Education community praises young people taking the lead at conference 

Young people were at the very centre of the recent Education Conference organised by Dorset Council, with Dorset Youth Voice co-hosting the event as part of the Takeover Challenge.

The theme for this year’s conference was 'one of a kind', originating from a request by school children to “see me” and celebrate their individuality.

The theme reflected two of the priorities of the Dorset Education Board in the newly launched Education Strategy: ‘Listen to our children and young people’ and ‘all our children and young people feel they belong’. 

Delegates were truly listening to the children and young people from Southill Primary School and Beaucroft School and College who brought energy and joy to the conference by performing the songs they had written. 

Representatives from Dorset Youth Voice, aged between 11 and 18, introduced each section of the conference and led a workshop for the delegates to take part in.

Theresa Leavy, executive director for education, welcomed the delegates and thanked them for the incredible achievements that had been made together as a partnership across Dorset. 

However, she added that there was still work to be done, in particular because of the effect the pandemic had had on children and young people. She said: “We have come through changed. Our children have come through changed. And that has required us to work even more deeply together around how we ensure our children get the support from all of us that they need. 

“The safety net of joy and opportunity of school was denied them and the ongoing impact is still felt every day in educational settings.
“We want all our children to have a settled and happy education that enables them to achieve their full potential, so the investment in schools must continue and we must continue to campaign for better for our young people.”

Guest speakers gave valuable takeaways for schools and education communities, highlighting the success which can be reached through relational practice. 

Paul Dix, whose books include ‘When The Adults Change, Everything Changes‘ is a behaviour specialist, education reformer and advisor who helps teachers and headteachers across the world with transformational relational behaviour practice.

He reassured the audience that they don’t have to make all their changes overnight. He advised making small steps and that calm consistency and ‘positive noticing’ were all key to an improving the experience for young people in schools. 

Rhianna was one of the young people who attended. She said: “I was pleased to attend the education conference because I was able to get children’s views across to the adults who work with children. It was important that young people were at the education conference so they could have an idea about how conferences work - especially if the jobs they would like to participate in in the future include them.”

Grace also attended, she said: “My favourite part of the conference was EVERYTHING because everyone was so kind. We had lots of opportunities to meet teachers from all around Dorset and speak about what young people around Dorset thought needs improving in the education system.”

The conference also saw the formal launch of the Education Strategy - Education Strategy 2024 to 2027 - Dorset Council which sets out five priorities to achieve the Dorset Education Board’s aspiration of ‘Best Education for All’: 
1.    Listen to our children and young people.
2.    All our children and young people feel they belong.
3.    Our children and young people achieve their potential and succeed in preparing for Post 16 and adulthood.
4.    Continuously strengthen our workforce.
5.    Our settings are financially strong and sustainable.

Stephen Twigg is the independent chair of the Dorset Education Board. He said: “We are facing challenging times but there is the capacity to learn from this and move forward.

“What keeps me optimistic is the people in this room, the people who work with our children and young people.

“But the most important people in the room are our children and young people and I come away from hearing the young people with a renewed sense of hope.”

Councillor Clare Sutton, Cabinet Member for Children's Services, Education and Skills took the opportunity to thank Theresa, who will be leaving Dorset Council in September. Clare said “We will miss her very much. I am sure there are lots of education colleagues here who have found that the challenge she provides is matched by the degree that she champions the work that you all do across Dorset as well.”

Councillor Sutton added: “A special thank you to our young people for hosting the conference, they have been absolutely astonishing. 
“And thanks to everyone in the room for the extraordinary work you do in whatever role in nurturing our children across Dorset. It has been an absolute genuine privilege to be in the room with so many committed individuals.”