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Eastbourne Schools Partnership - Your Town, Your Ideas, Your Future

Young people from Eastbourne schools impressed local business leaders, experts, and politicians last Friday at the Your Town, Your Ideas, Your Future event.

The event was hosted by Eastbourne Schools Partnership at the Birley Centre and was attended by an audience of more than 70 people, including Eastbourne MP Stephen Lloyd, Councillor David Tutt, other local councillors, businesses and people working across the statutory and voluntary sector who have a vested interest in the students’ ideas and proposals.

Teams of students from each school presented their ideas which included:

  • work on mental health support for young people

  • improving cycle paths – especially around schools

  • maintaining and expanding use of Paradise Park mountain bike area

  • clean air solutions for Eastbourne

  • an outdoor beach gym

  • an outdoor cinema and ice rink for Princes Park

  • developing a youth PRIDE event

  • Sunset Point – an outdoor recreation area on the Western Lawns to include a zip wire to the beach

  • Creating a garden and chill zone in one of the schools

Following presentations from students, audience members joined students in conversations to contribute ideas, expertise and support for projects going forwards, resulting in approximately 50 individual offers of support or help from the audience for the school projects.

This event is part of a longer term project developed by Eastbourne Schools Partnership to give young people a chance to explore how they could make their town a better place to live and visit.

The project kicked off in June 2019 with a creative consultation event attended by 89 young people from eight Eastbourne secondary schools. Students shared their perceptions of the town with professionals working across ten different sectors which included the police, community development, sports, arts, transport and engineering, housing, business and volunteering, health and wellbeing and the digital sector.

Since then, the young people have been working with teachers and local experts to develop their ideas.

Schools involved: The Cavendish School, The Causeway School, Eastbourne Academy, Eastbourne College, Gildredge House, Roedean Moira House, St Catherine’s College, Ratton School, Willingdon Community School.

Asked what they’ve valued about the process, young people said:

The opportunity to have ideas, be proactive, put our ideas forward, and meet experts who are genuinely interested.

We are developing good ideas that will improve a place we already love.

This project had been developed by Culture Shift with support from 3VA, the East Sussex Equalities and Participation team, the Chamber of Commerce and Lord Lucas, and his campaign for the Year of Engineering @engineering Eastbourne. Project meetings have been hosted by Eastbourne College.

Aims

‘By linking our resources, expertise, enthusiasm and commitment, we aim to develop projects and ideas that inspire, excite and offer creative opportunities for children and young people. In so doing we hope to enable our pupils to work together for mutual benefit and the benefit of others across our town. At the same time we wish to inspire and excite our staff by sharing good practice across the partnership which will improve the delivery of education across all the schools.‘

The shared aim is the educational benefit of children based on a core belief that our schools serve all children better through cooperation and a recognition of the similarity of our objectives.

Background

Eastbourne Schools Partnership

Winner of the national Education Business Partnership Award 2018

Shortlisted for TES Independent Schools Partnership Award 2019

‘working for the mutual benefit of our pupils and the benefit of others across our town’

Who we are
Leading on from an initial meeting in March 2014, where four head teachers decided it would be a good idea to join forces to create a collaborative project that would inspire our young people, Eastbourne Schools Partnership (ESP) was formed. Having been one of the four founder members in 2013/14, during the course of this year Eastbourne College has seen the ESP grow to 12 schools. The Partnership now comprises two independent schools, nine secondary schools for children aged 11+ and one sixth form college. In total, the schools between them account for over 15,000 children.

‘By linking our resources, expertise, enthusiasm and commitment, we aim to develop projects and ideas that inspire, excite and offer creative opportunities for children and young people. In so doing we hope to enable our pupils to work together for mutual benefit and the benefit of others across our town. At the same time we wish to inspire and excite our staff by sharing good practice across the partnership which will improve the delivery of education across all the schools.‘

The shared aim is the educational benefit of children based on a core belief that our schools serve all children better through cooperation and a recognition of the similarity of our objectives.

How we work
The Eastbourne Schools Partnership is constituted as a partnership of equals among schools in the maintained and independent sector in the Eastbourne area. All schools in the Partnership may use the Eastbourne Schools Partnership name and shared resources as they see fit.

Resources

Funds from Eastbourne Schools partnership attributed to project. £2000 for project management and faciliatation by Culture Shift. 

Impact

Ongoing dialogue with Council and business leaders. Development and realisation of specific identified projects in partnership with local community.

Pupil Involvement

89 pupils from across the Partnership (8 from Eastbourne College)

Frequency

On going