Many talents, many paths - I've seen the future...and it's in Ashfield!

Wednesday was Talent Matters, a day-long workshop for young people as part of Shine Week. It was a terrific day. The morning in particular was inspirational, with Darren Campbell, Levi Roots, Cath Kidston and Mark Miodownik (a materials scientist) talking about their talents and career paths. The message came over loud and clear; discover your passion, listen to other people, stick to your beliefs, have faith and use your failures to drive you on. It was great stuff and hopefully there are now 150 young people who will take the talent message out through their networks.

As ever, I was so proud of the Edge Learner Forum members who had helped organise the day and are leading the follow-through. They had even set up a small TV recording studio and soon there will be a new programme on LFTV - watch out for a special Levi Roots jingle!

Yesterday I had the opportunity to give the opening talk at the first conference run by Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) for all the schools that have applied learning as a specialism, of which I am told there are some 200. The atmosphere was almost pioneering and there were some great examples of practical and vocational learning. One of these is definitely Ashfield School in Nottinghamshire, which I had the pleasure of touring. The school has a fabulous skills centre with high quality facilities in a wide range of areas, including: textile and fashion, construction, hair and beauty, joinery, childcare and catering.

Most of these areas were actually run by businesses such as RAC for motor mechanics and Cisco for ICT. Students know they are learning about the latest practice in the real world from teachers who are experts in their occupation, working alongside apprentices and other company staff. Selected not on academic ability but on commitment and enthusiasm, they have to abide by the ‘work rules’ of that environment, to the extent that the company could ‘fire’ them if they did not pull their weight. Every child in the school takes part in some vocational learning. They and their parents know that the experience and learning will help them develop key skills and give them an advantage when it came to getting a job.

It is early days, but apparently the students and their parents are very supportive – if anything the problem is parents with highly able children wanting them to do more than one vocational option as well as a full range of academic subjects, which could not be done! This is an example of everything that Edge advocates in our Six Steps to Change Manifesto - and it is the future. What a tragedy that so much money has been spent on building tomorrow’s schools in line with yesterday’s education – and now we are running out of cash.