The 14 - 19 curriculum [Archive] - Teacher Forums

tvwarner

06-05-2010, 10:28 AM

Being based in the Midlands between Coventry and Leicester, and working within the Education industry, I know that there are groups of young people (14-19 years) that find themselves not 'fitting in' to mainstream education.

Those that do not enjoy school tend to fall into 2 main groups:
"The Bless 'ems"
These kids do not enjoy many of the lessons they attend, they certainly are not achieving within them but they are well behaved and do not make a fuss. What happens to these? More often than not they are enetered into exams they are not going to pas just in the hope that they do achieve something and the school can claim their points!

"The Wrong 'ens"
These are the kids that DO MAKE A FUSS. When they turn up to school (which is not that often!) most of the teachers wish they hadn't bothered! These quite often are abusive, aggressive and in most cases have been excluded either for a short term or permanently. What happens to these young people? Are they just left to roam the street, get into trouble, take drugs, drink etc?

These groups tend to be dominated by white, male, typically lower working class males and this represents approximately 50% of the kids that attend school. The other 50% get on fine; the system works for them and they will achieve at GCSE level, progress onto A levels and many will go to University. The Wrong 'ens tend to be referred by their school to the local authority who place them at a local PRU (Pupil Referral Unit) for some specialist intervention. The PRU will assess the pupils needs and attempt to solve some of the issues that the young person has. The biggest problem is these centres are nearly always full.....a sign of the times.

The underlying reason these kids switch off to the curriculum is that it is non-vocational, non-practical, all academic. Not everyone is academically minded.....the academics have told us that! So we are faced with a chicken and egg scenario. What should we tackle first? The fit to burst PRUs or the over academic curriculum?

The previous government backed and started the implementation of the new Diplomas. These are certainly along the right lines but there is one major problem with these in most cases; who they are delivered by and where they are delivered. In most cases the answer to this Teachers and at school.

This is where it breaks down for the really disengaged pupils The Wrong 'ens. The Bless 'ems will get on fine with this method and many will start achieving because they are enjoying. The Wrong 'ens however will not turn up, will continue to rebel against the teachers (these are the same teachers they didn't like before!). So what it the answer for this group of disengaged pupils....The Wrong 'ens?

Vocationally delivered diplomas at foundation level delivered by specialist tutors in their field (not teachers), and delivered away from school, ideally in the work place, or some other informal venue that is young people friendly. Now some will argue that this is already happening in most cases; programmes have been developed and are in place in lots of colleges etc. To the Wrong 'ens, colleges are no different that schools and a college is not a work place. These people are getting confused with the Blesson 'ems group. Not only will this re-engage this difficult to engage group but it will also serve to alleviate the pressure on the PRU's (which do a very good job by the way....they just can't do everything for everyone!) and it will improve the prospects of growing group of young people and, something I have not really touched on, decrease the amout of young people getting involved in crime.

I degress at times but hopefully some useful points.

Hey there,

I'm doing a bit of research on the 14 - 19 curriculum and was wondering if anyone could help me out by answering a few questions?

1. What qualifications does your school currently offer for the 14 - 19 curriculum under the Physical Education umbrella?

2. Do you think that G.C.S.E and A Level PE caters for all students? Why?

3. Do you think BTEC PE caters for all students? Why?

4. What subject under the PE umbrella do you prefer teacher most? i.e. BTEC, GCSE, A Level etc.

5. In your own opinion at Key Stage 4, do you think BTEC or GCSE is better? State your reasons why.

6. At key Stage 5, do you think BTEC or A Level is better? State your reasons why.

I would really appreciate your answers to these questions.

Thank you

Kayleigh