Cools Schools come along to The Education Show

Many’s the time I wished for a more exciting and enjoyable time in school and it seems that this attitude hasn’t changed much over the years. In a survey, 81% of children stated they did not like school; this probably doesn’t surprise many people but I think it’s a worrying figure. So I was very pleased to hear Richard Joslin, exhibition director at Emap announce the ‘Cool Schools’ central feature area at the Education Show, which has been created to highlight the exciting and innovative things that are taking place in the schools of today.

The area, run by professor Stephen Heppell, hosts groups of pupils showcasing some of their outstanding ideas for making education more interactive and more enjoyable. I think this is a great idea – children will know better than any of us what will make schools - and learning - more engaging for them. Rather than try and guess what works, let’s hear it from the horse’s mouth.

Another less than satisfying memory from my school days was the loneliness I sometimes used to feel. We moved around a fair amount – my father was in the cartoon army – so when I heard of 12-year-old’s James Buckley’s magnificent ‘Look for Loneliness’ resource, I was both intrigued and impressed. James’ idea (a Dragon’s Den winning idea, don’t you know!) is to get children to look out for the more lonely kids and include them more.

The thought of children helping and including one another puts a massive smile on my face. Children have the capacity to surprise us, to step up to the plate and have bigger hearts and ideas than we sometimes think they will. How nice then to see a planned celebration of this with the ‘Cool Schools’ feature area.

Rick