Increasing Participation in East Sussex

Transcription

1 Increasing Participation in East Sussex Contents Raising the Participation Age for 17 year olds Ofsted Inspection and Focus on 18 year olds Careers Education, Information Advice and Guidance Updated Statutory IAG Guidance for Schools and Colleges New Website to replace Connexions 360 UCAS Progress Update Employability Eastbourne Employability Hub Opens Project Search New project with Job Centre Plus for 16 and 17 year olds Welcome to the autumn term issue of the Increasing Participation in East Sussex newsletter. The newsletter provides information on activities led by the Standards and Learning Effectiveness Service (SLES) to help increase the participation of young people in learning. We hope that you find it useful. Please send any comments and feedback on this newsletter and the issues covered to the editor Jessica Stubbings at Raising the Participation Age for 17 year olds Jessica Stubbings From September 2015 young people will be expected to stay on in education or training until at least their 18 th birthday. This means that young people finishing Year 12 next summer will be expected to stay on for another year, and young people finishing Year 11 next summer will be expected to stay on for two years. We have also designed some posters and leaflets to be eastsussex.gov.uk 1

2 used to help schools, colleges and other partners communicate this message they can be downloaded from the following web page: A key focus for us this year is to ensure that young people in Year 12 have a clear progression pathway onto Year 13 and we will be asking colleges and school sixth forms to collect intended destinations from this cohort to help us identify those that need additional support to progress. Ofsted Inspection and a Focus on 18 year olds Caroline McKiddie The Standards and Learning Effectiveness Service was inspected by Ofsted in June 2014 under the framework for the local authority inspection of school improvement arrangements. During their visit, inspectors scrutinised our work with schools and post-16 providers in a number of areas, including corporate leadership and strategic planning; the way we monitor, challenge, intervene and support; our use of resources; and our support and challenge for leadership and management. Although progress is being seen and Ofsted has rightly acknowledged this in its report, unfortunately we have been graded as ineffective. While Ofsted s judgement is obviously very disappointing, we should be heartened by the knowledge that the issues raised in its report are matters that we have already recognised and are tackling. The full report can be read on the following link: A re-inspection will take place within a year. For our work on increasing participation the inspection highlighted as a strength our activities with 16 and 17 year olds: Partnership with agencies to secure sufficient, suitable provision for school leavers post-16 enabled a higher-than-average proportion in 2013 to participate in their chosen education or training. Well above average proportions of students who attend further education colleges and sixth forms now access good provision.. Support for vulnerable 16 to 17 year olds is strong. For example, the employment and care to work strategy, the strategy to develop employability skills, a supported employment programme, residential provision, and funding for travel to remove barriers to participation, all contribute positively to the experience of this group of older learners. The inspection identified as an area for improvement that we focus more resource on our academic age 18 cohort: The proportion of young people achieving Level 3 qualifications, however, is still too low. Until very recently, the partnership s focus was not firmly enough on the support for 18 year olds, and the proportion moving successfully on to training or employment remains well below average. The local authority has rightly commissioned new contractors to tackle this. Since June we have therefore put in place a number of interventions to support our academic age 18 cohort and to reduce the number who are not in education, employment or training (NEET): To provide additional capacity for our Youth Employability Service (YES) to work with 18 year olds we have commissioned them to appoint a dedicated 18+ Advisor. This Advisor will provide support and advice to help 18 year olds who are currently NEET to progress into sustained EET, the Advisor will also work with partners to help identify early leavers and provide support to sustain them in EET. YES led a pilot funded by the National Apprenticeship Service in 2013/14 in which they provided an intensive programme of information, advice and guidance aimed at young people, parents/carers, schools and colleges to promote Apprenticeships, providing one-to-one support to young people who expressed an interest in Apprenticeships, and helping them through the eastsussex.gov.uk 2

3 application process. We are funding the continuation of this work until March 2015 to provide additional support to 18 year olds interested in taking the apprenticeship route. In addition to the work carried out in the pilot, YES will look at targeting young people who have been unsuccessful in applying for apprenticeships online, set up regular apprenticeship matching events with live vacancies that young people can apply for, and work with training providers to identify apprentices at risk of leaving their placement and provide support. For further information about how YES supports young people, please contact We are also in the process of setting up a pilot of a re-engagement programme for 18 year olds, based on a successful model trialled in Kent which identified a gap in provision for this cohort due to funding requirement of EFA and SFA. The model focusses on local provision in NEET hotspots developed in partnership with local providers, JCPlus and the Fire Service. If you are interested in being part of this pilot please contact Caroline.mckiddie@eastsussex.gov.uk. Updated Statutory Guidance on IAG for Schools and Colleges Caroline Bragg The Department for Education have recently published their annual update of Careers Guidance and Inspiration in Schools (April 2014), statutory guidance for governing bodies, school leaders and school staff. It outlines why schools must secure independent careers guidance for all year 8-13 pupils, what they must do to comply with their legal responsibilities in this area, and the role of the governing body and head teacher in shaping the guidance and support offered by the school. Since September 2013, all further education (FE) colleges and sixth form colleges in England have also been subject to a requirement to secure access to independent careers guidance, and this is set out in Careers Guidance and Inspiration: Guidance for Further Education Colleges and Sixth-forms (August 2014). This document offers guidance on which colleges may wish to draw when interpreting the requirement, and deciding on the most appropriate forms of independent and impartial careers guidance, and other kinds of careers support and inspiration for students. Earlier this year we commissioned a review of the CE IAG provision in our four further education colleges, this review concluded that there was some excellent practice at all four colleges. A workshop was held in July to share the good practice and to support colleges to develop their provision further. Ofsted has been giving careers guidance a higher priority in school inspections since September 2013, taking into account how well the school delivers advice and guidance to all pupils in judging its leadership and management. The statutory guidance has been revised to ensure that all schools are clear about what is expected of them in meeting their duty. We continue to support schools to gain the quality mark Investors in Careers to ensure that they provide high quality CE IAG and are well placed to meet the requirements set out in the statutory guidance. For further information about how we can support your school or college to gain the Investors in Careers award, contact caroline.bragg@eastsussex.gov.uk. eastsussex.gov.uk 3

4 New website to replace Connexions 360 Jessica Stubbings Connexions 360 was developed in 2007 as the website for young people (13-19 year olds) in East Sussex, the website contains a range of information about progressing to education and employment, youth service activities, sexual health and is also the website for the Youth Cabinet. The website has a number of limitations, it is hard to maintain, it is not compatible with mobile devices and the name is now not relevant as we no longer have a Connexions service. Following a number of consultations and surveys it has been agreed that a new website will be developed. We are in the process of commissioning the new website for young people in East Sussex. We are working closely with a range of other services across Children s Services and with the Youth Cabinet who will have a key role in helping to design the website and develop content. We expect the new website and linked social media to be launched in January, and a PR campaign will take place between January - March 2015 to promote the website to young people, parents/carers and professionals. UCAS Progress Course Finder Update Robert Moore 2015/16 courses have been live on the site since October 1 st 2014 and the majority of FE colleges and school sixth forms in East Sussex and our neighbouring authorities will have their provisions on display: All year 11 learners in East Sussex schools can now have a login created, allowing them to search for courses, save favourites and update their learner profiles. Individual login details can either be delivered to learners via or letter. We also have a range of resources available to promote the site to learners and staff in school, including posters and postcards. Any schools whose learners are not yet signed up to receive logins or would like some promotional materials can contact aspire@eastsussex.go.uk to arrange this. The website has been updated to include comprehensive careers information, advice and guidance pages full of useful tools and resources for learners, parents and careers advisors and teachers. The next step will be to introduce the Apply function; enabling learners to complete the end to end process of finding a course, applying and receiving offers entirely through their UCAS Progress account. Any schools or post-16 providers who would be interested in a trial of this system, using a small cohort of current year 11 learners, are encouraged to get in touch. Eastbourne Jobs Hub launched on 25 th September Caroline McKiddie The Eastbourne Jobs Hub, based at Eastbourne Library is a place where local employers and local job seekers of any age, can come for recruitment advice. Job seekers can get help to search and apply for local job vacancies, apprenticeships, volunteering or work experience opportunities, get help with interview preparation or get advice on finding the right course in education or training. Employers can access support to help them recruit the right staff for their eastsussex.gov.uk 4

5 business, this could include help with their recruitment process, advice about offering apprenticeship or work experience and how to access training for their staff. Autumn 2014 The Eastbourne Jobs Hub model has been developed by East Sussex County Council, in close partnership with Eastbourne Borough Council, Sussex Downs College, local training providers, Job Centre Plus, local employers, local third sector providers, Eastbourne Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Small Businesses. This strong partnership enables the Hub to connect local people with the support they need. The Eastbourne Jobs Hub also has an online presence offering a wide range of resources including information to help employers with their recruitment process, advice on training and job applications and a large number of jobs advertised by local employers. For more information contact: Rebecca Parsons Eastbourne Jobs Hub Manager Eastbourne Library,Grove Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN21 4TL Direct line: Mobile: Team line: Rebecca.Parsons@eastsussex.gov.uk eastsussex.gov.uk 5

6 Project Search Julie Dougill Project SEARCH, our supported internship programme which has been developed in partnership with Eastbourne District Hospital and Sussex Downs College started in September 2014 with twelve interns aged 19 years plus who have learning difficulties and/or disabilities. The interns are based at the hospital for the whole year, for the first three weeks they had an induction at the hospital and from 22nd September they have been out on their first rotation across the hospital in a range of departments. The hospital have provided a two bedroom flat in the residential block for the interns and teaching staff which acts as the base room/classroom. JobCentre Plus Work Coach for 16 and 17 year olds Jessica Stubbings The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have invited the local authority and JobCentre Plus to be part of a project to extend DWP support to year olds who are NEET and not in receipt of an income based benefit. The pilot aims to re-engage year old NEETs with education, employment with training or training to help them avoid the scarring effects associated with being NEET at this age and the correlation with longer term unemployment later in life. The project will provide a newly appointed dedicated work coach to support NEET 16 and 17 year olds into work. The project is due to start in late October, the work coach will be employed by Job Centre Plus and co-located with the Youth Employability Service (YES) at their offices in Eastbourne and Hastings. The project follows a successful pilot of this approach by DWP in four local authorities last year. For more details on the project in East Sussex please contact caroline.mckiddie@eastsussex.gov.uk Further Information Further information on Increasing Participation and related documents can be found at: Czone: Raising the Participation Age Toolkit on the East Sussex Learning Platform Team contact: ESCC Standards and Learning Effectiveness Service T eastsussex.gov.uk 6