WIREDGOV

More than 120 learners attended the inaugural "Leading the learner voice awards" ceremony in London on Wednesday 4 July 2007. The awards were established by the Centre for Excellence in Leadership (CEL) to recognise the work of organisations and individuals leading the learner voice agenda.

Kat Fletcher, CEL's leadership of learners strategic coordinator, said, "Both the Foster review and the further education white paper acknowledged the need to involve learners in their educational experience, and we are working with the National Union of Students to promote the learner voice and encourage effective collaboration between student learners and sector leaders and managers.

"Throughout the further education system, thousands of learners are actively engaged in leadership, representation and quality improvement.

They are supported by active, motivated practitioners and embedded models of support from providers. The purpose of these annual awards is to celebrate the best examples of provider, practitioner and learner leadership in recognising and promoting the learner voice, and to disseminate examples of best practice, so that leaders can learn and develop from the process.

"We received an overwhelming number of nominations for the awards," said Ms Fletcher, "and having given applicants complete freedom in their response format, we were extremely impressed with the innovation and creativity demonstrated."

The winners of CEL’s Leading the learner voice awards 2007 are:

* Student governor of the year: Shane Griffiths, Worcester College of Technology

* Student liaison officer of the year: Jay Moore, Leicester College

* Most improved provider of the year: Cornwall College

* Principal of the year: Richard Parker, Chichester College

* Representative organisation of the year: Bridge College

* Provider of the year: City and Islington College

* Leading learner of the year: Kathryn Dodgson, Blackpool Sixth Form College

* Outstanding contribution to the leadership of learners: Ellie Russell, National Union of Students

Congratulating the winners at the ceremony, the education minister Bill Rammell said, "I am extremely committed to the learner voice agenda; it really does change lives, and I wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t had the opportunity of being a student representative when I was younger. CEL is to be applauded for its work in promoting the learner voice, and congratulations to all the award winners and everyone here today for your efforts to embed the concept in your college."

NOTES TO EDITORS

Press quality photos of the winners are available on request.

From the nominations submitted, a shortlist comprising the five best entries for each of the eight categories was selected.

Background information about the awards is available on CEL’s website at

www.centreforexcellence.org.uk/default.aspx?Page=nomenuReadNews&id=354

About CEL

The Centre for Excellence in Leadership (CEL) was launched in October 2003, as a key national agency within the Success for All initiative.

CEL has a crucial role to play in developing organisational leadership in the further education system to anticipate, influence and respond to government policy initiatives, including, for example, the 2006 white paper, "Further Education: Raising Skills, Improving Life Chances".

CEL's remit is to foster and support leadership improvement, reform, transformation, sustainability and quality improvement. It serves the existing and future leaders of all providers within the further education system, including FE colleges, training and work-based learning providers, adult and community providers, offender learning, specialist colleges and voluntary organisations.

Following the publication of the white paper, CEL is involved in the introduction of a mandatory principal's qualification and the development of the quality improvement strategy for further education.

The white paper also heralded an expansion of CEL's diversity and equality remit.

CEL now operates through a charitable trust formed by its operating company on 1 April 2006.

To date, more than 1,160 different organisations and 25,800 individual participants have engaged with CEL. No fewer than 15 participants from recent cohorts of CEL's Senior leadership development programme (SLDP) have been promoted to the role of principal.

For more information, visit the website at www.centreforexcellence.org.uk

Lindsay Baugh: (07736) 246 697 or (01707) 392 552

Email: lindsay.baugh@howardsgate.co.uk