Instilling a sense of wonder back into our schools, is the theme of the Wonder Institute of Education, which is finding new and innovative ways to engage educators and help schools across the East Riding and North Yorkshire rise up to the challenges they face. Through collaboration, understanding a school’s needs and offering truly personalised solutions, the Institute is poised to bring huge changes to the region’s educational establishments, and a sense of community and support to the people working within them.
To kick off its blueprint for change, the Institute has organised a series of already popular free breakfast and informal mini meetings, creating opportunities for local Headteachers to learn about the latest teaching techniques, network with other schools and exchange ideas. But the Institute has far bigger plans for the region. A full training programme for education professionals of all levels, from just-starting-out teachers to Heads and governance is now available.
The institute is a branch of the Wonder Learning Partnership – a school academy trust based in Pocklington, East Riding – and was formed in September 2022 to help drive school improvement across the trust’s five primary and secondary schools. It consists of a small group of passionate individuals who share a wealth of knowledge and experience, and is led by Director Chris Pearce, a successful Primary headteacher and Ofsted Inspector with experience of turning schools around.
Chris says, “Our mission and core values centre around serving the needs of schools and children. We are achieving our goals by working alongside headteachers, offering high quality, impactful training and engaging professional development. We have started by hosting events themed around effective lesson and curriculum planning, which have been well attended and well received. Then, our full training programme is available – an innovative and dynamic approach to supporting schools at reduced cost. We have six learning hubs across North Yorkshire and East Riding and will be offering four levels of year-long training courses. These will be open to any education professionals in the area and offer a support network to help them and the schools where they work to thrive.”
Rachel Wells is Headteacher at West Heslerton CE Primary School in North Yorkshire and attended one of the Institute’s first events. She said, “It was great to hear of up-to-date inspection information and real-life examples. It was especially good to ‘cross pollinate’ between authorities, academies and schools. I’ll be highly recommending future events to Headteacher colleagues.”
Chris concludes, “We really do want to instil a sense of wonder back into our schools. We want the amazing, dedicated people who have chosen to work in education to feel they are a part of something bigger, and that the tools are available to help them do their work to the very best of their ability.”
