Another sensational Summit draws to a close, and what a day it was! Building on the success of the past four years, our annual Summit returned with a bang, bringing together sector leaders and key figures to RSA House to connect, celebrate, share best practice and discuss this year’s IEP Summit theme: ‘Building Tomorrow’s Employability Support’.
“Thank you to all of our event sponsors – NCFE, The Digital College, Coyne Recruitment and our evening sponsors, Whitehead Ross Education and Consulting and Get Set UK – and our speakers, panellists and wonderful chair, Sam Avanzo Windett MIEP, who did an exceptional job of pulling everything together with her reflections and key knowledge on topics discussed,” said Scott Parkin FIEP, IEP Group CEO.
“A shoutout also to Stephen Evans FIEP and Andy Milton FIEP for stepping in at the last minute on our seminars to provide valuable insights, and, of course, a huge thank you also to all our delegates who travelled far and wide to make this such a special gathering once again.”
The Summit offered a unique blend of formal seminars and informal networking sessions, and even included a live screening of the Euro 2024 football match between England and Denmark, creating an environment that was not only fun but conducive to meaningful conversations and the forging of valuable connections.
In her closing remarks IEP Chair Pat Russell FIEP said:
“We finish today on and upbeat note. I think that’s emblematic of us all and why we very much are a ‘can do’ sector.”
“Yes, there are big challenges out there. But knowing what some of these issues are is definitely a good step in the right direction.
“Along the way we’ve heard about things that are happening and things we can do – individually, within our own organisations, and collectively.
“Sometimes the range of things we can do feels a bit overwhelming. How do we start? How do we do this?
“When I look back at the work done over the last 5 years, from simple conversations in this very place, we collectively, with you guys, have moved a long way forward on a lot of topics and have started to influence decision makers and things are really happening.
“It may not be, and it cannot be, that we have silver bullets. But constantly having these conversations, getting engaged with something you are passionate about is vital to progress. I talk to a lot of Fellows about this – make sure to go where your passions take you.
“Start a conversation because these then become things like Quality Improvement Frameworks and they turn into tangible things that can make a difference.”
Pat concluded there were three key messages to take away from this year’s IEP Summit: 1) Partnership and collaboration 2) Start small 3) Keep on keeping on.
“There is a lot of positivity and many of us have been doing this for quite a long time and still keep going,” Pat said.
“We are still here because people need our help, and we are not going to walk away from that.”
