”