Delivering 14-19 Reform: £50 Million To Support The Workforce

Thu, April 20, 2006

Source: Government News Network

The first schools and colleges to deliver new specialised Diploma courses through the Government's 14-19 reform programme will benefit from £50 million investment in training and support for staff, Schools Minister Jacqui Smith will announce today.

The first schools and colleges to deliver new specialised Diploma courses through the Government's 14-19 reform programme will benefit from £50 million investment in training and support for staff, Schools Minister Jacqui Smith will announce today.

Speaking at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers annual conference in Gateshead, Jacqui Smith will say that investment in teachers, lecturers and support staff is essential in delivering high quality Diplomas that would engage young people in learning, ensuring that by 2015 nine out of ten will choose to stay on in post-16 education or training.

Jacqui Smith will say:

"Record levels of investment, radical reform, and the hard work of education staff are working hand-in-hand to ensure that every child has the opportunity to reach their full potential. But in the end it is only pupils' own hard work and the skill of teachers, lecturers and support staff that will guarantee success. That is why we will invest in the workforce, making sure that it has the skills, support and capacity to deliver high quality and engaging diplomas."

From 2008, the first five of 14 specialised Diplomas will be available to young people alongside the existing curriculum, giving them the opportunity to study high quality work-related qualifications in classroom and workplace environments.

£50 million will be available over the next two years to help schools and colleges as they prepare to deliver the first Diplomas, funding key delivery partners to support the development of school and college staff through, for example:

* specific training programmes and dedicated teaching resources developed by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust and Quality Improvement Agency for teaching and support staff to help them deliver effective and engaging diploma courses;

* recruiting additional vocational teaching staff and upskilling the existing workforce to teach vocational subjects, by the Training and Development Agency for Schools and Lifelong Learning UK;

* sharing expertise in leadership capability, management, and collaborative working to support effective leadership of 14-19 reforms through the National College for School Leadership and the Centre for Excellence in Leadership.

Schools and colleges that aim to deliver the first Diplomas will need to work together with their local authorities to pass a 'gateway' process, assessing their capacity to deliver them against a number of stringent criteria. The gateway criteria will be finalised shortly, but are likely to include demonstrating detailed plans to collaborate with other local schools, colleges, businesses and employers to deliver Diplomas to all students in the area and meet local skills needs; proposals to train, recruit and develop a dedicated workforce to deliver the Diplomas; and high quality classroom and workplace environments in which young people can study.

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