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‘The 15th Annual Wellington Heads of College Virtual Conference brought together a diverse collection of student leaders to celebrate and discuss leadership, with over 80 Head Girls and Head Boys joining from across England, France and Guernsey. This year’s theme, “Growing as a Leader”, emphasised the importance of listening and learning in order to develop leadership qualities.
The hosts for the day, Wellington’s Heads of College Rosie and Guy, introduced the importance of leadership, particularly in the testing times which we find ourselves in. Their address was followed by Dr Edward Brooks, the Executive Director of the Oxford Character Project, who illuminated the role of empathy and trust in leadership, using an insightful metaphor of the lungs to explain how effective leaders should enact change from within, breathing life into the organisation, rather than enforcing from the top. Another highlight of the day was a masterclass on public speaking by Jane Lunnon, Designate Headmistress of Alleyn’s School and past Head of Wimbledon High School, who is passionate about education as a tool for developing leaders. Jane spoke about how preparation, energy, authenticity and personally addressing the audience are key in creating a great performance when public speaking. In between the talks, students joined smaller break-out groups where they got to know each other, shared what leadership looks like in their own schools and considered how they would react to a number of different scenarios. The wide variety of activities helped students to not only learn, but also engage and develop their own leadership qualities!
Overall, the conference was a great success. This was only possible thanks to the fantastic work of Mrs Woolhouse, the Educational Conferences Manager; Mrs Bidston, the Director of Wellington’s Leadership Institute; the brilliant technical team, Sarah Hamilton and Tom Lovick; as well as the nine prefects from Wellington who each kindly volunteered to host break-out groups during the afternoon. Everyone made the most out of the virtual nature of the event, which was a fantastic way of learning how to grow as a leader with passionate leaders from a wide range of schools.’
Rosie and Guy, Heads of College
Rosie and Guy, Heads of College
