#FestivalFridays: 2021-2022
Festival Fridays has its origins in the Education and Training Foundation’s #APConnect programme. But Festival Fridays has grown and now represents a much wider cross-sector professional learning collaboration amongst sector partners. The team at touchconsulting is excited to play its part in shaping this architecture for peer-led and peer-supported professional learning.
Festival Fridays do remain a linchpin of #APConnect Year 4 and, now, beyond. We are delighted to welcome new partners on board.
PDN is a treasure trove of resources, support and opportunities from all parts of the FE sector. Chloe Hynes from PDN will be leading on Festival Fridays and (with Mary Conway) on the #APConnect Skylarks Pathway of AP-led professional learning events (look out for the #SkylarksChoir hashtag).
JoyFE💛 was born in lockdown, a collective of practitioners engaged in the joyful remaking of education. JoyFE💛 volunteers will be providing weekly Ideas Rooms (fab video-intro from AP Marsida Horeshka) for Festival Fridays during term time.
Every Friday is different, but here are the constants:
- 9-10am Ideas Room with #JoyFE💛 (an efficient Thinking Environment space for nurturing ideas)
- 10-11am Room of Requirement (if needed – contact Chloë if you would like to use the room to try out a new CPD session, have a digital sandpit or so some writing amongst friends)
- 1- 2pm Skylark Choir (a drop in for APs currently participating in the Skylarks programme)
- 1-2.30pm Expert Workshops (including workshops from Equalities Mentoring partners #BAMEed Network, EQtraining, Women’s Leadership Network, in partnership with the ETF.) We’re limiting places to ensure small group sizes, discussions and relationship building. You’ll need to book onto the Expert Workshops.
- 2-3pm Thinking about Thinking (focus will be a new Thinking Environment component each week).
- 3-4pm ATS/ QTLS staffroom or social purpose thinking space
Please review our upcoming events via Eventbrite or the calendar below. You can also browse the sector’s crowd-sourced Matrix of Opportunities professional development Padlet.
Inspired by our #FEResearchMeet colleague Jo Fletcher-Saxon, and in partnership with JoyFE💛 we are running weekly Bowerbird Writing Rooms on Sundays at 9 – 10am.
The programme will stay fresh and responsive to demand throughout the year, pausing only at holiday times. And it’s not only on Fridays! Mindful that this is not a good day for everyone, you’ll notice that some workshops are also available on Thursday evenings 7-8.30pm (after consultation), and there is also the weekly JoyFE💛 public Ideas Room each Wednesday at 8pm. Watch out too for #APConnect #UKFEChat takeovers on Twitter, Thursdays 9pm. We are always happy for ideas and offers of involvement.
For links to drop in sessions, please check the #FestivalFridays Slack channel (if you’re on #APConnect) and ask there, or contact Sammy White via Twitter.
And finally, check out what others are saying about Festival Friday ETF workshops by scrolling through the two questions.