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This year has been one of considerable change and uncertainty for those involved in education. We have seen changes to the Ofsted framework for school inspections, the outcomes of the government’s Curriculum and Assessment review and the much anticipated Schools White Paper; Every Child Achieving and Thriving. The policy changes shaping the fabric of our education sit against a backdrop of a domestic cost of living crisis, global unrest and division; and the ever present threat of climate change. 

It would be easy in such circumstances to feel hopeless and overwhelmed; to hunker down and wait for things to settle. To fixate on all of the challenges and demand that someone more powerful than us do something.

There is another option; thriving anyway. 

Join us at University of Warwick this summer to explore what it will take for us to do this ourselves, as leaders. So that we can nurture the culture and conditions that enable the staff in our schools and trusts, the learners in our classrooms and the society we are building to do this too. 

This year’s Summer Conference will build on and weave together themes that we have explored together as a network. It will introduce new ideas and practices and give you tangible ways to move forward and make change stick.

At our 2024 Summer Conference Keith Grint, Professor Emeritus at Warwick Business School introduced us to his work on wicked problems and clumsy solutions. He challenged us to think critically about the types of problems we face in our work and to tailor our leadership approaches accordingly. He also made the case for a reframing of what we think of as leadership, away from knowing all the answers, towards being able to ask incisive questions and create a climate where others do the same. 

In 2025 Gert Biesta challenged us to consider the purpose of education. This year our conference themes will speak to his three purposes of education; learning to be myself while; appreciating what the world is and needs from me and; becoming qualified to play my part as an autonomous citizen.

We are pleased to be joined by Dr Matt Silver, CEO of The Glasshouse Leadership Lab who will prepare us for two days of learning and thinking together with an opening keynote. Matt will inspire us and invite us to consider the case for reinventing education.

Over the two days there will be opportunities to explore themes relating to:

• Leadership, personal development and agency

• Futures: human centred tech and AI, green futures

• Curriculum, intelligent assessment and relational teaching

• Making change happen

• Better for everyone: intentional inclusion

• Better from the beginning: leading a holistic education in the Early Years

• Role of subjects in a holistic education: powerful knowledge meets powerful holistic pedagogy and relationships

This year we are pleased to be sharing the stage with a number of content partners, including our Headline Sponsor ASDAN. Together we will bring you a rich and varied programme with colliding perspectives of what it will take to truly educate whole.