The aim of the conference was to encourage local and national partners to consider the ways relationships between different educational sectors could be developed, maintained and expanded and the benefits to students of this approach.

The event began with speakers from a high school, an FE college and City’s Vice-Chancellor stressing the importance of developing multi-sector partnerships and the value in listening to the student voice to forge a positive future for everyone.

1^st workshop:  AS Extended Project

Christ the King, Lewisham (a KU feeder and Compact school) has been working with Goldsmiths University on an Extended Project. This is optional for the students and involves 3-days at the University including sessions on study skills, library research and a project review. This particular session focussed on the work undertaken in History and Psychology and is run by academic staff in those departments (one of whom has a WP remit).

It was emphasised that the project needs to be given adequate time in schools and made part of the formal timetable to truly succeed.

Plymouth University runs a shorter version and sends its Student Ambassadors on a ‘how to train people’ module, something similar may be worth considering for our Ambassadors.

This project is a more formal on-site version of the Study Skills sessions our EL team currently run and is directly related to the AS Extended Project.  We have already been asked by one school to provide Study Skills sessions to support some of their students who will be taking up the project and it is likely that this type of request will increase over this year.

2^nd workshop: Student Ambassador and Associate schemes

Facilitated by the UEL and London Metropolitan, the use of university students in schools and colleges was the overall theme. The session revolved around showcasing their respective Student Ambassador and Sports Associate Schemes, of which there were many similarities with how we run our own respective Kingston University Student Ambassadors (KUSA) and TDA Student Associate Schemes.

The afternoon concluded with Ambassadors from both HE and FE backgrounds, taking questions from delegates and speaking about their experiences and the important role SAs play in WP. This was undoubtedly the highlight of the day as the SAs conducted themselves brilliantly and showcased their work in a really positive way. It was nice to see a collaboration of SAs from the different sectors openly sharing the benefits of their work as well as recognising the impact being an SA has had on their own development.

Attended by Paul Westren and Jayne Clanfield