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

14-19 PATHFINDERS: THE SECOND YEARScale and scope of the pathfinders27. There were three main dimensions of difference in the scale and scope of theproposals. These were:(i) the size of the geographical area(ii) the number and types of institutions involved(iii) the extent to which they addressed the full range of potential 14-19 issues orfocused upon selected elements of the agenda.28. In relation to (i), some pathfinders covered large geographical areas (e.g. Cumbria andShropshire), while at the other end of the spectrum there were geographically small, innercity pathfinders (e.g. Islington), with a whole range of pathfinders between these twoextremes. Some pathfinders included all institutions within an administrative area, othersfocused on particular geographic areas (e.g. Hampshire focused its pathfinder upon EastHampshire and the New Forest area). These decisions had obvious implications for thedistribution of resources.29. The number and types of institutions involved also varied considerably – this beingpartly dependent upon the size of the geographical area covered. Taking the most obviousvariation, in some pathfinders (e.g. Harrow), there were no school sixth-forms and thereforeall students would be required to transfer between institutions during the 14-19 phase. Inmost other pathfinders, however, there was a wider mixture of institutions providing 14-19learning, typically including 11-16 schools, 11-18 schools, further education colleges, sixthformcolleges and work-based training providers. Pathfinders also included differentcombinations of maintained, voluntary and voluntary-aided schools.30. Most pathfinders sought to take the 14-19 agenda forward across a broad front,particularly in relation to the development of greater curricular choice and flexibility, thepromotion of vocational learning, the establishment of progression routes and improvedadvice and guidance. There were pathfinders with a somewhat tighter focus, for example theBlack Country pathfinder emphasised modern foreign and community languages, while inIslington the pathfinder had a strong focus on developing links with local health and socialservices as a vehicle for curriculum development and promoting progression.9