The Deeper Learning UK 2025 Conference in Aberdeen this June brought together 50 senior education leaders from across the UK and beyond to connect, reflect, and strengthen our growing community dedicated to transforming education. This year’s conference was hosted by our brilliant colleagues and Deeper Learning UK (DLUK) co-founders, The Wood Foundation, an organisation that shares many of Edge’s aims. Inspired by our work in the North East of England, The Wood Foundation launched Excelerate in 2019 – a community-connected initiative supporting local schools to develop practices including oracy and Project-Based Learning (PBL). Through Excelerate, they now work across north east Scotland with 19 secondary schools in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Angus. The Wood Foundation is living proof of the incredible change I promised last year’s conference we could achieve over the years ahead.
This year’s conference attendees were invited to several Excelerate partner schools to see their creative, real-world approaches at first-hand. Professor Dame Alison Peacock, Edge Trustee and CEO of the Chartered College of Teaching, visited Banff Academy. She said, “We were warmly welcomed by students, with Headteacher Alan Horberry describing the school’s rapid improvement journey as one that places student wellbeing at its centre. I was impressed by the senior team’s courage in pursuing this agenda.” Banff Academy introduced daily ‘Squad’ meetings, inspired by XP School’s ‘Crew’ model. These sessions ensure every young person feels seen, valued and engaged. During the visit, students also shared experiences of careers education through the School Leaver Profile and showcased an interdisciplinary project, ‘From Banff to Bethlehem’, which involved connecting with young people in a conflict-affected region – something that clearly had an impact on all.
“Staff and student engagement was clear,” Dame Alison said, “Banff Academy’s academic outcomes look hugely promising, but even more importantly, attendance is high because this is somewhere that celebrates meaningful engagement.”
Lucy Supperstone, Director of Innovation and Standards at the Leadership Skills Forum, visited Bucksburn and St Machar Academies. She said, “These two schools are making great strides in PBL. Meeting the young people and educators driving this work was genuinely inspiring. A real theme was trust: leaders placing trust in staff to shape the curriculum through Project Based Learning and trust that this pedagogy will deliver results. I’m excited to explore how the Leadership Skills Forum can further support essential skills development through rich, real-world learning experiences.” The conference continued with two days of immersive workshops, networking and talks from speakers sharing their practice and unique insights into the shifting educational landscape.
Two themes stood out to me. The first was our shared purpose: despite diverse backgrounds and different contexts and aims, there was a collective drive to make education more relevant and effective for the young people we serve. This created a real sense of connection.The second was just how international DLUK has become. Though UK-based, this event highlighted the network’s growing role in a wider global movement where collaboration flows in all directions. We welcomed colleagues doing innovative work in Kazakhstan, China, Southern Australia and the Galápagos. Edge’s own Allie Bateman, who lives and works out of San Diego, flew in for the event. It was great to feel that DLUK is becoming part of a focused global network for change.
Edge, and organisations like us, have been supporting and showcasing pockets of outstanding practice for years, but, as Ollie Bray, Strategic Director at Education Scotland, made clear, a shift is occurring. Practices like PBL and oracy are no longer peripheral but central to shaping Scotland’s future curriculum. Trailblazing innovations are now driving meaningful shifts in policy. Influencing policy is vital, of course, but continuing implementation and scalability matter too. On this theme, Aimee Williams and Phil Avery, Directors of Education at Three Spires Trust and Bohunt Education Trust, delivered a standout session. They showed how to embed deeper learning not just in single schools, but across entire organisations. Respectively, their trusts have done this collaboratively – not through top-down directives but through culture change.
They shared practical tools for senior leaders: from consensus-building and professional development to novel management structures as well as clear direction when required. While Aimee and Phil are from multi-academy trusts, their message resonated just as strongly with educators from large college groups and school clusters in Scotland - their roadmap for mainstreaming these practices is adaptable. Their work reflects much of what’s happening across the DLUK network. Increasing numbers of organisations are strengthening good practice, identifying patterns, sharing learning, and building the structures needed to embed this work into their DNA.
Everyone came away from the conference inspired – by the school visits, the discussions, and by being part of something bigger
Day to day, working in education can feel isolating at times. Focusing on urgent challenges leaves little space for visionary thinking. And that’s exactly what the conference offered – space to think bigger, together. Dame Alison Peacock said, “Open-mindedness is a powerful strength amongst educators. The Deeper Learning Network offers intriguing glimpses of alternative futures, where hope can flourish.”
I couldn’t agree more.