Fourth Northern Lights Conference Findhorn Scotland

21st - 23rd May 2010

The Northern Lights Conference was very successful and is best summarised by the following report written by Hannah Rossiter,one of the pupils from Forres Academy who was sponsored by Appreciating People.

Report on Northern Lights 2010 by HANNAH ROSSITER - Age 15.

The Northern Lights Conference was an amazing experience for me. It enlightened me : I began  to think about things differently,  with a “carefree” mind. It especially helped me calm myself before my exams.

On the first day, I knew it was definitely a new experience as the conference began with Chloe Goodchild’s singing and us seeing how to connect with people through song, not just speaking. It would be amazing to have that in Forres Academy.

Seeing how the children from Kirkhill Primary school have applied Circle Times to their curriculum, and how they use their communication skills to partner with 17 businesses such as legal firms and oil companies, was impressive. Their story of how they have worked with the community has really opened my eyes to all that we at our school have on our doorstep, businesses partnerships that we can just tap into.

Learning about systemic constellations (from the Leadership at Ralph Allen school in Bath) was extremely interesting. At first I did not understand, but when I did, I thought it was incredible that something like that can fix problems which may have been happening for a long time. It amazed me, the power of the process, that people you don’t know can feel these feelings about your story and help you gain an understanding of the whole picture.

Learning about “Moray WOWW” was great. It stands for Working On What Works, focussing descriptive praise on what students are doing well.  It would be good to get it done at Forres Academy with some classes to raise the students’ self-esteem and attainment. It would be very interesting to see what wonders could be done, and to see if it would work in a secondary school.

The Playback Theatre on Friday night was outstanding. To see people act straight away without a rehearsal was unbelievable and I feel privileged to have been able to see it.

Saturday, the second day of the conference, was full of more great workshops. We heard about Restorative Justice in schools, where people properly listen to each other to find out what they really need and don’t immediately jump to conclusions to judge a person. Maria Arpa inspired me and I feel I really connected with that workshop. I would love to get her project into school.

Listening to Beth Duff was amazing.  She spoke about how she helps people to learn using horses – it was wonderful to see that horses can connect with people the way they do. Lots more people should be told about this and should be able to see the work she has done. www.theredhorsespeaks.com

The presentation about the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was very interesting as the lawyer said that we should know it, but I don't remember being taught it.  I think all young people should definitely know about our right to express our opinion on matters pertaining to ourselves Of course, we have responsibilities too.

The Open Space workshops were great as I got to experience a full constellation workshop and then more from Maria. They were even more beneficial than the first workshops.

On the Sunday, in the morning I got to experience Taize singing which was a first for me. It was very different from what I was used to but it was inspiring to sing and be part of.

During the afternoon, the Olivier Mythodrama on Transformational Leadership was a totally new experience too. It was quite hard to take in as it was very “adult friendly” but I feel I still got something out of it.

Overall the whole conference was extremely beneficial and amazing to attend. I would love for even one thing that we experienced to happen at the school. It was a new experience for me and it was a great experience. All of it was overwhelming and I am extremely thankful for being given the opportunity to attend. 

By Hannah Rossiter.

www.northernlightsteachers.org