As the conference season gets under way, here is a key date for your Fellowship diary. Our Eastern regional conference is taking place athe UCS Waterside Building in Ipswich in Suffolk.
If you are interested in having a stall/conversation point at conference please make contact with the Market Place team here..
helpmarket (at) conversationseast.org
Stalls are set up for a variety of projects which fit well with the RSA mission. They may be community based or extend across the region but the common feature is that they are a great way to connect face-to-face with Fellows and others who are engaged with the Fellowship in pursuit of their social change and support aims.
Stallholders invariably have a passion for their project and are looking forward to showing how they are empowering people to apply their creativity to emerging opportunities and challenges.
The principal Market Place activity will be in the main Foyer (where lunch is also available) from 12.30 until 2.00, but conversations will be taking place with exhibitors all day we are sure.
So either avoid the initial queue for lunch or grab your lunch-bag and graze the stalls.
You’ll find plenty of highly nutritional ideas and stimuli in The Market Place.
The Partnership have decided on a development programme to institute a major raffle and an Auction of Promises. The Partnership are looking to develop this ambitious campaign which can be run on an annual basis.
What is needed is someone with the skills and knowledge to act as a ‘raffle’ project mentor.
Ideally, the Partnership is looking for someone who has successfully run a major raffle in the past, who has knowledge of the process, paperwork and also advice on attracting prize donations and increasing ticket sales.
To provide support to the Partnership Project Manager, with an initial meeting for key development advice, and then the sharing of documents or telephone support if required.
If you are in the Fellowship network in the East of England, do you have ‘raffle’ expertise and the time to support The Partnership in this interesting funding development project?
The short video below gives you a flavour of the activities the Timebanking Partnership have been able to facilitate…
With an ever increasing press for change in social and economic inequality and the drive for more standardisation and accountability by test, the time is absolutely right, we would argue, to spread the work of the Equality in Education Network that emerged that day in April 2014.
The short film linked below, from the event, shows Pasi Sahlberg delivering a critique of GERM, the Global Education Reform Movement. Although presented with a light touch, the argument bites deep. GERM offers no improvement in educational outputs overall, he argues.
‘Competition is seen as the right way, striving for pan-education standardisation and test based accountability is now the norm. Education is seen as an industry, a business opportunity…’ Pasi Sahlberg 2014
Pasi develops his argument by looking at two key themes. Inequality and equity. In the frst case, using Finnish data he argues that the Finnish system of tax distribution and social equality has had a profound performance effect on education in his country. In the affluent West, he argues, those nations that have the highest levels of inequality have the lowest quality educational outcomes.
In the second case, equity, the presenter’s data is used to analyse how international education systems serve all the children of a nation. What is the aggregate benefit to a nation by educational system? Here Pasi illustrates the dramatic journey of Finland again, tracking forty years of improving educational attainment . Often within the context of a turbulent socio-political landscape.
Mr. Sahlberg astonishes his audience by announcing that he has read all five volumes of the most recent PISA Report – find key OECD findings on-line here…, at five hundred pages a volume. He has discovered, despite the policy debate and process changes that recently emerged in the UK, two key PISA recommendations – found in the fourth volume.
School choice and competition are not related to performance.
Greater equity and autonomy over curricula and assessment seem to improve performance.
The speaker closes his argument with five key recommendations about the delivery of a nation’s educational infrastructure. Although not revolutionary, they are seemingly perhaps counter intuitive at first, when assessed against current UK policy and practice, we would argue.
Co-operation is key – collaborative work should be the driving force across teaching, political activity, headships and governance in schooling.
Place less stress on early learning, and much more focus on play.
Be less confrontational, the key players in education should always strive for consensus.
Achieve less accountability, but make, what systems there are, trust based.
Have less school ‘choice‘ and strive always for a more equitable school system.
This is a telling case for Equality in Education.
Call to Action:
At conversationsEAST we would like to support the work of John Bayley and his colleagues in the nascent, London based, Equality in Education Network.
Is there an opportunity for a network group in the East of England?
Make contact with us through our ‘contact us’ slider above and we’ll let the Eastern Region team, and John, know of your interest. We should have an event in the region to revivify the discourse?
Other items of interest on this topic…
You can see and listen to Peter Mortimer’s talk, at the same event, on Inequality in English Education here. Again, delivered in gentle terms, but with a telling cutting edge about current policy.
Finally, if the need to examine global inequality issues has grabbed you, it is well worth revisiting The Spirit Level. You can see Richard Wilkinson speaking at TED below…
Following our recent publication of last year’s review of the Unleashing Potential event, courtesy of Jennifer King FRSA and Sue Hind Wooodward FRSA, we are delighted to find that The University of Hertfordshire are delivering a short course, in May 2015, on the nature of Autistic Spectrum Condition.
Understanding the spectrum – a short course…
‘There will be parent perspectives, including the latest research and publications on new approaches to working with and assisting children with autism. If you are a parent or professional who works with people with autism eg Teacher, Teaching Assistant, SENCO, health and social care workers, this course is for you…’
The short course will take place over two mornings on May 5th and May 12th. Running from 09.30am to 12.30.
Jennifer and Sue’s call to action still holds good. The call for course attendees above at the University of Hertfordshire could be just the impetus needed to help carry forward the good work of the Unleashing Potential conference. Coagulating interest into a new project committee?
This month’s conversationsEAST sponsored Coffee with My Councillor session will be held in Chelmsford. It is an opportunity for Fellows to meet and talk directly with their Fellowship Councillor in the East of England.
Tim reports that conversations he has had, so far, have fallen on stony ground in his search for female Fellows to champion a new Female Fellows group in our region.
Why not come along to the Ideas Hub, a great open and friendly venue, see below, on the 18th and explore the starting of this new group. Designed to support and promote female Fellow led research, social and community business projects or to lobby for family friendly services at our meetings, conferences and get-togethers.
(A year has passed since the 2014 World Autism Day. We suspect that the clarity and depth of knowledge about neuro-diversity still has a continuing development need across all our communities.
We publish below a review article of an event at the University of Hertfordshire, held a year ago. Jenny King FRSA ends the piece with a call for action – an opportunity to repeat and expand the work that was started at this well attended and well received regional event.
If the filmic evidence and the narrative below inspire you to engage and help, do make contact with Jenny and offer support for this important project…Ed.)
A review of an evening forum for local professionals in Health and Education held at the University of Hertfordshire April 2 2014, World Autism Day.
Aims in 2014:
To raise awareness of the talents and needs of high functioning neuro-diverse young children.
To clarify:
a) the best pathway to early diagnosis and
b) the most appropriate intervention from families and educators to maximise strengths and minimise challenging behaviour.
Objectives one year on in 2015:
To encourage Fellows to “roll out” similar events across the Country.
This unique Forum hosted by the University of Hertfordshire and the Royal Society of Arts, provided qualified practitioners in Health and Education an opportunity hear first hand information on young, high functioning neuro-diverse children and their traits and behavioural challenges. The aim was to facilitate conversation on the need to recognise the potential in the children’s often exceptional talents, and focus on their needs. The chief of these to try to clarify a pathway to early diagnosis and consequent support.
Two hundred and fifty representatives from health and education were invited: GPs Paediatricians, Health Visitors, Clinical and Educational Psychologists, Occupational Therapists, Headteachers, SENcos – Nursery and Early years Managers, Family Support Workers, Counsellors, HomeStart, and support groups working specificially for Neuro-Diverse children, including members of the Hertfordshire County Council and East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust.
Two Fellows of the RSA, Jenny King and Sue Hind Woodward, put together this event after sharing a conversation at an RSA East Herts function dinner at Hatfield House about their concerns for the lack of recognition and support for the majority of young, high functioning neuro-diverse children. Those whose extraordinary gifts and talents could ultimately change the world, but whose extreme behavioural challenges prevented their recognition and progress.
Following the best tradition of the origins of the RSA in the coffeehouses in London in the 1700s, Sue and Jenny progressed their discussions at a Costa Coffee shop at a service station on the A1(!), halfway for both, against the clamour of travellers and fruit machines etc. Not quite the same cerebral atmosphere but nonetheless the idea was developed and they parted bent on growing their conversation to reach the people who could make a difference. Sue coined the phrase “Unleashing Potential – Crucial Beginnings” which encapsulated their aims.
Some research prior to the event showed that primarily there seemed to be a lack of knowledge of the traits of neuro-diversity e.g. Autistic Spectrum, ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Bipolar and related difficulties. In particular even when the traits had been identified there was no clear route forwards to diagnosis. Getting help was a frustrating performance for parents trying to demonstrate that their child was challenging for a reason unconnected to their upbringing. Delays were up to two years for a first appointment with an NHS specialist.
Looking into the situation more closely it appeared that some GPs were unfamiliar with the traits of neuro-diversity and did not know where to start with a referral. Health Visitors, possibly with more involvement supporting low-functioning children with behavioural problems, tended to direct parents towards family counselling which implied failure in parental terms. Family Counsellors visited were often equally unsure about further diagnosis for the child. Some schools, already frustrated by the challenging behaviours exhibited by neuro-diverse children, were not always sympathetic and were not well informed about traits, or how to address the difficulties experienced, and the routes to follow for help.
With these discoveries, Sue and Jenny met with Lyn Bhania Senior Tutor in Education who takes a focus on Special Needs at The University of Hertfordshire. Lyn and her colleague Lewis Stockwell were invaluable in offering advice and support for the function and facilitating this at the University. Once the evening’s format was established, Jo Massie at the RSA proved invaluable in helping with administration, managing Eventbrite for ticketing etc.
Contacts were made and eminent Speakers invited on the topic, and a panel of experts to take Q & A. The University helped with their contact lists and specially designed invitations went by snail mail and email across the county. It was decided not to include parents of neuro-diverse children as owing to their frustrations and difficulties this could have brought controversy to a proceeding aimed at bridge building. Thus the event was strictly for professionals. However two of the main Speakers each had an autistic child, so parents were represented. Jenny King FRSA (a retired Headteacher with a specific interest in neuro-diversity) introduced the event with its aims and objectives.
This was followed by the Keynote Speaker, Dr. Simon Williams, PhD, FRSPH a former Research Fellow at Cambridge University, current Research Associate Feinberg School of Medicine, and a Fellow of The Royal Society of Public Health. His focus: Public Mental Health Policy and the Effectiveness of Early Diagnosis.
Dr. Williams travelled from the US to become the Keynote Speaker. He opened his talk by stating his wish to discuss a proposal for the introduction of school-based universal screening, for the early identification of risk of emotional, behavioural and mental health problems in children and adolescents. He would also discuss some evaluation research of a school-based counselling intervention, which could be a model for what post-screening targeted intervention would look like.
Dr. Williams went on to add that “in the long term, the spirit of ‘neuro-diversity’ urges us to reconfigure social and cultural institutions and customs such that neuro-diverse conditions are seen as normal variations in the human condition. To put it simply, the spirit of neuro-diversity urges that it is Society and not the individual that has, or causes, the ‘problem’.
Changing social and cultural perceptions and assumptions takes time. In the short term it is prudent to look at ways of improving current diagnostic and intervention processes. Doing so can reduce diagnostic delays and disparities and ensure that more children with ASD or ADHD for example, can access the support from which they could benefit. “
The content of Dr. Williams’ speech can be found on YouTube. Link given below. He covers:
Pre School Screening for ASD,
Universal emotional and behavioural mental health screening
School based Mental Health Intervention
Criticisms re: labelling and stigma, harmful false positives, opposition from parents, overburdening of health and educational services
An evaluation of school based mental health intervention
In conclusion, Dr. Williams explained that because no matter how effective the intervention is once the children are in the system, the problem is that so long as it relies on referrals it is likely that a substantial proportion of children with emotional and behavioural problems, particularly those with internalizing problems, will fail to be identified in the first place.
The second Speaker was Tom Purser of the National Autistic Society, who is their Policy and Participation Officer and also the parent of an Autistic child.
His subject was “The Expert Parent” in which he spoke of the difficulties that beset the parent and gave an overview of Autism in general.
To hear the content of this interesting and informative speech, demonstrating Tom Purser’s in depth knowledge of this topic, follow the Youtube link:
The third and final Speaker was Melanie Peeke, MA Oxon, who works with ADD-vance as a Specialist Trainer delivering workshops/courses for parents and teachers. Also Founder of “Spectrum Girls” social group for girls with High Functioning Autism. Melanie Peeke is the parent of a high functioning autistic daughter. Her talk was on The Empathetic Teacher.
Many of those listening to this talk, especially from the educational arena, found Melanie Peeke’s insights on appropriate school intervention strategies for young, high functioning neurodiverse children, helpful, positive, and relevant.
Following the Speakers was a half hour break for discussion and refreshment in the main Foyer. Groups assembled under “Muster Points” for their professional connection and questions were formed for the Panel in the second half.
The Panel Discussion was chaired by Sue Hind Woodward, stepping into the breach as John Cooper QC FRSA was delayed travelling to the venue.
The Panellists were:
Dr. Paul Bradley – Consultant Learning Disability Psychiatrist.
Now approximately one year on from Unleashing Potential – Crucial Beginnings, the question is “What has been achieved”. Following the event the RSA launched a Survey Monkey from which many helpful comments were gleaned. On the whole the audience felt that questions pre-formed and directed at the Panel would have been useful. The interval mid-way had not been used by the audience to form these questions so perhaps there is a lesson learned here. Workshopping was suggested in any follow up event and this is a possibility for the future.
However on the positives, members of the audience felt they left better informed and with some determination to progress discussions in their own field towards creating better understanding for neuro-diverse young, high functioning children. There is some evidence that this is happening.
A call to action:
A year on from the function, Sue Hind Woodward and Jenny King feel that a second event in East Herts might be worth exploring.
However the purpose of this article is to ask whether you, as a Fellow, might be interested in continuing the conversation in your area? In East Herts the ball has started rolling, but there is no reason why events such as Unleashing Potential – Crucial Beginnings, cannot be “rolled out” across the country.
If you might be one of those to take up the baton – please don’t hesitate to contact Jenny King – jenniferkate.king@gmail.com who will supply all the details you might need to set up a similar event.
Chelmsford Remembers is a Heritage Lottery funded project on the First World War centenary. The presentations and discussion concerned the mental health of Service personnel involved in conflict.
The speakers compared the support available for soldiers suffering from ‘shell shock’ between 1914 and 1918 and those with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) today. The FiMT charity and Anglia Ruskin’s Veterans and Families Institute are engaged in research on the impact of war on veterans and their families. The intention is to develop a ‘curated research hub’ centred on the impact of war on veterans and their families.
This session will assist the Chelmsford Remembers project in showing how the First World War affected the City at the time and in addition, providing some comparison with recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
Malcolm Noble FRSA
Project Director
If you are interested in wider research and engagement with this subject the Open University have, through Futurelearn, a new on-line course upcoming.
‘…you will study the subject of physical and mental trauma, its treatments and its representation. You will focus not only on the trauma experienced by combatants but also the effects of World War 1 on civilian populations’. Source: Open University
The work, for which a Statement of Completion will be available, provides the perfect contextual frame for the sessions created by Chelmsford Remembers.
Be the Change in Cambridge are holding a community event on Saturday 14th March, 2015. This is an opportunity to help ‘…facilitate the creation of ideas and bring the city together to make Cambridge greater than the sum of its parts‘.
Anglia Ruskin University East Road CB1 1PT Cambridge United Kingdom Saturday, March 14, 2015 from 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM (GMT)
This short video below helps explain their mission.
‘This is a project to bring Cambridge’s many communities together to do more than just talk about our city’s future, but to decide what shared actions to take in order to shape it
We’re particularly encouraging young people – in particular those in further education – to take part. This is our response to research showing 18-24 year olds are least likely to vote as an age-cohort.
We’ll be asking everyone to commit to either a one-off small action, or a small behaviour change as a result of taking part. If dozens of us do that, our impact could be greater than the sum of our parts!’
If you are in the city on Saturday, March 14th this is a great opportunity to get along to Anglia Ruskin and contribute to the debate, to the generation of ideas and to the creation of community change.
See you there?
If you are a Fellow developing or leading a community change event or project you can send copy, links and editorial contributions to the team at conversationsEAST.
We’ll be happy to feature your work, twitter our followers and generally spread the word.
If formally invited along, we’ll write a review and supporting article too. Tell us at editor (at) conversationseast.org. or use the drop down ‘contact us’ box on any of our web pages.
Saturday 28th February, 2015 – There is a great day of volunteering opportunities for the Fellowship in Cambridge this weekend. Visit The Guildhall and see!
Members of the regional Fellowship will be abroad, supporting 80 Cambridge based organisations who are ‘…working to create positive social and environmental change through volunteering‘.
‘The aims of the fair are to get more people involved in volunteering, bring together organisations with shared aims and to break down the town/gown divide by opening the event up to students and locals alike. Anyone and everyone in Cambridge is welcome to attend!’ The Cambridge Hub
This is a great event that offers many opportunities for Fellows, anybody in fact, to seek out and engage with a broad range of organisations in Cambridge.
Volunteer and donate time and your specialist knowledge to any one of these great organisations. If you are a Fellow in Cambridge, or its hinterland, here is the event to start your journey with a new community.
By supporting The Hub, you are also helping students at Cambridge support and make a contribution to communities, helping them tackle their social and environmental issues. Working in a collaborative and supportive way. You can see the story of The Hub here.
Image credit: Painting for the community – picture courtesy of The Cambridge Hub.
A visit to Sainsbury Centre on Friday 20th February, 2015
We had a group of seventeen fellows and friends who met up for the visit. We congregated at 10.30 for complimentary tea and coffee at the Modern Life café and then we were taken off by three guides to explore the Centre. We began with the Permanent exhibition on the ground floor and then after a short break proceeded to the basement exhibition areas to view the Reality exhibition, which was outstanding.
Curated by artist Chris Stevens, REALITY brings together over 50 works celebrating the strength of British painting with some of the best and most influential artists of the last sixty years.
The Sainsbury Centre is one of the most prominent university art galleries in Britain, and a major national Centre for the study and presentation of art.
It houses the extraordinary art collection of Robert and Lisa Sainsbury, as well as the Anderson Collection of Art Nouveau and the University’s Abstract and Constructivist Collection. Alongside these permanent collections, there is a range of temporary exhibitions, with new galleries providing the largest climate-controlled exhibition space in Eastern England. Also on offer is an award-winning learning programme of gallery talks, lectures and art workshops. (See the programme of lectures, symposia and training here).
The Collections at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts represent some of the most remarkable works of art assembled in the UK. The Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection features work spanning 5,000 years of human creativity. The presentation of art from across time and place continues to inspire and surprise and uniquely presents art as a universal global phenomenon.
Picasso, 1901-2 Femme au Cafe
The Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection
Permanently displayed in the Living Area Gallery, the collection includes major holdings of art from Oceania, Africa, the Americas, Asia, the ancient Mediterranean cultures of Egypt, Greece and Rome, Medieval Europe, and including a significant number of works acknowledged as seminal examples of European modern art. Pablo Picasso, Edgar Degas, Francis Bacon, Jacob Epstein, Henry Moore, Alberto Giacometti and Amedeo Modigliani are all represented in the collection.
The Lisa Sainsbury Ceramics Collection
Although not formally part of the Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection, the Lisa Sainsbury Ceramics Collection represents a major collection of 20th century studio ceramics, including a significant body of work by Lucie Rie and Hans Coper.
The Sainsbury Abstract Collection
The Sainsbury Abstract Collection includes paintings from the post second world war Ecole de Paris with a strong preference for lyrical abstraction and Tachisme, art movements that flourished in France from 1945 to 1960. Notable artists included in the collection are Jean Fautrier, Charles Maussion and Mubin Orhon.
The Anderson Collection of Art Nouveau
Alongside the Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection sits another principle collection; The Anderson Collection of Art Nouveau, donated in 1978 by Sir Colin Anderson, a close friend of Sir Robert and Lady Sainsbury. The collection represents artists working across a range of disciplines and materials such as glassware and furniture, metalware and jewelry. The collection includes pieces by leading exponents of Art Nouveau such as Louis Comfort Tiffany, Emile Gallé and René Lalique.
Vorticist David Bomberg’s The Mud Bath, 1914
The University Collection of Abstract and Constructivist Art, Design and Architecture was established by the University in 1968. This Collection concentrates on the non-objective, constructive and concrete art movements of the 20th century and the related fields of architecture and design, such as the English Vorticists, the Russian Suprematists and Constructivists, the Dutch De Stijl Group and the German Bauhaus School.
All who attended enjoyed getting to know each other and spoke of possibly another visit soon. It was very much enjoyed by all and many used their ticket to linger longer in the afternoon. Also, a new Francis Bacon exhibition is coming soon. The Francis Bacon paintings are currently at the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg and will return for the Francis Bacon and the Masters exhibition in April.
Possibly another day out!
Christine O’Hanlon FRSA
(Public domain images are for illustrative purposes only – they do not seek to represent the collections in the narrative about this visit).
Visit the dedicated Market Place web pages here.
helpmarket (at) conversationseast.org
