On Wednesday 29th November 2017 Preston Teaching School Alliance was delighted to welcome teachers from across Lancashire to Barton Grange Hotel for the first Inspiring Future Leaders Conference.

The conference was designed especially for teachers considering the next step in senior leadership, with workshops delivered by serving Headteachers.

Following a welcome and introduction by Gill Jackson, Headteacher at Archbishop Temple School, delegates listened to guest speaker Sally Kenyon. Sally is an Ofsted inspector, school improvement consultant and qualified teacher. Prior to working for Ofsted, Sally was a senior leader in a secondary school. She spoke to the delegates about key skills for leadership.

After a short break, Mrs Gill Jackson led the first workshop focussing on writing letters of application and interviews for a senior post. The hour long session enabled delegates to get to grips with the key points of an application letter and opened up some interesting discussions.

Jane Green Headteacher at Longridge High School and Amanda Gregory, Headteacher at Harris Primary School led a lively workshop on dealing with challenging people. This insightful workshop equipped delegates with tools to take away and use in a professional capacity.

A delicious lunch followed. Delegates had time to speak to some of the conference exhibitors. Preston Teaching School Alliance were very pleased to welcome Martin Mainey from Bridge Education and Training, Phil Awde from GB3 Technology Solutions, Ben Bedford and China Brennan from Schudio, Mark Farmer and Seb Thorpe from Talk The Talk and Alasdair Egerton from Reed Education/LTA.

After lunch Ivan Catlow, Headteacher at St Cecilia’s High School, led a session on Effective Coaching and Monitoring.

The final session led by Headteachers focussed on Building Teams and Making People Accountable. This useful workshop was led by Chris Morris Headteacher at Broughton High School and Sam Oates, Headteacher at Fulwood and Cadley Primary School.

Neville Norcross, Associate Adviser from the Diocese of Blackburn led the Twilight session on Leadership of a Church School.

Preston TSA would like to thank all of the Headteachers who dedicated their time to plan and deliver the sessions. Feedback from the conference was resoundingly positive, with many delegates rating the sessions as ‘excellent’. Comments included ‘highly informative and inspirational’, ‘Great value’, ‘First hand advice from Headteachers – very powerful and valuable’, ‘lots of really valuable information, great handouts and resources too’, ‘Really informative and practical advice’, ‘Really well run with lots of resources’ and ‘Taken something from session and very much enjoyed it, thank-you’.

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Inspiring Future Leaders Conference