The latest news from SLN … Sir Keith Ajegbo on the appointment of a new CEO for SLN, our ten year anniversary, the latest CPD resources, 2012 National Training dates, Network events, Culture Fusion, website news and lots more
Sir Keith Ajegbo on the appointment of a new CEO for SLN
“I am pleased to report that Dave Norman MBE has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer of SLN.
We had a very strong and varied field of applicants for the job and Dave, after a rigorous recruitment process, emerged as the unanimous choice of the interviewing panel. He brings to the post an infectious enthusiasm and a deeply held belief in the values of our organisation. We are very glad to welcome him on board and believe he has all the abilities to move our organisation forward in challenging times.
To take up the post with SLN, Dave is leaving his role as The Head of the University of Bradford’s Access and Widening Participation Department.”
Sir Keith Ajegbo, Chair, SLN
SLN … Ten Years On
In 2011 SLN celebrated its tenth anniversary. We’ll be officially recognising this achievement next year with an SLN event on the 18 May 2012, to coincide with the countdown to the next Big Dance, the finale of the Cultural Olympiad and the day that the Olympic Torch arrives in the UK.
Originally established in Bradford in October 2001, SLN has been providing expertise on integration and community cohesion to a growing audience ever since. During the last ten years we have successfully trained and supported 100 local authority advisors, trained and supported 2,000 teachers, and engaged more than 63,000 young people. SLN programmes have been set up in groups of schools across 40 local authorities and over 1,000 more individual schools have formed links across the country.
Research shows that our programmes encourage children and young people to develop critical thinking, research and communication skills, develop creative responses to challenging issues and increased confidence levels and self-esteem. School and local authority staff also benefit from involvement in the programme through access to new pedagogy and professional development.
As part of our ten year celebrations we’ll be encouraging you to take part in a world record attempt for the ‘Largest Dance Routine – Multi-Venue’.
New Resources
The new CPD 2 is available on the SLN website now. It has a completely re-written section on the new Ofsted framework with definitions for spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC). CPD 2 signposts how readily the SLN four questions resources deliver SMSC development. There are a range of new resource ideas for facilitators to choose from when delivering their CPD including ideas for using the book ‘We are all born free’, which is currently free to all primary schools thanks to Emma Thompson and Amnesty International.
Network Events
SLN will be holding two regional network events, one in the north on Tuesday 21 February 2012 and one in the south on Thursday 23 February 2012.
These events will cover a range of updates including work with Ofsted, the Cambridge Primary Review, our new e-linking work and much more. As always you will also be able to meet colleagues from around the country, reconnect with people you trained with, as well as meeting new colleagues. SLN is not just for schools, it is a network of professionals and we are stronger when we work together to take this work forward. You will also meet SLN’s new director David Norman who will be working alongside Angie during February 2012 before she leaves SLN to embark on her new role.
National Training Days
We are now taking bookings for our 2012 SLN National Training Days for teachers and local authority advisors. We’ll be running parallel sessionsat the Culture Fusion in Bradford and at the NUT in London, during February and June.
Our training is designed to equip you with the knowledge to run a successful school linking programme. The sessions explore the new Ofsted proposed inspection framework, which states that the ‘spiritual, moral, social and cultural’ development of pupils will be a key area when considering overall school effectiveness.
For full details and to reserve your place visit Upcoming Courses.
New Offices
In October 2011 SLN moved into fabulous new office space at Culture Fusion on Thornton Road in Bradford, just a short walk from the city centre.Culture Fusion is a brand new facility for ‘children and young people in their time of need, and an exciting, ever-changing and inspirational place for children and young people to have fun, learn, relax and fulfill their potential’.
The Culture Fusion building really lends itself to the work we do – every year we train and support many teachers and local authority advisors from across England, for year-long school linking programmes. The fantastic facilities at Culture Fusion are perfect for holding CPD training sessions and it is also a great space for school children and young people from different schools to meet and learn together – it is the perfect ‘neutral’ venue.
Also resident in the Culture Fusion building are the YMCA, Connexions, Information Shop for Young People, NHS and the Peace Museum. More details about our new base can be found at www.culturefusion.org.uk and we look forward to welcoming you there.
Website News
Over the last few months we have been developing the SLN website to bring you an improved design, better navigation and refreshed content.
The new-look site is now fully operational and constantly evolving and we’ll be continuing to add new material and features. Our classroom and linking resources are now freely accessible to all.
CPD information for trainers and advisors does remain password protected and you will need to log-in to see the latest updates.
To keep up-to-date with SLN, sign up to our newsletter online and follow us on Twitter @SLNLinking.
