BET HIGHLIGHT:

CROSS-TRUST STATE/INDEPENDENT SCHOOL COLLABORATION

development in schools. The second was led by Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist, Katherine Williams, on strategies to support students to manage exam stress. After a vote of thanks, Louise Wilson, Senior Deputy Head at Bedales, emphasised the value of opportunities to collaborate and delegates identified future priority areas. There was then time to speak to teachers from different schools across the region, sharing experiences, good practice and ideas.

The event was the first major collaboration between BET and Bedales, and other events are in the pipeline, including a collaboration on student voice this month, to assist teachers in providing the very best education and support to students.

Neil Pittaway, Head of School at Bohunt School:

In May, Bohunt Education Trust (BET) and Bedales School embarked on their first major collaborative event – coming together to share best practice on well-being and exam management support for students. BET and Bedales have a growing tradition of working together in partnership, especially in the performing arts and in teacher training, but this event was on a much greater scale and captured a shared enthusiasm for delivering the best possible provision for students across the schools.

Over 50 leaders and staff members from across five BET schools, including Bohunt School Liphook, The Petersfield School, The Costello School and Priory School were hosted by Bedales, which provided expert speakers for a unique Continuing Professional Development workshop.

The first session was provided by Jo Petty from Children’s Society, exploring student voice and its role in well-being and

“The workshop event was a good opportunity for teachers to share best practice and experiences, whilst learning new strategies and exploring alternative methods to ensure that we provide all our students with the support and guidance they need to fulfil their potential. We are looking forward to the next event which will be another opportunity to collaborate and raise the bar once again.”

Louise Wilson, Senior Deputy at Bedales said:

“The opportunity for many teachers from several schools to train together was invaluable in enabling us to learn from each other to improve our professional practice. The sessions provided both long-term ideas for listening to students to improve their school experience as well as practical strategies for teachers to use straight away to enable students to revise more effectively, feel healthier and achieve more.”

Keith Budge, Headmaster, Bedales Schools:

“As educators in our various settings – state or independent, selective or non-selective – there is far more that unites us than divides us, and we have much to learn from each other despite our rather different governance arrangements.”