PrintTop marks for School Management Games
Published 1st December 2008
The CIPFA in the Midlands 6th Form Management Team games made good progress in a number of areas in 2008.
Schools
A bold decision was taken to stage four games this year [2008] and congratulations go to the 21 school teams who put tremendous effort into meeting this year’s challenge. They came from across the region, from as far apart as Worcester, Kettering and New Mills in Derbyshire and there was stiff competition between them.
There were some excellent team and individual performances showing a composure and maturity far beyond their age. Coupled with their IT, presentation and other skills this made for a very high standard in each of the games. It was also particularly interesting to see how many different team working models were being employed and how well they all worked (or didn’t in some cases).
Unfortunately, there could only be one winner in each of the four games and the winning teams this year were Pershore High School, Worcester; The Kings School, Grantham; Adams Grammar School, Newport and John Taylor High School, Bartonunder- Needwood (for the second year running).
The comments from many of the pupils and their teaching staff suggest that this is a valuable day for them, providing an insight into the financial priorities faced by the public sector, which their studies seldom cover.
‘May I take this opportunity to give my thanks for such an impressive day at Walsall last week. The organisation and running of the game was fantastic and our students had an excellent time and learned a lot, as well as improving their ‘life skills’ along the way. We will certainly be applying for at least one team next year, as I thought all-round it was the best trip I have ever taken students on.’
Adams Grammar School, Newport
If you are in any way associated with a Midlands School or College (Parent, Governor, Mentor etc.) with post 16 provision, who may be interested in taking part in future games then please encourage them to contact Chris Gill at chris.gill@tesco.net for more information about the 2009 games
Volunteers
With the increase to four games, the number of volunteers required was a considerable concern, but there was an excellent response from students, members and retired members alike, with 56 volunteers making themselves available for the games. Those who were involved in the role play certainly threw themselves into the task once again this year, to the extent that we startedto fear for the future health of some of the apoplectic trade union leaders!
The role that team mentors play on the day is a vital one for communicating about the profession and the type of activities that occur in the work place and this was managed remarkably well, particularly given the extra demands of keeping some of the less motivated teams on track in the game. An article in the July Spreadsheet gives a good account of the role of a volunteer mentor during the day and it is encouraging to see how much the day is enjoyed. Others have been passing on the word and if you would be interested in volunteering for next year’s games then please do not hesitate to register your interest with Chris Gill.
It has also been encouraging to see how many of our volunteers have subsequently volunteered for other CIPFA roles and a number are now involved in organising CPD events locally or assisting with Careers fairs. If you would be interested in assisting with organising CPD events then please visit the CIPFA in the Midlands ebsite to check out your local area and the appropriate contacts. For involvement with Careers fairs please contact Faisal Khan at Robert Street (faisal.khan@cipfa.org), who co-ordinates this activity across the country.
New opportunities have also arisen this year and two volunteers have even been brave enough to go into schools involved in the 6th form management games to talk to them about their work role and training for the CIPFA qualification. Support is available from Robert Street, through the provision of presentations and materials and if there are more people willing to help in this way then it might be something we could offer to all schools involved in the games. Similarly we have also been invited into one of our host Universities to speak to a finance tutorial group alongside other CCAB institutes and this is an excellent opportunity to spread the word about CIPFA and encourage students to take up the qualification.
Venues
We were delighted to be able to extend the number of games to four, but this would not have been possible without the generous assistance of some new hosts – The University of Worcester, Nottingham Trent University and the Forest Arts Centre in Walsall courtesy of Walsall MBC) - alongside our old friends at the Stoke site of Staffordshire University. Each venue provides their accommodation free of charge and we are grateful to them for this contribution and all the other assistance they provide during the game. It is good to have them alongside in what we do.
Geographically we are not quite equally spread across the region and next year we are potentially looking for a fifth venue in the Leicester area.
If you work at, or have contacts with, a University in the Leicester area who you think might be prepared to offer accommodation free of charge for a game at the end of June or beginning of July 2009, then please let Chris Gill have any contact details as soon as possible.
Chris Gill