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

14-19 PATHFINDERS: THE SECOND YEAR473. The pathfinder has developed an innovative approach to linking curriculumdevelopment to labour market and skills gaps analyses through the appointment of sectorintermediaries. Their essential role is to liaise and broker contacts and agreements betweenschools and occupational sectors and in this way ensure that the curriculum is responsive tothe regeneration agenda in Sheffield. The work of the sector intermediaries will be mediatedby the schools and teachers and the intention is that there will be a fruitful engagementbetween the expressed needs of the employers and the educational perspectives of teachersthus avoiding criticism of an overly instrumental approach to curriculum development. Thefocus on generic skills within the pathways will also offer protection for learners againstunanticipated shifts in local skills gaps. We noted above that the sector intermediariesoperate in different ways and there is an important local evaluation task in identifying someof the consequences of these different approaches.474. At a more specific level we have not come across another example of early entry toapprenticeship combined with GCSE study as described above. The early indications are thatthis approach is working well but again this will repay close attention and evaluation in orderto ascertain if this is a model which can be tried in other vocational areas and settings.141