“I thought I knew kids very well. I have been gob smacked by their understanding and philosophical view of things. They are no different to adults. They have shown a deep level of wisdom. I thought they may have answered things at more of a surface, they went much deeper. They can achieve things without being puppets. They can help us.”
- Teacher on an Ambassadors Leadership Academy
ambassadors' leadership academy
Introduction | Participants | Outcomes | Components | More information
Introduction to the Programme
The Columba 1400 Ambassadors' Leadership Academy brings students, faculty and members of the Senior Management Team (SMT), up to a toal of 15, into one leadership development experience and ongoing dialogue focused on the future of the school. Students should inform ‘the heart and the head’ of any programme of renewal within education. Without this the work could lose its context, its authenticity and its sense of reality.
Key learning areas are explored within topics of leadership and communication – organised under the The Columban Code of Responsible Leadership. In addition to these core components, participants bring their personal values in to focus enabling them to recognise success and see their greatness. Their learning from the residential component enables, on return to their community, identification of what needs to change, seeking support and utilisng persoanl resources leading to action. This reusable cycle enables momentum to be gathered within the community to ignite change from within.
Our experience has revealed that this process needs to be nurtured and developed over a period of years. The school will need to be supported to develop ongoing practice, the nature of which will emerge on a case by case basis.
Programme Participants
The Ambassadors' Leadership Academy involves a mix of senior management team (SMT), faculty and students, up to a total of 15. The balance between staff and students is crucial so that the young people are able to lead the process. Ideally the ratio should be no more than 1 staff member to 4students.
It is not necessary for every member of staff or student to have directly attended a Columba 1400 programme. We plan our programmes to ensure that the momentum created by the experience with Columba 1400 can have maximum impact on return to the school context. The 'before' and 'after' of the programmes is critical to this.
Programme Outcomes
Participants can expect, by the end of the residential component of the programme to have:
Awareness
Increasing awareness of themselves as leaders and better awareness of the potential in other.
Focus
An understanding of what is important and choosing to act on this
Creativity
A belief that cycles and patterns in your life can be changed
Integrity
Greater awareness of your own potential and remaining true to it
Perseverance
A sense of resilience in the face of challenges
Service
A belief that you can have a positive impact on your community
Programme Components
Initial Consultation with Head Teacher
Follow Up Consultation With Head Teacher and Senior Management Team
“What is Columba 1400?” Presentation;
- To inform potential participants of the programme
- School to position the programme within their school leadership plans
- 2 hour session
- Held at school
Pre Residential Orientation
- Student and staff participant preparation for residential in Skye
- Parent/carer engagement session
- 2.5 hour session for participants; 1.5 hour session for parents/carers
- Held at school week prior to residential
Residential
- 6 day intensive residential
- Held at Columba 1400, Staffin, Isle of Skye, IV51 9JY
Post Residential Encouragement and Continous Learning
- Contributing partner to help design the next steps
- Enabling connections with other Ambassador communities in order to find ways of supporting each other
- Look at action plan, 4-8 weeks after residential component with one page post Academy visit report prepared
- Enabling Ambassador cohort led snapshot school survey, 4-8 weeks after residential component (to evaluate the graduates impact on the whole school)
- 121 interviews with students, 5-18 weeks after residential component
- Participatory focus groups with students, 24-40 weeks after residential component
- Review of progress against action plan, 24-40 weeks after residential component
- 121 interviews with senior management and staff graduates, 24-40 weeks after residential component
- Enabling Ambassador cohort led follow up snapshot school survey, 24-40 weeks after residential component
- Telephone interviews with parents/carers of graduates, 24-40 weeks after residential component
- Student graduates parents/carers focus group, 24-40 weeks after residential component
- Parent forum (for any parent)
More information
For more information, please contact
Anne Wexelstein
Programme Director - School Leadership, Columba 1400
Telephone 0131 557 9320
background
Columba 1400's ongoing work with Archbishop Michael Ramsey Technology College (AMRTC) in Camberwell, London has provided a valuable opportunity to explore new approaches to developing leadership in schools.
With a free school meal entitlement of 70%, AMRTC is set in a socio-economic "tough reality". In 1999, it became the first school in the to require a full time resident police constable on staff. Since that time AMRTC has come back from HMI Special Measures to be regarded as a model of school culture with an "atmosphere of purpose". AMRTC has been pursuing its strategy of The Communiversity - a new, purpose-built compound providing a resource open to all members of the local community in the pursuit of community endeavour, entrepreneurship and well-being – all in addition to its model functions as an institution of education. The strategy to transform this school has been nurtured and developed during an annual AMRTC retreat on Skye, involving management, staff and pupils, designed and delivered by Columba 1400.