Hartlepool College was proud to host this year's ME+ Conference, the annual celebration of post-16 English, maths and ESOL teaching that brings together colleges from across the North East.
Now in its eighth year, ME+ rotates around the region's participating colleges, with Middlesbrough College hosting last year. This year it was Hartlepool College's turn, and almost 200 lecturers, tutors and support staff travelled to the college for a day the day dedicated entirely to subjects that don't always take centre stage once students arrive at college and the focus turns to vocational qualifications.
Throughout the day, attendees chose from four rounds of sessions tailored to their specialism, delivered by guest speakers, fellow college staff, exam board representatives and sponsors. The conference also welcomed Hartlepool MP Jonathan Brash as keynote speaker, alongside an address from Principal and Chief Executive Darren Hankey.
For Stacey Carberry, Deputy Head of English and Maths at Hartlepool College, hosting the conference was a chance to showcase the college's own staff alongside visiting speakers.
"We're particularly proud of having the opportunity to use a lot of our own guest speakers, including lecturers Sam Costello, Elli Donnelly and Leanne Kelly, and Head of Teaching and Learning Richie Peacock. These are staff who are so good at what they do that people specifically want to learn from them and their approach to their own curriculum."
This focus on home-grown talent connected directly to the themes of Darren's introductory speech, which reflected on social inequity and progression in the region and what makes ME+ such a valuable fixture for the sector.
"It's brilliant that, for the past eight years, we've had this one day to celebrate everything that's good about post-16 English, maths and ESOL," Stacey said. "It's completely separate from the major conferences and learning events for schools which enables us to focus on matters most pertinent to our sector, and every year it's been a real success."
As one of the smaller colleges among those which participate, Stacey was keen to ensure this year's event was a brilliant experience for everyone who attended. Comments from attendees about how beneficial and enjoyable the sessions were, and how well-organised the day was overall, suggest that we achieved exactly that. Catering was provided by local restaurant The Copper Kettle - owned and run by former Hartlepool College students - with support by lecturer Kevin Dove and the Hospitality and Catering team.
Josh Irvine, Essential Skills Assistant, said: "It's been a brilliant opportunity to immerse myself in the variety of different perspectives from like-minded individuals. We all believe in encouraging our students to be ambitious and driven people and, having attended, it's good to know how many people strive to achieve the same thing."
Darren further reflected on the day: "It was a real honour for Hartlepool College to host this year's ME+ Conference. Events like this remind us just how vital English, maths and ESOL are to our students' futures. I'm hugely proud that so many of our own talented lecturers had the chance to share their expertise with colleagues from right across the region to improve outcomes for everyone."
Hartlepool College looks forward to supporting ME+ as a once-a-year fixture on the post-16 calendar, continuing to give English, maths and ESOL teaching the spotlight it deserves well into the future.
