NESTA Invitation

On 6^th October 2009 at the invitation of NESTA, students from Manchester Academy were invited to attend a fringe meeting of the Conservative Party Conference.

The meeting was hosted by NESTA and Michael Gove MP the Shadow Secretary of State for Children and Families was on the panel.  

The title of the panel meeting was “Choice and Standards: Equipping Today’s Children for the Challenges of Tomorrow”.

Manchester Academy students were asked to contribute to the debate. The students are submitting an article to NESTA’s iDiscover website.

Thanks go to NESTA for this invitation. See below for a more detailed account of the fringe meeting...

We left Manchester Academy on a rainy Thursday evening, in typical Manchester weather, to attend our first Conservative Party Conference at the Bridgewater Hall. We felt like we were VIPs as we approached the Bridgewater Hall and were wowed by the amazing fountain and statues.

The security was tight; roads were closed and there was a large police presence. The vast space of the foyer was far removed from the Manchester Academy reception; the grandeur and the scale were overwhelming.

NESTA had generously invited us to the event and provided fabulous food that we could eat while schmoozing the room. Our small talk skills were severely put to the test as we chatted to other guests such as Jonathan Kestenbaum from NESTA, Brett Wigdortz from Teach First and Dr. Daniel Mognihan from the Harris Academies. 

The title of the fringe meeting was “Choice and Standards: Equipping Today’s Children for the Challenges of Tomorrow”. The key note speaker was Michael Gove, the Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families. We were impressed by his passion for developing social skills in the more impoverished areas and recognising these skills are often taken for granted by the more academic students. We were inspired by his statement that “Education should allow anyone to become the author of their own life story.”

Despite our front-row reserved seats, we were a little daunted by the occasion; surrounded by politicians and being broadcast live on the internet left us feeling a little intimidated. The whole room was fully focused on the panel of speakers, so much so that we could almost hear a pin drop. However we soon rose to the occasion after conquering our nerves and confidently contributed to the discussion.

We would like to thank NESTA for giving us the opportunity to attend this event and experience the political world in action. We hope that Michael Gove is able to achieve his aspirations and that all people are given the opportunity to develop social skills, regardless of their academic ability and background.