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

14-19 PATHFINDERS: THE SECOND YEARsuccessful, not all would be cost-effective but it was intended that those which weresuccessful and cost-effective would be mainstreamed to all Nottingham schools.440. Nottingham's tariff-based curriculum was also deployed to support this innovativeagenda. The broad intention of this approach to assessment is to accredit and recognise awider range of achievement than can be achieved through GCSE. Credit ratings are attachedto a range of alternative qualifications. A broad range of assessment techniques can also beused including reports, witness statements, mind-maps, presentations, photographs and so on.It is considered important to avoid the tedious tick-box approach of competence-basedqualifications and the narrow written forms of assessment of traditional qualifications. Inrelation to work-related learning, for example, as envisaged as part of the studentapprenticeships described above, it will be important to induct employers into the assessmentpractices so that they ensure that students get opportunities to demonstrate their learning.Credits can be accumulated and used to achieve over-arching awards. In these waysNottingham claims to be anticipating the Tomlinson reform process. This process is usefulfor the pathfinder because it allows the accreditation, largely through the development ofOCN units, of some of the activities which have been developed,.441. The tariff-based curriculum is designed to link to the Nottingham Passport which is anelectronic portfolio in which students are intended to collect their accumulated credits as wellas other documents such as ILPs and personal statements. These electronic portfolios arebeing introduced into schools, although their use is patchy at present. It is planned that theywill be used when applying for college places. This will give college staff better informationon students enrolled for their courses. It will also help to allocate students to the appropriatelevel courses. It is hoped that once the passport begins to be used by the colleges in this wayit will gain credibility. The promoters of the passport also emphasise that it has implicationsfor teaching and learning and requires more negotiated relationships between teachers andstudents, especially around assessment. The debates around the balance between formativeand summative assessment which surrounded the development of records of achievement inthe 1980s were said to be still highly relevant.442. Familiar issues emerged in respect of advice and guidance. NottinghamshireConnexions was described to us as one of the most highly targeted Connexions partnerships.131