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Case study 24: Developing vocational gifts and talents
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Case study 24: Developing vocational gifts and talents
This case study shows how a school extended and enriched its vocational courses at GCSE and post-16. Its goals were to stretch gifted and talented students and to allow others' hidden abilities to come to the fore.
mixed 11 to 18 comprehensive school
giving GCSE vocational students opportunities to work with local companies and to organise a year 9 industry programme·
giving post-16 vocational students opportunities to carry out independent research and to study marketing strategies on a trip abroad
more of the key stage 4 students are going to progress to AVCE at school or college
the post-16 students gained an impressive range of vocational and key skills
Background
The school is a mixed comprehensive that has offered vocational courses at key stage 4 for some years. Staff have noticed that some students considered average or below average suddenly blossom through the vocational route, developing new skills in planning and organising their work, and in handling information.
A number of gifted and talented students have used the vocational courses as stepping-stones to AVCEs, university or industry. The school was keen to attract more gifted and talented students to GCSEs and post-16 courses in vocational subjects, and was looking for ways to stretch these students by extending and enriching their learning experiences.
Implementation
At key stage 4, students can choose GCSE in Applied Business or GCSE in Manufacturing. The school used its contacts with the local Education Business Partnership to ask for curriculum support from local employers. Three companies responded -- two by visiting the school to answer questions about their work and to show a video outlining job opportunities; one by inviting students to visit the firm. The companies also agreed to host several students for their work experience placements late in year 10.
During their time with the companies, the students benefited from using their vocational skills in an exciting, real-life context:
- three manufacturing students solved a packaging problem for one of the companies by using lateral thinking;
- four students helped to design a new product for another company -- a rotating machine that sorts different-sized peanuts for bird food.
The students on the GCSE vocational courses were also given an opportunity to organise two industry days for year 9 pupils in the summer term. They:
- contacted the school's list of employers that had been involved in previous events and explained to them what was needed;
- identified some new local manufacturers;
- decided and organised the order of events;
- planned the student groups and generally ran the two days.
About one-third of the students took an active part in organising the event, developing high-level communication, planning, management and problem-solving skills. They gained strong evidence of vocational and key skills for their Progress Files, which contributed to good GCSE grades and key skills success at level 2. The school felt that some of the students were ready for level 3 in some key skills, including wider skills like problem solving and working with others.
The school has also extended and enriched its post-16 vocational curriculum to meet the needs of gifted students. One student taking AVCE in Business used her research project brief to look at performance management as a tool for motivating staff. She persuaded a local business to let her interview staff at all levels, analysed the data and then delivered a PowerPoint presentation to the senior management team. She benefited from developing a range of enhanced skills and an impressive entry on her CV.
A group of sixth-form students went on a trip to the USA to investigate how the American leisure industry uses marketing and promotional strategies to increase visitor numbers. Independent learning skills were at a premium and some gifted students stood out for their ability to analyse data, identify key promotional factors and suggest ways to implement them. Back in school, the students produced a display for a parents' evening and gave a presentation to lower-school pupils. This developed their skills in organising information and using techniques and appropriate language to engage the audience.
Impact
The extra activities and opportunities for independent learning stretched the gifted and talented key stage 4 students. They really enjoyed the vocational GCSE courses and several of them are going on to study AVCE at school or college.
Representatives from local colleges attended the year 9 industry event and were very impressed by the attitude and ability of the students running it. As a result, liaison between the school and colleges has improved and the colleges now offer a wider range of vocational taster courses for key stage 4 students. The school is considering setting up a fast-track vocational group to take the GCSE in Applied Business in one year and progress to AS Business in year 11.
The sixth-formers who went on the trip abroad gained a range of vocational and key skills, independent learning skills and experience in making presentations. The gifted and talented students in particular had the opportunity to stretch themselves and to gain good experience for their CVs, NRAs and UCAS statements. This helped to secure their progression to universities.
In the future, the school is planning to encourage gifted students to carry out entrepreneurial work with a local company as part of their advanced level programmes.