Group 2 , Session 3 Darlington Arts Centre

This evening's session took place at Darlington Arts Centre.  Our inspirational speaker for this evening, Fiona Ellis, is an Independent Arts Consultant and the former Director of the Northern Rock Foundation.

Fiona's inspirational talk provided us with an overview of her time with the Northern Rock Foundation, as the organisation grew, her guiding vision for NRF which challenged the way in which a grant-making organisation operated and formed relationships with external stake-holders, and ultimately how she led the team during a period of uncertainty and change for all employed there.

Fiona shared with the group a number of relevant texts, thought-provoking quotations and resources, including:

John Gardner 'Renewal' McKinsey speech
'You learn not to burn up energy in anxiety. You discover how to manage your tensions, if you have any, which you do. You learn that self-pity and resentment are among the most toxic of drugs. . .

You come to understand that most people are neither for you nor against you, they are thinking about themselves. You learn that no matter how hard you try to please, some people in this world are not going to love you, a lesson that is at first troubling and then really quite relaxing. '

Group 1 - Project progress and reflection

Individuals explained to the group the current progress of their project and these were filmed by Shirley and Richard, this will form part of the documentation for the project.

Evaluation update

Liz handed fed back from the initial evaluation form to the groups and has finished her mid point evalutation.

Liz handed out a new interim evaluation questionnaire to all individuals (see attached).

Group 1 - Paul Callaghan's advice

The advice Paul shared - you have to believe in the organisation and yourself, in order to realise that you can achieve what has been set.

We can’t complain about how badly a place is being run, unless we are willing to become involved, sharing our vision in order to make it a better place for all involved.

Developing communication is the key to successful leadership. Many leaders tend to have a closed-door approach – knowing what they are doing, and should be left on their own to complete.

In talking to peers and colleagues, the less obvious suggestions for change can often be the better ones.

Not every idea will be successful – brush this off and run with another, try to take risks. Risks are generally the original ideas that corporations or organizations are scared to take, but in experience 8/10 risks have paid off, with the correct team and support structure to see things through.

Regardless of your standing within an organisation, you should never be averse to seeking advice from peers and past leaders who were once in your role previously, or a similar position. These people are invaluable when wishing to share less conventional ideas, they have been there, and they can share just a small amount of their wealth of knowledge.

Always consider what are you doing? Why are you doing it? What can you do to make it better?

Happy New Year

Hello all,
Hope you are all well and have enjoyed the holibobs.
After our sessions at Hoults Yard and Northern Stage, I arranged a coaching session with my Headteacher that linked to my Leadership Pathways course that I'm doing. We chatted about how I can encorporate the ideas and enquiry based questions from both Leadership Pathways and the Creative Leadership Programme. It was a good session and I felt that the Head took on board my ideas that would enable myself and the staff as school to really move things forward.
I've decided to focus on developing Change Teams within school that will enable successful peer mentoring, observation and support to engage staff and provide quality CPD within the school's limited budget. I have decided to pilot this method with an initial 'Starter' Change Team. It consists of myself [Senior Management team and leader of Creativity and Innovation /Y5 teacher], Our SENCO [Y3 teacher], A new teacher in Y2, and a really dynamic [but lacking in confidence] teacher in Y1. So the team consists of four of us that really represent a good spread in year groups and experiences. I've approached to team and they are all on board. We will be meeting next week to discuss ideas of how to move forward.
Kate x

Group 2 - Session 2 - small group discussions

Liz asked the group to work in 3's or 4's to share your experiences of how you feel things are going with your project, at this present moment in time.

Group 2 - session 2 - evaluation of progress so far

Evaluation questionnaires handed out by Liz Harker.

At the end of the course they’ll be asked to fill one out to see what differs in your experience.

Group 2 - Session 2 - feedback self negotiated project - so far

Group session to discuss 'self negotiated' projects so far for individuals and are they achievable?

How to balance the project, with current activities in the school, can become a challenge.

Discussion on how to take the projects forward, how to use the blog and opportunity to ask questions.

Group 2 - session 2 - discussion with Susan

Group 2 - session 2 - Susan Mulholland introduces participation at the theatre

Group 2 - Session 2 - group discussion with Erica

Question from Erica - Would the answers that you got, help to change the way you work in the future?

At Northern Stage, they try to diversify skill sets by allowing every team member to bring something fresh to the table by having full team meetings. They mix things up by allowing team members, who would very rarely work together, to team up in an activity.

Northern Stage believes that is imperative in the workplace to have a structure of leadership quality and opportunity for staff members to take roles of responsibility.

Erica has a strong ethos that the more you listen to your staff, and each other, the more likely that the entire workforce will be open to trying new things, as well as feeling comfortable enough to approach senior management, and suggesting ideas.

Erica also believes that there is a responsibility to ensure that there is constant change within a company, in order to stay fresh and inspiring. Any standing still on a companies progression, will eventually lead to being stuck behind the changing economy, leading to the eventual decay of the business. This can sometimes lead to resistance, but if you allow that team member to go at their own pace, it will allow for scope to change.

Encouragement first and foremost is the key to effective communication, which then leads to being able to approach the things, which may not necessarily be so good.

Group 2 - Session 2 - discussion in pairs

Erica asked group members to pair up, in order to take part in a little activity, where they have to ask each other two questions:

Q1) What is the greatest challenge that you are going to be facing over the next 12 months?

Q2) What do you think your greatest strength is?

Participants must share their answers with one another, then share with the group afterward, if they are comfortable with this.

The group then had to relay whether any of the answers that they got from their ‘partner’s’ were a surprise to them.

Group 2 - Session 2 - Creativity within the theatre

With each year, Northern stage endeavour to cater to the mainstream of theatregoers, but also like to push things by producing unconventional plays from book adaptations, or art installations.

They are currently running an exhibition and project with collaborative artists and writers, who depict what it is to be a northerner... in the room we worked in today.

Group 2 - Session 2 - Inspirational Leader, Erica Whyman

The first speaker of the afternoon is Inspirational Leader: Erica Whyman - Chief Executive of Northern Stage. Erica had run two very small theatres in London before coming to the Northern Stage – The Gate in Notting Hill being one.

The theatre - think of themselves as more than just a theatre with 3 auditoriums. Northern Stage is 40yrs old this year. They work very closely with the education sector and often run programmes where schools can become involved. Produce their own theatre 4 times a year, looking for funding to produce a 5^th production, working with none professional actors and writers.

50% of the shows that play in the Northern Stage are touring acts.

Erica directed this year’s main alternative of the Christmas play – Wind in The Willows.

Group 2 - Session 2 at Northern Stage, Newcastle

Today’s session (16/12/2010) takes place at The Northern Stage, Newcastle.

Through earlier problems with severe weather conditions, some members of the creative partnerships group 1 will join group 2 today.

Enquiry question - group 2

Hi all,

A really good day at Hoult's Yard - the time to think about creativity and leadership was invaluable for me as there have been so many changes in my setting recently. I especially liked Liz Harker's talk about leadership and management; it's an area I find we are rarely asked to consider and yet do all the time! The more I thought about my question, the more questions I uncovered and so I have decided upon an intermediate question, (which may stay!) as I need to discuss it all a bit more with the Deputy Head.

Enquiry Question: As the end of our Change School project approaches how can I re-define and develop my role as leader of Creativity and Enrichment in our new setting?

Any thoughts on this greatly appreciated!

Clare

(Context: SEN primary school for moderate learning difficulties and autism, a very strong focus on inclusion. 'Pathfinder school:' Has moved to a brand new school site with another mainstream primary school; the building has been built so that paired year groups are in 'pods' called zones, eg year 3 and 4 in one pod. My ASD Y3 class has Y3 and 4 mainstream next door classes. Shared (fantastic) specialist rooms, (eg Art/DT room, Cookery room, Music room, Sensory room) hall space and play areas, corridoors, though still two separate schools. My TLR role is as lead of creativity and enrichment, and has mainly focussed on managing creative partnerships enquiry and change status in the last couple of years, mainly focussed on devloping our curriculum, embedding creative practice in teaching and learning and supporting the transition to the new setting.)

Creative Leadership Programme- Group 2-Enquiry question

A really interesting day at Hoults Yard-good to be in a non-educational setting, good to talk to other professionals, good to have time to think.
Back at school, ht keen to support any line of enquiry, although the one that she is most keen for me to develop is about developing creative leadership throughout the school. In a previous school I helped to organise a faculty system for subject leadersghip. We have talked about this but see this enquiry project as an opportunity to "share" our creative leadership-it would work a bit like Tim Bailey's structure, with different people operating on different teams. My role would be to coach and support "middle" leaders towards some outcomes for their faculty, looking at leadership techniques, and also being part of one of the structures-as maybe no.4 or 5!
So as a question-
"How can creative leadership be devolved to empower more members of staff towards creative outcomes?"

Simon Ward

Group 2 - Setting the self-negotiated 'personal' Enquiry project

The discussions were in small groups of four to identify individual enquiry projects. Once the enquiry questions were written on the flip chart paper for the group... each group was encouraged to visit each different set of questions to add further comments to help individuals explore their question further.

An opportunity for Q & A's in a whole group setting - at the end of the workshop day.

Group 2 - Joanna Makepeace introduces NFM

Joanna deals primarily with Participatory Educational Projects.

She tends to move slightly more in TV and film participatory remits at this moment in time.

NFM believe that everybody should have or be given the opportunity to participate in the creative film and design worlds, where, barriers are normally set depending upon socio-economic status.

NFM work with a plethora of TV and film companies, whether they community funded schemes, or commercial outfits such as:

· Northern Star Film Academy with the Tyneside Cinema – subsidised by trusts for 15-18 year olds, working up to making a short film within 6 months to create scripts etc, then onto a weeks placement.

· Women’s film academy - shows how film academy can be used in another way. Women in situations surrounding alcohol abuse, solvent abuse. These women are trained in film skills in order to voice their creativity.

· In partnership with Northumberland Arts Forum and Northumberland County council Children, Young People and Families Unit. Working with Rueben Abraham – using flip cameras. Looking at how families are affected by their family member in prison.

· Media Box - Douglas Hunter can give advice on which route to go down if you need any further help or advice, surrounding where your project should go next, and the kind of organisations that may be of benefit to your project, cause or support.

· FILM: 21st Century Literacy strategy - using film in an educational stance. All aspects of writing, designing and filming in order to create film and documentary, surrounding school subjects on the child’s agenda – making things more emotionally accessible and enjoyable.

Funding is available for participatory projects. Contact Joanna Makepeace for further details on 0191 275 5966 or
joanna@northernmedia.org

Group 2b - Tim Bailey talks about the culture of xsite ...continued

Understanding patterns, helps with understanding projects and how they fit well together. There is always a budget to consider, however there are a range of materials and how they are arranged that makes any project dramatic.

The image shows how they used the range of patterns using black and white – when windows are added afterwards the pattern becomes part of the structure.

Research, investigating and inventing are encouraged within the company. They’ve previously explored what it would be like to combine living and work spaces in close proximity and exploring different materials.

When anyone has a block or feels like a brick wall has come up…. ‘Have a look at a real wall’ – you will see details never seen before and an opportunity to explore who, what, where, when, how and why… creating a creative cycle and little leads to somewhere else.