Are you a school leader who is keen to be supported in experimenting with innovative, creative ways to bring the new curriculum to life in authentic, engaging ways for your learners?
Are you ready to take your leadership skills to the next level within your school?
Do you wish you had the time to try different ways of teaching and learning in your setting to assess what engages your learners?
Are you overwhelmed by the amount of change in the education system in Wales at the moment?
Could you do with a critical friend to help you make sense of it all?
The Arts Council of Wales in partnership with Welsh Government are delighted to be able to relaunch an exciting opportunity created for middle/senior school leaders, endorsed by the National Academy for Educational Leadership to support school leaders to develop creative leadership within their own school settings.
The aim of the programme is to encourage confidence in new ways of working, innovation, reflection, and resilience whilst also developing the understanding of the role of creativity in the context of the Curriculum for Wales, the four purposes and the professional standards for teaching and leadership. Within the programme, participants are encouraged to reflect honestly about their professional practice and contexts and identify the barriers that may impede their capacity to become creative leaders. The programme is tailored to each participant’s current stage of progression within their professional leadership career.
What the offer will entail:
The programme begins with a two-day training delivered by the Creative Leadership team within the Arts Council of Wales. Each participant is then matched with a Creative Agent, based on the school leader’s needs, locality, and language of school, forming an ongoing working partnership over the course of 18-20 weeks.
The Creative Agent acts as both creative leadership coach and critical friend; reinforcing the principles of creative leadership, engaging in ongoing, supportive, and reflective dialogue. There are also two networking opportunities to share progress and provide peer support. A final collaborative sharing session disseminates the personal explorations amongst all involved forming a potential ongoing network. It is an essential requirement that you commit to spending 3 days’ worth of time with your Creative Agent during the enquiry. Don’t worry, this can be arranged to be flexible to fit around your commitments.
Funding and support:
Each school leader will receive supply cover costs to attend the training, networking meetings and sharing event. It is an essential requirement of the programme that you attend both training days, the networking events and the sharing event. Each participant will receive Creative Agent coaching support for the duration of 18-20 weeks. There is no direct grant fund allocated to schools.
Eligibility:
This provision is predominantly for those in or aspiring to middle or senior leadership roles, though we encourage the awareness of leadership in every role. It is for leaders of learning in all Areas of Learning Experience and not just the Expressive Arts. You must be a state maintained early years or school setting in Wales too be eligible.
We would particularly welcome expressions of interest from applicants from culturally and ethnically diverse backgrounds.
How to apply:
Information briefing
Please find below a recording of our information briefing:
Timeline:
Deadline for expression of interest: 12 noon 7th November 2024
Training for middle/senior leaders: 11th & 12th February 2025
Networking events (online): 19th March & 15th May 2025
Sharing event: 18th June 2025
If you have any questions, please contact one of the Creative Learning Team as detailed below:
lora.winfield-young@arts.wales
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