This is the third year of the Cambridge Festival of Education, but just the second year that I have attended. The aim of this amazing festival is to help teachers to feel valued, appreciated and inspired. It is is a festival full of joy and flamboyance: a festival atmosphere (rather than a stuffy conference) and a purposeful sense of 'radical optimism' underpins all that happens. The festival recognises the challenges that face our schools but aims to rise above this in recognising that the staff in our schools are absolutely dedicated in bring joy to their schools, despite the pressures.
The symbol of the FLAMINGO as an optimistic emblem for us is fantastic; the flamingo is an elegant and unique creature: exquisite, proud and set apart in its beauty, standing out from the crowd. What better symbol for our educators who have joined together to #flamingle with like minded radical optimists?!
The symbol of the FLAMINGO as an optimistic emblem for us is fantastic; the flamingo is an elegant and unique creature: exquisite, proud and set apart in its beauty, standing out from the crowd. What better symbol for our educators who have joined together to #flamingle with like minded radical optimists?!
In the spirit of 'festival', flamboyance is encouraged and it was great to see colleagues and presenters giving up their Saturday to join together, some even in full flamingo costumes (not me this year!) others in flamingo print shirts, jumpers and dresses. The audience was a sea of pink! And so Mrs Sherry, Mrs White & myself found ourselves among like minded teachers, seeking to celebrate what we do and 'flip the narrative' in order to 'talk up teaching'. We had a fantastic day!
We began hearing from Professor Susan Robertson the newly appointed chair of the Cambridge University Faculty of Education. Professor Robertson was encouraging a move away from a focus on Artificial Intelligence (A.I. as the data led foci) and a move towards a new A.I. in relation to our pupils 'Authentic Intelligence', underpinned by a sense of social justice, which focuses on the unique individual. This is key to our mission at St Vincent de Paul School - yes the academic rigor is important but it doesn't tell the story of the individual, uniquely and beautifully made to be themselves. A refreshing spin indeed!
We were then left enthralled by a presentation from Paul Dix; author of 'When the Adults Change Everything Changes'. This fantastic text is at the centre of our behaviour policy and steps approach and focuses on moving away from a focus on behaving because of the rules, to individuals really understanding how they interact and why. Our three behaviour strands of 'be ready, be respectful, and be safe' come from Paul Dix's writing.IT was great to hear the man himself speak such common sense. He had us in stitches telling his amazing story of moving from controlling behaviours to understanding the motivation for behaviours.
Next up was the amazing Jaz Ampawfarr, who made us reflect on the strories that we all hold and interact with. Jazz's story is an absolute tear-jerker, but one that makes you realise that there are key individuals in your life who make a real difference. She encouraged us all to recognise the everyday heroes in our lives. Jaz has to be one one of the most powerful educator speakers that I have ever come across. Search for her Ted Talk on google to hear her. You might recognise her from The Apprentice or even Blind Date if you are of my era! I am hoping that Jaz will be able to come into school to talk to our staff at some point soon as she has a number of connections to Stevenage.
The day continued with various workshops. I left my first empowered to be a 'flamingo of hope rather than a lemming of despair' and focused on distilling the core messages of humanity, compassion and true deep learning for all and we collaborated to come up with practical solutions to ensure that our school climate is positive rather than draining for staff and pupils. Other workshops included 'Can you teach happiness?', 'Values, Experience & Wisdom: finding the right blend', 'Teaching Life' and a resounding focus on wellbeing and mental health for pupils and for staff.
Following an outdoor picnic lunch in the grounds of the beautiful Homerton College (where I was based for my degree way back in 1991) we gathered togetehr again for more keynotes from afantastic line up of speakers.
Action Jacksom, the UK Ambassador for Happiness, started the aftrernoon by encouraging us all to recognise the success that we each display. He had as all up dancing and singing and allowed us to reflect on ourselves. It was all a bit embarrassing but all in the name of good fun. You can see us all joining in with him here:
As you can see, he doesn't take himself too seriously, but his message is crystal clear!
Amongst other great speakers in the afternoon, we also heard from Professor Guy Claxton. I first heard Professor Guy Claxton speak some 8 years ago and since then his research has underpinned my own philosophy for learning ever since and in particular the need to develop effective characteristics of learning behaviours. Guy aimed to debunk many of the myths about learning that are often promoted on-line and posed some great questions that got us all thinking about the true purpose of learning and how we needed to create opportunities that were fit for a 21st century context.
It was a fantastic day of reflection, discussion, laughter and networking and well worth a Saturday out - thank you to Mrs Sherry and Mrs White for accompanying me. Maybe next year some other staff might join us?
If you want to find out more about some of the themes explored, see the fantastic cartoon summary below which was drawn live by an incredibly talented teacher artist whilst we listened to the speakers.
And so, having refilled the reservoirs of hope, we're ready for all that is ahead! Its great to re-calibrate, rejuvenate and refresh your optimism for what has got to be one of the best jobs in the world! It is a privilege to serve your children in our fantastic community.
We all need to remember to #flamingle together!!
