By Mrs Julia Oreo and Ms Michele Sharp, Secondary School Teachers

Mrs Julia Oreo and Ms Michele Sharp represented the College at the 2025 HALT Summit last week.

HALT stands for Highly Accomplished and Lead Teachers. It is a yearly conference for high-impact teachers who are nationally accredited at the Highly Accomplished or Lead Teacher level. Julia received her Highly Accomplished Teacher accreditation in 2021, and Michele, having successfully renewed the qualification twice, has held it for over ten years.

This year's conference theme was "Spark Ideas, Ignite, Impact". The Keynote speaker, Mr Louka Parry, CEO and Founder of The Learning Future, explored the changing landscape of learning and society. One great takeaway from this session was that "our capacity to learn, unlearn and relearn has always been our greatest asset".

Dr Nathaniel Swain, author of Harnessing the Science of Learning, explored how to drive meaningful change using research-informed principles aligned with the science of learning. This includes cognitive load and the practical implications of this in the classroom. Attendees left this keynote with actionable steps to empower staff and sustain transformative change.

On Friday, Mr Andrew Fuller's workshops, Converting Neurodiversity into Neuro-Advantage and Learning Strengths and Neuro-Developmental Differentiation, provided insights into the latest practice to cater for the strengths and vulnerabilities of students with neurodiversity and how to overcome learning disadvantages by broadening teaching techniques to be more inclusive and differentiated.

Another highlight of the annual summit is the Member Sharespace, where Highly Accomplished teachers have the opportunity to share their expertise in pedagogy, assessment, curriculum and practice.

The Radford College Songsters delighted attendees by performing three songs at the Summit.