Overview

Academi Wales is delighted that Winter School is returning to the beautiful location of Nant Gwrtheyrn for 2024.

Building on its success since 2011, this year’s programme is designed to meet the key development needs of Wales’s most senior leaders, specifically those working within the top two tiers of public and voluntary sector organisations.

Our aim for Winter School 2024 is to provide new, innovative approaches to, and the space for, public service leaders to solve real-world complex challenges. We are living in a world of complexity and systemic crises which creates challenges that can seem too big for leaders to find a way through. 

Working in collaboration with University College London and North Star Transition, we have designed a future orientated systems leadership experience to provide leaders with ways to support them in addressing their most difficult challenges. Winter School 2024 will provide an opportunity to challenge your leadership and amplify your impact.

We’re living in a world of complexity and systemic crises which creates challenges that can seem too big for leaders to find a way through. We find ourselves firefighting when we know that real sustainable change is needed. Bring your challenge to this 4-day residential Winter School and share it with other Welsh public service leaders and experts in systemic change. Imagine being able to influence the system in such a way that the challenges you are facing within your organisation, often shared by leaders in other sectors, begin to align in a way that enables you to find a way through together, emphasising the power of building connections with your peers. Winter School 2024 provides an opportunity to challenge your leadership and amplify your impact.

You will delve into the theory of why collaboration is important and explore innovative ways to collaborate. You will practice new approaches and find tools to look beyond what you can immediately see, know, and do. You will explore challenges and create new insights and connections to other parts of the system that will enable you to be forward thinking and responsive, taking action from a more collaborative perspective. Offering you the opportunity to widen your network beyond the service you work within, as well as increasing your visibility as a public sector leader.

If you would like to be a part of this dynamic learning community which offers opportunities for engagement and collaboration beyond the Winter School residential, looking at how you can embed collaboration into the future of your organisation. Please complete the application form by 22 January 2024.

To find more details, please see our detailed information.

Benefits to you

Share your challenge with other Welsh public service leaders and experts in systemic change. Imagine being able to influence the system in such a way that the challenges you are facing within your organisation, often shared by leaders in other sectors, begin to align in a way that enables you to find a way through together, emphasising the power of building connections with your peers. 

Winter School's dynamic learning community will provide you with an opportunity to:

• Develop your understanding of how to be a more collaborative cross-sector leader at a systemic level
• Share your challenge, develop your thinking, explore models and practical approaches to support you in influencing the system around you
• Enhance your knowledge and expertise of complex systems challenges and the Welsh public sector ecosystem
• Strengthen your public sector peer network, enabling you to collaborate and break down silos across the public sector
• Ultimately be inspired to achieve measurable improvements in public service delivery

Thoughts from delegates of Winter School 2023 were:

Leadership behaviours

This learning programme will help you to develop your leadership behaviours in the following areas:

Target audience

Winter School has been specifically developed for the top two levels of senior leadership from across the public and voluntary sector in Wales (for example, senior civil servants, chief executives, executive directors or equivalent).

Cost

Limited places for Winter School 2024 are available and the fee of £600 + VAT includes all learning and development provision, single occupancy on-site accommodation and full board. Successful candidates will receive full joining instructions once they have accepted their place.

Your travel costs will not be met by the programme.

Please note that should you be awarded and accept a place at Winter School and then withdraw from the programme, your organisation may be required to pay an administration charge.

Bursaries

We are offering a limited number of bursaries of up to 100% towards the delegate cost of Winter School 2024. We encourage applications from underrepresented, minoritised, and disadvantaged groups and/or where employing organisations have limited funds.

To apply for a bursary

Please provide evidence that you meet the eligibility (50 to 100 words). Your response needs to align to the criteria below:

• You are part of an underrepresented, minoritised, or disadvantaged group within your organisation, and/or your organisation has limited funds.
• The size of your organisation.
• The value of the bursary you are applying for.

How to apply

Academi Wales equips public service leaders with the skills, knowledge, and networks to solve today’s most complex problems. Alongside the skills and knowledge we hope this course will give you, we are keen to emphasise the power of building connections with your peers in the room.  

There are limited places available for this event which will be offered through a competitive selection process with delegates selected from across the public sector to enable a wide range of viewpoints in the room and to support you in strengthening your professional networks. Places will be awarded to those applicants who bring a systemic complex challenge for participating in the Winter School and can evidence their return on investment.

Demonstrating return on investment has never been more important than in today’s climate. Return on investment is not simply about financial gain. It's the sustainable impact of the learning for both you and your organisation and how this links to services provided for the people of Wales. It is particularly relevant for those who are working through challenging times and seeking to make significant improvements to their organisational outcomes at a systemic level.

To apply for a place you will need to complete the online application form sharing your complex systemic challenge by 22 January 2024.

Please hold the dates in your calendar until we confirm the outcome of your application.

More information

To find more details, please see our detailed information.