25th June
Blog Stories
The end of term is fast approaching, and like every year, the pressure is on to prise your son/daughter away from their screen for at least some of the six weeks holiday. How are they currently planning to spend their summer? If you think it might involve too much Facebook, Netflix or Candy Crush –
18th June
Blog Stories
Tonight Dame Christine Braddock, Chairman of Birmingham Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, opened the first ever Aspire@BCH Star Awards. The awards celebrate the contribution young people and staff have made in providing ‘opportunities without limits’ in the many inspiring projects run under the banner of Aspire@BCH. I feel privileged to have been part of Aspire’s
3rd June
Blog Stories
Type the word ‘leadership’ into an internet search engine, and you will be faced with 469 million results on what it means to be a leader, what defines a leader, famous leaders throughout time – in addition to thousands of quotes, tips and comments on leadership skills, and why it’s important to possess them. Yet
20th May
Blog Stories
As a national charity dedicated to young people’s learning, schools and their teaching staff are naturally at the heart of what we do. To date, we have trained 5,000 teachers and youth workers – a figure that is proudly etched on our
27th March
Blog Stories
When the National Citizen Service was launched in 2011, few could have anticipated the true value of the programme and its rewards for young people. Initially billed as a ‘non-military national service’, its aim was to mix young people from different backgrounds and teach them what it means to be socially responsible. It was designed
20th March
Blog Stories
The Department for Education has announced the school winners of the inaugural Character Awards – congratulations to all award winners and the national winner –the Leadership Academy. Debate in the Twittersphere about the Awards has been fierce. For some, the overwhelmingly traditional nature of the winners was a disappointment (army cadets, classical music, fencing, and a
3rd March
Blog Stories
It’s all too easy to generalise about teenagers and talk about their dedication to Xboxes and smartphone screens, but those who make these sweeping statements are not only likely to be guilty of the same short attention spans – but they probably haven’t heard of the fantastic work many young people are doing for their
6th February
Blog Stories
Much has been made of the value of peer tutoring in accelerating academic progress. The EEF/Sutton Toolkit outlines that peer tutoring offers high impact at low cost and is expected to achieve six months of accelerated progress with each student. However, an area that is less well researched is the impact of peer tutoring on the
16th January
Blog Stories
As we start the year, UFA is operating in a world where education press releases and think tanks highlight how it is all about grit and character. Where leadership skills, resilience and communication are seen to be the essential skills mix to ensure our economy thrives. Where mental health and well-being of our young people is
