Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire

An event at which Colin Booth OBE is speaking would not be complete without a rousing quote. The one in the title above, commonly attributed to W.B. Yeates, is a favourite of his.  

Today marked one such event, when many of us were able to come together to celebrate the brilliant contribution made over the past decade by Colin as the CEO of Luminate Education Group – and throughout the preceding three decades at colleges across the country. It also gave us a chance to hear about the vision of his successor, Bill Jones – who takes the baton in the new year – and to reflect on the group's journey to become what is now one of the UK’s largest education groups.  

Luminate is one of those very large colleges which supports a significant proportion of families in the region it serves and, by virtue of its leadership and scale, has a national system leadership role. The comments made at today's event reflected both of those things, as well as the critical role of colleges all over the country.  

Never has it been clearer that the transformative power of colleges can and does improve peoples' lives and help make for a stronger society.  The quote below is from this morning's event, coming off the back of stories being shared about how colleges provide a place where people from all walks of life can congregate, share different perspectives and understand each other better.  There is this special convening power which colleges have and which we can all benefit from.

We are now coming into an era where public policy is moving towards supporting colleges to work more closely with other community actors, whether a school or university, local authority or central government. It has, in times past, felt like collaboration has been discouraged either by design or unintended consequence. The ‘Post-16 Education and Skills’ white paper, supported by speeches given by the Secretary of State for Education and the Prime Minister, all point towards a future where we can more easily work together for the common good. With new vocational qualification routes being introduced, a renewed focus on professional development for FE teachers, better coordination with employers, and support for true partnership working between colleges and universities – to name just a few – there is lots to be done.  

Let's celebrate the incredible contributions which Colin, Bill, Luminate and colleges across the country have already made, and all play our part in building on that legacy, ensuring the opportunity presented by this shift in public policy is turned into reality.