Culham St Gabriel’s Leadership Programme from a Primary Perspective

I applied for Culham St Gabriel’s Leadership Programme because I wanted to expand the way I think about RE. I was also interested to see how far I would be able to apply any new insights, ideas or actions to my own school context. Additionally my own future was in the back of my mind. It is always good to have options and think about different pathways, would I want to change schools, Key Stages, or even career, such as to move towards advisory work?

I worked with a mentor, Gillian Georgiou. She was absolutely fantastic. She was patient, reassuring, intelligent and always knew the right way to support me. I found our sessions consistent and fruitful, and I always left the discussions feeling like I’d learnt more, as well as generating even more questions. For me this was an important part of the process.

As part of the Leadership Programme I took two Teach:RE modules. There was quite a lot of choice in modules and I chose topics that I was interested in and would be useful to expand my understanding of. It is hard for teachers to find the time to study and research, and this was another important part of the programme for me.

Thanks to my mentor’s advice and guidance, I was able to balance the demands of the programme. This included continuing to be the best teacher I can be at school, as well as meeting with my mentor to discuss my progress and working on the assignments in a productive way. I was able to balance these competing demands in a reasonable way because we set deadlines and I stuck to them. It is amazing to look back at the year and what I achieved in this time, alongside my usual work as a classroom teacher.

To anyone thinking of applying for the Leadership Programme, Primary or Secondary, I would say that it’s a great opportunity to develop your understanding of the subject. It also gives you the chance to focus on something that takes your interest and develop towards a particular expertise. Through my research for the course I have found the shift to Religion and Worldviews helpful in my thinking as a classroom teacher, it has helped me to guide my thought process with a curriculum from early years through to KS2. This is one way the programme and Teach:RE courses have been extremely useful.

As part of my final module I produced speeches for different audiences. While I often feel that I express myself best in writing, I wanted to challenge myself in speaking my ideas rather than writing. I wanted to consider how I would say my ideas in conversation with others, where perhaps there is little time to think and process. Writing allows you to check and proofread whereas I think a speech can express thoughts more honestly.

Download Naila’s speeches here

Find out about the Leadership Programme here