Introduction: the CES 14-19 working group undertook this survey in an attempt to establish the state of readiness of the sector for the profound changes that are imminent nationally in the 14-19 phase. All Catholic secondary schools and sixth-form colleges were sent the survey form at the end of May 2006 and 51 replied, which is about a 15% return: creditable for the time of year, but too small to give anything but general indications of the status quo. The total includes four sixth-form colleges. The numbers from different regions were as follows: NW 11, NE 4, Birmingham/West Midlands 9, Eastern 6, London 10, SE/SW 8 and Wales 3. The following summary follows the order of the survey form, which is attached as an appendix to this document.

Current experience of vocational education/key skills courses/HE/professional qualifications

None of the respondents had a vocational specialism as defined by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT). This is not surprising, since very few schools have been designated so far for this new category of specialism, but one (in Doncaster) had been invited to apply in the autumn 2006 round and another (in Blackburn) was considering applying.

Most had some experience of providing vocational courses at KS4, most often in business-related courses, health and social care, leisure and tourism, and ICT. At one school (Cardinal Wiseman in Ealing) all pupils took at least one vocational GCSE.

About half (most of those with sixth forms) had some experience of Vocational Certificate of Education (VCE) and related courses, and a handful had a varied programme of such courses.

About half offered some key skills courses.

Four providers with sixth forms (2 11-18 schools, 2 sixth-form colleges) offered some Higher Education courses, usually Open University modules, for example, in mathematics for science (Birmingham, Salford, Bury).

Current experience of Pathfinder/Increased Flexibility Programmes/Young Apprenticeship schemes (see annex for explanations of these schemes)

A quarter were or had been Pathfinders. Rather more had experience of Increased Flexibility programmes (though it was not always clear that this was in a formal sense). Eight were participating in Young Apprenticeship schemes, five of these in Birmingham or the Midlands.

Experience of collaborative delivery of courses

About one quarter were not involved in any cooperation of this nature.

At KS4, several had small cohorts going offsite for up to one day each week. In some areas a common timetable had been adopted for part of the week in several different institutions, community and Catholic, to facilitate access for pupils across a cluster of schools/colleges (Selby was one example). Successful small-scale ventures involving sixth-form colleges included advanced mathematics, modern languages or master classes provided by colleges for their 11-16 partners (Middlesborough and Bristol).  Instances of well-developed collaboration (about one-third of the sample) came mainly from the Midlands (including Birmingham, Coventry and Worcester), the North West and parts of London. The South Birmingham Collegiate, for example, comprises 14 secondary schools, 2 special schools, one College of Further Education (CFE) and several work-based providers, working together to provide a range of vocational courses for 14-16 year olds. Cardinal Griffin school in Cannock has links for BTEC courses with Wolverhampton University and Cannock College, as well as having a franchise from Ashton-on-Merseyside for BTEC Sport and being in the Chase Collegiate, a collaborative consortium for 16-19 courses. The South Ribble Learning Federation comprises 12 high schools, a special school and two CFEs; amongst other initiatives, the group maintains its own vocational centre, at which courses are offered for 14-16 year old pupils.

Pastoral problems caused by collaboration

Very few problems were recorded, though this may be because the scale of collaboration is mostly small so far. One response (from Flintshire) emphasised that pupils from the community high school had no problems at all in accommodating to the Catholic ethos; by contrast, some Catholic pupils experienced difficulties in adjusting to the community school ethos. In Birmingham, some girls had similar difficulties in a local CFE. Timetabling that led to clashes between vocational courses offsite and RE lessons or liturgy in school was mentioned in three returns. Maintaining pastoral oversight of pupils who were offsite for whole weeks was an issue in two schools. One school mentioned small pastoral concerns that had arisen about attendance and minor indiscipline. Several returns pointed out that good planning and particularly protection of general RE and the allocation of dedicated staff to the pastoral responsibility for pupils going offsite had been effective in forestalling problems.   

Involvement in local planning for 14-19

In about three-quarters of the sample, Catholic schools/colleges were well involved as equal partners in local partnership planning arrangements. This does not always imply that plans are far advanced, since in several areas steering groups had only just started work and the main activity was sharing information and putting together an area prospectus. Arrangements seem much further advanced in several parts of the NW and in Birmingham/West Midlands, reasonable in the NE, SE/SW, E and Wales, and distinctly patchy in the London area. In two areas (Plymouth and Cheshire) local councils were reported to be unsympathetic to VA schools, though officers were helpful. Conversely in most areas this was not a problem and in Flintshire the authorities had shown particular sensitivity to the ways in which the calendar might affect the Catholic partner.

In some areas Catholic schools seem to play a very active role. The head of Bishop Challoner’s school in Birmingham is a member of the Local Authority (LA) advisory and management 14-19 body and of the local LSC partnership group, for which she was involved in writing the post-Ofsted 14-19 area review and action plan. She reports both to the Birmingham South Collegiate group and to the Catholic secondary partnership. In several NW areas the Catholic schools/colleges also play an active role: these include South Ribble, Bury, Blackburn, Trafford, St Helens and Manchester. In the Barlow High School in Manchester, for example, a deputy head has worked with the local LSC for the last three years on a curriculum theme group and on the group defining pupil/student entitlement. He chaired the Manchester south district 14-19 group from the start and now plays a central role in the south collegiate (Manchester now has three collegiate groups for 14-19 purposes).

Plans for the new diplomas

Lack of precise information had hindered decision-making in several parts of the country. Where collaboration already happened and area consortium planning was well advanced, the plans were most realistic. This appears to be the case in several areas in the NW. For example, Our Lady and St John’s Arts College in Blackburn is the lead institution for the Creative and Media diploma and will deliver parts of the ICT and Engineering diplomas. In Lancashire the South Ribble Federation will offer all the diplomas, with appropriate specialist schools leading on particular diplomas. More often, in perhaps three-quarters of this sample, plans are either very tentative, waiting to see how plans develop locally, or unrealistic, aspiring to offer all five of the first batch of diplomas.

Involvement in/Awareness of: pilot functional skills tests/local 16-19 competitions/local National Skills Academies and Centres of Vocational Excellence/Learning Visits set up by DfES

Responses to these questions were limited and do not permit generalisation.

Relations to the Connexions service

Most returns were positive about their relations with the service and several praised an excellent contribution by their link officers. The handful of returns where there were criticisms mentioned ‘a very poor standard in Birmingham’ (but another return from the city valued a very conscientious service); a poor service in Bristol; poor handover procedures and a lack of shared understanding of pastoral care (Peterborough); a need to establish clear understanding of what the connexions advisers would do (three returns emphasised this); and the sense that the service was targeted to underachieving pupils (two returns).

Challenges and Opportunities in developing the 14-19 curriculum

Schools/colleges were understandably more detailed in expressing their uncertainties about planned reforms than the opportunities they presented. Nonetheless the responses covered a broad range of both challenges and opportunities.

Recurrent challenges were:

• Practical concerns raised by collaboration, such as common timetabling across a consortium(and across LAs-Selby); need for time to plan new arrangements; finding enough work placements and time to monitor their quality (Staffordshire, Doncaster ); access/transport problems for pupils attending or hoping to attend distant schools/colleges, exacerbated where LAs were removing support (e.g. Cheshire).
• Resource problems, particularly in smaller schools, and encompassing lack of staff suitably qualified to teach vocational courses; lack of good post-16 accommodation(Slough) or of practical vocational accommodation (Southampton); and fear of under-financing (Manchester, Flintshire).
• Quality concerns, including fear that the local CFE wasn’t likely to offer a wide range of opportunities; concern about maintaining quality in shared provision (a recurrent response); maintaining the Catholic ethos (another frequent response); fear that the whole system might be skewed to cater for the lower achieving minority; uncertainty about some training providers who had very different views of education from schools; and doubts about the content of and demand for diploma courses, exacerbated by lack of information.
• Pastoral issues, including how to maintain pastoral continuity between institutions (the most common concern under this head); maintaining general RE; and properly looking after vulnerable pupils (Peterborough).
• Local matters, including anticipated competition from academies (Birmingham, Middlesborough) and from aspiring selective schools and entrepreneurial CFEs (Birmingham); being low on the Building Schools for the Future list and so poorly placed to face competition; and meeting demand for English as an additional language (EAL) support especially for Polish immigrant pupils (Essex).

Several respondents warmly welcomed the possibilities offered by reform of the curriculum and organisation of education from age 14.

Some of the opportunities foreseen were:

·         Education better personalised for individual needs (several responses).

·         A broader range of provision catering better for more pupils (Kingston, Ealing, Salford).

·         Encouragement to make better links with employers (St Helens).

·         Opportunities for more flexible provision, including reform of KS3 (Blackpool), acceleration and enrichment (Sutton).

·         A natural progression from already well-developed pre-vocational courses (Blackburn with Darwen, Croydon, Ealing).

Proposed Points for Action

The limited level of response prohibits confident generalisation and there is no way of knowing for certain how representative this sample is. There are nonetheless recurrent patterns of response that echo other sources of information available to CES through its contacts with schools and colleges. The following suggestions for action are therefore offered tentatively, in the hope of supporting schools, colleges and dioceses in their response to the 14-19 agenda. 

All schools could usefully consider:

• Ensuring that they are integrally involved in local planning and prepared to embrace positively and confidently new opportunities to develop the system and to share the strengths of our sector, keeping diocesan officers informed about the local situation.
   
• Designating senior staff with responsibility for development of vocational/work-related/offsite learning, and ensure that they have time to plan a strategy, to monitor the quality of offsite provision and to find ways of guaranteeing the pastoral wellbeing of pupils when they are not in their ‘home’ school.
   
• How to keep abreast of national developments, involving all staff in planning for the new diplomas and keeping diocesan officers regularly informed about school developments.
   
• How to embed in the whole curriculum the 14-19 Curriculum Guidance recently published by the Bishops’ Conference Department of Education and Formation and ensure that all pupils benefit from it within new arrangements.

 Particularly successful specialist schools might:

• Consider applying to SSAT for an additional specialism emphasising the vocational dimension, to enable them to develop as centres of excellence in vocational education for the sector and the wider community.

 Sixth-form Colleges need:

• To plan how new capital can be used to extend opportunities for their own students and others in their local areas.

 Dioceses need:

• Through diocesan or local 14-19 working groups and other means, to continue to contribute positively to planning and lobbying with LAs and local LSCs.
• To gather and disseminate intelligence across their regions and keep CES informed regularly about local developments

 CES should:

• Through its regular contacts with LSC, DfES, QCA, TDA and other bodies, help to shape new developments so that the strengths of our sector are harnessed and its mission sustained in new contexts.
• Through the website and regular mailings, act as a forum where the experience of schools and colleges can be shared and case studies can be gathered.
• Maintain and strengthen the 14-19 working group and the 14-19 Toolkit.

Peter Irvine, Education Consultant

26^th October 2006

ANNEX:

14-19 Pathfinders were set up to pilot local collaborative delivery of 14-19 education and training in a range of settings from 2002-5. They were the key means of identifying and spreading good practice, not only in curriculum, teaching and learning, but also in aspects such as use of transport. There were about 40 schemes across the country.

Increased Flexibility Programmes seek to enhance vocational and work-related learning opportunities for 14-16 year olds by enabling CFEs to form partnerships with schools and other agents. In most schemes, young people spend one or two days a week in a CFE. The majority work towards at least one vocational GCSE.

Young Apprenticeship schemes give able and well-motivated 14-16 year old pupils experience of real work. While continuing with National Curriculum core subjects, they also pursue qualifications in a vocational area, learning through a mixture of classroom lessons, practical training and regular work experience.