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

14-19 PATHFINDERS: THE SECOND YEAR423. Finally, at the time of our visit discussions were continuing on the future of furthereducation colleges in Nottingham. It seemed likely that the number of colleges would bereduced to two or three through a process of amalgamation.The pathfinder focus424. The pathfinder adopted three of the radical options presented in the prospectus. Thesewere: innovative proposals for engaging employers; innovative approaches to designing anddelivering vocational courses; addressing key skill shortages in specific professions. The keyobjectives were to:‣ Pioneer innovative teaching and learning techniques developed in partnership withcompanies.‣ Engage young people in all stages of planning, delivering and evaluating learningopportunities through making the ‘voice of the learner’ model a reality.‣ Enhance the ‘core’ skills needed by companies to include enterprise, creativity andinnovation skills and aptitudes.‣ Address the needs of the local economy by engaging employers experiencing skillshortages at the heart of planning and delivering provision in the 14-19 phase.‣ Increase the range and availability of exciting vocational learning opportunities foryoung people to stimulate their motivation to learn.425. This approach invested the pathfinder proposal and development with considerablecoherence and a strong flavour of vocationalism.. The intention was to engage a wide rangeof small and large, private and public employers in both the design and implementation ofnew curricula. A novel feature of the proposal was that it allocated around a quarter ofpathfinder funding to pay for the release of staff by employers and employers organisations.426. The pathfinder was to involve all secondary schools and colleges in the city, trainingproviders and at least one special school. Post-16 education in Nottingham is mainlyprovided through four further education colleges, although there are also some schools withsixth forms. The city also contains a recently formed city academy (formerly a CTC).127