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21st Century Learning Alliance - Fellowship report

On Thursday I headed up to the National College of School Leadership in Nottingham for the culmination of the 21st Century Learning Alliance Fellowship for the 2009/10 academic year.

The residential was a networking opportunity and chance to see how all eight Fellowship Projects had found the year. The other seven projects were fantastic, some of which are really pushing the boundaries of curriculum design. We presented to Professor Sir Tim Brighouse and Sir Mike Tomlinson.

The Fellowship will be available next year, and I would strongly encourage you to consider applying.

Our project (the aims of which can be found here) focussed on making pupils the driving force behind change. Although the project centred around The Building Schools for the Future, the findings can be applied to any school site.

The presentation is embedded below and contains a summary of the findings.


One of the main aspects of the project centred around a three day workshop developed by the Geography Collective. You can get a flavour of this aspect by watching this video:


I asked a pupil to summarise the project as a whole, and he did a much better job than I ever could.


During the event, I was inspired by something that Sir Tim said. He referred to a poem and linked it to the current change in education. Here are the first and final verses:

We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamer of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems.

Great hail! we cry to the corners
From the dazzling unknown shore;
Bring us hither your sun and your summers,
And renew our world as of yore;
You shall teach us your song's new numbers,
And things that we dreamt not before;
Yea, in spite of a dreamer who slumbers,
And a singer who sings no more.

The message that I have taken from this, is that despite changes, as long as we have passion and innovative people, education will be safe. I feel that we need to look to the positive, and seek out those opportunities. I am lucky enough to know so many 'Movers and Shakers' that I feel positive about any challenge.

If you would like to know more about the project, come along to the 2011 GA Annual Conference, or get in touch.
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  1. Lucy Stephen21 July 2010 at 20:55

    I am really keen to get involved in thsi type of work. As well as being a Head of Geog. I have just been given the role of Innovative Practise Co-ordinator and thus am seeking to develop links with other school etc that are also committed to developing learning to fit the 21st century. I am currently working on a number of things including innovative learning days and community projects - any ideas/links etc would be most gratfully recived

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