Glasgow More Choices More Chances Partnership

FOI REQUEST: 0004310464

Introduction

Opportunities for All provides existing national and local policies with a single focus to improve young people’s participation in post 16 learning or training, and ultimately their employment, through appropriate intervention and support between their 16th and 20th birthdays. It is an explicit commitment to offer a place in learning or training to every 16- 19 year old who is not currently in employment, education or training.

Currently the NEET estimate is the most accurate data set available to the Scottish Government and at Local Authority level to measure progress against the entitlements afforded to young people aged 16-19 through ‘Opportunities for All’ which forms part of the Scottish Government’s Strategy for Youth Employment.

People aged 16-19 not in education, employment or training form the cohort of the Official Government NEET estimate. The official estimate of NEET was published during May 2013 and estimated that there are 33,000 young people in Scotland who are NEET which accounts for 13.3% of the 16-19 population. The estimate for Glasgow reported 3,460 young people aged 16-19 not in education, employment or training representing 11.4% of the 16-19 year old population in Glasgow.

Glasgow’s approach to Youth Employability

Glasgow’s approach to reducing youth unemployment and increasing employability opportunities is led and directed by its strategic multi-agency Youth Employability Partnership (YEP). The overarching aims of Glasgow’s YEP are to:  reduce the number of Glasgow’s young people aged 16-19 not in Education Employment or Training (NEET)  ensure that all young people have the necessary supports and offers of appropriate learning opportunities to allow them to remain in learning beyond the compulsory education stage.

Glasgow’s Youth Gateway (GYG) represents the operational layer of the city’s YEP structure. It aims to provide a coherent, single door entry, support and signposting service to all 15-19 year olds who are identified as requiring support through a 1-1 case management approach.

A priority for this group is NEET prevention which aims to support young people at the point of transition from school to post-school. To support this process Glasgow’s Youth Gateway have produced a processes to support all pupils leaving school across Glasgow ensuring that those at risk of disengaging from further learning or training are identified and that their support needs are assessed and addressed. It has been agreed by all partners that there should be a 16+ meeting each month in each of Glasgow’s mainstream Secondary Schools to target those in most need of support and to make best use of each organisation’s offer.

Identification of those requiring support

Underpinning this approach is the requirement to be able to identify all pupils who are “at Risk” of becoming NEET. Glasgow has developed a Risk matrix tool which uses specific circumstances/ barriers that some young people face as an indicator of their “risk” of entering a NEET destination. This provides the opportunity for schools to clarify the potential level of need of individual pupils at an earlier stage; and to identify and offer targeted support.

Analysis of young people with a NEET outcome has shown a disproportionate percentage of this cohort have either become disaffected or been disadvantaged in one or more areas of their lives. However, it is important to drill down and identify the individual circumstances and barriers which are likely to have the most significant impact on young people at risk.

By consulting key policy documents and a wide selection of partners to identify current practice, it was possible to map the range of indicators being used to identify this group; and to consolidate this knowledge into a baseline set of characteristics. These are young people who are:

 looked After and care leavers  carers /parents  have offending behaviour  involved in gangs  on the Child Protection Register or Vulnerable young person procedure  with low attainment in school  on a school roll who persistently truant or have attendance issues  with physical or mental health problems or disabilities  with additional learning needs – staged intervention plan  excluded from school  for whom English is a second language  Asylum Seekers/Refugees  with Social work involvement

This tool uses the current School MIS system which ensures a consistent and comprehensive approach to ensure that all pupils requiring additional are identified. The risk is calculated by weighting each factor on a scale of 1-6. Once the score is computed, the young person is flagged using “traffic lights” as High, Medium or Low Risk.

The data within the matrix is pulled from the pupil record Information comes from a variety of departments such as Education, Social Work and Psychological Services. The matrix is a complex tool and should only be used as an Indicator of Risk. Staff in schools have the ability to use their in-depth knowledge of these young people and their resilience, to change the score that any young person has up or down one level e.g. from Red to Amber.

Across Glasgow there are 9685 pupils who are eligible to leave school this summer who have disclosed their ethnic background, a further 169 pupils are excluded from this report as their ethnicity is unknown. The table below gives a breakdown of those pupils risk level for not making a successful transition from school and may require additional support in order to secure a positive destination post school.

Green Pupils - pupils who have all the necessary skills to access a learning offer Amber Pupils - pupils who may require additional support to access a learning offer Red Pupils - pupils who may require intensive support to access learning offer

Table 1: Pupils Eligible to Leave School Summer 2013 - Level of Risk for becoming NEET post school Green Amber Red Total Figure % Figure % Figure % Full cohort of pupils 7223 75% 1559 16% 903 9% 9685 BME Pupils 801 58% 456 33% 130 9% 1387 Appendix 1 has this information broken down by school and provides a comparison for those pupils who come from a black or minority ethnic group.

As you will see from the table there is a higher percentage of Amber pupils from the BME group. 204 (45%) pupils are Amber due to a single risk factor - English as an Additional Language where their English language skills have been assessed as not having reached competency..

Support Offered to potential NEET Pupils

At each monthly school meetings focuses on pupils who are leaving school in the next year and will systematically go through all pupils who require are either Amber or Red.. Many of these pupils will already be receiving support either within school, or by other agencies but any gaps in support will be identified and any of these pupils without appropriate support will be referred by the school to an Activity Agreement Coach.

Not all pupils who are identified are being amber or red will require additional support as they may already have a transitional plan in place or have secured a 16+ offer e.g. a place in college, a job but by discussing each pupil then those requiring support van be identified.

Employability Support Officers who work within the school will be able to support any green pupil who has not yet obtained a 16+ offer. They can refer the pupil to other partner agenices for appropriate support as necessary i.e. Skills Development Scotland universal service for career guidance and Jobs and Business Glasgow for employability support and help with finding a job or training place

Skills Development Scotland is a key partner to schools and they work primarily with Amber pupils. Careers Adviser who are also based within a school will support Amber pupils through a targeted service and will work on increasing their employability and career management skills. If the pupil still requires support as they leave school they will be referred to a SDS work coach who will support them to find an appropriate 16+ learning offer.

Activity Agreement Coaches work with Red pupils. These pupils face multiple barriers and may not be ready to enter formal learning. These pupils will work with their coach to develop an individualised package of learning, an Activity Agreement, which will increase their skills and enable to move forward into a formal learning opportunity. A key priority group for the Activity Agreement coaches are pupils who are disengaged. As these pupils are not attending school they are not receiving any support from the school or it’s partner agencies. At present approx. 6% of school leaving cohort each year is disengaged. 8% of these pupils are BME.

In the last year the AA team supported 480 young people who were disengaged from school, 37 (8%) of these young people are BME . 76% of these young people completed their Activity Agreement and moved into a formal 16+ learning offer.

Adopting this approach across all secondary schools in Glasgow enables them to identify patterns of vulnerability and need within their pupil cohort and to identify and plan the specific supports and services required to meet these needs. A school guidance process for partners has been developed to ensure that partners are aware of their responsibilities with the aim that all school leavers have successful transition from school and progress into a positive destination. Appendix 1 :Pupils Eligible to Leave School Summer 2013 - Level of Risk for becoming NEET post school Full cohort of Secondary Schools Pupils BME Pupils "Risk Level" "Risk Level" % % % % Gree Ambe Re Tota Medium High Gree Ambe Re Tota Medium High n r d l Risk Risk n r d l Risk Risk All Special Schools 17 205 179 401 51% 45% 22 23 45 49% 51% All Saints Secondary School 239 33 49 321 10% 15% 15 3 11 29 10% 38% Glasgow Gaelic Secondary School 67 6 73 8% 0% 2 2 0% 0% Bannerman High School 481 46 13 540 9% 2% 23 4 1 28 14% 4% Bellahouston Academy 239 43 25 307 14% 8% 119 25 12 156 16% 8% Castlemilk High School 117 11 13 141 8% 9% 7 7 0% 0% Cleveden Secondary School 257 33 13 303 11% 4% 24 16 40 40% 0% Drumchapel High School 83 54 17 154 35% 11% 2 4 2 8 50% 25% Eastbank Academy 249 42 29 320 13% 9% 4 4 0% 0% EVIP 4 6 60 70 9% 86% 0 0% 0% Govan High School 76 27 9 112 24% 8% 4 4 0% 0% Hillhead High School 238 50 21 309 16% 7% 76 27 5 108 25% 5% Hillpark Secondary School 290 39 22 351 11% 6% 38 10 5 53 19% 9% Holyrood Secondary School 559 96 43 698 14% 6% 92 56 19 167 34% 11% Hyndland Secondary School 348 24 19 391 6% 5% 40 5 45 11% 0% John Paul Academy 186 42 13 241 17% 5% 3 10 13 77% 0% King's Park Secondary School 257 30 14 301 10% 5% 38 14 52 27% 0% Knightswood Secondary School 360 75 24 459 16% 5% 11 13 2 26 50% 8% Lochend Community High School 141 19 23 183 10% 13% 2 2 100% 0% Lourdes Secondary School 289 45 51 385 12% 13% 17 10 10 37 27% 27% Notre Dame High School 219 56 26 301 19% 9% 97 27 11 135 20% 8% Rosshall Academy 328 46 27 401 11% 7% 21 3 24 0% 13% Shawlands Academy 288 125 37 450 28% 8% 78 90 11 179 50% 6% Smithycroft Secondary School 144 35 10 189 19% 5% 5 2 7 29% 0% Springburn Academy 249 48 42 339 14% 12% 10 9 1 20 45% 5% St Andrew's Secondary School 491 36 13 540 7% 2% 13 5 18 28% 0% St Margaret Mary's Secondary School 120 16 14 150 11% 9% 1 1 100% 0% St Mungo's Academy 174 60 19 253 24% 8% 11 13 2 26 50% 8% St Paul's High School 225 27 17 269 10% 6% 5 7 12 58% 0% St Roch's Secondary School 92 85 30 207 41% 14% 3 40 3 46 87% 7% St Thomas Aquinas Secondary School 272 73 22 367 20% 6% 27 35 6 68 51% 9% Whitehill Secondary School 124 26 9 159 16% 6% 16 6 3 25 24% 12% 968 138 Grand Total 7223 1559 903 5 16% 9% 801 456 130 7 33% 9%