A Potential Conference is a working retreat which gives a group of up to about 20 people the time and space to discuss issues about which they are passionate, and which relate to children and young people and their learning potential. Any aspect relating to maximising potential is considered, whether that is in formal education, in family life or beyond.
We do have specific areas of interest each year but we are also interested in exploring new and emerging issues and providing a forum for putting people together to discuss cutting edge ideas which resonate with the aims of the Trust.
Why do we run Potential Conferences?
Feedback from delegates attending traditional conferences over the years led us to believe that the best parts of such events are the bits between the sessions where people have the chance to find out what colleagues are doing, discuss new ideas and develop new partnerships.
A Potential Conference therefore is in essence ‘a 24-hour coffee break with dinner thrown in’ that offers participants time to exchange ideas, share current concerns and interesting developments, explore effective ways forward, make new contacts and renew existing ones. And, last but not least, it is an opportunity to recharge their batteries so that – whatever it is they do that is of benefit to children and young people with High Learning Potential and Dual and Multiple Exceptionalities – together we can do ‘more of it, better and quicker”
Venues
At present, we run events during the week in Hawkwood College in Stroud, Gloucestershire, and at the weekend in the Littlebury Hotel in Bicester, Oxfordshire.
We are looking for similar venues in the north.
What these venues have in common are their relaxed environments, friendly atmospheres and the space to share ideas and talk to others.
What we will fund
Normally, delegates are invited to attend Potential Conferences. We pay for accommodation for one night and all meals and refreshments over the twenty-four hours (events normally begin with lunch on the first day and end with lunch on the second). We do not pay for travel costs, replacement staff to cover your absence, or other incidental costs.
Format
Potential Conferences are people-led rather than agenda or programme driven, except that the event invitation states the area of discussion. By their nature, each Potential Conference is unique, and we do not know what outcomes we will achieve until the end of the second day. After an informal lunch, where delegates can renew old friendships or meet new people, we begin with introductions ask: ‘What brought you here?’
For those who like blank sheets of paper, it’s a little like a treasure hunt where the treasure is the hinterland of experience, involvements, and contacts that participants bring with them – plus their thoughts for changing the future.
We have been running Potential Conferences since 1991, and we have never sat in silence. In fact, the opposite occurs, and we have problems reminding participants to eat or even go to bed!
Outcomes
Although we have no formal expectations with regard to outcomes, once the creative juices start to flow and people realise that they are surrounded by people equally passionate about their specialist area, the ideas come thick and fast and have resulted in a range of initiatives and approaches over the years.
Where relevant, we will publicise these outcomes in the resources section of our website as inspiration for other organisations and individuals.
Past Potential Conferences
- Collaborating in the UK to support children with High Learning Potential
- Personalised learning
- Bullying of children with HLP and what to do about it
- What an assessment service for HLP children would look like
- What should government and/or school policy on HLP look like
- Provision by hands-on science centres for children with HLP
- What an on-line arts backpack for children should look
- The role of occupational therapy in helping HLP children
- SEND in the early years
- Training volunteer parents and carers to support children with HLP and their families
- How to achieve equity in education for DME children
- How European organisations supporting HLP children and their families can share experiences and work together
Becoming a Potential Conference Partner
Potential Conferences often run in collaboration with another organisation with aims similar to or overlapping with those of the Trust. Each event has a specific theme or question to be addressed, but there is no pre-determined programme limiting discussions. Whatever agenda emerges is based on the needs of participants and their current preoccupations in the field of education.
Partners provide the topic they would like the Potential Conference to cover and provide a participant list and contact details (which we will add to from our extensive network). We will do the rest, including funding the venue, organising the event and issuing invitations.