get inspired by Some of our past professional development events…
“I absolutely love this double act!” Feedback from our valued collaborators after a bespoke CPD session for their staff.
Inspiring and empowering staff to inspire and empower students, Cornwall college group
How can we inspire and empower staff to inspire and empower students? Rebecca Barrington and Michelle Souter from Cornwall College Group had a vision to do just that.
We were thrilled to join forces to bring that vision to life. Kheron and Ella journeyed down to the beautiful Cornwall coast to host an impactful session designed to equip staff to ignite passion in students.
56 staff members from across Cornwall College campuses attended the session. They brought unwavering enthusiasm and generously shared their expertise and experiences. This enabled a highly generative day of peer learning, ideation, and intention setting.
It was fantastic to contribute to Cornwall College putting their values into action, promoting both professional and personal development for their dedicated staff.
Tech enabled teaching workshops, Capel Manor college
Following a day of dynamic workshops at Capel Manor College on student engagement strategies, we were invited back to lead digital skills CPD sessions. It was great to reunite with Capel Manor’s ever-enthusiastic curriculum teams. We introduced easy-to-use platforms to create engaging educational content. Staff impressed us with their appetite for the new platforms and tools we introduced. By the session's end, participants were adeptly crafting presentations on Canva and looking forward to more opportunities to enhance their skills.
Research insights, to inform Engagement strategies
What do students think makes the difference when it comes to engagement in education? Well, in September 2023, we gathered data at 56 induction events at colleges across the UK, via feedback forms filled out by 2104 students.
We asked students what they thought was most engaging about their induction events. We found that, in every institution, students placed a high value on the interpersonal skills of the speaker, including positive language, engaging body language, energy and enthusiasm. This suggests that producing an ‘affective atmosphere’ ,a term that scholar Ben Anderson has used to describe emotive and action inducing environments, is crucial for student engagement.
We've been sharing these findings at CPD events for student-facing staff to spread this knowledge among teams dedicated to student experience.
Hear what senior leaders had to say…
Virtual student engagement workshop
Our data shows that ‘affective’ dimensions of talks and workshops (including energy, positivity, optimism and good vibes) are hugely impactful for students.
The quantitative data we collected highlights the tremendous impact of engaging, positive communication on the motivation levels of college students.
In response to popular demand, we held a complimentary virtual student engagement workshop to share our top tips for effective classroom delivery. Staff from colleges across the UK came together for a buzzing, high energy session (despite it being 5pm on a school day!) We explored innovative strategies for enhancing student engagement and user-friendly tech tools to maximise impact.
Participants left having accelerated their learning while connecting with a supportive community of encouraging peers.
Here’s what some event participants said;
“I really want to make my presentations better and this will help so much!”
“It was great and your passion is contagious. You both seem really passionate about young people and it is inspiring. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and tips”
“Fantastic session delivered with so much enthusiasm it was impossible not to be engaged! Thank you!”
“Thank you, had ofsted today which was super naff and this really lifted my spirits. Honestly thank you for a great session.”
Caring in Bristol, Evaluation Strategy Development
In 2023 we partnered with Caring in Bristol on research to inform a new youth homelessness shelter for the city. Now, as the shelter enters its first year of operation, we’re back to help the team evaluate its success. We’re developing a rigorous and trauma-informed evaluation strategy for the team to implement. Alongside traditional research approaches we’re using story based methods to engage young shelter users in the research, while providing space for exploration and empowerment.
London Development Trust, Trustee Engagement
London Development Trust plays a vital role in community building within housing developments across the capital. We teamed up with LDT to host a workshop and dialogue session for their trustee boards. This event enhanced connection and understanding, boosting motivation and paving the way for trustees to leverage their skills and networks to further LDT’s mission.
