Walsall EBP recently held its seventh annual Employer Conference entitled ‘Achieving Success Together’, at the Education Development Centre, with Julie Cosgrove, Director of Strategy and Access, Black Country Learning and Skills Council as the guest speaker.

Sponsored by Performance Through People the event attracted a record number of employer delegates and enabled the EBP team to make a good number of follow-up contacts.

Many delegates commented favourably on the 'buzz' in the Main Hall and around the EDC and the feedback sheets confirmed just how successful the event was.

Following the formal session in the Main Hall the delegates were able to visit six Activity Showcase sessions during the morning and meet many young people who have benefited from involvement in the activities.

The activities featured were:

• "Bob the Builder" day
• Computer Aided Design
• Student Apprenticeship
• Teacher Placements
• Volunteer Reading
• Website Design Competition

As in previous years the opportunity was taken to make a number of presentations to a range of partners:

RM SuccessMaker Walsall Awards

Walsall EBP has facilitated the introduction of the SuccessMaker Integrated Learning System into the majority of Walsall secondary schools. Each school involved has received an RM SuccessMaker Award, with individual schools able to choose the criteria for their particular award. This means that the appropriate pupils can be rewarded for their effort and achievement. Melanie Parker, RM Training Manager presented awards to pupils from some of the schools.








Walsall Rotary Website Design Competition

A new competition this year organised by Walsall EBP in partnership with Walsall Rotary Club. Open to all secondary school pupils in Walsall it proved to be extremely popular with a very high standard of website design, which made the judging process quite demanding. Keith Anderson from Walsall Rotary Club presented the following awards:

Junior Section Winners - "School Life" Queen Mary's High School

Senior Section Winners - "Lacking Common Sense" Shire Oak Community School

Valued Partner Certificates

These are awarded to those companies and schools who have given significant support to Walsall EBP programmes:

• Aldridge Rotary Club
• Alumwell Infant School
• Bullock Construction
• Ductile Cold Mill Steel
• Exel Logistics
• Fuel Furnace Ltd
• InComm Training Services
• IST Ltd
• Quality Hotel & Suites
• The Design Centre
• Walsall Advertiser
• WALCAT (Construction)
• WALCAT (Leather)
• WALCAT (Marketing)

Walsall EBP School Awards

Another new award introduced this year to recognise those schools who have given tremendous support to Walsall EBP programmes in the previous 12 months. These awards were sponsored by InComm Training Services and the winners for 2002 were:

Nursery / Infant School New Invention Infant School	Primary School Harden Primary School
Secondary School Frank F Harrison Community School	Special School Mary Elliot School

Walsall EBP Employer Awards

These awards, which were introduced four years ago, are divided into four categories and awarded to organisations who have given outstanding support to Walsall EBP in the previous 12 months.
The winners for 2002 were:

Less than 10 Employees Arboretum Veterinary Clinic	10 to 49 Employees The County Hotel, Walsall
50 to 199 Employees The Fairlawns Hotel, Aldridge	Over 200 Employees Walsall Hospitals NHS Trust

A Note For Your Diaries!

The 2003 Walsall EBP Employer Conference will be held at Bescot Stadium on Tuesday 13 May 2003.