Claire Hurst
I have had the privilege of being the Headteacher at the Oxford Road Community School since January 2013. The school is a vibrant, diverse, friendly and inclusive place where children from many different backgrounds play, learn and grow happily together - we are very proud of the family ethos of our school. 20 ethnicities, 25 languages and 6 faiths are represented here. We welcome and celebrate diversity!
As a school we truly believe in preparing children for lifelong learning, who are committed to cultivating habits and attitudes that enable young people to find learning enjoyable and face challenges confidently and creatively? As a result, a key element of our school is Building Learning Power (BLP). It is an approach to learning that is taught throughout the year groups and helps our children to: Learn more, learn better, become better learners, become lifelong learners.
BLP helps develop our children into those who can face challenges calmly, confidently and creatively. It gives them the skills they need for their journey through school and into the real world.
What the Annual RPHA Conference Means to me as a School Leader
As leaders we often find ourselves in the throws of day to day management with little time to reflect, inspire, develop or simply lead.
The annual RPHA conference provides the interactive and creative thinking space for you to have the time to consider what it means to be a leader in education today. We all understand the pressures and the demands – which means we also understand how important it is to take time out to reflect, reconnect and reenergise. This years conference 'Creating Waves' will enable you to have the opportunity to learn from fantastic speakers, link up with like-minded leaders, to recharge your batteries for the challenges ahead and to leave inspired, motivated and reinvigorated.
What does the theme mean to me:
The theme of this years conference, Creating Waves, really got me thinking about the kind of leader I want to be. I asked myself whether I wanted to aspire to simply riding waves or whether I wanted to be responsible for creating some of them?
Creating waves doesn't have to come with a negative connotation; the reassuring repetition of waves reminds us of the need for consistency of expectation and approach. However, not creating waves means you could end up being swept along by someone else’s vision.
Creating waves allows us to provide challenge, to question, to reshape or change.
I don't want to be in the habit of stopping people from creating waves. Most of the time I want to be the one to start them! It can feel like the hardest work of your life but it is by far the most rewarding. (Sometimes, however, there is a place for learning how to ride them!)
Creating waves ensures new ideas, new vision, new approaches; a necessary element to leadership.
Go on, create some waves.