Reflections on researchED Cymru
Why the event represents a significant step forward for professional learning in Wales
It has been clear for some time that there is a huge appetite among educators in Wales for high-quality, research-led professional learning.
With the introduction of Curriculum for Wales, that appetite is only set to grow; heads and teachers care about getting it right and to do that they know they need the best professional learning opportunities available.
So, there could not have been a better time for the researchED roadshow to roll into Wales. Last weekend, more than 350 educators from across the country attended the inaugural researchED Cymru at Cardiff High School to learn, to network and to share ideas.
Impact Wales has attended several researchED events in the past to keep up to date with the latest educational research and to further our own professional learning, so we were excited about the event coming to Wales. The aims and ethos of researchED fit in perfectly with Impact Wales’ own mission to support heads and teachers to become well informed so that they are able to deliver the best for their learners.
As we are well known for our focus on research-informed classroom strategies, the organisers invited us to deliver a session. However, we didn’t just want to speak; we wanted the event to be as successful as possible so we also agreed to become sponsors and to promote it through our social media. This enabled the event to be filmed and for the resulting videos to be released later to those who couldn’t attend.
Our session, delivered by Finola, focused on Research Informed Curriculum Redesign. It was based on the research we have studied that informs our work with schools as well as the work we have done in schools from which we have already seen an impact.
School improvement is integral to Impact Wales’ mission – after all, it’s in our name – but we don’t want to be leading educators in their decision-making process. Rather, we want to be enabling and empowering heads and teachers to make those important decisions themselves, and we saw plenty of evidence of that philosophy at researchED Cymru.
Overall, it proved to be a phenomenal day of professional learning. It was so powerful to see heads, teachers, academics and researchers all coming together in the same space to share knowledge and ideas. Their passion and enthusiasm were infectious. They took the opportunity and ran with it.
The sessions were full of the sort of high quality, well researched, well presented and practical strategies, tools, thoughts and concepts that could be the catalyst for real change in Wales’ schools. It was particularly inspiring to hear from teachers from across the country who have already been trialing and developing successful research-informed strategies in their own classrooms.
We strongly feel that researchED Cymru represents a significant step forward for the way in which teachers in Wales access professional learning. We are already looking forward to two similar events BrewED Cymru and Swansea ED, planned for April 25th and June 27th respectively.
This polite revolution of high quality, research-informed professional learning has reached Wales. Let’s build on its success together.
A Little More About Us
Who are we? - We are Finola & Jane, Literacy & Numeracy specialists, with 35+ years of teaching, training & leadership experience between us.
What's our experience? - We have both worked for Welsh Government supporting schools & senior leaders across Wales. We have held senior leadership posts, delivered support to strategic education advisers, both hold school governor posts and have published curriculum support guidance with Oxford University Press...but if you need to know more visit our website for testimonials from schools we've worked with.
Why should you book our support? - Put simply, because we believe in impact. We do exactly what our name suggests. Our workshop keeps things simple and ensures school actions really work. Our focus is always on delivering measurable impact for pupils
Email: enquiries@impact.wales
Website: www.impact.wales
Location: Caerphilly, UK
Phone: 029 2167 9140
Facebook: facebook.com/impactwales123
Twitter: @ImpactWales