Top Tips

Call in the experts
A local college or university may be interested in providing short tasters of some of their courses as part of your Family Learning Festival programme. Check your Yellow Pages for colleges and universities in your area or visit www.bubl.ac.uk or www.hotcourses.com for a complete list of colleges and universities in the UK. Some colleges have experience of running taster courses called 'Bitesize Intros' - these are ideal for a Family Learning Festival programme. Make sure that whoever comes to deliver a session can give information about other courses at the college or university.
Charities such as the RNID may have local offices who can provide sessions their specialist area, for example deaf awareness or sign language. Look them up in the Yellow Pages or on www.yell.com/ucs/HomePageAction.do

Get online
We have everything you need from a planning guide to promotional materials to working in partnerships. There is even an area you can highlight to families so they can continue have fun with learning at home. If they don't have access to the internet you could always order our "Guide to family learning at home" to distribute.

Signpost further learning
Family Learning Festival is designed to raise interest levels in learning so don't forget to let families know what they can do next. Invite them to sign up for further learning by taking details of what they would like to do next. Set up areas to showcase further learning opportunities - include information about courses in the local area as well as what is available at work to appeal to as many people as possible. Use props to make your display more appealing. For example, if a local college offers gardening courses have a display of tulips on the stand. Publicise the learndirect national learning advice line mpaign for the Family Learning Festival and beyond can help you reach an even wider audience of families, raise your profile within your industry, the family learning sector and the general public and connect your local activities and initiatives to the national family learning agenda. Also ensure you register your event to get your event publicised as widely as possible.

Celebrate success
Don't let the enthusiasm generated during the Family Learning Festival fizzle out. Take the opportunity to thank everyone involved in the event's success and let them know how great it was. Capture vox pop comments from families over the events. Send a press release to make sure your community knows about what you are doing. Could this kick start a future of family learning activities throughout the year?