Way back in September 2011, I found out I qualified as a London Ambassador after travelling to London for the recruitment interview.  I was very honored to be one of the 8000 chosen but felt perhaps everyone was invited to take part.

I soon found out that wasn’t the case.

Starting in March I had our first training module, followed up with module two in May  and then Module 3 was at our location (Leister Square for me). As Ambassadors, we had attend these three all -day training sessions going over everything from customer service from John Lewis to questions we might receive to how the hierarchy was going to work (line managers, area managers, etc).  But most importantly, we were getting to know each other.  We didn’t know at the time who was going to be working with whom but it didn’t matter – already we were bonding as London Ambassadors. Read the rest of this entry »

First, we need to address this assumption that ‘all kids have been brought up with technology.’ The truth is for only certain areas within our society is that true. Yes some kids might have SmartPhones (actually very few do) and laptops but this doesn’t equate to them knowing technology or ICT.  As for having PC’s in their home, I will question the research which stated 90% have access to broadband.  This is certainly not true of the pupils I teach, many of whom do not even have an email account. And does access translate into usage?  I highly doubt it.

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On Friday April 20th, Charlotte and three of her school friends travelled to London to sleep at the Natural History Museum’s DinoSnore as part of Charlotte’s 10th birthday (sponsored by KinderHotels).  We were entertained from the moment the doors opened until lights went out at midnight then from breakfast until the museum opened.  The fun (and learning!) never stopped.  There was about 150-200 children and occupying adults. Read the rest of this entry »

I recently took part in the Guardian’s Culture Professional end of year Chat: a good or bad year for culture and heritage.

While I tend to stick to the more traditional cultural aspects (museums, art galleries, heritage venues) the chat brought up some other aspects such as contemporary performances, ballets, opera, etc.

One of the points I made was I felt 2011 was the Year of Collaboration.  To my surprise, this seemed to have caused a discussion on whether it really was or not.   Since the Arts council cuts were announced earlier in the year, it was clear to me that the only route for the smaller venues to survive had to be collaboration.

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Charlotte and I had a fun filled weekend in London.

After a lovely journey on Virgin Trains, we headed over to Bloomsbury Thistle Hotel.  The last time we went to London we were a little disappointed in this hotel as the elevator and key lock stopped working.  This time, they more than made up for it!  The room was large, with all the amenities you expect and then some.

We barely put our bags in the gorgeous room before heading back out as we were meeting Laura Porter from GoLondon.about.com and her daughter A at the Science Museum to see the Hidden Heroes exhibition. The exhibition explores everyday items that we use almost everyday and invites you to think of where you’d be without them.  Most of the items (if not all) have been mentioned in Justin Pollard’s book Boffinology (which is a brilliant book).

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