They all support young people to thrive in life. Their interpretations of that vision vary greatly as does the work they are doing out in the world. But there are many commonalities, and these have really come to the fore over the past fortnight across a fascinating range of events.

I love attending events as an opportunity to witness our community in action - largely because I’m an insatiably curious person and enjoy nothing more than watching people’s faces light up as they talk about their passions. It’s also a core part of my role to build and nurture relationships - staying close to the people and their work to better understand how we can support their ambitions, and to spot where a connection or introduction might enable change to happen more easily and sooner. 

Over the last fortnight I found myself on an unintentional roadshow. That curiosity I mentioned means I love to say yes - and without realising, I said yes to a series of events in quick succession. I’m grateful that I did as I’ve learnt so much.

I spent time with Place Matters at their Collaborative Action Summit on Child Poverty where I particularly loved the participatory nature of the day, and the incredible range of speakers bringing context from across the globe. Despite sobering statistics (over 46% of children in Birmingham are growing up in poverty, up from 27% ten years ago) and powerful testimony from the Poverty Truth Commission, I left the day feeling hugely hopeful, with new insight and connections, and a prevailing sense that change isn’t just possible but is already happening.

I had breakfast with Rethinking Assessment and Big Education at their policy event where they shared insights from their Rethinking School programme, followed by a fascinating discussion with AQA (Assessment and Qualifications Alliance) about where there may be potential to formally recognise young people’s achievements beyond a set of exam grades. We’ve already seen others from our Big Change community, like Gesher and The New School leading the way by celebrating the breadth of their students’ successes through Learner Profiles and their own broader outcomes frameworks. It would be incredible to see approaches like these adopted by more settings and becoming the norm as we know that exam results only tell a tiny part of the story that each young person brings to the world. 

I had a full day of inspiration at the Festival of Education, and loved learning from our own panel where we continued the conversation from our recent collaborative research on “what does it really takes to lead lasting change with and for young people?”  I also loved catching up with The Difference to hear the latest on their Who’s Losing Learning campaign. Inclusion is a wide reaching issue and the interrelated challenges of attendance, exclusion and SEND all impact on learning being lost for far too many pupils. They are doing incredible work as part of a broader coalition to move lost learning from the periphery to the core of the schools’ debate by developing and promoting new policy solutions and by influencing decision makers to back evidenced-based responses.  

Finally I joined Shift at their Love and Power conference, with a room of people all dedicated to breaking the destructive cycle of young people caught up in, or at risk of crime. The day started with a fascinating conversation between Big Changer (and now MP) Josh MacAlister and Hilary Cottam, who noted that strong bonds between young people and practitioners based on relationship centred practice are essential to counteract systems which can so often feel highly transactional and hierarchical. This was the first time Shift had run a convening like this and apparently they could have filled the room four times over!

These four events covered a wide range of topics including place based change, innovation, assessment, leadership, inclusion and relationship-centred practice. And this is exactly why the breadth of our community is key - because the world young people are growing up in is messy and complicated, and for them to truly thrive, we need passionate and dedicated people who are tackling each component, and those who are exploring how these parts influence and impact each other.  And each of these events was a space where both of those things were happening. 

There were clear themes emerging across all four events: a sense of urgency to make change happen, a willingness to be transparent and vulnerable to learn from each other and allow good practice to be adapted for new contexts; and the importance of looking beyond short term policy cycles or announcements with patience, as this work takes time. There was also a clear need for strong and supportive peer networks, to celebrate the successes along the way and to hold each other up when things feel hard.  

I loved that each of these events brought together practitioners across sectors - teachers and school leaders, social workers, youth workers, funders, researchers, policy makers and more. And that at least a couple of additional Big Change community members popped up each time too! What struck me most wasn’t just the brilliance of the work, but the quiet, steady power of connection - of people showing up for each other, across roles and sectors, to make change possible. 

People often talk about silos, but it’s clear that cross sector collaboration is not only happening, it’s gaining momentum, with people increasingly coming together to drive change. As we plan our next wave of activity for our Big Change community, the question now is how we can continue to support, catalyse, and enable to move beyond discussions into action, so that together we really do spark lasting change.  

How can we ensure that these moments of convening lead to meaningful action beyond the room? How do we turn brilliant conversations into collective action for young people? I’d love to hear your ideas.

Also, if you enjoyed reading about our community, you can learn more about the incredible intergenerational group of leaders we support here.