WCSQM Virtual Symposium 2020

Building a new World Class future together

Out of these challenging times it is our World Class teachers and students that will lead the way into a new future.

The WCSQM Virtual Symposium will bring together leaders, staff and students from our UK and international schools to celebrate their World Class skills, qualities and characteristics, and share learning strategies and opportunities that will ensure our World Class students are ready to lead us into the new future.

When?

8th July 2020, 9.45am - 3.00pm

Where?

This is a FREE virtual event open to all accredited and prospective World Class school leaders, staff and students.

Why?

  • Students have been in isolation. They need enriching and fulfilling interaction with inspiring peers outside their local networks.
  • Staff have been in isolation. They need the benefits of celebrating with, and learning from, #worldclass colleagues beyond their school.
  • Year 11 and 13 students have been lacking opportunities to engage. Their achievements and graduation need to be awarded and celebrated. Their ambitions need to be re-focused.

What?

The day will consist of online drop-in sessions including

  • A keynote presentation and Q&A session from Professor Russell Viner, President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, on the short and long term changes we can expect in education following the Covid-19 pandemic.
  • Exhibitions, presentations and performances by #worldclass students, sharing and celebrating their #worldclass skills and competencies.
  • A live forum hosted by our Alumni Association Committee - a unique networking opportunity for World Class alumni students to support each other during these challenging times.
  • Galleries of graduation and achievement.
  • Launch of the WCSQM annual essay writing exhibition by world-renowned neuroscientist Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, who has set the question and will be judging this year’s entries.
  • A live session from the Founder and MD of BlueSky Education, the multi-award-winning leadership solution supporting organisations with professional learning, performance management, observations and monitoring, and collaborative working. This session is aimed at school leaders, followed by a Q&A session.
  • A session for maths teachers and students in Years 10-13 from MEI (Mathematics Education Innovation) designed to help teachers and students prepare for school reopening. This session will outline a range of free maths teaching and learning resources for Years 10-13 designed to engage, consolidate essential skills, and support progression. There will be a focus on Year 11s progressing to A levels, including subjects with some mathematical content, such as Psychology, Geography, and Biology, as well as A level Mathematics and Core Maths.
  • Opportunities for staff to develop their #worldclass subject specialisms.
  • Outreach sessions from post-18 providers to motivate and re-engage key stage 4 and 5 students.
  • A presentation from Sandringham School, part of the EdTech Demonstrator Programme, on World Class virtual learning.

In addition, there will be award presentations to our schools achieving re-accreditation, and students achieving individual #worldclass awards.

Who can attend?

This event is free to attend for

  • All accredited and accrediting World Class school leaders, staff and students.
  • The 2020 cohort of applicant World Class school leaders, staff and students (schools currently undertaking the WCSQM assessment process)
  • Prospective World Class schools. Schools deemed 'outstanding' by Ofsted, and/or whose students have achieved well above average progress over time are eligible to apply for World Class Quality Mark status. These prospective schools can register to attend the Symposium, subject to availability of places.

Can you contribute to the Symposium?

WCSQM welcomes contributions from the following organisations who can benefit from exposure directly to the top performing schools and highest achieving students in the UK

  • All accredited and accrediting World Class school leaders, staff and students.
  • The 2020 cohort of applicant World Class school leaders, staff and students (schools currently undertaking the WCSQM assessment process)
  • Prospective World Class schools. Schools deemed 'outstanding' by Ofsted, and/or whose students have achieved well above average progress over time are eligible to apply for World Class Quality Mark status. These prospective schools can register to attend the Symposium, subject to availability of places.
  • Universities and other post-18 institutions - lockdown restrictions have greatly impacted the outreach activities of educational and vocational institutions UK-wide. This is your opportunity to present an outreach session in a format of your choosing directly to the students of up 120+ World Class schools across the UK.
    Download the flyer for more information on hosting a session.
  • Organisations providing goods and services to the education sector - if you have a World Class product or service you would like to share with our schools and students we have a number of sponsorship packages available to help you reach your audience in a bespoke, targeted way. You can place an advert, sponsor a session, sponsor an award or even host your own session giving you the opportunity to deliver your message and raise awareness of your brand directly to an audience of up to 13,000 school staff and 125,000 students.
    Download the flyer for more information on event sponsorship opportunities.
  • Accredited and accrediting World Class schools - as part of the Symposium we will be celebrating the achievements and resilience of your staff and students in recent months. We welcome contributions from our schools and World Class students to showcase your skills and creativity. This could be, for example,
    • Works of art
    • A video featuring a dramatic piece of art / dance / music

We are flexible on what contributions from our schools could be, so if there’s something your staff / students have achieved that you want to shout about, just let us know what it is and we’ll do our best to include it. To discuss your ideas or register a contribution, email maria.georgiou@worldclass-schools.org

About our event sponsor

Our headline sponsor Tassomai is the market-leading education software used in over 500 UK schools for science, English and maths.

Using the principles of cognitive and behavioural science, Tassomai has supported hundreds of thousands of students, significantly improving outcomes at GCSE science and reinforcing core skills at Key Stage 3.

By providing school leaders with powerful insights, Tassomai can support schools’ improvement through strong implementation of impactful learning practice. Tassomai has a strong evidence base, with a proven impact on progress for all abilities, helping schools to close the attainment gap and reduce marking workload.

For the 2020/21 academic year, Tassomai is expanding to cover KS4 maths and English literature, at no additional cost to schools. WCS are invited to trial Tassomai for free for 5 weeks and benefit from a special discounted rate.

Book your place

Registration is free for all accredited, accrediting and prospective World Class schools and students.

To register for the event, or to check whether your school would be eligible to join, just drop us an email on info@worldclass-schools.org.

Contributors

  • The WCSQM Alumni Committee led by Chair Elif Karanis The WCSQM Alumni Committee, led by Chair Elif Karanis and Co-Chairs Titus Takyi-Adarkwe and Tanya Dhliwayo will lead a session for World Class students and alumni.
  • Professor Russell Viner Professor Russell Viner, President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, will give a keynote address on the changes we can expect to see in education in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
  • Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore World-renowned neuroscientist Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore will launch this year’s WCSQM essay competition.
  • Blue Sky The founder of multi-award winning BlueSky Education will deliver an engaging session for school leaders on how you can come back leading stronger.
  • St Anne’s School Choir The Symposium will feature artistic performances from a number of World Class school students, including the incredibly talented choir of St Anne's School in North London, who wowed the Britain's Got Talent judges this year with their performance of 'Shine'.
  • Mathematics Education Innovation Independent UK charity MEI (Mathematics Education Innovation) will deliver an engaging and informative session including access to free resources, to help maths teachers and students in Years 10-13 when schools re-open.
  • Dr Lisa Jardine-Wright Physics masterclass Dr Lisa Jardine-Wright will offer an interactive masterclass for teachers with STEM subject specialisms which would demonstrate the skills and fluency that students need for selective entry universities and how they can acquire them. The session would also be useful for school leaders and those involved in academic progression. Amongst her various roles, Dr Jardine-Wright is Director of Isaac Physics, an Open (FREE) Platform for Active Learning in Physics. Using Isaac teachers can set work for students to practise the skills she will demonstrate and Isaac will automatically mark the questions for the students and teachers and return to them their class report card.
  • Educake How do we support disadvantaged students with remote learning? A discussion between formative assessment experts Educake and World Class science teachers from schools including Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, on how to help disadvantaged students learn at home.
  • DAISI Know the score by DAISI Education, our #worldclass team of data analysts. Given that we know we have suffered a student learning loss during the pandemic and that our priority for autumn 2020 will be compensating for this, this is a session about what we need to know about the loss, how we find it out, and what we do about it.

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