art of brilliance

Brilliant schools...

art of brilliance

art of brilliance

Schools are under huge competitive pressures. Heads must deliver improved results, year on year. Teachers are being asked to raise their performance levels to superhuman proportions. The result is that pupils are being pushed harder than ever before. The consequences? The year 6 curriculum is hijacked by SATs. Years 10 & 11 become a relentless pursuit of GCSEs. Because we all understand that great results will make us happy.

But what if we’re wrong? What if happiness and positivity come first? What if it’s the happiest and most positive children that work hardest? What if it’s the most upbeat and positive kids that are most likely to engage in learning? What if happiness isn’t something that comes after the results… what if it’s built into the school curriculum? What if it’s the key to your school’s success?

Thinking aloud...

“ The ‘Brilliant’ team have been supporting our positive ethos at South Wigston High School for a few years now, working with staff, governors, students and parents.The outcome of this has been a real ‘can do’ mentality, where engagement and enthusiasm in all aspects of school life has increased. A major contributor to our Ofsted ‘outstanding’.Gary Toward (head teacher) ”

art of brilliance

We figure that schools are great at delivering curriculum. And it just so happens that we’re great at delivering inspiration. The perfect match? Our flagship workshop, ‘The Art of Being Brilliant’ has been delivered to rave reviews in businesses and schools across the world. All our workshops are based on cutting edge research into a relatively new subject of ‘positive psychology’. We’ve debunked the academia and distilled the information down to the bare essentials. The result is a series of startlingly simple workshops each of which is designed to be thought-provoking, interactive, engaging and great fun. Our aim is to instil more positive mind-sets which, in turn, lead to positive actions.

It’s important to note that ‘The Art of Being Brilliant’ isn’t about exam success. It’s about how to feel great! (Oh, and it just so happens that the by-product of feeling great is that results will accidentally go through the roof.)

Brilliant Learning

“ WOW.(Secondary Governor)”

art of brilliance

Schools are about brilliant kids, right?

We figure that brilliant kids need a brilliant support network. So our messages are for everyone, irrespective of age or academic ability. We have tailored our programmes for 3 key school stakeholders; pupils, teachers and parents.

Brilliant Kids “ The ‘art of being brilliant’ at Oakthorpe Primary School has, quite simply, made us more brilliant than we were before! We have 2%er certificates, our own sausage machine and every child is working towards filling in their own Citizenship Passport. We have big plans for how it will feature in our long term school improvement as a central part of our curriculum provision, after it helped us to secure a Good with elements of Outstanding Ofsted judgement (the first of its kind in the school’s history). Watch this space! Keith Ellis (deputy head) ”

art of brilliance

“ Very inspiring. If we could all be in the top tier our kids at school could change the world.(Primary Governor) ”

Pupils (workshops available for ages 8 to 18)

“ The positive messages conveyed to the kids today were well worth the double lesson they missed, Jack came out of school with a great attitude & a thirst for success. We really wanted to let you know how impressed we were that Jack had been given this opportunity.(Parent) ”

‘The Art of Being Brilliant’‘The Art of Being Brilliant’: short, sharp, inspirational, no-nonsense introduction to the inspirational world of positive psychology. No big words, just simple principles that will transform your life for the better. And, even more awesome than that, the benefits are felt way beyond the school gates. Content includes 2%ers, mood hoovers, choosing to be positive, impact, influence, personal responsibility... all mixed together with a huge dash of humour. A no-brainer!

art of brilliance

Pupils (workshops available for ages 8 to 18)

‘Staying Brilliant’‘Staying Brilliant’: Our hugely popular follow-up workshop covers gems such as resilience, goal setting, signature strengths, beliefs and comfort zones. You might be able to persuade us to talk about Nellie, the 4-minute rule and school reunions. Designed for lasting brilliance. Unmissable!

‘Brilliant Communication’‘Brilliant Communication’: We keep asking kids, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ What if that’s the wrong question? What if we should be asking ‘Who do you want to be when you grow up?’ If you want to pitch in at ‘extra-ordinary’ or ‘world class’ or ‘the best version of myself that I can possibly be’ then you need to know how to communicate positively. And, bearing in mind the most important person you ever speak to is yourself, we start with you and the voice inside your head, before moving on to the impact you have on others. The content is a little weird (but astonishingly impactful) and includes self-talk, meta mirroring, body language, beliefs, line of consequence and anchoring yourself into a confident state.

art of brilliance

Pupils (workshops available for ages 8 to 18)

‘Brilliant Coaching’‘Brilliant Coaching’: Experience tells us that most kids take the messages and run with them. The effect is both positive and immediate. But a few need additional support. So we also work with smaller groups or on a 1:1 basis for those kids who need an extra boost. Expect big breakthroughs.

‘Embedding Brilliance’‘Embedding Brilliance’: Bold but true - we believe this is the most radical and uplifting educational experience in the world. You choose a year group and we deliver 3 half days of ‘brilliance’.

We then challenge the kids to take the messages further and they design and deliver their own ‘Art of Being Brilliant’ package across the school and community. Empowerment and engagement in its purest form. Imagine young people from your school delivering positive messages to parents and the wider community? They ‘pass the baton’ to the next year group and the positivity continues.

It’s built into the ethos of your school. Jaw dropping!

“ We are determined to turn out the best students we can (the most highly qualified and the happiest!). The principles of The Art of Brilliance are critical to us. It is essential to be explicit about happiness with young people. The work of the ‘BRILLIANT’ delivery team has been inspirational. Don’t ask me... get in touch and ask our students. Students at our college have taken control of the message and their energy now is unbelievable.Noel Melvin, Principal View video - click here

”

art of brilliance

Not sure how to break this to you so it’s probably best to give it to you straight? Sometimes staff can be the problem! Don’t get me wrong, they’re great. But outstanding teaching requires a lot of emotional effort and staff are exhausted! They fall into the trap of counting down to half term in a ‘wishing-your-life-away’ style of thinking. Ofsted are sharpening their pencils in readiness for a surprise visit. Standards of pupil behaviour and parental support seem to be on the decline. The only things on the up are Government initiatives and number of hours worked! Outside of work there are family pressures. And society. And the traffic. Oh, and don’t forget the weather!

Good news! We have the antidote. We run twilights, INSETs, conferences and workshops for school staff. If you’re looking for a pick-me-up or an injection of energy and positivity, ‘The Art of Being Brilliant’ is for you.

Teachers and support staff

“ I just wanted to say a big thank you for refreshing my tired and de-motivated “software”. In just an hour, you managed to not only put a smile on my face, but that smile has lasted all week, and is contagious... they seem to appear everywhere I go, at work, and at home. I intend fully to keep this smile on my face against all odds, and when people ask me how I can be so positive, vibrant, and motivated, I will point them in your direction. I have two primary school age children and I am looking forward to the time when your workshops are part of the agenda for schools across the country. Your approach, although simple, and easily applied, is life changing stuff, no strike that, world changing stuff.Teacher and parent ”

art of brilliance

Experience tells us that the biggest challenge for most schools is to engage the parents. Schools are scary places for grown-ups! Teachers are called by their surname and the chairs are too small (and the toilets!). And there’s that strange school smell that takes parents back to their school days.

But engagement is crucial (it’s almost impossible to have brilliant kids if the parents aren’t engaged with the school) so how about offering them something completely different? We run evening sessions for parents so they are in on the ‘brilliant’ philosophy. And our ‘embedded brilliance’ model will fill your school hall with parents, grandparents and the local press. Guaranteed!

Parents

“ We all have the same amount of time in our lives and that when others say they don’t have time for one thing or another, they are actually talking about prioritising and making choices. As single parent of a 11 and 13 year old the anecdote about bedtime stories made total sense and summarises the point; we all have the same amount of time - it is how we choose to use the time that makes the difference.(Parent) ”

art of brilliance

We’re not a huge team. To deliver our workshops you have to tick 5 boxes (which we describe as ‘simple’ but not ‘easy’):

1. Be a world class trainer2. Be able to engage people aged 8 to 803. Be passionate about kids’ potential4. Be ever so slightly mad5. Understand and believe in the ‘Brilliant’ philosophy

Check us out at www.artofbrilliance.co.ukAlternatively, come and watch us in action? Or talk to the schools we work with (just ask and we’ll send you a contacts list).

The delivery team

Client services: Tony Seymour tony@artofbrilliance.co.uk • 07887 831837

Head of ‘Brilliant Education’: Darrell Woodman darrell@artofbrilliance.co.uk • 07540 411440

Founder and trainer: Andy Cope andy@artofbrilliance.co.uk • 07944 968896

www.artofbrilliance.co.uk

Andy Cope is a qualified teacher, author and learning junkie who is currently studying happiness, flourishing and positivity as part of a PhD thesis. His workshops were originally designed for corporate audiences. However, it soon became clear that the simple and thought-provoking messages were equally applicable to children, teachers and parents so Andy has developed a ‘Brilliant Schools’ philosophy which is growing rapidly. The ‘BRILLIANT’ team has worked with more than 200 British schools, to embed happiness, positivity, wellbeing and flourishing into the curriculum. The team has trained teachers to deliver ‘The Art of Being Brilliant’ and, in a revolutionary approach, the messages are now being delivered by children for children.

Andy Cope