Conference A time to be together

I hope this issue of Leadership Focus finds you well. If all goes according to plan (and our communications team assures me that it will), this edition should be arriving on your doormat the same week as our Annual Conference, which this year takes place from 28 to 29 April in Telford.

NAHT’s Annual Conference is always a huge highlight for me, but this year feels even more special. We have increased the capacity of the conference and, as a result, are expecting nearly twice as many delegates to attend compared with recent years. This feels apt given the significant growth in our membership numbers, and as the association’s sovereign body, I think it’s imperative that we have as many representatives as possible in attendance to help set our direction and debate the issues that affect us all. The theme of this year’s conference, which you can read more about within the pages of this magazine, is ‘Strength in Mutual Support. Power in Collective Endeavour’, and I think it really speaks to what we’re all about at NAHT, especially at this time. Ask any of our most engaged volunteers what it is they value about their involvement, and I’ll bet good money that their answer will reflect on the support they have received from fellow members during times of challenge and the sense of being part of something important. Nowhere does that resonate more powerfully than at the Annual Conference. So, if you’ve been a member for a while and have never attended our conference, please talk to your local branch about how you get to come along next year. I’m confident that if you do, you’ll return feeling energised, reinvigorated and with a sense that you’re helping us build something that matters.

Elsewhere in the pages of this magazine, you’ll find a long read exploring the current state of meal provision in schools –specifically the provision of free meals to those pupils that need them. The article is a thoughtprovoking piece touching on issues around equity, practicality and affordability, to name but a few. As ever, with matters such as these, school leaders find themselves in the difficult position of wanting to do more but being constrained by what’s available to them. With proposed changes being discussed in this area, the feature presents us with an opportunity to assess the lie of the land and take in the viewpoints of school leaders and other experts.

On a final note, I’d like to express how pleased I am to see that our incoming president Simon Kidwell has nominated Education Support to be his charity partner

Above:

Paul Gosling for the year. There’s no need for me to highlight to you the stress it is possible to feel as a school leader, and Education Support plays a huge role in supporting school staff in overcoming these challenges. NAHT and Education Support have worked in partnership for a long time, and those of you at last year’s conference will remember the fantastic address given by its CEO, Sinéad Mc Brearty. We’ll be sharing more about Education Support’s work with members over the next year, but if you or a colleague would benefit from the charity’s support now, please remember you can contact its counselling, information and support helpline by calling 0800 917 4055. Let me take this opportunity to wish you all the best with your plans for the remainder of the academic year.