Dear valued ASDAN member,
I am excited to embark on my first school year as ASDAN’s CEO and I’m all the more driven by the fact that last year, ASDAN certificated an incredible 20,000 learners through our qualifications and programmes.
Energised to broaden our enrichment curriculum offer and extend ASDAN’s reach, I aim to engage, elevate and empower more young people and adults who are experiencing various forms of poverty – economic, physical, mental, cultural, spiritual, political and societal.
Almost two decades ago, I 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. I began using ASDAN qualifications to help learners from a special education school and those from a youth offending team to transition into a post-16 education.
I quickly saw how ASDAN courses can underpin a curriculum to help support young people to flourish into adulthood. I also learned how ASDAN was a forward-thinking charity constantly seeking to further develop the impact it could have. After nearly 16 years in leadership roles, I felt it was time to see if I could 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.
We’re currently exploring the new government’s manifesto and its proposed direction. Our aim is to align with the 10-year education strategy plan that the new government plans to develop over the next 18 months. I believe ASDAN has an important place and purpose in that structure.
ASDAN works with over 3,000 educational provisions, in the UK and internationally, providing us with rich and meaningful data on the current post-pandemic education landscape and the needs of today’s learners. Our role is to pull this information together to ensure we have a strong offer, while also supporting you – the professionals on the ground developing the right outcomes for learners.
We are also developing our professional learning community (PLC) as a network to share best practice, advice and resources among education professionals. As an ASDAN member, not only can you access this network, but you can also help shape it and influence how ASDAN can better meet your needs.
Right now, ASDAN is well-positioned to support discussions that can influence curriculum and assessment change. Having a voice through your ASDAN membership and through our PLC is as important to you as it is to us.
Our recent customer survey highlighted the biggest challenge you face as education professionals was your workload and the second being the complexity of your learners. Over the next year, ASDAN will digitalise its full offer to address both these challenges.
This digitisation will empower learners to manage their own learning more effectively, with their ASDAN portfolio accessible across different contexts and easily reviewed by tutors. This change will make ASDAN more agile, needs-driven and flexible than ever.
At the core of ASDAN, is our mission to meet the diverse learning needs of all young people and adults, providing them with the best possible opportunities to be equipped for their futures – in learning, work and in life.
As the new school year begins, please take a moment to review and update your centre contact details in the ASDAN members’ area to ensure we have the most current information about you and your learners.
Thank you for your membership, your trust and the daily impact you’re making on those you serve. I look forward to building our community together and guiding ASDAN into a dynamic future.
Best wishes,
Melissa Farnham
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at ASDAN