So much has happened since our last news update – here's a flavour.
We're delighted to announce that we're partnering with an amazing young man by the name of Will Carter (pictured below) .Will is currently on a Fulbright scholarship at the University of California, but is British and came up through the English education system. His story was picked up by the national press in March when he appeared on This Morning to talk about the obstacles he faced at school. Will is going to connect with other young people in our network, to establish a youth voice around education reform (watch this space!)
We've also started delivering training to professionals in the education system, including PGCE Primary teacher trainees at Warwick University and an upcoming session to a group of local authority staff in the West Midlands. Our webinar for the Southend Educational Psychology Reachout series has now had nearly 2,000 views. We've also participated in a James Mannion's Rethinking Education podcast, while Ellie and Will took part in Meena Wood's recent debate: "Is our education system helping all young people fulfil their potential?". Listen here (passcode ?9.UC&vP).
Our Square Pegs book – the first tangible project under School Differently – is shaping up to be a really useful tool for school leaders who want to do the right thing by their square pegs, but don't know which way to turn. With eight new contributors in the last month, we're confident it will bring together creative and pragmatic ideas from a wide range of individuals, from youth workers to virtual heads and paramedics to business owners. Publication date spring 2022, so still lots of work to do!
On top of all of this, we've had some great meetings with truly inspirational individuals like Dave McPartlin of Britain's Got Talent golden buzzer fame, former Secretary of State for Education and an active member of the House of Lords, Lord Jim Knight, former mental health tsar and LBC presenter Natasha Devon, the team at Louis Theroux's Mindhouse Productions. and More Than A Score, where we've added our name to their call for action on SATs (see p10).
So much to do, and so little time! There are lots of ways you can help: see the support page of our website for more info.
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