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

14-19 PATHFINDERS: THE SECOND YEARcourses in Customer Care, Retail, Business Languages, Electrical Installations, Horticulture,Construction, Engineering and Office Administration. In addition to these two year courses arange of one term taster courses are available in vocational areas including retail, brickwork,computer maintenance, hair & beauty and catering. These courses have been developed incognisance of the employment growth sectors and with the future addition of opportunitiespost 16 will provide young people with the skills relevant to the forecast labour market inSouth Yorkshire.459. Within the pathfinder a clear distinction is made between vocational learning which isseen as being appropriate at different levels for all learners and learning designed to reengagedisaffected learners – which may or may not include vocational learning. It wasconsidered ‘lazy thinking’ by one interviewee to assume that vocational learning as suchwould automatically re-engage disaffected learners since what they often needed was helpwith basic and life skills and the curriculum offer included provision tailored to the needs ofthis group. It is a feature of all the Pathways that in their initial stages the development ofgeneric and transferable skills will be emphasised. This will equip learners with the flexibilityto switch pathways during the course of their 14-19 Individual Learning Plans.460. It is important to note that this range of provision had been developed and organisedthrough a collaborative process involving a series of workshops for curriculum managersfrom schools and the college. Topics covered in the workshops included timetabling modelsand support for professional developments as well as the planning of the curriculum offer.Curriculum managers in the schools we visited welcomed this process, not least because ofthe contacts it facilitated with other schools and the sharing of good practice. At a meetingwhich we attended a strong consensus on the 14-19 reform agenda came through from thecurriculum managers. Personalised learning was a strong theme - they wanted provision tosuit individuals needs – and it was felt this could only be achieved through collaboration andco-ordination of the curriculum offer in the ways being developed.461. A wide variety of ways of implementing the courses are being employed. Some,especially GCSEs in vocational subjects will be school-based, others will make use of thecollege, training providers and work placements. In retail, for example, a partnershipbetween the LEA and a large retail management company has enabled the development of a137