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Callington's Innovations conference |
SummaryTeachers getting together to discuss teaching and learning - the aim of this 2-day Conference was to encourage innovative thinking and the sharing of good practice amongst teaching professionals. Callington's Innovations Conference attracted 50 delegates from all over the country and several international visitors from the USA. According to Paula Ramsden, Deputy Headteacher of Callington Community College, it was a great success, not just for the staff but also for the students.
The Idea!"We held an Innovations Conference which attracted 50 delegates from all over the country, not to mention several international visitors from as far away as Maine, USA and Alaska. The idea came from a Training School meeting within the College and our original plan was to attract new and aspiring headteachers to the Conference to showcase the impact that whole-school involvement in ITT can have on improving teaching and learning. Callington has been involved in training large numbers of trainees across every subject area within the College for 3 years and has seen huge benefits for students and staff. The level of reflective practice has improved and teachers are talking and thinking about teaching and learning to a much greater extent than ever before." "Ultimately the decision was taken that ITT would be one strand of the Conference and that we would showcase work and invite an exchange of ideas in a variety of areas." Planning the Event"A planning team from within the College took responsibility for planning and implementing the Conference. More than 20 staff and 30 students were involved in the delivery of workshops showcasing their work. The nature of the Conference was very much focused upon sharing good practice and moving forward thinking for all involved, both at Callington and the schools of the delegates. We put the delegates in the position of critical friends." "The College was in full operation throughout the 2 days of the Conference and logistical issues needed to be thought through carefully." "The time taken to implement the idea was 6 months. Monthly meetings of a small team of staff took place until approx a month before the event when we met weekly and then daily!" Funding"NCSL supported the Conference by providing the costs of the residential aspect of the Conference. The Innovation Unit provided support in the form of Mike Gibbons as keynote speaker." "The residential aspect was expensive but other costs were considered a real investment in terms of CPD for our own staff." Collaboration"Feeder primary schools were involved in delivering sessions at the Conference. Some of the sessions were based at their sites." "In addition to all visiting schools benefiting from the sharing of good practice we have shared all the outcomes with all schools in our Network Learning Community. The NLC are planning a sharing of good practice joint INSET day. The day will have a similar feel to the July Conference and there are approximately 15 primary and secondary schools involved in planning and implementing the training. We are anticipating nearly 400 delegates!" Impact"Students were fantastic and received very positive feedback about their involvement in the workshops and in the organisation of the day. All staff and students involved in the Conference gained huge amounts of confidence from the experience of sharing their good work within such a positive and supportive environment. It was an incredible feel-good experience. All staff were affected by this boost." "Many good ideas were shared with our staff within the workshops and our teams have already implemented many of these. The sharing of ideas helped us to move forward in our thinking as well as helped the visiting schools develop ideas based on our strategies." Issues"Showcasing and sharing thinking works. It doesn't need to be a huge or expensive operation; it can be as small scale as necessary." Callington Community CollegeThe SchoolCallington Community College is situated in SE Cornwall, 14 miles from Plymouth. It's a true comprehensive, taking all abilities. The catchment area is 300 rural square miles which has levels of rural deprivation alongside an increasingly affluent commuter-population. The College has a very small percentage of students from minority ethnic background and a small number of students for whom English is a second language. It became a Sports College and Training School in September 2000 and in the past 5 years the numbers of students have grown from 1000 to 1314. The College's GCSE 5+ A* to C percentage has risen from about 52 per cent in 2000 to 65 per cent in 2003. Callington is a demonstration school for the Global Institute for Student Aspirations in the USA and trains large numbers of staff and students in the Investment in Excellence programme from the Pacific Institute, USA. An Innovative CultureCallington Community College concentrates considerable amounts of time and resources on improving levels of self-esteem amongst staff and students. All individuals are empowered to take risks and make decisions that aim to improve teaching and learning across the College. Ideas abound as a result of this climate of high levels of self-confidence and responsibility. The Innovations Conference and the work with the Global Institute for Student Aspirations (GISA) are two major innovations, but there is other small-scale innovation also taking place at Callington. Links and contacts
Callington Community College website |
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