14-19 Learning Pathways Plan

AGENDA ITEM CITY AND COUNTY OF CARDIFF DINAS A SIR CAERDYDD CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE SCRUTINY COMMITTEE 1 JULY 2008 Cardiff 14-19 Learning Pathways PurposeU of the Report 1. The purpose of this report is to provide Members with an opportunity to receive a briefing on Pathway Learning Plan for 2008-09 together with an explanation on how the plan has been implemented across Cardiff to ensure young people can access an individual Learning Pathway to meet their needs. BackgroundU 2. The 14-19 Network in Cardiff has a statutory duty to produce an Annual Network Development Plan for submission to the National Assembly for Wales. The plan is aimed at those managing and delivering the Key Stage 4 and 5 curriculum in schools, collages and the voluntary sector to deliver programmes and provision that address the six elements of the learning pathways. The Cardiff 14-19 Network submitted the 2008 / 09 plan to st National Assembly for Wales by 31P P January 2008 in accordance with the regulations. 3. The Schools and Lifelong Learning Business plan for 2008-11 reported to the last meeting of this Committee, identified as a key challenge for the service area to “implement 14 – 19 Learning Pathways within the spirit of collaboration and partnership”. To enable the service area to implement this objective the Business plan identifies a number of specific key actions, namely: • Establish, with schools and key partners, the organisational, leadership, curriculum, information and pastoral arrangements which will deliver an entitlement for all 14 – 19 year olds in Cardiff to be offered a broader range of learning opportunities • Increase levels of participation and achievement, reduce significantly the number of pupils leaving school at 16 without a recognised qualification and increase participation post 16 • Keep under review the implementation of formal partnership arrangements which will build capacity and develop the curriculum and support arrangements for 14-19 year olds • Implement the 14 – 19 Learning Pathways action plan, including provision to address the needs of young people who are NEET • Strengthen collaborative working arrangements between the lifelong learning service and the 14-19 network group and with other key partners 4. The Committee at its meeting on 6 November 2007 received a briefing on the progress made in implementing the 2007-08 plan, together with the development and consultation being undertaken for the 2008-09 plan. Following consideration of the report, presentation and comments made, Members agreed that Officers should provide a further briefing to the Committee, at a future meeting, to include details of the following: • transport implications of the implementation of the Strategy; • effect of the School Organisation Plan on the location of courses; • The use of the public sector to provide alternative provision and extended work experience placements. PurposeU of the Report 5. The purpose of this report is to provide Members with an opportunity to receive a briefing on Pathway Learning Plan for 2008-09 together with an explanation on how the plan has been implemented across Cardiff to ensure young people can access an individual Learning Pathway to meet their needs. StrategicU Priorities 6. The Executive Board of the Cardiff 14-19 Network has reviewed the areas for development mentioned above together with the National and Regional strategic priorities as set out in Appendix 1 and the local priorities set out below. The Board is clear that strong and effective collaboration is the key priority in order to achieve the developments set out above. The priorities listed below have been adjusted in the light of discussions and are listed in rank order of importance. Partnership development & Stakeholder engagement: this is essential if successful curriculum and timetable integration, the development of the local area curriculum, the development of QA frameworks and the delivery of high quality provision by providers are to be achieved. In a wider context this will also involve publicity, activities with learners and parents, listening and responding to the learner voice and holding the annual conference. A progressive capital development programme designed to facilitate the delivery of the local area curricula in line with local, regional and national priorities. The establishment and implementation of the Learner Support Framework that then ensures that learners are on individually planned pathways matched to their needs. This will include the work of the Learning Coaches and will be designed to ensure the earliest intervention of services to support learners so that their education remains on track. The development of e-strategies in learning environments involving, for example, Moodle, Careers Wales On-line project, e-portfolio and the skills passport. Moodle is a computerised course management, designed to help educators create effective online learning communities. 7. Over the a period of three years 2007 -2010 the strategy will develop across 3 broad areas as detailed below, a copy of the 2008 -09 strategic direction for the network is attached at Appendix 2 TheU Curriculum • We will continue to strengthen the work of the new partnerships, building on the good practice of the past, to embed curriculum and timetabling structures in the future that will enable us to offer a wider provision that is accessible to all learners. • We will continue to extend the range and quality of the provision available through the Options Menu and using a wider range of providers. • Existing quality assurance and leaner support frameworks will be built upon so that all partners can be assured that there is excellent provision and that all learners have access to the highest standards of guidance and support which enables them to be following the most appropriate pathway matched to their individual needs. • A three year capital investment programme will be undertaken which is clearly matched to Cardiff’s needs, which maximises the opportunity to collaborate with other partners and which brings convergent funding sources together. • It is our intention to impact on the core through work on the 3 core subjects alongside developments in the Learning Core including the Welsh Bac. with the intention of driving up standards of achievement. “Winning Hearts and Minds” • This is a theme that was prominent in the conference workshops and relates to getting across the message to students, parents and employers about the benefits of the more vocational elements in Learning Pathways • We would want to ensure that we create opportunities for learners of all abilities to take advantage of the expanding Options Menu - this will require collaboration, curriculum change and in varying degrees cultural shifts in our institutions and communities. • A consistent policy and practice will be established to ensure that the voice of the learners is heard and that they can contribute to and influence the planning and decision making process in Cardiff. • We will continue to engage with all our stakeholders across Cardiff at least through the mechanism of the Annual Conference that was so successful this year. Developing e-strategies • We will begin and sustain a commitment to developing a city-wide strategy for e-learning based on Moodle and related technologies th springing from existing good practice in St David’s 6P P form college, Coleg Glan Hafren and the Local Authority Advisory Service • We will support the development of Careers Wales On-line in all our Cardiff schools • We will support and strengthen ways in which learners can record their achievements and gain recognition for activities they have undertaken and skills they have developed. Location of Courses 8. To enable young people to identify the options they wish to access, an Option Menu has been developed in partnership with the schools, further education establishments and independent providers. A summary of the options is attached at Appendix 3, with schools in each area of Cardiff having particular days allocated for its pupils to access the options, namely: • Monday – Yr 11 North, Yr 10 Faith, Yr 10 Central • Tuesday – Yr 11 West • Wednesday - Yr 11 Faith, Yr 10 East • Thursday – Yr 11 east, Yr 10 North • Friday – Yr 11 central, Yr 10 West 9. Referrals are made by the schools, subject to parental consent, for each pupil setting out the vocational route, the pupil’s choice for motivational courses and an indication of whether the pupil’s wishes to undertake any kind of extended work experience. Transportation Implications 10. Transportation is arranged for each pupils either through Cardiff Bus, School Transport, or the youth worker minibus, as set out in Appendix 4. Attendance monitoring is undertaken daily by the course provider and a Termly Training provider report is completed for each pupil Appendix 5. 11. The Welsh Assembly Government has set aside £32.5 million across Wales for 14-19 funding. Of this £18.8 million has been assigned to the 22 Networks. Cardiff’s share of this is the £1,122,871 for revenue and £178,000 for minor capital projects (total = £1,300,871). These sums reflects’ base funding and formula funding (based on student numbers in a Network, scarcity and educational disadvantage). Last year a sum of £9million was set aside for Networks to access as a major capital competitive fund. This year the fund has been subsumed into the FE sector capital fund to produce a major capital competitive fund of £27million. Only 4 Networks applied to this fund. The remaining £4.7million has been retained by WAG for central activities such as conferences, meetings, events, salaries and central projects which this year is limited to an investigation into an all Wales 14-19 VLE. The Cardiff 14-19 Network sort funding for a large number of projects, details of which are attached at Appendix 6. 12. Councillor Freda Salway, Executive Member for Education and Lifelong Learning may make a statement, Chris Jones; Chief Schools and Lifelong Learning Officer, Robert Hopkins, OM Management Standards and School Effectiveness and John Fabes, the Cardiff 14-19 Network co-ordinator, will present the report and be available to answer any questions Members may have.

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