Forum news
Archive - December 2008
Sunday 14th December, 2008
Latest News from London
By Admin
It's that time of year again. Chestnuts roasting, sleighbells jingling...and a stocking crammed full of ELF goodness. Keep your eyes on the mince pies, and let us take you through a whirlwind tour of what's been keeping us busy into the festive season.
NESTA Workshop- Saturday 8th November
On Saturday 8th November a handful of forum members convened at NESTA to discuss youth innovation and how to make it more widespread. To get our imaginations warmed up, we kicked off by picking images and using them to explain our own understanding of what innovation is. Following on from this, a 'Room 101' task helped us to identify the barriers to achieving innovation, before a 'Dragons Den' inspired activity challenged members to design projects to harness and develop young people's innovative talents.
The conference sparked some impressive brainwaves for how the Forum could work with NESTA to create an innovation explosion among the UK’s youth. We hope to be working closely with NESTA to realise this goal, so please get in touch if you’d like to be involved in the next workshop!
Despite its lack of mouth, the red box was proving its freestyle credentials.
Chain Reaction- Saturday 17th November
OK people, we need you to cast your minds back...way back into the mists of time...You may remember that forum representatives (Huda and Nick) were invited to join a discussion entitled ‘Educating for Social Change’ at the Chain Reaction conference on 17th November.
We didn't meet Richard Branson in the end, but it was worth our while nonetheless. Using the Forum as a point of reference, we outlined methods for improving conventional attitudes to education and presented the ELF’s own unique stance on Learner Voice. Provoking debate among the attendees and meeting some like-minded people, all in all Chain reaction was another successful outing!
As Nick entered the 46th minute of his rant, Huda realised she has lost the will to live.
The Nerve: Alive and Kicking- Friday 28th November
After a long build up we’re excited to announce a big breakthrough with The Nerve magazine. On Friday 28th November a crack team (Jamie, Rebecca, Simon, Alev, Rose, Ru) was assembled for a presentation to Sinem, an expert in all things magazine related. This was a rehearsal before we pitch for actual sponsorship, to pinpoint how strong our chances are to launch The Nerve. And the conclusion was...(drumroll please)... much stronger than we thought! Sinem was enthused by the development of the magazine over recent months, and believes that with a few adjustments we should be ready to take on the top dogs. If all goes to plan 2009 should be the year of The Nerve.
A lot of members have been involved with the magazine, so thanks to everyone who’s helped out so far. We’re still recruiting writers for the project; if you’d like to be part of this drop us a line.
DCSF
On 11th December members from the London (Michael, Damien) and York (David, Emma) forums met Fiona Jordan and Chris Percey from the Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) in their colourful offices in Westminster. We discussed ways to move towards learner-led diploma reviews, one of the big campaigns we have lined up for next year. We're hoping forum members can work alongside other young people to gage how successful the first wave of diplomas has been, drawing on individual experiences to offer a unique insight. Fiona and Chris felt the forum's approach could be very worthwhile, and we hope to be working closely with the DCSF next year.
David didn't understand what was so funny until the photo was developed (on a serious note, sorry for cutting you out!).
And another thing...
A couple more updates: For those of you that didn’t have the chance to catch up with ex-forum member Matthew Ahmet at the National event, he’s just finished touring with his Shaolin brothers, who were performing their acclaimed show ‘Shaolin: Wheel of Life’. Many thanks to Matthew for his awesome contribution to the National Event, and we hope to see you again soon.
Finally we’d like to give a big shout out to Michael, who has had his application for Labour councillor for Hackney accepted: congratulations! Next stop: 10 Downing Street!
All that remains is to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!!!
Monday 8th December, 2008
Edge Learner Forum vs Inspired Youth: Xmas Mash-up
By CJ
The final event of the year saw a collaboration between North Yorkshire Learner Forum and the Doncaster Learner Forum. We were also delighted to welcome members of the Birmingham Learner Forum to the party!
The idea was to cross over what we do with Inspired Youth and put on a special event as a thankyou for working so hard for Edge this year. We reached out to the Inspired Youth Community and presented some of the best practical talent the region has known...
The World Famous Gravity Control Crew hit first with a incredible throw-down...
B-Boys Akoz, Pause, Cassix and Rik-Rok then ran individual Top Rock, Down Rock and Poppin workshops. The sessions ended in an all-crew jam with the new Edge Learner Forum superstars throwing down like the pros!
The workshops were backed by the One and only Dan Axon from Axon Audio! He was on hand to provide some scratching and MC sessions for those who wanted to buss a few rhymes...
Next up was a workshop rotation with the mighty Jim Cereal from the One Trick Pony collective. Jim was working with an original design from Forum Members Mark & Marty to create a spray stencil T-Shirt factory!
Finally for those who needed a break from the Hardcore and Spray can action, Karen Spenceley was at hand to run an Indian Head Massage workshop with demonstrations and the chance for members to kick back and relax!
The session proved that pratical talemt and positive self-expression can be just as valuable as other forms of learning. These artists haven taken their talents and built careers out of them; they are performers, teachers, creators, photographers, artists and all out inspirational people!
This was an event to remember! Thanks to all those who made it possible and thanks to the learner forum members for all your hard work and support this year!
Photos from Akoz will be uploaded soon along with vid shots from the day...
Peace
CJ