Members of Oakham School and the FOSIL Group are looking forward to Friday’s/tonight’s Tes Independent School Awards where FOSIL has been shortlisted for the ‘Strategic education initiative of the year’ category.
Oakham has been shortlisted for this prestigious national award because of its commitment to learning through inquiry, specifically in the setting up of the FOSIL Group (www.fosil.org.uk) – an open and free online platform where educators can share, reflect and develop effective inquiry learning, for the collective benefit of all students.
Eight members of the Oakham School community, including teachers, librarians and the School’s Head of Student Research, all of whom have played a key role in developing and bringing FOSIL to fruition over the years, are looking forward to the award ceremony – which is being held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. They are delighted to be joined by two key members of the FOSIL Group; Nick Poole, CEO of CILIP: the Library Association, and Elizabeth Hutchinson, Vice Chair of The Great School Libraries Campaign.
The FOSIL Group, which was only launched this April, already has 166 members from a range of different schools (state, independent, primary and secondary) both across the UK and, indeed, the world. It has been endorsed by the Information Literacy Group and School Libraries Group of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, and the School Library Association. It houses a continually growing number of FOSIL-based resources which can be immediately used, as well as a Forum which is growing in popularity too (with 200+ posts across 60+ different topics of discussion).
“Sharing knowledge, sharing ideas and sharing resources have always been at the heart of education,” says Henry Price, Headmaster. “So I am delighted to witness not only the collaborative power of the FOSIL Group in working towards providing all pupils with the opportunities and resources to learn how to find things out for themselves, but also to see this excellent educational initiative receive recognition in this Tes award shortlisting.”
“The FOSIL Group is a wonderful opportunity for everyone to come together and share resources, knowledge and expertise,” concludes Oakham’s Head of Library, Darryl Toerien, who developed FOSIL and the FOSIL Group. “I hope that the shortlisting for this award will generate even more awareness of this community and will, in turn, support our continued journey further to develop the inquiry-led learning conversation.”
