Rocking the Boat Conference 2023: Engaging and Enthusing Schools

September 13, 2023

The Henley Royal Regatta Charitable Trust invites everyone involved in youth rowing programmes, whether in clubs, schools or colleges to this free online conference (registration required) on Friday, 6 October 2023

Although the Trust is already supporting rowing programmes in around 200 schools across the country, this is only a small fraction of the more than 3,000 state-maintained schools.

We will be looking at existing initiatives in schools with higher than average rates of pupil premium/free school meals and diversifying the sports offer to help offset the challenges they face.

Collating and showing the impact and benefits of doing this well is vital to the next step of bringing new schools and headteachers along on this journey; we will explore how this can impact funding and partnerships, and how coaches can improve their delivery and increase return on investment.

Conference Programme

The day’s speakers and group sessions will include:

Proving the Impact: demonstrating the value that joining a school rowing programme has had on the life of some of the country’s most disadvantaged youngsters.
From the Horse’s Mouth: Sir Jon Coles – Meet the boss of England’s biggest academy trust: Sir Jon Coles leads the largest Academy Trust in the country, incorporating a mix of private and state schools. He seeks to provide his state school students with the same opportunities his private sector schools currently offer.
Planning for the Future: Alastair Marks, Chief Executive of British Rowing, will set out the governing body’s priorities and how the funds received this year from Sport England will be deployed to develop community rowing; he will demonstrate how working with partners will ensure the successful expansion and effective delivery of community programmes.
Learning and Insight: group discussions.
Building your Tribe: networking opportunities with like-minded individuals.

There will be four sessions across the day, with breaks mid-morning and mid-afternoon as well as an hour’s lunch break, allowing you to attend the full day’s activities and take a rest from Zoom in between. We will start at 9:30 and the day will end at 4:30pm.

Where and how much?

Join us online. Registration is required. There is no cost.

How to register

To register for the conference and to receive the Zoom link, simply click on the button below. Invite your friends and colleagues by sending them a link to this page.