As most of us enjoy a well-earned rest after the close of another academic year, it’s vitally important that we take time to look back and reflect on the year that was. For all of us at The BASE Project, it’s been quite the year.
At The BASE Project, we’re passionate about giving students the best possible opportunity to succeed and, since winning a significant tender from the Department for Education, we’ve worked with colleges across the North-East, Yorkshire and Humberside (and collaborated with partners across the country) to do just that.
Having won the tender, the first order of business was to identify the team who would work with teachers and leaders to implement our unique and innovative approach. Early in 2023, we were delighted to bring on board the expertise of Jonny Kay (our National Education Lead) and Mark Stewart (our National Maths Lead) to lead and deliver the project and they have done truly great work with our partner colleges.
Since commencing their roles, Mark and Jonny have created a library of fantastic resources for students, teachers and leaders (you can find out more here) and feedback has been overwhelmingly positive from all involved. Working with our Managing Director, Joseph Desforges, the team has gone from strength to strength, smashing all targets, and are extremely excited for 2023/24, in which we’ll be working with hundreds of teachers and more than 10,000 students.
However, reflection is not just about the positives; the year has had its challenges for students, teachers, leaders and also The BASE Project.
With the spread of artificial intelligence, the very way in which teachers plan, teach and assess has threatened to change. Like building an airplane whilst trying to fly it, we have seen teachers evaluating how they deliver their subject, mid-year, as they deliver it. We at The BASE Project are no different, spending significant time with leading national and international industry experts, attending a vast array of conferences (and launching our own – more on that later) and working hard with innovative specialists to develop how we support students, teachers and leaders.
We’ve been keen to get ‘out in the field’ because we know that good practice is born from collaboration, and that’s why we launched our first sharing best practice event (via our parent company, Create Development). The Create Development English and Maths Conference was attended by over 200 teachers and leaders from across the country, who attended engaging, insightful sessions led by industry experts and all for free. After the roaring success of our first conference, we’re excited to host a number of others throughout 2023/24 and can’t wait to share more details (with our first conference of the year in October).
As we look to integrate a host of innovative new features into the project in 2023/24, we are also looking ahead to 2024/25 and have already started to build partnerships with colleges to launch the project in September 2024.
Outside of The BASE Project, the team at The Development Wheel (who oversee the project) have continued to successfully expand our international operation with our first partners in Australia coming on board earlier this year with advanced discussions with partners in South Africa drawing to a close, with both Mark and Jonny very keen to support any developments (specifically in the summer months). Working with stakeholders in a number of industries (from education to National Governing Bodies for sport to Local authorities), the excellent year for The BASE Project team has also been mirrored by The Development Wheel team.
For The Wheel and The BASE Project, as our partner colleges agree, it’s an exciting time to be involved in the project and there’s lots more to come from us in the near future, so watch this space and make sure to subscribe to our blog for more updates soon.
Whether you’re reading this on the beach, in the garden or in the office, everyone at The BASE Project wishes you a happy, sun-filled summer and we look forward to seeing you all in 2023/24: here’s to a great year!
For more information on the BASE Project, and how it is supporting colleges in the Northeast, Yorkshire and Humberside, check out our website here
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