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2007 Education Show
If the Isle of Wight Council had not had a stand at the 2007 Education Show, NEC, in Birmingham would it have mattered?
Yes it would!
There were over 16,740 visitors to the show and so hundreds of people would not now be back in their local environments telling others about the exemplar practice on the Isle of Wight.
The impact that we had on the visitors to our stand may only be fully realised during the next few months as we receive follow up contacts but what we can state, without fear of contradiction, is that visitors and other exhibitors knew we were there!
Issues raised Many issues arose in discussion but these were the key ones: - Recruitment - visitors left wanting to work with us on the Island
- Extended Services in and around schools – visitors found our process (schools working in small clusters and ‘pooling’ their own budgets first) simple and effective
- Consultation – our techniques were considered innovative particularly the Big Day Out
- Voluntary and Community Sector – visitors were not only impressed by their involvement but that they were there!
- Vulnerable youngsters and those with Special Educational Needs – using activities such as Carnival and Rock Challenge as vehicles were greeted with a great deal of interest because of the creative potential. Also, the Substance Misuse Service good practice examples were of great interest and visitors were amazed at how it linked in with Extended Schools ‘swift and easy referral to specialised services’. They felt it was best placed in reaching out to communities in this way
- Adult learning and Family Learning – Carnival was an impressive vehicle for learning and gaining qualifications. Also the Family Learning resources (particularly the packs of cards) overwhelmed visitors – simple but effective tools to communicate messages and encourage parents and carers to feel involved
Contacts made This list is by no means exhaustive but the team have tried to provide examples of the contacts that we made during the three days.
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| | International links have been made | - Iceland – 74 teachers prioritise this show and fly down each year to gather innovative ideas and we did not disappoint them
- Morocco – 2 teachers wept with gratitude when we provided them with a copy of the ‘Carnival Island’ publication
- Germany – a teacher (ex Carisbrooke High School teacher) in a forces school “What a delightful surprise to see the Isle of Wight Council promoting its exemplar practice. I got sick of being told that nothing we did was good enough. Well done!”
- Nigeria – Mrs. Linda Odihi is establishing a new school for 300 pupils and we were able to furnish her with a wealth of resources and ideas. We have offered continued support via e mail
- France – University of Salou
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| | Key National organisations have been surprised and excited by what we are achieving | - QCA – “I would never have guessed this level of innovation (towards raising standards of learning) from the Isle of Wight Council”
- Nina Harrison, Head of ITN Consultancy Production Team – “the best 3 minutes of the hour long Education Show programme are those of the Isle of Wight Council”
- DfES - gratefully accepted a copy of the Carnival Island publication and said we were the first authority to think outside the box and return something of quality rather than just quantitative data
- National Foundation for Education Research (NFER) – “The Isle of Wight does not know how far ahead of the game they are with reference to the Big Day Out, Carnival, the Children and Young People’s Plan (CYPP) and Children and Young People’s Social Researchers
- Teachers Development Agency (TDA) - asked for two copies of the Carnival Island publication! The policy maker felt that it needed to be shown to two key departments – Workforce Development as well as Extended Services
- Times Educational Supplement (TES) – Jeremy Sutcliffe (editorial) now has a wealth of material to produce a celebratory article
- National Healthy Schools Programme (NHSP) Co-ordinator – “Why do we always have to wait for the Isle of Wight to produce such excellent practice before the rest of us get into gear?”
- Judy Hardigan – Chief Executive of the School Food Trust (DfES)
- OFSTED inspector – Tony Adams
- National Head teachers Conference in June – we are invited to attend and build up our stand again
- Keith Moore – Marketing Manager for the Education Show – “the success of this stand is the team’s energy and enthusiasm. The whole thing is so colourful and interactive”
- Naomi Bissell – Creative Partnerships – “The only reason our national team have a stand is because the Isle of Wight had one!”
- NST – “we must organise more school trips to the Isle of Wight!”
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| | Many UK Local Authorities (LAs), schools and Children’s Centres have now been made aware of our progress | - Warwickshire Police Authority – never heard of Rock Challenge but decided that if it was good enough for Hampshire Constabulary (they sponsor it with £50,000 a year) then it will be good enough for them!
- Birmingham – magistrate will contact Rock Challenge and request a presentation to all the Birmingham magistrates
- Frith – Head teacher
- Milton Keynes – Head teacher wanting support in developing Extended Schools
- Leicestershire – Principal of Clubs for Children
- Thurrock – Linda Pritchard, Head teacher of Warren Primary School, and Tracy Thornton – “we miss Steve Beynon and Chris Vieler-Porter and send them our regards. You are very lucky!”
- Worcestershire – Children’s Centres
- Belmont - pre school finding it difficult to access funding so going to e mail Barton Primary and Early Years centre to set up partnership link
- Eire Youth Service – very interested in Carnival and Rock Challenge
- East Preston – All Hallows just going for Performing Arts Status and really interested in Rock Challenge
- Gwent Music Service – David Powell –“Not every child can play the violin and so these are really innovative approaches (Carnival and Rock Challenge) to engaging those hard to reach vulnerable young people. I must find out more”
- Doncaster – Children’s Centres
- Northamptonshire – would like to partner with other rural village schools in the Extended Services Development because they have no current links with their own Healthy or Extended School Consultants
- Cambridgeshire – “Our Extended Schools Consultant is unimaginative. May we have a copy of your DVD to inspire him?”
- Weston -Super- Mare – took 200 ‘Making a Positive Contribution’ bookmarks (one for each of their pupils) because they thought it was such a simple but an excellent method of consultation on youth activities
- Nottinghamshire – recruitment enquiry from Special Educational Needs (SEN) teacher
- Staffordshire LA –“must have more information about visits to the Isle of Wight”
- Solihull LA – “ need to visit the Isle of Wight”
- Northamptonshire – recruitment enquiry to work as a Head teacher on the Isle of Wight
- Surrey LA – learning about our good practice and “excited by the Big Day Out (BDO) idea. It is an excellent way to engage people and shape services”. Would like to stay in touch and get support in developing Extended Schools because they want to do it well.
- Bristol – just starting to develop their Extended Schools Programme and are interested in staying in contact and finding out more good practice from the Isle of Wight
- London – want to bring a school trip to the Isle of Wight to coincide with Carnival
- Nottingham – College Students fascinated by the willow ‘wish tree’. Going to use the idea in their classrooms when they begin their teaching career in September
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Prepared by Dr Marguerite Howick, Extended Schools Consultant, on behalf of the many partners and organisations who made this event possible April 2007
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