From an international ceramics festival and hot music events to cultural hubs like Spode Works and Middleport Pottery, creativity can drive Stoke’s Renaissance
A good article and I agree with much of it. However, success is really dependent on leadership and aspiration. In the 80' and 90's, Manchester had very good governance and a plan. The plan consisted, mainly, of creating new city areas - Airport City, Sports City and Media City, along with the transformation of the city centre itself.All long term aspirations, and now all very successful. Stoke on the other hand, had old Labour councils which had no plan and their only aspirations were to ensure Labour continuation. It should be noted that as PM, Blair never visited Stoke, thinking there was no point. I will never forget the comment from the hapless Liz Jeffries, Stoke's tourism head. She said in 1988 "Manchester is full now and their success will start trickling down to Stoke ".That was the attitude, "We don't need to do anything ". I fear that nothing has changed. Stoke's leadership is abysmal. The is no ambition or aspiration. The city's education establishments are very poor and any young people with ambition are well advised to leave this dreadful place asap.
I agree with much of this article, and it's focus on how creativity may be able to save Stoke from further decay. However, what Manchester had for its recovery was a strong focus on education, with a good choice of Grammar, private, and top-performing schools within its commuter belt. In stark comparison, Stoke's abysmal local government, over decades, has failed to get a grip on education and still tops the leagues of shame for outcomes and attendance. The city now has no Grammar school or private school, and only one consistently 'outstanding' rated state high school, which is massively over-subscribed. Aspiration and ambition are key attributes for recovery, and although 'built by necessity alone' schools will often do the best with the cards they are dealt, i strongly feel they are not the solution for the giant leap Stoke needs to take. Education of all kinds need urgent and sustained attention in this city, as the current poorly educated demographic cannot either adequately support existing residents, jobs, and investment, nor attract much-needed new families able to drive the city forward, as happened in Manchester.
I think you may have taken my comment too literally, in terms of what I am saying about Stoke. Having served as a high school governor in the past for many years I do feel I understand the value of education and it's delivery. My point is not wholly about the type of school but rather the lack of aspiration and ambition which has been prevalent in Stoke for decades. I agree that not everyone is academic, and will have other skills, but the starting point for every child should be an excellent all-round education which supports these skills. To have only one consistently outstanding high school in a city this size is atrocious, especially when unauthorised absence in Stoke is one of the very worst nationally. I feel that we have to aim for the stars if wanting to reach the moon, and that's what Manchester did when it ensured the provision of a range of aspirational schools which attracted those elusive 'young professionals' and their families. You can't make a silk purse from a sows ear and there are now proportionately too many people in the city attached to the sows, so new blood is needed to raise the game. Education, infrastructure, environment, planning, leadership, have all been poor for too long locally and there is not much sign of this improving presently.
I do agree with a lot of what you are saying, and it was this article and others extolling the virtues of Manchester, not me. Yor reference to the 'left behinds' is interesting, as the very best schools have the least numbers of these by their very nature. It is very important to note that all schools are assessed on the level of improvement they achieve in their students, whatever level they start at. Therefore any high school will fail to gain outstanding status unless they can demonstrate this, not just the final exam results. Also, a high achieving school will carry many of the 'left behinds', along with them and be able to support them better from a position of strength rather than weakness, including re-directing them towards more vocational, practical or art driven qualifications. Excellent schools should never be the preserve of the 'middle classes', and this description is very fluid these days, as well as sometimes being used as a term of derision. Personally, I would regards myself as 'working class - with aspiration and ambition'. I didn't do as well as perhaps I should have done at school but definitely benefited from attending one with a very strong ethos, management, and standards. We simply don't have enough of these in Stoke and many of them cannot easily be differentiated from each other with respect to their student outcomes, student experience, discipline, and overall standards, even the newer ones. New buildings do not always make good schools, there is far more to it. Stoke's latest high school is perhaps a good example of the 'build it and they will come' approach to dealing with the need for more places. No effective consultation, no impact assessment on other schools, and an 'off the shelf'' academy trust to run it. We could do better, and need to if a sustained recovery for the city is the aim. Dragging Stoke up by its neck from the gutter of decades of failure in its education is, I feel, the only way to get significant change for the better. It's far from being about only academia, good schooling is an absolute necessity for life, whatever career route is taken.
Nice article Jenna. Thanks for sharing some of the talking points of the Teapot Tours. The big advantage of a polycentric city is that each town has its own identity which naturally lends itself to zoned focus. We have unique industrial architecture here in Stoke which is crying out for repurposing and regeneration. We are never going to bring back large scale pottery manufacturing but we can look to the future and focus on new emerging creative industries like game design and renewable energy.
A good article and I agree with much of it. However, success is really dependent on leadership and aspiration. In the 80' and 90's, Manchester had very good governance and a plan. The plan consisted, mainly, of creating new city areas - Airport City, Sports City and Media City, along with the transformation of the city centre itself.All long term aspirations, and now all very successful. Stoke on the other hand, had old Labour councils which had no plan and their only aspirations were to ensure Labour continuation. It should be noted that as PM, Blair never visited Stoke, thinking there was no point. I will never forget the comment from the hapless Liz Jeffries, Stoke's tourism head. She said in 1988 "Manchester is full now and their success will start trickling down to Stoke ".That was the attitude, "We don't need to do anything ". I fear that nothing has changed. Stoke's leadership is abysmal. The is no ambition or aspiration. The city's education establishments are very poor and any young people with ambition are well advised to leave this dreadful place asap.
I agree with much of this article, and it's focus on how creativity may be able to save Stoke from further decay. However, what Manchester had for its recovery was a strong focus on education, with a good choice of Grammar, private, and top-performing schools within its commuter belt. In stark comparison, Stoke's abysmal local government, over decades, has failed to get a grip on education and still tops the leagues of shame for outcomes and attendance. The city now has no Grammar school or private school, and only one consistently 'outstanding' rated state high school, which is massively over-subscribed. Aspiration and ambition are key attributes for recovery, and although 'built by necessity alone' schools will often do the best with the cards they are dealt, i strongly feel they are not the solution for the giant leap Stoke needs to take. Education of all kinds need urgent and sustained attention in this city, as the current poorly educated demographic cannot either adequately support existing residents, jobs, and investment, nor attract much-needed new families able to drive the city forward, as happened in Manchester.
I think you may have taken my comment too literally, in terms of what I am saying about Stoke. Having served as a high school governor in the past for many years I do feel I understand the value of education and it's delivery. My point is not wholly about the type of school but rather the lack of aspiration and ambition which has been prevalent in Stoke for decades. I agree that not everyone is academic, and will have other skills, but the starting point for every child should be an excellent all-round education which supports these skills. To have only one consistently outstanding high school in a city this size is atrocious, especially when unauthorised absence in Stoke is one of the very worst nationally. I feel that we have to aim for the stars if wanting to reach the moon, and that's what Manchester did when it ensured the provision of a range of aspirational schools which attracted those elusive 'young professionals' and their families. You can't make a silk purse from a sows ear and there are now proportionately too many people in the city attached to the sows, so new blood is needed to raise the game. Education, infrastructure, environment, planning, leadership, have all been poor for too long locally and there is not much sign of this improving presently.
I do agree with a lot of what you are saying, and it was this article and others extolling the virtues of Manchester, not me. Yor reference to the 'left behinds' is interesting, as the very best schools have the least numbers of these by their very nature. It is very important to note that all schools are assessed on the level of improvement they achieve in their students, whatever level they start at. Therefore any high school will fail to gain outstanding status unless they can demonstrate this, not just the final exam results. Also, a high achieving school will carry many of the 'left behinds', along with them and be able to support them better from a position of strength rather than weakness, including re-directing them towards more vocational, practical or art driven qualifications. Excellent schools should never be the preserve of the 'middle classes', and this description is very fluid these days, as well as sometimes being used as a term of derision. Personally, I would regards myself as 'working class - with aspiration and ambition'. I didn't do as well as perhaps I should have done at school but definitely benefited from attending one with a very strong ethos, management, and standards. We simply don't have enough of these in Stoke and many of them cannot easily be differentiated from each other with respect to their student outcomes, student experience, discipline, and overall standards, even the newer ones. New buildings do not always make good schools, there is far more to it. Stoke's latest high school is perhaps a good example of the 'build it and they will come' approach to dealing with the need for more places. No effective consultation, no impact assessment on other schools, and an 'off the shelf'' academy trust to run it. We could do better, and need to if a sustained recovery for the city is the aim. Dragging Stoke up by its neck from the gutter of decades of failure in its education is, I feel, the only way to get significant change for the better. It's far from being about only academia, good schooling is an absolute necessity for life, whatever career route is taken.
Nice article Jenna. Thanks for sharing some of the talking points of the Teapot Tours. The big advantage of a polycentric city is that each town has its own identity which naturally lends itself to zoned focus. We have unique industrial architecture here in Stoke which is crying out for repurposing and regeneration. We are never going to bring back large scale pottery manufacturing but we can look to the future and focus on new emerging creative industries like game design and renewable energy.
Great article- all council members should read that