On the 18th and 19th of November, Ormiston Academies Trust (OAT) hosted their annual conference for the first time in two years.
The conference was a huge success and was a chance for staff and pupils both past and present to share stories and experiences of their time at OAT.
Past pupils were invited to present awards to their principals, celebrating their contributions to education and attendees got an insight into alumni’s impressive career journeys!
The conference also featured various keynote speakers such as Ormiston Forge Academy’s head girl Madison Homer, giving a speech on privilege and acceptance. She was included in various speakers invited to educate the audience on issues of equality diversity and inclusion.
This included diversity strategist Hayley Barnard educating attendees on “moving from unconscious bias to conscious inclusion”; a keynote speaker from the University of Birmingham School, Bec, Tigue, on Charter Education and its grounding in “children flourishing”; and the closing speaker Bennie Kara, author of ‘Diversity in Schools’.
Another exciting aspect of the convergence was the launch of #WeWill, a student social action project for all academies in the Trust where the OAT National Student voice presented the #WeWill initiatives to principals, senior leaders and governors and who will be leading the decision on the projects academies take on.
Nick Hudson, CEO said: “It was a real pleasure to have everyone together in one room again and to be able to chat with so many of members of our community.
“What makes OAT special is the strong community that we share, both in individual academies and across the Trust more widely. Events like this give us the chance to strengthen these networks, ensuring our academies, staff and pupils can be a source of support, encouragement, and creativity for one another.
“I was also so impressed by the quality of the speakers we had, who helped to unpack OAT’s overarching vision around equality, diversity and inclusion. These values are a cornerstone of our culture, and this Conference offered an opportunity to focus on that, celebrating our achievements up to this point but always thinking about what more we could be doing.”
To read more about the conference visit the Ormiston Academies Trust website here.
