Young people at the heart

We’ve been consulting young people in Milton Keynes who will be attending one of Edge’s two new Academies, about what names they would like for the five ‘learning villages’ we are establishing for year groups. Was this going to be a hostage to fortune? What on earth will they come up with? Names of celebrities? TV programmes? But of course not. They’ve decided upon explore; discover; aspire; excel; achieve. Isn’t that wonderful!

Which reminds me, if you haven’t yet looked at what the young people in the Edge Learner Forum get up to, you really should – there’s some inspiring stuff. Some of the Forum members have just finished the second ‘Edge Instead’, this time at Lewisham College (following a very successful pilot at a London secondary school). Edge Instead is a student-led learning review process designed by the young Learner Forum members. The aim is to provide a helpful snapshot of how the institution is doing in the eyes of students, help the college ‘from within’ by training up a team of students to act as the review team, and produce practical suggestions for the institution to consider taking forward. As well of the many benefits to the schools and colleges, student reviewers also gain important life skills including professionalism, confidence, team work and presentation – something that is at the heart of Edge’s vision for education.

And finally, still on the subject of inspiring young people, I had a catch-up meeting this week with the wonderful Susan Piers Mantell from Learning to Lead Just like the Learner Forums, students are empowered to get involved in their school community, to identify what they care about and then to act upon it. Each student is provided with training to enable them to work collaboratively towards what they want to achieve within their school. Schools that have been running the scheme for a while have noticed significant improvements – not only in the areas the students pick to (such as sustainability; school environment and healthy eating) but also the confidence and maturity of the students and their relationships with staff. It’s proving to be a great success.

All this serves to reinforce my sincere belief that given the right support young people really do have the ability to transform their own education, and play their part in the revolution