Loot for Lucy – an Oldershaw High School Woman and Enterprise Project.
This case study demonstrates how a venue external to the school can be effectively used to make a significant contribution to learning. The project is in line with the latest educational thinking to involve the business and the community in the education of secondary school aged students. It fits well with the 14-19 Diploma concept.
Oldershaw Secondary School on the Wirral entered into a partnership with the Discovery CLC to provide technology support for its major, year long Business & Enterprise Project. This project was ‘Loot for Lucy’, a fund raising venture for the Linda McCartney Fight Against Breast Cancer Campaign. In addition to the Business & Enterprise curriculum target being met, other citizenship targets were met such as interaction with the community, project planning, organization and participation in events, team work, publicity and communication.
The CLC’s contribution was publicity and communication. At different times and at regular intervals throughout the year the project student group visited the CLC to acquire publicity and communication skills and to produce logos, business cards, leaflets, posters, banners, Christmas Cards, icing sugar designs and a radio program to be used in their campaign.
The project was specifically a ‘woman and enterprise’ initiative involving twelve year 9 and 10 students and impacting on an additional 700 pupils in the school in a variety of ways.
To put the CLC contribution in context, the project involved visits by the student group to the Linda McCartney Centre at the Royal Liverpool Hospital, the local community, Asda, the BBC Studios Manchester and the new Echo Arena Conference Centre.
The school’s project organizer, Harri Williams, declared the creation of the pod cast the highlight of the project. It was as a consequence of the excellence of the podcast that the students were invited to visit the BBC Studios in Manchester to observe program making in progress. The podcast can be listened to by following the www.discoveryclc.co.uk homepage link BBC News School Report.
The students set a fund raising target of £2500. They embarked on a series of events including the sale of official Lucy key rings and pins, non uniform day, brunch club (selling cakes with icing sugar logos created at the CLC), a sponsored silence, a disco, a ‘Home School Association’ Ladies Night etc. In the event £4000 was raised.
Towards the end of the project the project group was invited to the Echo Arena Lucy Project Evening to be awarded two of the three prizes for project support. One was for the best fund raising. The second, and the most relevant to the CLC’s contribution, was for best publicity. On the back of this success, the project group has been invited by MP Angela Eagle to a day at Westminster and a meeting with the Prime Minister.
In partnership with the school CLC staff took on the whole brief of skilling up the pupils as well as providing support for the pupils to produce publicity materials. This whole project approach had several advantages.
Firstly, the CLC was able to meet pupil needs in ways not easily achievable within the school due to internal constraints on use of technology.
Secondly, visits out of school to the CLC raised the status of the project in the eyes of the pupils and were a great motivator.
Thirdly, the particularly cutting edge aspects to the technology support such as the use of the CLC’s sophisticated radio desk had an increased relevance as part of a package of publicity training rather than what could be achieved in a one off visit.
Fourthly, the school could claim partnership with the CLC in an era where external partners are increasingly regarded by educational experts as integral to learning.
There is no doubt from student feedback, that students took part in a genuine community project that will stay with them the rest of their lives. Student use of the CLC was a key part of the experience. The use of technology was integral.