
	6th form schools home
	Case studies

	Belfairs School
	Godalming College
	Hinchingbrooke School
	Rhyddings Business and Enterprise School
	Scarborough Sixth Form College
	Toynbee School
	Whickham School
	Writhlington School
	Using NVQs at key stage 4

	Print this page

Belfairs School


		11-16 schools

		6th form schools

		Colleges

The school

Belfairs is an 11 to 18 school with 1,200 students located in Leigh on sea, Essex. In 2004/05 there were 220 students in year 10 and 200 in year 11. The school runs an Increased Flexibility Programme and has specialist status in media arts. It is part of an Excellence Cluster.

Vocational curriculum

The school has had a strong vocational focus since 2001. Curriculum development has been driven by the needs of students and the desire to raise levels of achievement. The style and approach of vocational qualifications suit students’ needs and aspirations. Vocational qualifications have been responsible for raising achievement.

The school ran Part One GNVQ in health and social care and business and introduced information communication and technology (ICT) GNVQ through the Thomas Telford online scheme. GCSEs in engineering, applied business and health and social care were introduced to replace Part One GNVQs and extend vocational provision. The school also introduced media GCSE but found that it was too theoretical and so replaced it with OCR’s National Certificate in media. The school also has introduced GCSEs in applied science, IMI motor vehicle maintenance certification and life skills certification.
All students take at least one vocational core subject alongside the core subjects of English, mathematics, religious education, personal, social and health education, and physical education. These subjects are timetabled as double subjects. The school sees this timetabling of a compulsory vocational subject for all students as a radical but wholly appropriate step for the cohort, which tends towards the lower-achievement quadrant before key stage 4.

Subject options

In addition, there are three blocks of options from which students can choose a range of GCSEs. GCSEs in vocational subjects take up two options and are timetabled as double subjects. With recent changes to the national curriculum, ICT entitlement is now delivered through vocational provision as cross-curricular delivery of ICT is a strength of this school. This has freed up time for vocational options and students can take ICT GNVQ as a vocational option. Students are strongly recommended to take a science but it is not a requirement.

Alternative education provision

The school offers alternative education provision for 40 key stage 4 students per year. These students are offered the same options as other students, but are invited to apply to the work-related programme, which involves taking NVQ courses at a local college with opportunities for work placements. The school also offers entry level life skills options for students who cannot cope with the demands of the work-related curriculum.

Strengths and successes

Clear strategy, well communicated

The school has a clear strategy in which vocational courses play a central role in motivating students and raising their achievements and this strategy is communicated effectively to staff.

Quality of staff

The school has been successful at attracting high-quality staff in areas such as business and health and social care and many of these staff have recent vocational experience.

Staff training and cover

Staff training and teaching cover has been funded through local increased flexibility provision. The most highly valued courses were those being delivered by awarding body moderators on coursework design and marking. Staff also value opportunities to network with other teachers and learn from the experiences of other schools. While at least 10 staff have been on courses (including the chief science technician), the head of vocational education also cascades training internally to staff across departments through fortnightly course planning meetings and curriculum meetings once a term for all 30 vocational staff.

Links with awarding bodies

The school has two external verifiers on the teaching team to help with internal moderation and training. These teachers provide portfolio support for teachers across the full range of subjects in order to develop consistency on internal assessment. This process might involve evaluating planning, observing lessons and reviewing assignments and marking. A common problem picked up through moderation is that staff (particularly new staff) award too many marks for descriptive content when the course demands evaluative input from students.

The school is well prepared for external assessment as they have an experienced staff with good links with the examining boards. Teachers share their experiences with newer staff.

Leadership within vocational education

This role and the head of vocational education have been important in developing a clear emphasis on assessment within vocational provision. Some subject teachers have found it difficult to grasp that, within vocational qualifications, assessment is an ongoing activity which encourages students to improve on their achievements, rather than a one-off event. For these teachers the use of assessment grids has highlighted the diagnostic value of assessment as a means of informing subsequent support given to students.

Vocational links

Good vocational links have been a strength of provision. Statutory work-related learning and the enterprise education initiative have been a huge influence on the school. This has been funded through the EAZ and an organisation called Optima, which distributes increased flexibility funding and has spearheaded development of work-related links.

These funds enable the school to employ an assistant to organise work placements and work shadowing and develop a database of employer contacts. This assistant also undertakes risk assessments and criminal record checks, sends out necessary letters and arranges workplace visits, job fairs and guest speakers. This has taken a considerable burden from teachers and has given the school the confidence to implement vocational GCSEs in new subject areas (eg, applied science) as the school has the links with employers that are necessary to deliver vocational relevance.

Student achievements

The results achieved by students on health and social care GCSEs have been excellent. In 2004, 17 students took this course and all of them exceeded target minimum grades: 88 per cent achieved A*–C and12 per cent achieved D–G. The vast majority of these students have taken further education courses, with 70 per cent continuing in the health and social care field. Students who have taken this course are vocal advocates of it and teachers speak passionately of the many ways in which the course has transformed their lives and understanding of the world.

Work shadowing

Within health and social care GCSEs, considerable emphasis is placed on the value of work shadowing as a way of improving work-relatedness of vocational provision. Within this subject, work shadowing is seen as delivering a good learning experience for students, allowing them to observe what key people do in their roles rather than undertaking work experience tasks which may not advance their understanding. Employers often prefer work shadowing as it is easier to organise for multiple students than work placements. Also, employers tend to be less restrictive about the age of students for work shadowing. Hospitals and old people’s homes do not require students to take vaccinations prior to work shadowing as they sometimes do for work placements.

Work-relatedness

The school is highly committed to developing the work-relatedness of new vocational courses as they are implemented. For example, they have set up applied science GCSE as a business, called the Belfair’s Applied Science Consortium. Students on the course are divided into a red team and a blue team and the classroom is set up to feel more like a workplace than a school, with students ‘clocking in’ rather than registering for classes. This approach is designed to capture the imagination of students and increase progression to the applied science A level.

Evaluation

The school management team analyse course results by comparing them to predicted target grades in order to evaluate the appropriateness of the qualifications they offer for the given cohort. There has been consistent improvement in results since 2001. The school also has in place a programme of classroom observations to monitor quality of teaching.

Challenging issues

Replacing GNVQs

The school has some reservations about the replacement qualifications for GNVQs. GCSEs in vocational subjects are seen as appropriate for middle- and higher-ability students. The assignments within these GCSEs are seen as too long for lower- to middle-ability students, who might benefit from a more structured qualification with smaller units.

Content of units

Teachers also have some specific reservations regarding the content of the vocational GCSE units. For example, unit one in health and social care, which focuses on organisations and funding, is seen as boring by staff and students alike. Teachers observe that organisations within the health and social care sector change often and that many professionals who work in the sector do not understand matters of funding. Instead, teachers would prefer students to lean more about staff communication and career paths within sectors as this would be more interesting to young people and vocationally useful.

Assessments

Across GCSEs in vocational subjects, teachers observe that some assessments are more difficult to complete if students are using real-life examples rather than case studies. For example, real companies may not want to share details of their financial records or marketing plans with students but assessment requires students to investigate such matters. This would not appear to be in the spirit of a vocational qualification, which should encourage and recognise independent learning. Once students have become independent learners, asking for information from teachers feels like a step backwards but without doing so students will not be able to access higher grades. The school has raised this issue with the awarding body.

Engineering

Teachers and students have found the GCSE in engineering too theoretical and results have been poor. The school is currently looking to replace this with a BTEC First in Engineering, which is a more practical approach to a level two course that will motivate its students and raise their standards of achievement.

Grading

GCSE grading is seen as demotivating for lower-ability students. A merit grade for a foundation GNVQ provides a more positive recognition of achievement than a grade F GCSE. While GNVQs were designed to facilitate co-teaching of intermediate and foundation levels, the school has concerns that replacement qualifications will not offer this facility.

Managing workloads

Student workload can be an issue, especially if students are taking two vocational subjects. The school runs additional catch-up days during the Easter holidays to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to do their best.

Progression routes

There are some concerns that there are not always clear progression routes from GCSEs in vocational subjects to provision post-16. Applied A levels are too academic for those students who would prefer a more practical award. The school is currently seeking to identify appropriate intermediate-level qualifications that can be delivered as a one-year course for post-16 students.

Developing staff attitudes

Staff attitudes can be an initial barrier to success, but staff have been won over within the school. At the outset many teachers thought that delivering vocational qualifications would be a ‘soft’ option for students. However, teams have developed good courses which students enjoy. Parents appreciate what their children have learnt and universities are accepting the awards. Employers, too, appear to appreciate the skills of young people who have earned vocational qualifications: they are articulate, ICT-literate and good with numbers. For example, science teachers were resistant to proposals for applied science GCSEs at the outset but the school made the necessary capital investment in applied science resources and teachers developed the new curriculum. Teachers have now been won over by the quality of students’ work, the results students have achieved and strong school leadership.

Number of GCSEs students take

A final issue raised by students is that they only get the opportunity to take eight and one-half GCSEs, while friends at other schools get the chance to take 10 GCSEs or more. Some students expressed the concern that this may place them at a disadvantage when applying to university.

Future plans

Replacement qualifications

Over the next three years the school expects many further changes. In addition to replacing the engineering GCSE, they will be looking for replacement qualifications for the one-year post-16 intermediate GNVQ.

Currently the school uses the Thomas Telford online course to deliver the ICT GNVQ. While this approach has been successful in terms of raising students’ achievements, the school would like to extend the vocational relevance of ICT provision and will replace this course with Edexcel’s Diploma/Certificate/Award in digital applications over the next few years.

Options within the new award relate well to the vocational focus within the school. For example, the school has a BBC Essex radio DJ resident in their studios and are developing their new music technology specialism by introducing a music technology vocational award at level 2.

Key stage 3

The school is also looking to make changes within the key stage 3 curriculum in order to maintain students’ interest and raise their achievements. As the school has specialist status in media arts, it may seek to introduce a level 1 media award to raise expectations in key stage 3.

Extending provision of level 1, 2 and 3 awards

From September 2006 the school will be extending the range of level 2 courses offered to key stage 4 and key stage 3 students, as well as level 1 courses and level 3 courses. This work has been undertaken as part of a local collaborative initiative.

The school also plans to implement more level 3 vocational qualifications. Teachers have some concerns regarding the lack of science within the applied A level in health and social care. To address this, the school could offer students an AS in human biology alongside this course, in order to increase the science quota and help students in their subsequent career paths

Evaluation

Over the next year the school also plans to involve students more formally in the evaluation of courses.

Also see

Vocational provision at key stage 4