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

14-19 PATHFINDERS: THE SECOND YEARvocational learning. Each of the partnerships offers a wide range of choices of GCSEs invocational subjects, GNVQ, BTECs and other vocational courses. For example the northernpartnership will offer six GCSEs in vocational subjects, four GNVQs and around twentyother vocational courses in conjunction with the further education college. The partnershipshave thus focused particularly on ensuring that there is adequate provision on the applied,work-related and pre-vocational pathways.369. A key element in the implementation of the key stage four entitlement is thedevelopment of the VLE. This is intended to provide an holistic ICT environment which willenable the integration of curriculum content and assessment materials, assessment data,management information systems, video-conferencing and website hosting, advice andguidance materials and ILPs and progress files. The vision is that students will be able toaccess curriculum materials from any learning site as well as from home, retrieve their ownwork and receive marks and feedback from teachers. The VLE is intended to enable teachersto access and enter information about individual students as well as access and uploadcurriculum materials, assessment tasks and formative assessment feedback.370. At the time of our visit the pathfinder was in the process of tendering for commercialcompanies to provide the VLE architecture and some content. One important criteria for theselection of a VLE system is that it should be easy for teachers to upload their own contentonto the system. It was anticipated that the tender process would be completed by July andthat the VLE would then begin to be implemented, although it was accepted that fullimplementation would not be achieved until at least March 2005.371. It is intended that specialist schools will take the lead in developing materials relatedto their specialisms and the Lewisham City Learning Centre will also play a leading role inproviding material. One school will be piloting online materials in Spanish and German forgifted and talented students which the school is unable to offer through the optionsprogramme. The languages will be taught in twilight time to a mixed group of students frompartnership schools and will combine on-line and face-to-face learning. Students will haveaccess to an on-line discussion forum, email contact with the teacher and some on-lineassessment. If the students make good progress it is likely that this will lead to acceleratedprogression to AS courses in year 11.114