Collaborative Approaches to 14-19 Provision - Communities and ...

14-19 PATHFINDERS: THE SECOND YEARISLINGTON PATHFINDERThe local context316. Islington is a highly diverse inner London borough. It is the tenth most deprivedborough in England but also contains pockets of considerable wealth. Around two-thirds ofresidents live in rented accommodation compared with less than one-third nationally.Unemployment is above the national average.317. 49% of secondary school students are entitled to free school meals and a significantminority of learners in Islington schools are not fluent English speakers. In 2002 almost 70%of 16 year olds were in full-time education while 13.6 % were not in education, training oremployment. Achievement on the 5 A* - C GCSE/GNVQ measure was fourteen pointsbelow the England average in 2003, although this gap had reduced substantially since 2000and most Islington schools had positive value-added KS3 and GCSE/GNVQ scores. There isconsiderable outflow of students from Islington to neighbouring inner and outer Londonboroughs at both 11 and 16 and, although there is also some inflow of students, Islington is anet exporter of students. Butler and Robson (2003) in their study of educational markets ininner London noted a very marked flight from state secondary education among middle classIslington families - one parent described “going private” as a “no brainer”.318. The area-wide inspection of 16-19 provision in Islington and Hackney conducted in1999 recognised strengths in provision and performance, especially in the colleges, butreported that there was lack of strategic planning with too many disconnected initiatives,expressed concern about some sixth form provision and stated that some students were takinginappropriate level 3 courses. Some mismatch was identified between extensive provision atlevel 3 and the needs of the many post-16 learners requiring level 1 and 2 provision.319. Since the area-wide inspection, planning for 14-19 in Islington has been strengthenedthrough the establishment of a 14-19 partnership and provision has been developed boththrough the AW Action Plan and an Increased Flexibility project.99