Overview: introduction to Authentic Education, and Lyfta's onboarding process
Authentic Education, comprising 13 schools—including primary, secondary, and special schools—embarked on integrating Lyfta to enrich learning opportunities for students, many of whom have limited experiences beyond their local communities.
With a focus on cultivating courage, innovation, and excellence, Authentic Education found Lyfta to be an ideal partner in helping to broaden horizons, encourage connectivity, and build cultural capital across their schools. Lyfta's onboarding process, known as the "Connect" phase, follows a structured five-step approach: Join, Learn, Plan, Set Up, and Launch.
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The Lyfta ‘Connect’ Onboarding Model |
Designed to embed Lyfta deeply into each school, this process ensured the platform was integrated effectively and aligned with Authentic Education's broader educational objectives. The collaborative partnership between Authentic Education and Lyfta's Customer Success Team was crucial in adapting the onboarding process to the trust's unique context and needs.
The Challenge: enabling effective change management for diverse school settings
The onboarding process for Authentic Education involved working with the trust’s senior leadership team and 13 distinct schools, each with its own culture, priorities, and requirements. This diversity necessitated a flexible yet structured approach to ensure Lyfta's effective adoption across primary, secondary, and special education settings. Authentic Education's leadership was determined to foster a consistent yet adaptable implementation, aligning Lyfta's use with the trust's broader goals of providing enriched learning opportunities, broadening horizons, and fostering a sense of community and connection among students.
A major focus was engaging key stakeholders—from trust leadership to classroom teachers—ensuring they were equipped and motivated to champion Lyfta's integration. Authentic Education's leadership wanted every teacher to feel confident using the platform and to understand how it could enhance learning outcomes across their schools. The approach required significant coordination across multiple levels, facilitated by Lyfta's Customer Success Team and a distributed leadership model with Trust Lyfta Leads appointed in each school.
Q&A with Nadine Lapskas, Authentic Education Principle & Designated Safeguarding Lead
Q: In broad terms, how would you describe the onboarding experience with Lyfta for your trust? A: Throughout the process of onboarding our 13 schools which include primary, special and secondary, the team were in constant communication and were always very helpful and supportive.
Q: In what ways has Lyfta helped engage your staff and teachers? A: The introduction session led by Noel and Serdar, provided our selected lead teachers with the chance to experience Lyfta as if they were pupils. This approach proved highly effective and we replicated it across all schools. As a result, teachers not only understood the technical aspects of Lyfta but also grasped its potential for developing student-led discussions and exploiting the knowledge and experience of individual teachers as they explored the Storyworlds.
Q: How did Lyfta's onboarding, integration, and implementation journey support and align with your internal processes (e.g. change management, staff onboarding, trust improvement plans, timescale planning, and setting or meeting process checkpoints)? A: Lyfta was implemented by our CEO, to encourage all pupils to experience life outside of their local area in the development of their social and cultural capital. Ours is a diverse trust with a mix of schools serving a variety of different communities. Our first planning session allowed us to discuss how best to use Lyfta to meet the differing needs of our school demographics.
Noel was highly supportive in finding lessons to match the first term objectives we’d agreed upon and assisted in their planning. Lyfta Leads have since met to make further plans for the new academic year and will meet face to face regularly to evaluate outcomes and continue to develop the role of Lyfta in our curriculum.
We have an MS Team with the Trust tenancy for the sharing of ideas, good practice and plans. Some schools use this daily, some weekly or half termly as suits. Communication between school Leads and myself as Trust Lead has been regular and effective.
Q: How has Lyfta’s onboarding process supported your trust in implementing its vision across all schools? A: As mentioned, our Trust serves diverse communities with differing needs and experiences. Building cultural and social capital is at the heart of what we do. Lyfta allows us to share a wide range of Storyworlds to engage students and to develop empathy, understanding and respect for different cultures. It is a key feature of our curriculum.
Innovation is a core value of our Trust and the Lyfta platform is a great fit. |
The approach: step-by-step onboarding phases—join, learn, plan, set up, launch
The onboarding journey for Authentic Education was designed as a comprehensive, phased approach to ensure deep and sustainable integration. The process was broken into five distinct phases: Join, Learn, Plan, Set Up, and Launch, each building the foundation for long-term success.
Join
The "Join" phase involves bringing key stakeholders into the conversation early. Lyfta worked directly with Authentic Education's leadership to appoint Trust Lyfta Leads in each school, ensuring a strong network for implementation. Early meetings with our Customer Success team, led by Wendy de Wit, served to establish alignment between Lyfta's values and the trust's vision, setting a collaborative tone from the start.
Learn
In the "Learn" phase, lead teachers participated in an immersive, hands-on experience facilitated by Senior Engagement Manager Noel Garvey. The session allowed educators to experience Lyfta as their pupils would, helping to build enthusiasm and providing them with a first-hand understanding of the platform's potential. This approach, which united staff around the purpose and impact of Lyfta, mirrored the Education Endowment Foundation's (EEF) emphasis on engaging people around the "why" of a new initiative.
Plan
During the "Plan" phase, representatives from each sector—primary, secondary, and SEN—worked collaboratively to design implementation strategies that fit their distinct contexts. The planning ensured that each school could integrate Lyfta meaningfully, aligning with their curriculum and broader trust improvement plans. This emphasis on tailoring the approach to each school's needs was critical to fostering ownership and supporting sustainable use.
Set Up
The "Set Up" phase focused on practical preparations, such as adding teachers to the platform and setting up classes. Trust Lyfta Leads worked closely with Lyfta's onboarding team to align ready-made resources with the curriculum, ensuring each school was ready for launch. This phase was key to ensuring that logistical aspects were in place for a seamless integration.
Launch
Finally, in the "Launch" phase, Lyfta was introduced into classrooms across the trust. Schools adopted Lyfta in ways that best suited their timetables—some using it daily, others weekly, or in dedicated blocks. Regular check-ins with Lyfta's Implementation and Customer Success Lead, Wendy, ensured schools remained on track and that any emerging needs were addressed. This adaptive and supportive rollout was instrumental in building confidence and consistency in Lyfta's use.
Onboarding Milestones
Milestone | Description | Key Deliverables |
Central team presentation | Meeting with Authentic’s central leadership team to outline the onboarding process and benefits. | - Presentation on Lyfta’s impact and alignment with trust goals. - Detailed discussion on implementation strategies. - Establishment of leadership buy-in and milestone targets. |
Sector planning sessions | Collaborative planning involving representatives from primary, secondary, and SEN sectors. | - Creation of tailored implementation strategies for each school sector. - Identification of curriculum connections for each school type. - Assignment of Trust Lyfta Leads to drive implementation within sectors. |
Full-day in-Person training | Face-to-face training led by Serdar and Noel in Bournemouth for all Trust Lyfta Leads. | - Experiential learning activities where Leads experienced Lyfta as pupils. - Overview of Storyworlds and practical applications. - Group discussions to determine initial curriculum integrations. |
Initial launch of Lyfta | Official introduction of Lyfta into classrooms across all schools in the trust. | - Deployment of Lyfta in various formats (daily, weekly, thematic blocks). - Setup of practical support systems and teacher accounts. - Scheduling of follow-up meetings to support rollout and monitor progress. |
Regular check-ins and support | Ongoing support from Wendy and Lyfta’s team to ensure consistent implementation and address challenges. | - Scheduled check-ins with Trust Lyfta Leads. - Use of MS Teams channel for sharing best practices and experiences. - Regular updates to ensure schools remain on track with their implementation milestones. |
Trust-wide showcase at conference | Trust-wide event highlighting the successes and early impact of Lyfta. | - Presentation by early adopter schools. - Sharing engagement metrics and success stories. - Reinforcement of trust-wide commitment to the platform. |
The Results: highlights of successful implementation
The onboarding process at Authentic Education has led to significant successes, reflected in the high levels of staff engagement and creative integration of Lyfta across the curriculum. From early on, Authentic Education demonstrated a clear commitment to embedding Lyfta meaningfully across all 13 schools, aligning the platform's use with trust-wide goals to broaden student horizons and foster cultural awareness.
Staff engagement was a key indicator of success. The immersive introduction provided by Lyfta’s Customer Success team helped to build genuine enthusiasm, with teachers across the trust feeling empowered to use Lyfta confidently. This enthusiasm translated into a collaborative and creative adoption of the platform, with teachers incorporating Lyfta into their lessons in diverse and impactful ways.
The tailored planning phase also proved essential, allowing each school sector to determine how best to use Lyfta in alignment with their specific needs and improvement plans. This flexibility ensured that Lyfta's integration was not only consistent with the trust's values but also contextually relevant and beneficial for each school.
Moreover, the ongoing support from Wendy and the collaborative community fostered among Trust Lyfta Leads through regular meetings helped maintain momentum beyond the initial launch. Positive feedback from teachers and high engagement metrics indicate that Lyfta has successfully become a valued part of the educational experience at Authentic Education.
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Lyfta's onboarding approach closely aligns with the Education Endowment Foundation's (EEF) recommendations by adopting a structured yet flexible process tailored to the unique context of each school. The phased onboarding—Join, Learn, Plan, Set Up, Launch—ensures that stakeholders are actively engaged and united around the purpose and method of implementation, while ongoing support and adaptation help sustain successful outcomes in line with EEF's guidance on continuous learning and improvement. |
Reflections from senior leadership on the success of onboarding
Nadine Lapskas, Principal and Designated Safeguarding Lead at Authentic Education, shared her thoughts on the onboarding process:
Throughout the whole process of onboarding 13 schools—primary, special, and secondary—the team have been in constant communication and very supportive. The introduction session allowed the selected lead teachers to engage as if they were pupils, experiencing Lyfta and gaining an understanding of the offering to our pupils. This was then disseminated across all schools in a similar way, ensuring teachers gained the needed know-how of the use of Lyfta.
Serdar Ferit, CEO of Lyfta, also reflected on the partnership:
Having key milestones, from our initial presentations to the central team, to the in-person engagement sessions, and the trust-wide showcase at the conference, was crucial in building momentum and ensuring effective onboarding. The engagement from Authentic Education's leadership and the multiple stakeholders involved was a key part of why this onboarding has been so successful. By embedding Lyfta as an expectation across the trust and ensuring the right people were involved from the start, we were able to create a strong foundation for impactful, long-term usage.