Annual conference attracts more than 1,000 members of staff

Unity Schools Partnership have held a hugely successful Personal Development Day at Thomas Gainsborough School.

More than 1,000 members of staff from our 25 secondary, primary and special schools attended the all-day event on Monday 6th January and took part in a fantastic 210 workshops, organised across the following themes: 

  • Teaching, learning, inclusion and evidence
  • STEM
  • Career development 
  • Leadership 
  • Social and emotional learning 
  • Results+ 
  • HR+

Tim Coulson, Chief Executive of the Unity Schools Partnership, said: “This was a major milestone in our work with over 1,000 staff attending the trust-wide professional development day.

“We had external speakers and many from inside the trust leading over 200 sessions. There were many who contributed very substantially to the day, but particular mention to the staff at Thomas Gainsborough and to Andy Samways and his team for overseeing the event.

“The willingness to lead sessions and share expertise by our own colleagues alongside external experts was excellent

If you want to have a ‘feel’ of what it’s like to be in this organisation, the annual conference was the day to do so.”

Conference organiser, Andy Samways, Director of Research School and Teaching School said: "This was our most ambitious conference to date and it was fantastic to bring together so many staff from across the trust.

"The expertise shared in workshop presentations by staff from Unity's schools highlights what a wealth of talented and enthusiastic people we have within our organisation whilst the contributions from external organisations, local through to national, illustrates our commitment to forging effective partnerships to further develop our practices.

The programme we were able to shape enabled choice, specialisation and such a wide range of content. Thank you to all who supported the planning, preparations and implementation of such a great conference - a valuable day full of professional development opportunities sharing experiences, evidence and insights alongside the chance to meet colleagues from across the trust."