Together a better future…
Action4Youth’s Annual Conference, 3 - 5 November 2020
As England’s second lockdown loomed we signed up to attend Action4Youth’s virtual conference which brought together organisations working to support young people, and those from the wider charity and statutory sectors to discuss the impact that COVID-19 is having on young people, education and charities. We dipped in an out of sessions over a busy three days. Here’s a snapshot:
The 3 days kicked off with Buckinghamshire Council: Together a Better Future for Buckinghamshire and our Young People when Rachael Shimmin, Chief Executive - Buckinghamshire Council & Claire Hawkes, Director – Localities & Strategic Partnerships, Buckinghamshire Council brought everyone up to speed with the changes which had taken place locally, the challenges faced during the UK’s first lockdown and what steps they had taken to bring together communities, strengthen local infrastructure, and look to future partnerships post Covid-19. There was a sense of pragmatism paired with a sprinkling of optimism inviting audiences to not only delve deeper into the negative impact and future threats posed by the events of 2020 but encouragement to also to reflect upon the positives that emerged as a result of Covid-19.
Understanding the Impact of Covid on the Third Sector followed when Nicola Pritchard, Senior Consultant & Abigail Rose, Researcher, New Philanthropy Capital (NPC) shared their research study ‘Coordination In Place’ commissioned during the national pandemic. The interim report can be found here: https://www.thinknpc.org/resource-hub/coordination-in-place-interim-report/
Day 2 included presentations from Dr Ann Hagel, PhD, MPH, Research Lead, Association for Young Peoples’ Health (AYPH), who discussed promoting resilience in young people and keynote speaker Karl Wilding, Chief Executive, NCVO who focused on the way forward for charities post-Covid. Day 3 kicked off with Mark Stokes CYP Lead & Rhiannon Smith, CYP Project Manager, LEAP, who discussed the impact of Covid on sport participation in young people.
And the event neatly concluded with an interesting session Protecting Learning - The Impact of Covid on Education, facilitated by Ty Goddard, Co-Founder, The Education Foundation & Chair, Edtech UK. He raised interesting and thought-provoking observations in relation to how we begin to embed tech within the school curriculum and timetable. He touched upon digital poverty and other stumbling blocks in relation to online teaching; he celebrated the speed at which schools redefined their digital teaching tools; championed the need for increased pastoral support - parenting and family support, extended schools, care systems; and re-emphasised the urgency of investment in professional development and infrastructure.
He closed by reflecting on Covid as ‘the best of times, and the worst of times’ - 2020 has taught us much about society, our systems, our impact upon the environment, our care for our communities. He encourages education settings to harness the power of the digital to redefine how we develop digital cultures which coexist with traditional teaching. He warns that this work must start earlier in a child’s education and what is coming through in research is that this space can be made to ‘come alive’ for young people’s learning. An early snapshot, including further reflections and recommendations can be explored through the Protecting Learning Report http://www.ednfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/Protecting-Learning-Low-Res_compressed.pdf
The full Action4Youth webinars can be viewed at: https://www.action4youth.org/conference-2020/