School for Change Agents FAQs

1. Q: Why should I sign up for The School for Change Agents?
A: If you are someone who cares about your work but are finding yourself dancing in
stifling hierarchies that slow us down in getting the changes you know are needed,
find yourself criticised for being disruptive or negative or see what needs to change
but don’t quite know how to change it, then the School for Change Agents is for you.
The School for Change Agents builds change agency which is the power, individually
and collectively, to make a difference. It is the most widely used skill-building
programme for change in the NHS. The School will provide you with the skills,
confidence and community to make a difference in an ever-changing and evolving
environment.
You will leave the School with the power to make change in your organisation. It is
about pushing the boundaries of what is possible, mobilising others and making
change happen more quickly. The School Community will support you in your
journey of change during and after you’ve complete the School.
We are more than a school. We are a movement of 12,000 people worldwide in the
health sector building a community to create the boldest and most innovative new
ideas in health and care.
Q: When does the School for Change Agents take place?
A: During 2019, there will be live webinars on 16 May; 23 May; 6 June; 13 June; and
20 June. These are all Thursdays. The webinars will start at 3pm (UK time), and last
for one hour. In addition, each Monday a new module will be released on our e-
learning platform hosted by FutureLearn, in partnership with the NHS Leadership
Academy. You can sign up on FutureLearn here.
Q: Where does The School for Change Agents take place?
A: The School for Change Agents is completely online, which means that anyone
who has an internet connection, a headset or a phone can take part from wherever
they are.
Q: How will I learn during The School for Change Agents?
A: There will be five live weekly webinars which will involve active participation, these
will be recorded and shared with participates afterwards. There will also be weekly
modules on FutureLearn, these will use a variety of resources and activities. You are
also welcome to engage in our Twitter and Facebook communities to learn and
share with one another. The School Community will support you in your journey of
change during and after you’ve complete the School.
Every year we see groups of colleagues and friends joining the School, which we
welcome and have found provides a richer learning experience as you will be able to
apply your learning from School to your organisation as part of a team. The
curriculum has been co-produced with school alumni, making it truly focused on the
needs of health and care staff (in the widest sense), patient and citizen
leaders/activists and the challenges they face.
Q: Who takes part in The School for Change Agents?

2. School is for anyone who wants to develop the skills, confidence and community to
make a difference. The curriculum has been co-produced with school alumni, making
it truly focused on the needs of health and care staff (in the widest sense), patient
and citizen leaders/activists and the challenges they face. Many people from outside
the usual definition of health and care will be joining in, including change agents from
the police service, education, housing, local government and community activists.
Q: I’m not in the NHS, can I still join The School for Change Agents?
A: Anyone can join the School for Change Agents, from any organisation, from any
country and at any level.
While the School is produced by and designed for health and care staff working in
the NHS in England, it is open to people from across the globe. It’s the diverse
voices and experiences that help make the School community what it is, and their
involvement adds value to the NHS participants. The principles taught in School are
applicable to anyone in any sector.
Q: How much does it cost to join The School for Change Agents?
A: To participant in the School for Change Agents, it is completely free of charge.
However, should you wish to become an accredited Change Agent and gain CDP
points, there is a nominal fee of £32. We will make a number of free upgrades
available to NHS staff and patients (‘experts by experience’). Details of this will follow
in due course.
Joining the webinars
Q: How do I join the webinars?
A: The joining link for the weekly webinars will be sent out in the newsletter on the
day before the webinar. Look out for an emails on Wednesday 15 May, Wednesday
22 May, Wednesday 5 June, Wednesday 12 June, and Wednesday 19 June.
Q: What technology will the webinars use?
A: The School webinars use Webex, for which you can join on your computer or dial
in. Here is a guide to using Webex. We will also run a practice session for anyone
who would like to test joining before the first live session which will be advertised in
the newsletter.
Q: What will I need to join in with the webinars?
The School for Change Agents makes use of a lot of technology to help deliver our
programme. We appreciate that some people may not have used this technology
before, if you are experiencing any issues or have any questions, please email
england.si-horizons@nhs.net
To join the webinars with visual, you will need access to the internet via a computer,
phone or tablet which play audio or you use a telephone to dial with only audio. You
may find it preferable to have a pair of headphones/hands-free kit to listen to the
webinar.
Note: If you are joining from your work computer:

3. Different organisations will have different policies about what you are permitted to
access from your computer. Therefore you are encouraged to check prior to the start
of School that you can access the different elements of School.
Q: I’m not available on Thursday afternoons for the live webinars.
A: That’s not a problem. Each session is recorded and will be available on our
website shortly after the live session, along with the slides and transcript.
Q: Is the School for Change Agents accessible for those with disabilities?
A: We are committed to making the School for Change Agents as accessible as
possible. All of the live webinars are captioned and transcripts are available after the
live session. We are hosting our e-learning platform on FutureLearn who are striving
to achieve AA rating. If you find that any element of the course is not accessible,
please get in touch with us on england.si-horizons@nhs.net and we will do
everything that we can to help.
Making the most of your learning, and becoming a Certificated Change Agent
Q: How much time will I need for The School for Change Agents?
A: How much time you’ll need will depend on how much you’re willing to put into the
course. At the minimum, the weekly webinars each last an hour. The e-learning
modules will take approximately 1 hour to complete, however there are discussion
and reflection elements to this and you could spend hours sharing and learning with
the community if you chose to. If you’re joining with a group, you may also wish to
meet and discuss your learning together. In addition, we have a lively Facebook and
Twitter Community who you may wish to spend time sharing your learning with.
Q: How does FutureLearn work?
A: FutureLearn is an e-learning platform which many of you may be familiar with.
The School for Change Agents on FutureLearn will consist of six modules, all on
different topics with the purpose of growing your learning and giving you the time to
reflect on that learning. You will be given information in various formats and then
there will be an activity based on that information. These six modules will be
released each Monday of School, beginning 13th May.
Those participants who complete the School for Change Agents 2019 and want to
receive accreditation can do so by upgrading their FutureLearn accounts at any time
during or after completion, for a single fee of £32. This will be useful for participants
who want to evidence their completion of the School for Change Agents, for example
for Continuing Professional Development or clinical re-validation. However, if you
don’t want to receive certification, you can complete the whole course for free.
We will make a number of free upgrades available to NHS staff and patients
(‘experts by experience’). Find out more here.
Q: What’s FutureLearn and why is The School for Change Agents using it?
The School for Change Agents began as the School for Health and Care Radicals in
2014 and has continuously evolved since its creation. Those who joined us last year
for School will have been familiar with our e-learning platform, this was extremely

4. well received and enabled us to provide a more rounded learning experience for
participants.
This year, our e-learning platform will be hosted by FutureLearn, in partnership with
the NHS Leadership Academy. FutureLearn is a world renowned learning platform
which is intuitive and easy to use which enables us to maximising the opportunities
and time that you have available.
Sign up to the School for Change Agents on Future Learn here. If you have already
used FutureLearn for other courses, you will be able to use the same login details for
School.
Q: How can my colleagues and the community learn together?
You have the option to take part in the School for Change Agents either as a group
or an individual. Every year we see groups of colleagues and friends joining the
School, which we welcome and have found provides a richer learning experience as
you will be able to apply your learning from School to your organisation as part of a
team. If you are joining as a group or an individual, we would encourage you to
engage with the diverse School Community on Twitter and Facebook so that you can
share your learning, discuss with others and make connections to Change Agents all
over the world.
Q: I’m already a Certificated Change Agent. Do I need to do the process again?
A: Being a Certificated Change Agent is for life so you don’t need to become
accredited again. We have found that year upon year, many choose to complete the
School and benefit from the latest thinking in change agency and improvement.
Alumni return for a variety of reasons but know that a big part of this is the
community of Change Agents. The modules on FutureLearn offer lots of
opportunities for reflection, so it’s well worth doing.