Melissa Farnham, the newly appointed CEO of ASDAN, draws on her extensive expertise working with young people experiencing poverty to expand ASDAN’s impact. Her vision focuses on a digital, flexible enrichment curriculum and strengthening ASDAN’s professional learning community to provide more learners with the opportunities to secure their best possible future.
Last year, ASDAN certificated the achievements of over 40,000 young people and adults through its practical, portfolio-based qualifications and programmes for learners working from pre-Entry to Level 3. Farnham is committed to broadening ASDAN’s reach and ensuring it engages, elevates and empowers those facing poverty in all its forms.
Career rooted in social mobility
Almost two decades ago, Melissa Farnham qualified as a headteacher in Sandwell, driven by an interest in how education can support social mobility and a desire to help those young people not thriving in traditional educational settings. It was here she first began using ASDAN courses to help learners from a special education school and a youth offending team to transition into post-16 education.
She saw how ASDAN’s portfolio-based programmes and qualifications could underpin a curriculum that would help support young people to flourish into adulthood. Keen to continue the organisation’s forward-thinking approach and ongoing commitment to develop the impact it can have, she comments on this next chapter for ASDAN,
“After nearly 16 years in leadership roles, I felt it was time to apply my knowledge in a different way. Over the past few months in ASDAN’s Bristol office, understanding how the cogs work and listening to the challenges our staff, members and learners face, I am certain that ASDAN is at a pivotal place to positively influence the bigger educational landscape.”
Building a professional learning community
ASDAN originated in the early 1980s when a group of teachers, faced with students disengaged by their experience of school, cultivated the idea of a radical award scheme. This would offer certification for achievements not recognised or valued by the traditional framework of educational assessment, constructed around engaging activities that would motivate students, celebrate their skills and talents, and encourage them to progress in learning and/or to work.
Supporting teachers to reflect on and develop their professional practice is at the core of ASDAN’s approach. Staying true to its roots as a network for sharing effective teaching practice, ASDAN is developing its professional learning community (PLC) to share best practice, advice and resources among education professionals.
Committed to building on its legacy of creating programmes for teachers with teachers, ASDAN actively seeks feedback and insights from its members to inform the development and updating of all its courses.
This year, ASDAN has updated its popular SEND programme, Towards Independence, working closely with focus groups to enhance the course. It now offers a large selection of supporting resources for its 80 modules, along with regular CPD opportunities and support meetings for those delivering the programme.
In the coming year, ASDAN plans to review its personal effectiveness offer and refresh its flagship qualification, the Certificate of Personal Effectiveness Level 1 and 2.
As well as accessing the professional learning community, ASDAN members can also help shape it and influence how ASDAN can better meet their needs and those of their learners. Professional learning is an effective way to enhance critical thinking and learning for teachers. It ensures that teaching practice is evidence-informed and relevant and will in turn inspire and engage all learners.
Influencing policy and curriculum change
ASDAN works with over 3,000 educational centres in the UK and internationally, providing rich and meaningful data on the current post-pandemic education landscape and the needs of today’s learners. ASDAN’s role is to aggregate this information to ensure it has a strong offer, while also supporting the professionals on the ground developing the right outcomes for their learners.
ASDAN is currently exploring the new Government’s manifesto and its proposed direction. Their aim is to align with the 10-year education strategy plan that the Government plans to develop over the next 18 months.
The Government’s manifesto states the aim to have in place a curriculum that ensures children and young people leave compulsory education ready for life and ready for work, building the knowledge, skills and attributes young people need to thrive. ASDAN has an important place and purpose in that structure.
Right now, ASDAN is well positioned to support discussions that can influence curriculum and assessment change. Having a voice through ASDAN membership and through our professional learning community is more impactful than ever.
Developing a portable portfolio-based curriculum
ASDAN’s recent customer survey highlighted that the biggest challenges faced by education professionals were their workload and the complexity of their young people’s needs. To address these challenges, ASDAN plans to digitise its full curriculum offer over the coming year. This digitalisation aims to empower young people to manage their own learning more effectively, with their ASDAN portfolio accessible across different contexts and easily reviewed by tutors.
As young people move through their education journey towards independence, ASDAN will move with them and provide a portable curriculum that meets their needs. On a digital platform, our project-based curriculum will complement this digital approach and will make it easier for tutors and learners to proactively capture evidence. This change will make ASDAN more agile, needs-driven and more flexible to benefit many more learners in the years ahead.
Melissa is enthusiastic about what lies ahead for ASDAN:
“At the core of ASDAN, is our goal to provide young people and adults with the best opportunities to access flexible education so that they feel equipped for the best possible future. I am honoured to lead ASDAN in its next stage under a new government.”
Visit the ASDAN website to see the range and impact of our courses. You can contact an ASDAN relationship manager to explore which courses will best meet the needs of your learners.
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