Walsall EBP - Achieving Success Together

Partnership News - Autumn 2002 - Issue 12

The Biggest and Best Yet!!!

The last few months have been extremely hectic for Walsall EBP with an unprecedented level of activity. Some of the major highlights are detailed below.

Partnership News

Since the first edition of Partnership News was published in 1996, it has established a reputation as one of the best EBP newsletters around. This bumper edition is the largest produced so far and the first to have full colour pictures throughout.

Our current range of programmes is so extensive that even though we have increased the size of Partnership News we have only been able to fit in a small selection of the activities that the Walsall EBP team members are currently involved with.

Employer Conference 2002

This edition includes details about the largest and most successful Employer Conference that Walsall EBP has organised together with details about the many awards that were presented to students, schools and employers.

Performance 2001/2002

This was the most successful performance year yet for Walsall EBP. Some of the outstanding performances were:

- Actively involved with over 1400 local companies
- Links with 100% of secondary schools and over 80% of primary schools
- Over 3,350 young people placed on work experience
- 75 teachers completed 5 day placements
- 700 practice interviews completed

Employer Conference 2002, Achieving Success Together.

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:

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:

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:

A Note For Your Diaries!

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

Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.

The term STEM is increasingly used to describe activities relating to Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths and because of the continued importance of engineering / manufacturing / technology to our local economy these forn an integral part of Walsall EBP's work. The following stories illustrate some of the ways in which Walsall EBP is actively addressing the STEM agenda.

Engineering Roadshow

The latest one day Engineering Roadshow was recently held at Joseph Leckie Community Technology College and was opened by Phil Lloyd, Network Operations Manager, Black Country TransCo. The event was supported by:

- Carver & Co (Engineers) Ltd
- Parker Hannifin plc
- Performance Through People
- South Staffordshire Water plc
- TransCo, West Midlands
- University of Wolverhampton
- Walsall College of Arts and Technology

The response from the pupils to the various problem-solving scenarios was extremely positive.

WISE Vehicle

It is pleasing to note that Julie Holmes, whose interest in technology was aroused at the first ever Engineering Roadshow, at Willenhall Comprehensive School, has just completed her training as a technology teacher and has accepted a post in a Walsall School. Julie recently found time to assist Walsall EBP with the latest visit of a Women Into Science and Engineering vehicle where she was able to work with groups of girls from Walsall Schools.

'Bridging the Basin' Final

Starting in November 2001, 10 primary schools from each of the Black Country boroughs - Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton - completed bridge design and building workshops in their own schools. The activity, facilitated by the Architecture Workshop Association, involves the practical application of mathematical concepts (number, angles, triangles etc) in a genuine problem-solving situation.

Following a judging process the teams with the best ideas and bridge structures were invited to compete in the Black Country final at the New Art Gallery Walsall on Wednesday 19 June 2002.

The four Black Country schools who contested the final were:

- Lutley Primary School (Dudley)
- St Hubert's Catholic Primary School (Sandwell)
- King Charles Primary School (Walsall)
- Wood End Primary School (Wolverhampton)

Following a frenetic period of discussing, designing and building the quality of the bridges produced was outstanding, making the judges' job extremely difficult.

The eventual winners were King Charles Primary School from Walsall who were presented with the Nigel Frost Memorial Trophy by Black Country LSC Council member Sue Davies, who is also Vice Chair of Advantage West Midlands.

It has now been decided that "Bridging the Basin" will be an annual Black Country event.

STEM-focused placements

Many of the Teacher Professional Development Placements arranged by Walsall EBP for local teachers are focused on STEM related activities. The photograph opposite shows a Walsall teacher visiting Kepston Ltd, Aldridge, a small engineering company, as part of a five day placement activity.

Employer Mentoring

Walsall EBP's employer mentoring programme, which is targeted at students who are capable of achieving 5 A* - C grade GCSEs but who are currently under-performing, has recently been expanded to meet the demand from schools. The mentors are recruited from local organisations and following training agree to meet with a year 11 student every two to three weeks to discuss progress. The response from employers has been excellent and 35 new mentors have been trained and are now working in schools.

Walsall EBP has recently been awarded Approved Provider status by the National Mentoring Network for the quality and management of its mentoring programme. This is a new award sponsored by DfES, and Walsall EBP is one of the first organisations in the country to receive it.

Post-16 Options Theatre Presentation

Year 11 students in 14 Walsall secondary schools had the opportunity to watch a Performance by Impact Theatre, thanks to Walsall EBP. Impact Theatre use drama to present information about the range of Post-16 career options in an entertaining and participative way which reinforces what has been covered in the schools' careers education programme. A Careers Personal Advisor from Prospects Connexions was available after each performance to deal with specific queries and to follow-up interest in particular routes.

The 45 minute presentations covered:

- Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA)
- A/S and A Levels
- Vocational Courses available in schools
- Work-based Training
- NVQs
- Jobs
- Modern Apprenticeships
- Further and Higher Education

The interest, response and feedback from the students in all of the schools has been extremely positive.

Technology Tree

The Engineering Employers' Federation support this project and it offers primary school teachers the opportunity to spend time in a company developing a technology-based project for their pupils to work on. In many cases groups of pupils then visit the company as part of their project and once it has been completed the pupils make a presentation of their results to representatives from the company.

Walsall EBP has again this year extended the Technology Tree projects into KS3 (first three years of secondary education) and the results have been extremely successful. The project areas covered have included construction, leather, heavy engineering, castings, distribution, plastics, motor components and aerospace.

An interesting spin-off from this year's projects has been the opportunity for students from one of the secondary schools involved to produce their own castings.

Walsall Football Club Activity Booklet

This activity booklet, for use with year 6 pupils, has been produced by a group of Walsall teachers on a Holiday Bursary placement at Walsall Football Club. The booklets will be used by groups of youngsters when they take part in Community Activities organised by Walsall Football Club at Bescot Stadium.

- The teachers involved were:
- Clare Green, Bloxwich CE Primary
- Jennie Westley, Dorothy Purcell Junior
- Leonore Hayles, Dorothy Purcell Junior
- Natalie Butler, Dorothy Purcell Junior
- Neil McDerment, Dorothy Purcell Junior
- Tina Prachett, King Charles Primary

'Maths@Work'

Primary school pupils from across Walsall have recently been visiting local companies to see how maths is used in the workplace. Their teachers will already have spent time at the company developing worksheets for them to complete. The information and data collected is then used as the basis of future lessons back at school.

Information Update

Specialist School Status

The DfES is encouraging more and more secondary schools to apply for specialist school status and to develop their own distinctive character and ethos. Extra funding is available to those schools who achieve specialist status and at present there are eight categories available:

- technology
- languages
- sports
- arts (visual, performing and media)
- business and enterprise
- engineering
- science
- mathematics and computing

A number of Walsall schools have successfully applied and these are:

- Joseph Leckie School : Techonolgy
- Queen Mary's High School : Languages
- Willenhall School : Sports
- Queen Mary's Grammar School : Languages
- Brownhills School : Technology (from September 2002)
- Shelfield School : Sports (from September 2002)

A number of other Walsall schools are currently applying and we will keep you informed of progress in future editions of Partnership News. For more information about the Specialist Schools Programme visit:

>> www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/specialistschools

Walsall Rotary Poster Competition

Walsall EBP recently combined with Walsall Rotary Club to promote a poster competetion, for primary school pupils, around an 'anti-litter' theme. The response was excellent with over 400 entries received by the closing date. The winners, who received prizes sponsored by Eileen Mason Photography, were:

Let's Get Reading...

Birchills CE Primary School is one of fourteen Walsall schools where each 7 year old pupil has received two free books as part of Walsall EBP's 'Let's Get Reading' initiative. Sponsorship of just £200 from a local company enables 40 pupils to be included and the scheme is targeted at those areas of the borough where book ownership is not the norm. McDonald's Restaurants sponsored the books for Birchills Primary School and, following training, volunteers from McDonald's have been making weekly visits to the school giving extra help listening to pupils read.

Student Apprenticeship Success!

As reported in the last edition of 'Partnership News' Walsall EBP has been working with other Black Country partners to develop the Student Apprenticeship programme. This offers the students a one-day per week placement with a local company, supported by a Training Provider, so that they can gain units of a relevant NVQ or similar work-based qualification.

Sally Lavender, a student at Willenhall School Sports College, worked one day a week at Green Lane Police Station in Walsall and did so well that she was offered full-time employment during the school holidays. Sally says of the experience "I've made a lot of friends and have gained confidence by working in a busy and friendly place".

If you are interested in finding out more about the Student Apprenticeshipe scheme then please contact Lorenzo Cosco at Walsall EBP on 01922 424200 or email him at :

>>lcosco@walsallebp.co.uk

Stop Press

National EBP Network Conference

It has recently been confirmed that Walsall EBP will be presenting the "Bob the Builder" workshop from the Employer Conference at the National EBP Network Conference at Stratford in November 2002.

Young Enterprise

Keith Hodson has recently announced that he is leaving his role as Development Manager for Young Enterprise in Walsall. A replacement is being sought as quickly as possible.

Occupational Tasters

The range of Occupational Tasters, for year 11 students, that have been piloted by Walsall EBP this year are set to expand following a successful bid for additional funding.

Walsall EBP is supported by the Black Country Learning and Skills Council, Advantage West Midlands and the Government's Single Regeneration Budget

© Walsall EBP 2008