Achievements
- The first Learning City in the UK. There are now over 30 learning cities and towns.
- The first strategic alliance in a major UK city which brought together key players in education and training at a time when ‘partnership working’ was new. Liverpool City of Learning was in the vanguard partnership of effective partnership working with outcomes greater than the sum of the individual components.
- Founder member of the National Learning Communities Network (formally the National Learning Cities). Liverpool held the Vice-Chair role during the Networks’ inaugural years.
- A major Learning City Conference at St Georges’s Hall 1996.
- International Conference ‘Inspiration – Education and the Super IT Highway’.
- Aimhigher Greater Merseyside – played a major role leading the strategic development of ‘Aimhigher Greater Merseyside’ supporting cutting edge effective partnership working enhancing the opportunities developing in widening participation to higher education.
- Liverpool Excellence Partnership – a specific focus of the CoL partnership work has been on education developments. The Partnership developed a strong and effective relationship with DfES. Eleven contracts were secured with DfES involving the designing of a new training programme for the newly created post of Learning Mentors as part of the Excellence in Cities development, training-the-trainers, and delivery of the programme nationally. Over £4m contracts secured; more than 18,000 learning mentors trained across England.
- Higher Level School Teaching Assistants, Merseyside and Cheshire – led and submitted a successful bid to the Teacher Development Agency on behalf of a partnership of higher education institutions, local education authorities and school partners across eight local authority districts.
- Graduate Teacher Programme, Merseyside and Cheshire – led and submitted successful bid to the Teacher Development Agency on behalf of a partnership of higher education institutions, local education authorities and school partners across eleven local authority districts.
- Connexions Personal Adviser Training, Merseyside and parts of Lancashire – led the successful partnership bid to secure the training contract from the DfES.
- Research – Liverpool Schools Learning Networks Research which aims to identify the processes involved in establishing an effective Learning Network and its role in promoting collaborative professional development aimed at improving teacher and pupils learning.
- Multidisciplinary Working in Schools / Teams Research Report – Research Report: Good practice of Connexions Personal Adviser & Learning Mentors in Secondary Schools.
- Learning Matrix, Professional Development (CPD) Noticeboard lead role and on-going support for this new development.
- Learning & Skills Council and Higher Education Agendas – supporting joint developments.
- ‘Annual Celebration Activities’ Moving Forward: Keynote speakers – new appointments to strategic positions.
