Forum news
Archive - October 2008
Monday 27th October, 2008
NEWSFLASH!
By Admin
Hey people, hope everyone's doing ok.
It is our sad duty to announce that the general forum meeting scheduled for 1st November has been CANCELLED!!! 
Things have been a little bit hectic as of late, and we feel it would be better to reschedule so that our next gathering can be better organised and have a greater impact. Our bad, and we're very, VERY sorry if this causes inconvenience.
So, the next forum meeting will now take place on SATURDAY 13th DECEMBER. They'll be a letter winging its way to you nearer to that date with details, hope to see you there!
Friday 24th October, 2008
Latest News from London
By Admin
There's been an avalanche of activity in the forum since we last caught up with you, and by the look of things we'll still be up to our necks by Christmas! Here's a quick update on what's been keeping us busy.
Re:NESTA
On November 13th a small group (Huda, Alev, Simon, Mike, Nick) represented the forum at the NESTA seminar for youth-led innovation. Through the course of the day we heard some genuinely inspiring stories, with subjects ranging from community support schemes to eco-friendly fridges! After the initial ice-breaker session we reconvened in groups to NESTA's futuristic conference rooms (think sci-fi style pods- a fittingly innovative location!), to unravel the necessary mixture required for youth-led innovation to flourish.
With the vibe of the seminar encompassing both business and social enterprise, the E.L.F.'s ethos was right at home, and had a strong influence on the trajectory of the group thinking. The Nerve and Edge Instead were particularly resonant as concrete examples of projects not only led by, but cooked up and engineered by young people. Following lunch we heard the findings from a study on the motivating factors behind inspired youth, conducted by the University of Sussex, and by the end of the seminar we had outlined a sensitive model for youth-led innovation. The sharing of experience and knowledge was ultimately fruitful for everyone involved, and we gained some genuine insight from the innovators we worked with.
Re:Ofsted
The day after our engagement with NESTA, the good people at Ofsted invited us to explore how learner engagement in school inspections could be improved. Alongside several other youth-oriented bodies we gamely interrogated every aspect of the inspection process, and with the co-operation of Ofsted proposed a number of ways the system could evolve to embrace a new attitude towards learners. The Edge Instead program was received with much enthusiasm, and the forum can look forward to a long-lasting relationship with Ofsted from now on!
Columbus Event
The prestigious Columbus organisation brought together business owners and leaders at its Autumn event on October 16th, to consider the relation between individual experiences of education and achieving success in later life.
Members of the London forum (Ruvimbo, Nathan, Tom, Huda, Laverne) were in attendance, giving short presentations detailing their own experiences, motivations and aspirations for the future. A series of questions centering on youth motivation were devised as the basis for the lively round table discussions that formed the crux of the event. The evening was an ideal opportunity to demonstrate the good practice of the learner forum, and it was an enjoyable night for the members
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Columbus were kind enough to make several work experience offers, and have pledged to work alongside the forum in the future. They are in the process of producing a report summarising the conclusions of the evening.
Futurelab
We were excited to receive an invitation to a conference on Learner Voice, being hosted at Warwick university by the movers and shakers from Futurelab. Their organisation is heavily focused on achieving innovative educational practice (often through cutting edge technologies), so a handful of forum representatives jumped on the train to Coventry post-haste to tackle the burning question of how approaches to Learner Voice need to change.
A series of speeches and discussions took place throughout the day, and forum members were allocated to each to ensure we got the best overview of the conference possible! Topics of note included democratic schools, informal education, the presence of youth voice in creative partnerships, and the personalisation of Learner Voice; a lot of stuff to get our heads round but all of it very rewarding! Towards the end of the day Simon led the other members present (Huda, Michael, Ruvimbo, Nick) in a presentation of the E.L.F. and its trailblazing commitment to Learner Voice. Flagship projects Edge Instead and The Nerve were showcased to an eager audience, as were some insightful accounts of our own experiences of the forum.
Futurelab: Innovation in Education. (Illustration- Nikki Dyson).
The day was wrapped up with a fascinating lecture arguing that standard definitions of childhood and adulthood have shifted, and before we knew it we were on our way back to London with enough food for thought to last for weeks to come. Many thanks to Futurelab for providing the E.L.F. with such a fantastic platform, all in all the conference proved to be a very worthwhile exchange of ideas!
Coming Soon...
What would your reaction be if we told you the forum will be rubbing elbows with the likes of Richard Branson in the none-too-distant future? ‘Don’t drink while writing the news section’, maybe, but in fact we’re ecstatic to announce that we’ve been invited to the Chain Reaction conference on 17th November! 
A select group will be flying the forum flag at this landmark event, which aims to explore ‘how social change happens’, and pinpoint the role to be played by the E.L.F. and similar collectives in shaping the learning landscape ‘locally, nationally and globally’. We can’t wait!
All that remains to be mentioned is that the next FULL FORUM MEETING is on NOVEMBER 1st, we hope to see you there .
So, that just about wraps up all the current happenings on the London scene. If you want to know more about any of the aforementioned events, or get involved in future forum activity, please don’t hesitate to drop us a line, or if you're attending the next forum meeting just tell us then. Thanks for your attention and see you very soon!
Wednesday 8th October, 2008
The practicalities of home schooling
By CJ
North Yorkshire member Marty had been doing some research for the Learner Forum on the New Diploma options in the York area. I met up with him to talk about the results. We got talking about his experiences of learning and the decisions he had made in the past.
“My most negative experiences of learning were at school when they just throw text books at you and ask you to copy out sections. You’re always expected to find the answer in the book, thats not very creative!”
“In Design, Technology and Art the tutor let me theme my work on something I am interested in and wanted to do in the future. I’d do all my work on designs for cars. They gave me a choice and it made me want to do more work. I looked forward to the homework!”
“I stopped going to school when I was 14 and had home-schooling. I’d pick up a folder of work on a Monday and hand it in on Friday. I could work at my own pace, like I was self taught. I seemed to learn a lot more this way.”
Have your experiences of learning in this way effected the decisions you have made about your future?
“The biggest decision I had to make was whether I should go to college to do the subject I’d always wanted to do, motor mechanics, or to carry on working in a warehouse. I chose to work. It was something I could do, I was working at my own pace, teaching myself as I went along and learning from mistakes.”
If there was a chance of going to college now, would you be interested?
“Yes! When I looked into it I was surprised at the amount of different Diplomas you can do now, it looks really interesting?
If you could make one change to the education system what would it be?
“I think there should be more done on communication. Tutors should make time to speak to people on a level. People should have more respect for teachers and teachers should try to communicate better with people. They’d learn more as they would be working together to sort out problems.”
Friday 3rd October, 2008
Growth of a Movement
By CJ
As the Edge Learner Forum movement grows and gets stronger we take the opportunity to look over the last 32 months worth of work in York & North Yorkshire.
Click the links and watch us grow!
Vol 1: The World of Learning Is Changing - Feb 2006
Vol 2: Edging Towards Practical Perfection - April 2006
Vol 3: Sharing Stories of Learning - May 2006
Vol 4: Reaching the Nation - July 2006
Vol 5: Not The Usual Voices - Sept 2006
Vol 6: Recognise Talent? - Dec 2006
Vol 7: Voice of the Forum - Summer 2007
Vol 8: Live and Loud, Loud and Direct, Direct and Authentic - Summer 2008
Wednesday 1st October, 2008
Latest News from Doncaster
By Admin
National Event Feedback
Dave and his team have been constructing an evaluation form to give forum members the chance to express their thoughts on the National Event on the 1st September. This evaluation will also give them insight into what they took from the event and what they can do next as a result of what was said.
Website
As well as this a number of focus groups have taken place, exploring new creative ways to contribute to the website throughalternative forms of media.
Wednesday 1st October, 2008
Latest News from Cumbria
By Admin
Diplomas for Real Conference Cumbria forum members will be working alongside key people from the Brathay Hall Trust at the Diplomas for Real Conference on 7th October. The forum will be showcasing our involvement with the diplomas through the DVD and related projects. Together with Brathay we'll be discussing some of the core ideas surrounding the new qualification, as well as engaging with the practicalities of actually studying for a diploma.
School option evenings It's not all conferences; we're getting back to grass roots where it really counts! Co-operating with local schools, we're hoping to represent Edge at year 9 options evenings. We've sent letters out to schools, asking to set up stands at these events to discuss alternative, practical learning pathways.
London Skills Festival Skills London 2008 is officially 'the UK's biggest careers event for 14-19 year olds' – and the Cumbria forum is gonna be there . Between the 20th and 22nd of November six of our dedicated learners will be providing info behind the UK Skills stand. They'll be spreading the word about practical learning and encouraging other young people to get involved in skills-based organisations nationally.
Wednesday 1st October, 2008
Latest News from Newcastle
By Admin
Transition Conference 09 We have started planning for the Transition conference in early 2009 ; its been slow to get off the ground as the school hasn't been taking a major lead. However, the learners are keen and with parent support we have routes to pursue.
Interviews+Assemblies We're also revving up for our teacher and year 11 interviews, through which we hope to determine the current thinking locally around practical learning and intelligence.
Alongside this a series of school assemblies are being organised, to spread the Edge message and generate recruitment.
Wednesday 1st October, 2008
Jenny, Jess and David Blunket
By Admin
Jenny and Jess from the York Forum attended the Edge Business in schools website launch on Wednesday 17th September in Leeds. Jenny and Jess met and spoke with David Blunket about the forums.
A number of the York members have enrolled into FE colleges, full time. These members had previously made the decision not to go to college due to bad experience in school. What a turn around well done guys and girls.
Wednesday 1st October, 2008
Sussex ready to welcome new members…….
By Admin
The National Event was a great opportunity to share our achievements with the other forums, and it proved to be a big confidence boost for our members. We are now taking up as many opportunities as we can to raise our profile and attract new members. This includes our members planning and running workshops for local youth awareness events and talking to the local press. As well as our poster and online game projects, we have an interest in rural issues around practical learning and have recently explored the decline in traditional building crafts and skills. We hope to continue learning more about this theme through linking up with other agencies and existing projects in Sussex.
Wednesday 1st October, 2008
Poster is ready to roll out….
By Admin
Our two sided poster which aims to share employers’ and young people’s expectations of each other in the work place is ready for distribution. The poster was researched and designed by members of the Sussex Forum and was unveiled at the recent National Event. We are now talking to work experience co-ordinators in local schools to distribute the poster and to get some user feedback.
Wednesday 1st October, 2008
Future for online game!
By Admin
Sussex forum members have been developing a concept for an interactive online game to promote practical and vocational learning and to help young people make more informed choices about their futures. We are now hoping to collaborate with participation workers and those involved with promoting work experience placements within East Sussex County Council to move this project forward. We also have expert help at hand from the young people completing an NVQ in Quality Assurance in the gaming industry at NC Soft. We met Ben, Tim, Robin, Scott and Nicky whilst researching our work experience poster project. They will be joining us at our next forum meeting in October to support us in this new and exciting project.
Wednesday 1st October, 2008
Latest News from London
By Simon
NESTA Some members from London will be attending and giving their views at a seminar commissioned by NESTA (The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts), that bring young people, youth practitioners and ‘thought leaders’ together to share experiences and examples of youth-led innovation and work out what makes a youth-led project successful, so the methods can be replicated elsewhere.
Meeting with MP
We had a meeting with Barry Sheerman MP and spoke about many possible projects we'd like to start. One of the most exciting ideas was a Youth Commission, through which him and his team would work with the learner forum to generate ideas and get feedback on some of the work he is doing.
E.L.F. members with MP Barry Sheerman
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Learner Voice
Another exciting development; we have a slot at a conference on ‘Learner Voice’ on October 23rd at Warwick University, Coventry. We will be talking about the progression of Learner Voice due to the proactiveness and great opinions of young people today.
Edge Instead Progress
Finally, as a result of our work at South Camden Community School (the Edge Instead project) we have been approached by her majesty’s school inspection organisation ‘OFSTED’ and asked to present the findings, focusing on the need for students to be more involved in the inspection process of their own schools. This is a massive breakthrough for the forum, and could potentially have a real impact on young people's engagement with their schools!