Guest post by Florencia Nannetti
Now in its second year running this event Alexandra Palace’s Big Schools Day with BAFTA Kids welcomed 1,000 pupils from 16 schools across London. Hosted by Ed Petrie (All over the place) and Lindsey Russell (Blue Peter) the day was jam packed with inspirational BAFTA winning guests and activities showcasing careers within film and television. The day centered around iconic women in the industry to mark the centenary of female suffrage as well as the 60th anniversary of Blue Peter.
A number of changes were made to the delivery of the event based on feedback and comments from last year’s event. One of the biggest step forward was the recruitment of a team of volunteer to support teachers bringing group and the delivery of the event. The team was made up of people recruited through the Palace’s volunteering programme, students from City & Islington College and Volunteering Matters. The feedback from teachers and volunteers was really positive about their involvement and their support was invaluable throughout the day.
To help teachers prepare their classes for the event a Teachers Pack was produced which included links to the curriculum, health & safety information, historical background about the Park and Palace and competition information. Teachers attending the Meet & Greet (6th June) were given their pack with others receiving the document via email and through the post. Comments from the teachers about the pack said that having this information in advance was really helpful in planning for the trip.
Pupils who attended were observed and asked about their experiences during the day, all were positive with one person saying “I don’t know what my favourite bit was, there’s too much to choose from”.
Overall, the day was a great success, we received lots of positive feedback from teachers, students and staff involved, as well as suggestions to make the event even better in 2019.