Are your children having fun?

Schools ETC Award 2008

Chance for schools to win £2,000!

(£1,000 for the runner up)

Following the success of Bristol school, Hannah More Primary,which was awarded second place in the national Schools ETC Awards last year, Learning charity ContinYou is inviting all schools to enter 2008 Award 2008.  Each year it has a different theme, this  year it is Enjoy and achieve: putting the smile back into learning.                         

Show us the ‘spark’ in your activity or programme that inspires children and young people to learn; and encourages families and communities to get involved, to learn together – and to laugh! Enjoyment is something which you recognise, without necessarily being able to define it… the children running in every week because they can’t wait for the club to start; the mums, dads, grandparents talking and talking about the school’s family literacy day and how much fun it was; the ’difficult’ group of teenagers whose talents came shining through when they were given ownership of a project…  

Obviously, it’s nothing that you can measure easily using statistics – but there’s going to be evidence you can provide which shows your activities were enjoyed by everyone who took part – photographs and videos, press cuttings, written testimonies, children’s drawings.

 If you’re stuck, these are the kind of questions you could consider to start you on your way: 

• Does the activity enrich learning – is it something that the participants had never tried before?
• If it’s something you’ve done before, did the children/young people/families want to come back?
• Does it help with issues of self-esteem and self-confidence?
• Has it led to positive changes in outcomes for children and young people – for example, has their attendance improved?
  

While the focus of extended and community focused schools has been, and will continue to be, all about standards, we’d like you to demonstrate that raising achievement needn’t be at the expense of enjoyment. We welcome applications from individual schools and children's centres, youth groups and community groups, as well as clusters of schools and/or children's centres. 

Visit www.continyou.org.uk to apply online.  The deadline for applications is 21 October 2008.

Background:-

The Schools ETC Award has been run by ContinYou for the last four years. Schools that apply for the Award and meet all the criteria will:receive a certificate of recognition have the opportunity to use the Schools ETC Award logo on their stationery receive advice on how to publicise their Award have an opportunity to win either £2,000 (first prize) or £1,000 (second prize).

Here’s a couple of examples that have caught the imagination of the Schools ETC team over the years: 

The dads and lads group at Kelleholm Primary, Dumfries, who, after a visit to a local castle constructed their own model trebuchets. They held a competition to see which of their mini siege engines could launch a brussels sprout the furthest. This activity was one element of an ongoing programme aimed at getting fathers involved in their children’s education, and linked in with support for the fathers through training, volunteering and employability opportunities.

The ‘poetry in potholes’ course for looked-after children, run by the study support co-ordinator in Oxfordshire. Part of a summer residential, the underground orations led to a series of follow-up activities, with some of the children setting their verses to music.

We can measure achievement – but how can you measure enjoyment?Schools ETC Award entry criteria. There are no set criteria in terms of the duration and frequency of your activity. Your entry may be for a one-off event (for example: a family literacy day), a programme that takes place over a limited period of time (for example: a summer play scheme) or an ongoing activity (for example: an after-school club).The main part of your application will show us evidence that the activity was enjoyed by the participants (and we leave it to you to choose the best way of showing this).

However, we want you to show how us you are making the crucial link between enjoyment and achievement. So, to qualify for the Award, we also need you to show evidence of the following two criteria:If the activity was targeted at a particular set of individuals, why was this group targeted and what outcomes did you hope to achieve for this group? If the activity was open to anyone, you will need to demonstrate how you made sure it was as inclusive as possible.We’ll also be assessing the impact of the activity. You may well have compiled evidence of impact through SATS scores or other evidence of achievement; or data showing improved attendance and behaviour. However, we are also interested in evidence of ‘soft outcomes’ – for example, photographs of pupils enjoying themselves, or positive comments made in feedback.  

ContinYou is one of the UK’s largest learning charities which uses learning to tackle inequality and build social inclusion. We develop partnerships to link education with health and with economic community regeneration.

We work in two ways:
1. We develop learning programmes and services that offer opportunities to people who have gained least from formal education and training.
2. We work with a range of organisations, including schools, to enhance what they do to change lives through learning. 

For more information on ContinYou’s wide ranging work visit our website at www.continyou.org.uk.

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