Liverpool was the first. The Story so far...
The City of Learning is a partnership that develops joint strategies across all the education sectors, the public sector and with businesses. It facilitates innovative collaborations within and across the education spectrum, which supports the city's economy, improves social inclusion and enhances the individual institutions. It occupies a crucial position to make the most of government education and training initiatives and links them to other strategic developments in this city region.
1992 Education and city leaders recognised and evaluated the vital role played by education and learning in the city's economy.
1993 Liverpool City of Learning was launched at the House of Lords: we were the first.
1994 A £400,000 Single Regeneration Budget funded project developed multimedia interactive learning tools with schools and universities focusing on cutting edge mathematics teaching. Liverpool became a founder member of the Learning Cities Network. There are now more than 30 UK cities and communities of learning.
1995 'UNITED' brought £1.3 million of European Objective One funds to IT and training development in schools. Later this expanded across the area to become Merseyside Education On Line. Many businesses were able to use these facilities.
1996 U.S. Vice-president Al Gore endorsed the international Inspiration Conference - Harnessing the New Technologies, Education and the Superhighway.
1997 Schools across Merseyside were recognised for science and technology achievement in an award scheme sponsored by Coopers and Lybrand, Scottish Power, Pilkingtons and National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside.
1998 Aimhigher was the Greater Merseyside initial pilot for the government's national initiative to widen participation in higher education. The title and website address were later adopted by the DfES for the national initiative.
City of Learning and the Government Office North West held a joint consultation event around the government's Green Paper, 'The Learning Age'. This was a rare example of inter-agency collaboration.
1999 The plans for Liverpool's regeneration gathered momentum and City of Learning was one of the many agencies called to look at an integrated strategy.
Across the country pilots are organised to take forward the government's Excellence in Cities initiative, which focuses on improving achievement in inner city schools.
2000 The Liverpool Excellence Partnership grew from the local Excellence in Cities initiative and was invited by the DfES to design a national training programme for the newly created Learning
Mentors. More than £4 million was secured to develop and deliver this programme across the country.
Aimhigher in Greater Merseyside is recognised as a national flagship in innovative partnership work to widen participation to higher education.
2001 The 'Make It Liverpool' marketing campaign organised with The Mersey Partnership complements the recruitment of the four higher education institutions and raises the city's profile. The Greater Merseyside Training for Excellence Partnership uniquely draws on the expertise of academics and practitioners to train the newly created Connexions Personal Advisers across Greater Merseyside and part of Lancashire. A grant of more than half a million pounds is secured from the DfES.
2002 The first of the joint annual higher education taster days for adults was held in Liverpool: one of the first such events in the country.
The urban regeneration specialists from the City of Learning partners contribute to the strategic overview of Liverpool's future.
Merseyside and Cheshire Graduate Teacher Programme Consortium begins an in-service, work-based teacher-training programme with eight local authorities and more than 300 schools. It has received a development and training grant of more than £1.5 million from the TDA.
The Charity Commission Review finds that Liverpool City of Learning works to high standards and leads the way in effective collaboration.
2003 Liverpool Capital of Culture 2008 is announced and the Celebration of Learning is the first of the planned themed years.
The universities develop a joint approach to encourage the city's 60,000 higher education students to take up volunteer work.
Widening participation work, with the Department of Health, maps progression routes in Merseyside and considers how to address barriers to progression to the many less well-known careers in health and social care.
2004 More than 20,000 or 95% of learning mentors across the country are trained using the Liverpool materials, which are implemented through a 'train the trainers' programme.
The new foundation degrees are developed locally and coordinated through joint planning to harness the respective expertise of the providers and meet demand effectively.
Liverpool schools show the best improvement in national league tables.
2005 Liverpool Community College achieves 'outstanding' inspection report.
The universities undertake a joint research project into the effects and benefits of the Liverpool Schools Learning Networks, where schools share resources and expertise. Liverpool is the first city to establish these collaborative groups of schools.
HEFCE Lifelong Learning Network development work was undertaken establishing new progression routes from further education and work based learning into higher education.
Cutting edge 'Learning Matrix' software is developed for Merseyside which gives a way of delivering information and programmes from a variety of providers through a single portal.
2006 The four universities undertake independent, coordinated research projects on the government's 'Every Child Matters,' agenda:
- Addressing the needs of children during transition from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3.
Liverpool John Moores University- Transforming partnership for professional learning and inclusive education to fit recent legislation.
Liverpool Hope University- Professional development and action research for widening participation school and college co-ordinators.
University of Liverpool- Identifying and addressing the challenges of the various aspects of implementing ECM in schools.
Edge Hill University
The Continuing Professional Development Noticeboard is a development of the Learning Matrix, which allows people to use innovative and interactive search facilities to access details of potential courses from separate providers. It links their programmes comprehensively and can also include individual account information, personal development plans and associated support systems.
