Delegate Report on 2010 conference

Introduction

Over the two days 222 delegates attended the EOA conference with 175 attending for two days and 47 for one day. As in keeping with the original strategy laid out by the EOA back in 2000 this conference attempted to bring as many stakeholders under one roof but following an agenda driven by the exams office community.

The programme was designed by members on the EOA Advisory Committee. Every member was invited to attend or make a contribution to the programme this year. These meetings were chaired by your elected members from the Board of Trustees covering both schools and colleges.

The added elements to this conference was the gala dinner which was set up partly to thank all those who had worked so long and hard to get us where we are today. The event gave us the opportunity to thank all those in the stakeholder community for their support and help over the years, including QCDA. There were also various stands and activities related to those organisations that contributed and/or sponsored various aspects of the conference.

And in response to the constant comments coming back to the office about EO's not being valued and needing a real pick-me-up after another difficult year, dominated by job sackings, invigilation budget cuts etc was the invitation that went out to Dame Kelly Holmes for an injection of inspiration which I felt we all needed.

Responses taken from delegate feedback forms.

1. Advance conference information: How did you hear about the Conference?

Most delegates heard about the conference via the EOA e-newsletter or through the EOA website. Only two references were made to the QCDA XO and CSO sources. One reference was made from a ASCL (Head teachers union) publication, headteacher recommendation, AoC conference and from a local network meeting.

2. Booking system ( scoring system from 1 – not very good to 4 very good)

How did you find the online booking system?

Apart from the teething problems over payment on our online system called Event.elephant most delegates gave it a 3 or 4 as a score having found the system convenient and easy to use.

3. Venue What do you think of the venue:-
3.1 Access:-
Once you got there it was great but if you missed the turning at the roundabout especially if driving north as (Dame Kelly Holmes found) you had to drive north on the A1 and turn around. For those from the far north, it was too far south and for those in the West Country it may as well have been on the moon such was the distance. Most delegates came by car and those who came by train were ferried by bus from the station to the conference centre.

3.2 Facilities:

                                            Conference Hall  Seminar rooms  Bedrooms  Other areas
1 not very good                      0%                     0%                    5%           2%
2                                           3%                     2%                    3%           4%
3                                          23%                   40%                  34%         36%
4 very good                          74%                   58%                   58%         58%

4. Main Conference sessions:- What did you think of the main Conference sessions:
                            Question Time Success is a Mind Game Dame Kelly Holmes EOA Presentations
1 not relevant         1%                 13%                             1%                        0%
2                          14%                 27%                             1%                        5%
3                          31%                 27%                           27%                       25%
4 very relevant      54%                 33%                           71%                       70%

5. Workshops:- What did you think of Workshops 1 & 2
                        Managing behaviour Managing yourself Managing people Managing budgets CPD
1 not relevant    2%                         1%                       3%                    20%                     17%
2                     26%                       15%                       6%                    37%                      5%
3                     36%                       25%                     29%                    27%                    28%
4 very relevant 36%                       59%                     62%                    16%                    50%

5a Workshops What did you think of Workshop 3:
                            SERCO     Capita     SISRA
1 not relevant        27%         41%        22%
2                          13%         31%        11%
3                          13%           8%          0%
4 very relevant      43%        22%         67%

6. Clinics:- What did you think of the Clinics:
                               AQA Edexcel City & Guilds OCR QCDA (GCSEs) QCDA (Reduce admin) VTCT
1 not relevant           0%  4%        8%               4%  0%                   0%                            8%
2                           14%  2%        3%               4%  3%                  34%                          20%
3                           42% 44%      27%            32% 33%                  33%                          12%
4 very relevant       44% 50%     62%             60% 64%                  33%                          60%

7. What was the best part of the Conference for you?

   Top 5

5. Gala dinner

8. What was the worst part of the Conference for you?

    Top 5

1. Capita presentation
2. Feeling rushed especially on the first day / trying to squeeze in too much
3. Stephen Sharpley
4. Willows accommodation and the trek
5. Gala dinner activities / entertainment

9. What would you like to see in a future EOA Conference?

    Top 5

1. Have regional meetings and workshops led by members
2. Have events closer to home
3. More free time to relax / take information in
4. More targeted activity with Awarding bodies on their qualifications
5. More sharing of best practice especially with new exams office staff

10. Any other comments

    The Positives

1. Great value for money / got a lot right / well done EOA / excellent
2. Dame Kelly Holmes was just brilliant / the best / inspirational
3. First conference attended and it was very useful
4. Matching service was great and needs to be developed
5. Loved the EOA mugs / got my photo with Dame Kelly

    The Negatives

1. The bad Willows experience seemed to dampened down the comments from certain delegates
2. Not as good as last year / over running / too rushed / hated the photographer
3. Gala dinner / did not like speeches / songs / entertainment
4. Too many inspirational activities / why doesn't the EOA ask us about the programme
5. Disappointed / noise in the court yard / did not like the location

Conclusion

Like all conferences it is impossible to please everyone. To those who experienced the Willows accommodation problems the EOA team can only apologise. When this programme was set up the view was we must justify why we are asking heads of centre to pay up for a delegate. The result was for some it was all too much and too rushed. For others there was just a tad too much inspiration floating around for those already on low batteries.

This was celebrating ten years of where the EOA has got to. For many reading this they might be asking the question, will any of us be around to see the next ten years? I doubt it but as many have mentioned in emails, letters and in discussion they all value their job and they do want to make a difference. So what ever the future may hold the EOA, with backing of its members, must press on with or without such events.

In the present climate everyone, including the EOA must review its resources and make sure it focuses on activities that best serve its members. But any future decisions on future conference style events are down to members. So your views are essential when your elected Board of Trustees are preparing for future activity.

Contact: andrewharland@examofficers.org.uk – title " The future of EOA conferences"