Learning to lead has gradually become an integral part of all that we do in school, especially influencing the ways in which our pupils contribute to the life of the school and decisions made about their learning and their behaviour.
We were a primary pilot school for Learn to Lead in 2008 and have continued ever since. Our first pupils embraced it wholeheartedly and understood it from the very beginning. At that time, key stage 2 were the main pupils involved. After a few challenges when some cohorts weren’t quite as engaged, leading to a lot of questions for us all, we now use Learning to Lead across the whole school, from year R to year 6. We no longer have a school council, as our children will tell you, they don’t need a school council as they all have a say in the life of their school”.
It is hard now to define what Learn to lead has given us except to re-emphasise that it has fundamentally helped to change our relationships as adults with our pupils and theirs with us. There have been frustrations and doubts along the way but the benefits can be seen in every class, around the school and in every pupil and adult.