The Teacher and Adviser Conference was jointly hosted this year by Services for Young People (SfYP) and the University of Hertfordshire. It offered an engaging and diverse programme and the opportunity for careers professionals and advisers to come together, share ideas and talk about how to support and prepare students for their future learning and employment.
Hero Slinn, Director of Inclusion and Skills at Hertfordshire County Council opened the conference by discussing the local landscape of young people in education, employment and training. She highlighted the council’s commitment to enhancing outcomes for young people through the inclusion and skills agenda and explained how SfYP supports young people to succeed. Dr Charmagne Barnes, Pro Vice Chancellor for Education and Student Experience followed by sharing the university’s approach to career-focused learning and teaching and the services available to support students.
Hero Slinn opening the conference
Laura Knight, Senior Consultant at Berkhamsted School, opened the keynote sessions with a thought-provoking discussion on artificial intelligence (AI), discussing the benefits, challenges, and its impact on education and how to prepare students for the future.
Throughout the day, interactive workshops informed, updated and inspired attendees, including:
• A session on Supported Employment by an Adviser in the SfYP SEND Team. They shared success stories of young people with SEND achieving independence and success in the workplace. The session addressed common misconceptions about young people with additional needs in the workplace and highlighted the impact of reasonable adjustments, as well as the benefits to employers.
• A presentation on the Apprenticeship Twin-Track Toolkit, a new resource for schools from HFL Education, to support students in researching and applying for apprenticeships alongside a university degree.
• An update from Benn Rutter at the Student Loans Company about student finance.
• A talk from Dr Stephen Partridge, the Dean of Creative Arts at The University of Hertfordshire, about the opportunities available for young people in the film and creative industries.
• A discussion about the challenges of giving advice on higher education and an introduction to professional and technical universities from Annie Bell at The University Alliance Group.
• HFL Education also ran a session on Quality in the Careers Curriculum, where school leaders shared their experiences from Ofsted inspections and best practice for creating a successful careers strategy.
• A panel of university Admissions Tutors offered useful advice and practical tips for guiding students through the higher education application process.
Supported Employment workshop HFL Education marketplace stand
The conference concluded with Brian Pepin, Principal Policy Adviser at UCAS, who shared the latest trends in the higher education sector, including personal statements and references.
Feedback about the conference was extremely positive, with many delegates expressing that they are already looking forward to next year’s event.
“Thanks for all the hard work put into this conference. Really got a lot from it. Well done!”
“An informative event, with interesting and varied workshops.”
Feedback from Laura Knight, Senior Consultant at Berkhamsted School:
“What a super event! It was great to share my thoughts on AI in education with the delegates at this event at the University of Hertfordshire with SfYP. We explored how to rethink opportunity and excellence while we support inclusion and adaptive learning with AI. It was a pleasure to meet such a dedicated and engaged group of professionals, the young people of Hertfordshire are lucky to have you!”
Tim Edwards, SfYP Business Development Manager said:
“Thank you to everyone involved in the day. We saw education and careers professionals discuss thought-provoking AI developments and share best practices in schools. Working in partnership means we continue to go from strength to strength, supporting young people in Hertfordshire to succeed. Long may it continue!”
For more information about the services that we offer to schools and colleges in Hertfordshire, please visit the ‘Buy our services’ section of the SfYP website.
