Cranford Review 2020

On day three we visited the County Municipality. It was good to have had the experience of visiting the
municipality offices. The talk was informative and helped to understand the different aspects and official
bodies involved in the education process.
We also visited Ishavsbyen and Breivang Upper Secondary Schools. This experience was again insightful as
the focus was on different crafts.
The visit to Ishavsbyen was helpful because it was really obvious that the students were motivated and
clearly happy to be following their career path. They all took a lot of pride in their craft. We were welcomed
to a silver service dining experience that was professionally executed by trainees on the Catering course.
Students delivered service at a very high level and created dishes to a professional standard. We then went to a
presentation confidently delivered by students studying for the Health Services. Students were very articulate
about their experience and how they developed through the education they had received.
The visit to Breivang was refreshing as it was clear that students were working with a lot of independence
and trusted to pursue their chosen career pathways. It was also helpful to see how functional spaces were used
within Hairdressing, Graphic Design, Media and Art. The environment was open plan and studios in the new
modern building were well equipped. There was a shop unit selling products created by students. We then
visited the media room where a group of students were working on a project together. They informed us that
they had set up their own Media Company and covered both Media and Graphics. It was clear that an ethos of
entrepreneurship was encouraged through vocational learning and that this was building confident students.
We investigated how the vocational courses are assessed and marked. It was interesting to see how teacher
assessment is paramount in both the Dutch and Norwegian system and how online systems
are being used to record each student’s journey.
This visit was most valuable as it really helped us to see examples
of good practice which we can use to support our students’ learning
and development. It will help us to innovate within our
own curriculum design thanks to a greater
understanding of the international approach to
vocational education. It also created cohesion and
fostered good communication between our schools
and foreign colleagues.
Pam Hunt (Digital, Video and Media Department)
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