Croxteth and Norris Green in Liverpool have become tragic headline news these past few weeks. But the no-hope issues behind the grim developments in these areas of North Liverpool have been simmering for many years. The challenge now is how to support local people with higher expectations and horizons.
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Summer 2007 has been a special opportunity for HOPES and Live-A-Music to provide Children's Music Workshops, thanks to generous funding from Awards for All. The workshops, held alternately in the city centre and a close-by suburb, have focused on themes developed by the children themselves - in one case, a 'symphony' featuring global warming, drifting snow, salsa / jazz and a roller-coaster! Following sessions in July and mid-August, the next workshops in the series are on Saturday 8 September in Mossley Hill Parish Church Hall. ...
This website seems to be used as a learning resource, as well as by a more general readership. Teachers and students refer to it for a range of reasons; and amongst these is the opportunity for people whose first language is not English to read short articles linked to other websites on the same topics. So, how do / could you use this site as an educational resource? ...
11, 12, 13, 14, 15? At last you can start making your own choices. Your parent/s have the final say, but increasingly you're trusted just to get on with it. You know how important school is, and maybe you have ideas about a career, but there’s still space for fun in with the serious stuff. Sometimes you can even combine the two....
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16, 17 and 18 are when it really starts to buzz. What you choose now will have impact for a long time to come. Horizons are expanding as comfort zones are challenged. Opportunities grasped now, at work and at play, will shape the adventure to follow. So go for it, looking forward and with a zest for life.
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The Live-A-Music Children's Workshops on 5 April in Mossley Hill Parish Church Hall, Liverpool 18 were action-packed, with much creative sparking between the children, musicians and 'supporting cast' of accompanying (grand) parents and younger brothers and sisters. Themes included 'Music, Myth and Magic', 'Animal Samba' and 'Symphony' - with the children also performing a work of their own. ...
You’re very likely at college now, or learning on-the-job. Enjoy these new experiences! Ages 19, 20 and 21 for most young adults are ‘me time’, time to spread your wings and test the limits. Whatever you’re doing, use your freedom and energies to invest in your future, whilst you have some fun right now.
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Not all academics are happy to see their students referred to as 'customers'. They have a point. The role of college lecturers is to ensure that their students gain the knowledge and skills required to take them further in their chosen fields. The 'student as customer' model is incomplete, if only because teaching staff inevitably know more about the chosen field than do learners. Along with the actual knowledge required, there may be scope to look afresh at the skills base students need - and at the implications of that for the 'consumer' status of students. ...
Today is International Mother Language Day. Celebrated for the first time in the Millennium Year, it is a programme promoted by UNESCO, the 2007 theme being multilingualism.
But why is it important? ...
Live-A-Music (Liverpool) is planning a series of Children's Music Workshops at Easter (Thursday 5 April) and over the Summer break. The workshops, run by fully qualified and experienced leaders, are for children aged 7-plus (younger siblings may be accepted) and will be in Mossley Hill Parish Church Hall, Rose Lane, Liverpool 18.
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Recent figures confirm that girls are doing better at school (and university) than boys. Single-sex classes within co-ed schools are not however generally seen as a way to resolve this inequality. But how much do we know about the longer-term impact on men and women of single-sex or mixed gender teaching? ...
As now fully independent adults, people aged 22, 23, 24 and 25 are positioned to begin to make their mark. It’s the time when mature interests are established and occupational qualifications have hopefully been won. With luck you are strong in body and mind and have the freedom to develop as you wish. Be sure to follow your dreams. ...
The place where non-state, non-business public activities challenge the assumptions of wealthy organisations and the ruling classes or prevailing consensus is often referred to as ‘civil society’. A proposal that this place have its own university in the U.K., to scrutinise and develop the core skills and specialist knowledge base of the ‘third sector’ of the economy, is now being taken seriously. ...
The regular calendar of Farmers' Markets in Hope Street has at last begun. From now on the third Sunday every month is scheduled as Market Day for Hope Street Quarter. Farmers' Markets are something different to look forward to: a great day out for adults and children alike, with fun opportunities to learn where our food comes from and who grows it. ...
Penny Lane in Liverpool is one of Liverpool's most famous streets. How sad then that the high hopes of this community have been dashed so many times, as they try to secure their dream of a Millennium Green and a Centre for visitors and locals alike. A decade waiting is quite long enough. Now there must be some action.
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The benefits of modern democracy which we in the U.K. enjoy are diminished by the media when they invite us to confuse the real thing with synthetic 'political entertainment' concocted by those who then 'report' it. At a time when cyncism about politics is rife, people need to know about the realities of political involvement, so they can make informed judgements about whom they wish to support. ...
Over the past century our connection with basic food production has largely been lost. But now there are urgent environmental as well as direct health reasons to ensure everyone understands how food is produced. People as consumers (in both senses) need to know about food miles, short produce supply chains, nutritional value and the annual cycle of food production through the changing seasons.
One obvious starting point for this crucial 'sustainability' message is schools; and another is allotments.
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Many young people want to remain in cities like Liverpool after their higher education, but opportunities to develop professionally if they do so are still often quite limited. So what exactly is a 'graduate job'? And how do graduate jobs fit in with local economies? ...
There's a debate to be had about gender pay audits or reviews. To be effective, should they be compulsory and public? Do they have the desired effect on pay equality? And could they result in pay equity within given occupations, but even lower overall wages where the majority of the workforce is female? ...
The inner city is not an easy place to indulge green fingers, but there are many reasons why we all need to think about this. It's not even just about fresh, healthy produce; there's a really important issue of sustainability in all this. Let's start with the hesitant late-night gardener in Tesco. ...
A recent survey suggests young people prefer material benefits to babies. But maybe hesitation about starting a family is more about uncertainty whether one's parenting will be good enough, than in wanting 'more' materially. And there is hope for the future of young families, not least in the support which Sure Start programmes are now beginning to deliver across the country. ...
Ness Botanic Gardens, owned by the University of Liverpool, are a delightful example of how learning and enjoyment can come together. They are the creation of a cotton merchant who wanted to share his absorbing interest in plants from across the world (and especially from the Himalayas) with the people of his hometown, Liverpool. This work, begun in 1898, continues to prosper to the present time. ...
Travel takes many forms. The idea behind the 'Windowgazer Guide', a booklet explaining what can be seen as one's train travels from London Euston northwards, is excellent. Here is a concept which can take us not only on physical journeys, but also on journeys of discovery of many sorts, scientific, environmental, cultural and much more. ...
'Working together for health' is this year's slogan for World Health Day (today). ...
Human resource specialists seem to spend a lot of time these days developing ways of 'testing' potential employees. Technology does have a part to play in assessing candidiates for jobs, not least because it comprises an attempt to move beyond stereoypical and unfair assumptions. But to work to greatest effect technologically-led assessment must be considered carefully, and with due acknowledgement of the difficulties of 'proving' it is meaningful. If educators made the same deterministic (and dubious) assumptions as some human resource managers, there would be far less call for educational services. ...
How we learn is always more complicated than we might imagine. The evocation of 'fire and ice' by both poet Robert Frost and, much later, NASA scientist Donald Brownlee, is an example to hand. Science and the arts alike depend for their impact ultimately on imagination and creativity, as well as rigour and formal insights. ...
International Women's Day is not a huge occasion for most people; but maybe it could be if we all grasped this annual opportunity to examine and where possible to celebrate, on a year-on-year basis, what progress has been made in gender equality. A start could be made, Monday Women decided, by ensuring we learn Herstory alongside His. ...
Life is not a rehearsal. We all want to get it right, though that’s much harder to do than say. Future postings on this website will look at some life-stage-specific ideas for 'what to do'. But this is a list of ideas about how to be as happy as you can, whatever your age and situation. I hope they’re useful.
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Liverpool's physical location and economic situation make it difficult for some local people to know much about what's happening elsewhere. This is turn results in difficulties in determining locally which new ideas for the city are good, and which less so. The proposed 'How Do They Do It?' programme could help here... but only if those who are able to do so actively support the idea. ...
There is a nostalgia in the cultural calendar at present. Memories of the 50s and 60s are to be found in both drama (The Liverpool Playhouse) and museums (the national Theatre Museum). Interesting to look at, without doubt. But perhaps much less fun to have had to live in. ...
School trips to look at local ecology seem to be very successful in encouraging children to appreciate their environment. If this works for local eco-issues, surely it can work also for wider social ones? The 'How Do They Do It?' scheme has been very slow to get off the ground, but perhaps its time has some. Who will help to make it happen? ...
The Friends of Princes Park is amongst an encouraging number of similar groups who are demanding that our green space be nurtured. Liverpool has a historical legacy of wonderful parks; and now its citizens are insisting more voluably that these are fit for the twenty first century city. ...
The teaching of History is a critical part of children's early experience. As such, this curriculum must be determined by education professionals who can bridge the gap between the stories of the past and the immediate background to our contemporary lives. ...
The Annual EDGE Question is something which deserves sharing with as many as possible of those who'd enjoy challenging scientific-style 'mind gym'. ...
Kids' play is in one way serious stuff, but that's no reason why fun shouldn't also be far less than serious for them and for the grown-ups too. Here are some ideas to try which came from a survey of children earlier in the year, plus a few suggestions for the adults as well... Go for it, and enjoy! ...
Shows are far more complicated to produce than many in the audience will ever realise. Here's a light-hearted 'poetic' guide for anyone who fancies chancing their hand as promoter or director of a musical or theatrical event... ...
No-one has the perfect answer to the question, 'What shall we do with the kids over Christmas?' But here are some day-by-day suggestions for the family during the Christmas week, with an indoor, an outdoor and a foodie activity for each date. Mix and match, with something for everyone, is the general approach. And, whatever you do, have fun. ...
There seems to be a growing consensus from different parts of the world about the benefits of education both to individuals and to the common good and economic well-being. What this means in terms of particular policies in different places may however be less obvious. ...
The idea of 'joined up' services and support for babies and young children and their carers is excellent. The delivery is of course more complex. Sure Start may not as yet be a complete or fully accessed programme, but it is already showing us ways forward which hold promise for the future. ...
Emotional literacy, which includes anger management, is a fundamental of civil society. Let's build very positively on the new acknowledgement that relational education can bring benefit to children who may be under stress and in need to support to make the most of their lives. ...
Tony Blair has been unwavering in his determination to tackle low horizons head on. This challenge lies at the bottom of all his thinking on schools and how to improve them. But maybe the voluntary, faith and business groups the Prime Minister so wants to see become involved in schools should ask themselves first what they could do to raise ambition and opportunities for the wider families of the children who most need support. ...
A new report says Physics is at risk of dying out in schools. However can this be, when Physics is one of the most intrguing and exciting stories on the block? ...
Social Enterprise is a bit of a mystery to some people... so today is a chance to find out more. ...
It may not be fashionable to say so, but maybe Tesco has a point when it says it can work to help develop local trading and communities. The evidence is not conclusive, but neither have all the arguments as yet been fully explored. ...
A recent meeting of the North West Business Leadership Forum and The Mersey Partnership has focused minds on how to engage the Knowledge Economy at its highest levels. Reseach and Development are universally understood to enhance economies. The challenge now for Merseyside entrepreneurs and businesses is therefore to grasp the exciting opportunities emerging via our growing high-tech knowledge base. ...
HOPES: The Hope Street Association (Liverpool) was honoured by being invited in September 2000 to give the 'community festival' perspective at a national meeting in London attended by the Secretary of State for Culture, Chris Smith M.P., the Millennium Commissioners and their special guests. The paper which follows was presented on this occasion by HOPES Hon. Chair, Hilary Burrage. ...
The Bill and Melinda Gates award to the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine is testimony to the excellence of that institution; and it is also a huge endorsement of investment in the future of science in the North of England and beyond. ...
Social policy implementation 'on the ground' is challenging - though it may also be exciting and certainly well worthwhile. We can all learn from comparing our expectations with the reality which follows...... ...
Leaders offer direction; Facilitors generally should not. But how fluid is this distinction, and to what effect? ...
In every era of history young men have demonstrated hotheaded and sometimes unacceptable behaviour. Recent violence in our inner cities is nonetheless hugely worrying, especially in contemporary contexts of instant communications and global politics. Intervention to change this behaviour must come from many different angles. One way is collaboration between youth service and school professionals to help alientated and challenged young people develop skills to help themselves. ...
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is warning us that posssible energy shortages mean a winter of discontent awaits. This is a matter of concern for everyone. When energy is taken by the banks and business as seriously in terms of analysis as finance, the notion of 'Futures' may help us to understand 'Options' in a whole new way. ...
MRSA, nasty flu bugs and so on are not simply random events. People can help themselves. Public health and health education knowledge is never more important than when people are alarmed about health scare stories or the threat of epidemics. ...
Liverpool's Sefton Park has beautiful cherry trees, at present under contentious threat of being demolished. Why not, instead, use this situation as a way to engage local people, especially children, in ownership of their local (and often greatly under-appreciated) green space, and of the natural cycles which must always occur? ...
Universities in the USA are increasingly funded by private interests. This has already raised curriculum concerns, especially for instance about ideas such as 'Intelligent Design'. Anything which is at base an attack on scientific method and, indeed, rationality, should be watched very carefully indeed. ...
New technology, particularly email and the worldwide web, has many benefits to offer almost everyone. But it fails to reach many who would find it useful, principally because of its complexities and unfamiliar style. Perhaps we need to think about a 'Library of the Web' as a way of offering a level of guarantee of acceptability in terms of content, and to adopt a Plain English Campaign-style approach to e-tech presentation. ...
In some circles it is a given that High Culture is 'inappropriate' for 'local people'. This is patronising. It dismisses the enjoyment the arts can bring to everyone, and ignores opportunities which the arts - as particularly visible public activities - can give for people to develop skills and even careers. Legitimation of ambition, in the arts or any other challenging positive activity, is important, regardless of where you live. ...
Welcome to the official website of Liverpool Fringe! which was launched on 21st November 2007. This is where everyone can read about Liverpool Fringe! and where you can post your ideas or messages of support and share details of your own events, for free....
What are the relationships between science, technology and 'modern society'? How are these interactions determined? And what is 'progress'?...
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