Cumbria County Council has received ministerial praise for its work on improving the education of 14-19 year olds.
Speaking at an event in Birmingham yesterday (Wednesday 17 September), Kevin Brennan MP, Parliamentary Undersecretary of State at the Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) praised Cumbria County Council for its work on education reforms for this age group:
"The 14-19 education reforms are aimed at equalising life chances by giving all young people the same opportunity to succeed in education. This is all about allowing young people to learn about subjects that motivate them, in a style that suits them.
"I have been fascinated to hear more today about the successes of Cumbria County Council and its partners on this issue. The work is truly inspiring, and shows how effective projects like this can be in helping to promote learning, to encourage young people to stay in education after the age of 16," he said.
Cumbria County Council's 14-19 Partnership was awarded Beacon Status earlier this year for its work in this area, and the Birmingham event was the first joint learning event to showcase best practice in the field. Sheffield City Council and Wolverhampton City Council co-hosted yesterday's event and there will be further learning events held in Cumbria in November and February to showcase activities at the cutting edge of educating 14-19 year olds.
John Swainston, Cumbria County Council's Head of Schools and Learning, said:
"It's fantastic that Cumbria has been given the opportunity to highlight its best practice as well as to continue to learn from others. We will soon be launching our virtual learning environment, where any local authority can keep an eye on progress and innovation on educating 14-19 year olds here in Cumbria. We are the only shire county that has been awarded beacon status in this category and we have unique challenges in providing this service in a rural area, so all eyes are on Cumbria in terms of how we deliver what we do."
Cumbria's 14-19 Partnership aims to secure access to learning and achievement for all 14 to 19 year olds in the county. It offers a different style of learning in vocational subjects such as IT, construction and engineering, and combines theory and practical work. It also addresses the issue of young people wanting to get qualifications who may not be best suited to a solely academic curriculum, although the course does include a strong focus on the '3 Rs' - the functional skills needed for everyday life. The partnership also looks at new ways to tackle what is called 'disengagement' , to ensure that young people in danger of dropping out can be motivated to stay in learning.
The Beacon Scheme is led by Communities and Local Government (CLG), and the programme is managed at the Improvement and Development Agency for local government. This year, the independent Beacon panel received 143 applications, and using an extensive judging process, they whittled this number down to a shortlist of 59.
Notes for editors
About the better brighter futures theme: 14-19 reform, sponsored by Becta
The 14-19 reforms are part of the package of reforms, which includes Every Child Matters, personalisation, specialisation, and building schools for the future, all aimed at increasing young people’s potential, life chances and educational experiences.
Educational attainment is critical to equalizing life chances. A key aim of the programme is to narrow achievement gaps associated with the disadvantage and discrimination experienced by some communities, and to extend traditional learning routes so that they are more inclusive and engaging.
The reforms have three main objectives:
- to raise attainment now
- to design a new curriculum and qualifications
- to improve the way the 14-19 phase is delivered
Success depends most of all on local partners.
Within this theme a Beacon authority will have a key role in ensuring that all partners work together successfully to deliver the 14-19 reforms.
In partnership with the local Learning and Skills Council, a Beacon authority will need to establish an effective 14-19 partnership in their area, comprising schools, colleges, employers, training providers and other key partners.
About The Beacon Scheme
The Government established the Beacon Scheme in 1999 to identify excellence in local government and enable best practice to be shared with others.
Ten themes were selected for the scheme in Round 9, and in this, the ninth round of the scheme, 38 Beacon awards have been given to 44 authorities, from an original pool of 143 applications involving 132 authorities.
Beacon Authorities will share in a £3m reward grant. They will also actively promote all the good practice identified during this round. This will cover dissemination activities including learning events, open days and peer support.
Beacon status is awarded to best value authorities representing the diversity of local government –urban and rural, unitary and two-tier, and from different parts of the country. The scheme is relevant to all kinds of authorities, including fire, transport and police authorities.
The independent Beacon Advisory Panel makes recommendations to Ministers on the selection of Beacon authorities in each round. The Panel assessed all applicants against the criteria agreed by Ministers and published in the Round 9 application brochure in March 2007. Ministers across Government then take final decisions on the basis of these recommendations.
Further information on the Beacon Scheme can be found on the scheme website www.beacons.idea.gov.uk (external link)
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