Top tips for student leaders

These Top Tips for Student Leaders were developed by Bulwell partnership and used as discussion points during student leaders’ training sessions.

‘Theory of Change’ is an approach to planning and evaluation that can help schools to maximise the chance of a residential achieving its hoped-for long-term aims. Several of the Learning Away partnerships used this approach to enable young people to participate in the development and delivery of residentials. Read more about this approach and how the Learning Away partnerships used it here.

A wide range of ‘generic’ templates, tick lists and sample documents have been created using source material gathered from all of the Learning Away partnership schools.

Below are those templates particularly relevant to student leadership through residentials.

Bulwell Academy’s student leadership application form

Bulwell Academy’s student leader recruitment poster

Parental permission form

Brilliant residentials: kit list

Risk benefit assessment – sample and template

Top tips for managing student leaders on residentials

Example assessment structure to use with student leaders on residentials

Example progression chart: student leadership from Reception to Year 11

Evaluation cycle for student leaders – sample

The Centre for the Use of Research and Evidence in Education (CUREE) prepared a series of evaluation reports for the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, focusing on key, identified impacts of high-quality residential experiences. Hypothesis 7 suggests that “high-quality residential learning programmes can offer rich opportunities for student leadership, co-design and facilitation of learning that can be extended and sustained back in school to positive effect”. Read their report, collecting together evidence from the first two years of Learning Away activity, here.

The Bulwell EAZ Learning Away Partnership is a group of seven schools in the North of Nottingham. The schools have developed a progressive range of low-cost residential experiences in a strong partnership with their local outdoor education service, and developing leadership skills in both primary and secondary students is a major focus of their work. Find out more on their partnership pages, here.

Calderglen High School, formed in 2008 from a merger of two previous schools, is working closely with its feeder primary schools and a neighbouring school which caters for children and young people with special needs. Student leadership is a major focus of the work, and the schools have developed a programme of residentials to develop study skills (bringing students together vertically around key curriculum areas) and to support primary to secondary transition. Find out more on their partnership pages, here.

Scroll down for a wide range of case studies related to student leadership.