WE had so much fun welcoming pupils and staff from four of our partner schools along to what was an action-packed ‘Innovation Day’ on February 10th.
Students from Years 5 and 6 at King’s Ely Junior were joined by Key Stage 2 pupils from Isle of Ely Primary School, Mepal and Witcham Primary School, Robert Arkenstall Primary School and Ely St Mary’s Junior School – schools which are all members of the Cambridgeshire Educational Partnership.
Celia Etchegoyen, Director of Outreach and Partnerships at King’s Ely, said: “The Innovation Day was led by Lucy and Veera, two Management Consultants from Accenture in London, and the Managing Director of Horizon Retail Marketing Solutions, Andrew Moss, who is a King’s Ely parent.
“The day was entitled ‘What’s Your Mission?’. Pupils were introduced to design thinking and learnt about the theory behind methodology. They were shown how it has been used by different companies to create new interesting products and experiences. The ideation part of the day was designed to create a response to the mission and included a brainstorming session, concept poster creation and sketches of their ideas.
“The collaborative element of the day saw pupils working together in small groups to come up with an idea for a sustainable company with a clear mission. At the end of the day, each group pitched their ideas to a panel of judges.
“Very many thanks to Accenture and Horizon Retail Marketing Solutions for driving this initiative and to Mr Moss who sourced ex-display items of electronic equipment from Dixons to give to each student as a gift.”
The Cambridgeshire Educational Partnership has been formed to bring together school headteachers, education professionals and young people from across Cambridgeshire.
King’s Ely, Ely College and Littleport and East Cambs Academy joined forces to set up the organisation last autumn, but since then more than a dozen other local primary and secondary schools, from both the independent and state sectors, have come on board.
The aim of the partnership is to work together for the mutual benefit of all pupils, and to provide opportunities for students from schools within the partnership to gain access to a variety of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths), MFL (Modern Foreign Languages), Arts, Sport and Enrichment activities.
To find out more about the partnership, please email: CeliaEtchegoyen@kingsely.org