With Christmas and the New Year fast approaching, I thought it would be a good opportunity to look back at the last 12 months and share with you some of the exciting things that have happened at Learning Plus UK in 2011.

One of the biggest highlights for us was launching our first mobile phone app – Where’s My College? – which was released on the iTunes and Android stores back in August.

This handy little piece of software helps students find their nearest sixth form and further education colleges around England. With one tap on a mobile phone screen, you can find the colleges closest to where you live and all their contact details.

We’re very excited about this new product and we are already looking at other ideas for education-related apps, so watch this space!

In July, we held our annual Post 16 Education conference at the Commonwealth Club in London, which was a tremendous success. The keynote speakers included Mary Vine Morris, from London Councils, who talked about a London perspective for post-16 education.

In October, Jan McLucas joined Learning Plus UK as our director of business development and partnerships. Jan has an excellent track record in education and is another valuable addition to the team.

We were also delighted to announce in October that the chair of the National Governors’ Association (NGA), Clare Collins, has joined our board of trustees.

Our joint programme with the Institute of Education (Centre for Post-14 Research and Innovation) continued in November. This excellent course offers 30 credits towards a master’s degree and helps teachers create a suitable learning environment and develop a forward-thinking 14-19 team.

And we finished the year with another masterclass by the one-and-only Paul Ginnis in London, who once again reminded us of the importance of effective learning.

 

But we are not resting on our laurels and we’re already gearing up for 2012! On February 10, we will be holding a one-day professional development event at the Easthampstead Park Conference Centre in Wokingham, which will look at innovation, collaboration and destination in the 16-19 education sector.

The day will include a series of workshops and keynote speeches by Linda Rose from the Department for Education and Lorna Fitzjohn, divisional manager, learning and skills at Ofsted.

On March 9, we will be holding a breakout session at the Naace Conference 2012 in Leicester looking at the role of education apps and organisational change. Please come along if you’re there and say hello!

We’ve also ramped our social media profile this year with more updates on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Thanks for all your comments on these websites. We really appreciate it.

 

So on behalf of everyone at Learning Plus UK, I would like to wish you all a Happy Christmas and an educational new year!

To find out about any of our upcoming events, drop us a line at office@learningplusuk.org.