“Life is a voyage: take the helm”
Empowerment is about helping people to take control, and take responsibility for themselves and others; Lifeskills Kent aims to imbue in its visitors a greater sense of “competence” and will thus encourage action.
The core participants of Lifeskills Kent will be children and the target per annum will be an audience of 12,000. The lifeskills centres at Bristol and Milton Keynes are fully booked by schools a year in advance. LSK can expect the same response from Kent schools for the new centre.
There continues to be a concern from schools of ‘initiative overload’ in respect of citizenship issues – how can the visits from all the organisations and agencies be timetabled, taught and assessed by schools in a limited term time?
Every organisation and agency involved in delivering the outcomes framework for the ‘Every Child Matters: Change for Children’ programme is represented in LSK, bringing together a unique joint venture of expertise and knowledge.
“I didn’t think I’d make it but I did”
A sense of having accomplished something of value will help to instil in visitors a sense of pride and wanting to spread the message. It will help to boost confidence and the feeling of competence which in turn will improve the likelihood of what is being learnt being put into practice.
Organisations and agencies are aiming to integrate their actions within the wider initiative of the cross-government Every Child Matters: Change for Children programme. The Children’s Bill places duties on every agency to work together to deliver common outcomes. It creates a statutory basis for partnership working and involving all partners, including the voluntary and community sector.
“It’s going to be an experience”
The important thing about Lifeskills Kent is that it is not simply something that someone tells you about – it is something that happens to you. A great and memorable experience which will be made up of:
- Contrasting and Strong Emotions
- The Unexpected
- A Journey
- Fun
It must be better to have the schools visit a Centre of Excellence where all the ‘experts’ can deliver best practice and a consistent message in a realistic, innovative and exciting environment. This is a view coming from schools and other organisations.
“Life is dangerous – deal with it”
Actually experiencing situations involving danger and risk is part of the process of learning both to recognise and cope with them. So while we would not want to expose people to actual risk, perceived risk is a viable and valuable part of Lifeskills Kent
The House of Commons Education and Skills Committee recommends in its recent report on Education Outside the Classroom that the Department for Education and Skills should set up a structure to champion education outside the classroom at all levels. The committee were convinced that “out-of-classroom education enriches the curriculum and can improve educational attainment”.
The government’s Chief Inspector of Schools, David Bell, reported in the Ofsted Lecture of 17 January 2005 that issues such as citizenship “perhaps more so than any other school subjects – needs to have relevance for young people and a connection to the real world they are living in. To put it simply, citizenship is likely to be most powerful where pupils learn through action. They must be given the opportunities to go beyond textbooks and tuition. They must confront the questions of the day and pose solutions. They must learn to think and act for themselves.”
Lifeskills Kent intends to meet the needs of the schools and agencies within Kent. Please complete the simple form below to share your thoughts with LSK.
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