5 Ways to Create Big Change in Education
Reflections from the Salzburg Global Seminar, by Dame Alison Peacock, CEO Chartered College of Teaching and Big Change Trustee, and Fran Wilby, National Lead…
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It was great to be part of another inspiring meeting of the Big Change community. So many talented, innovative and optimistic people. Big Change backed our idea and now 50 Things to Do Before You’re Five is a national presence reaching out to over half a million families. Thank you.
Christian Bunting, Director, 50 Things To Do Before You’re Five
Now more than ever, we need young people at the heart of steering change. It’s a really exciting time to bring young people to the highest level of our decision making at Big Change.
Jaiden Corfield, Youth Associate at Big Change
Big Change continues to build our network of allies who are catalysing change globally for young people.
The Global Catalyst Learning Alliance
Hearing from and working with inspirational young people and seeing the impact created by our incredible community of changemakers is central to our mission. Our heartfelt gratitude goes to everyone who makes this possible. To the extraordinary leaders we work with; the dedicated donors, friends, and global partners from whom we learn so much; and to the young people who shape all that we do.
Your unwavering support inspires us to remain unashamedly hopeful.
The brilliant leaders from the Big Education Challenge have been working incredibly hard, and it is exciting to see their projects taking shape and creating impact.
Jonathan Harper, who runs Canteam, a project transforming school canteens into vibrant community hubs, has achieved impressive results in their first pilot programme, with 888 attendees and 258 student volunteer hours. They have also secured follow-on funding to launch additional pilot events.
The team at Force of Nature who are equipping young people to tackle climate change, have hundreds of participants in their programme ‘Becoming a Force of Nature’ ready to begin skills training. They have transitioned to a new digital community platform with a growing community of 615 members actively engaging.
Sergio Gosalvez’s Paige Connect is transforming braille writers with technology, helping blind and partially-sighted young people access learning and work opportunities. Units are being distributed to qualified teachers in the US and UK, with plans to expand further.
Huge congratulations to Jenna Maudlin, who won the Fair Education Alliance Innovation Award and the Community Choice Award for The FireFly Project which offers guidance to schools, universities and groups in the community to better support young people experiencing grief and trauma. Read about all the Challenge winners and their projects.
One of the great privileges of working at Big Change is supporting the growth of incredible leaders who dare to dream about a different kind of future for all young people. We gathered our community in October to discuss the leadership needed to create big change. Hear from Zoe McGhee and Jonathan Harper discussing the leadership we need to ensure young people thrive.
We trust in the power of individuals and communities to create lasting change, and we celebrate when leaders and projects we backed in their early stages grow in influence and impact. A great example of this is Voice 21, who we backed In 2014 to pilot an oracy education programme in a single East London school. They have scaled their work to reach 203,000 students across 852 schools in the UK, and through their advocacy and the Big Change-funded Oracy All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), they have put oracy firmly on the policy agenda.
A special mention goes to two Big Change allies and leaders who were elected to Parliament!
Josh MacAlister, MP for Whitehaven and Workington, founded Frontline, England’s largest social work charity. We backed them in 2014, and since then they have trained 2,400 social workers, impacting over 150,000 families nationwide.
Sarah Smith, MP for Hyndburn, was previously Big Change Development Director, and Programmes Director at Right to Succeed, one of our project partners, which mobilises communities and strengthens systems to support young people to succeed.
One of our foremost commitments is ensuring young people are at the core of our work, and we are grateful to members of our youth consultants who continue to guide the design of our projects. Zhahla Mohamed, a student at project partner, LIS, joined us for an internship to gather insights and strengthen intergenerational collaboration within the organisation. And we are excited to welcome two young trustees, Maryam Chowdhury and Rebecca Bassey, to our board. Both are under the age of 26, and will play a crucial role in ensuring young voices influence our work at all levels.
We continue to learn and partner with global peers. Our team and members of our community represented Big Change during the UN General Assembly week and Summit of the Future, forging partnerships and connections with global allies. The Catalyst Learning Alliance continues to share practice and scale impact between 9 catalyst organisations in 6 continents. And are thrilled that The Big Education Conversation will grow and scale through YouthXYouth, a global community of 2000 activists who will embed it in their work which spans 80 countries.
We are getting ready to launch a few very exciting projects in 2025, so keep your eyes peeled.
In the meantime, we wish you a joyful and restful festive period from all of us at Big Change!
With love, gratitude, and hope,
The Big Change Team