IMMERSIVE SESSIONS AND FUTURE-FOCUSED LEARNING.

Ready to dive in before the main event? The #FOEN25 festival pre-conferences take place on Thursday 13 March.

These sessions will emphasise real-world learning impact, inquiry-based dialogue, and collaborative problem-solving. Unlike traditional pre-conferences, we’re steering away from lectures and presentations. Think engaging, small-group conversations with powerful interactions.

This #FOEN25 pre-conference workshop equips school leaders and board members with tools and frameworks to foster enduring, transformative change. By blending sustainable leadership principles with entrepreneurial mindsets, you will explore approach for long-term growth, inclusive cultures, and collaborative communities.

What principles will help you to tackle challenges, drive meaningful change, and make a lasting impact? This session will immerse you in interactive exercises, case studies, and actionable templates. Walk away with powerful insights and valuable skills to reframe problems as opportunities and shift your thinking towards sustainable, entrepreneurial approaches for the future.

Speakers:

• Tim Carr, Principal/Coach, Joyful Learning Leaders
• Jeff Paulson, Ed.D, CEO, Academy for International School Heads (AISH)
• Sheena Nabholz, Deputy CEO, Academy for International School Heads (AISH)

In this session at #FOEN25, students will take the lead in a dynamic workshop on global citizenship and impactful design. Through spark talks, collaborative activities, and creative presentations, participants will explore “The School of the Future,” focusing on inclusivity and sustainability.

Join us for a student-led experience where bold ideas and real-world solutions take center stage. How will students shape the future when they collaborate across schools and cultures?

Speakers:

• WAB students
• Angie Crouch, High School Global Citizenship Coordinator, WAB.

In this session at #FOEN25, we’ll explore the power of spaces to shape teaching, learning and collaboration.

Join us as we dive into school design, exploring aspects like sustainability, flexibility, and funding, while envisioning future-ready environments. From hands-on activities and design sprints with creative materials to student-led insights, this session is about bold ideas and practical solutions. Walk through WAB’s transformative spaces to explore firsthand how innovative design inspires big ideas.

Speakers:

• Catherine Pierre-Louis, WAB Elementary School Principal
• Marina Frias-Gavidia, WAB Middle School Principal
• Guest speakers from Robarts Spaces, Studio Vapore and MAD Architects.

We are thrilled to be teaming up with ECIS to bring middle leaders an AI playground where experimentation and discovery come first.

In this hands-on, ‘pre-festival’ session at #FOEN25, we’ll explore how carefully crafted AI prompts can empower your educational leadership journey as a complement to human-centered coaching and mentoring. Partnering with ECIS, we’re creating a space for middle leaders to roll up their sleeves, ask bold questions, and gain the confidence they need to lead their schools into the future.

Speakers:

• Kam Chohan, Executive Director, ECIS.
• Kevin Crouch, Head of Educational Technology, WAB.
• Helen Morgan, Head of Leadership Development, ECIS.

In this session at #FOEN25, we are partnering with NEASC to explore the elusive evidence of impact in learning innovations.

Join us in an active workshop that explores how our pathways and innovations can lead to meaningful impacts in our communities and beyond. What are we looking for? What types of evidence can we collect and analyse? How can we use this to create even more impactful innovations in our schools?

Speakers:

• Darlene Fisher, International Accreditation Leader, NEASC
• Stephen Taylor, Director of Innovation in Learning & Teaching, WAB

This practical and experiential session will offer a conceptual lens for advancing an equity-rooted approach to SEL. We invite you to explore these concepts through a series of creative and experiential SEL activities that you can in turn use with your students and colleagues. 

Learn how to transform Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) by centering equity and identity in their practice. Through creative, hands-on activities, you will gain practical, low-prep SEL strategies to foster belonging and inclusion. You will also explore how restorative practices and systems-level approaches can advance equity in schools.

Speakers:

• Rachel George, MS Counselor, WAB.
• Nick Haisman-Smith, Executive Director and Co-Founder, The Institute for Social and Emotional Learning (IFSEL).
  MS SEL ambassadors,WAB.