Agenda item

a)            The panel is due to hear from the following witnesses

 

Alan Brennan, Service Manager Hampshire Learning and Employability,

Catch 22 (briefing paper attached)

 

Helen Brennan, Head of Student Support Services, Highbury College (briefing paper attached)

 

Shirley Sliwinski, Co-ordinator for Work Related Learning, Mayfield School

 

Phil Harris Vice Principal and Oona Taylor, Head of Careers Guidance, Portsmouth College

 

Kim Rayner, Director of Alternative Curriculum Provision, Admiral Lord Nelson School

 

Mike Stoneman, Strategic Commissioning Manager, Education - Strategic Commissioning, Portsmouth City Council

 

Sharon George, Youth Support Commissioning Manager, Children's Social Care and Safeguarding,   Portsmouth City Council                           

 

b)            Written Evidence

The Business in the Community report "What's the Risk?" regarding employing young adults with criminal convictions can be accessed via: http://www.t2a.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/BCT_BIC_A4_ver1-2.pdf

The chair welcomed all guests to the meeting and introductions were made around the table before evidence was given.

 

(a)          Shirley Sliwinski, Co-ordinator for Work Related Learning, Mayfield School

 

A paper had been circulated outlining the practices at Mayfield School.  Shirley Sliwinski stressed that their changes in funding had meant that there was less available and there was more responsibility for careers intervention and guidance by schools and she believed that Mayfield were providing a good service.  The school's aim is to ensure that all pupils leave in Year 11 better able to access further education, training and employment or higher education. 

 

A range of activities include enterprise days in conjunction with Portsmouth University and the Education Business Partnership (EBP) to promote teamwork, leadership, creativity and a 'can do' attitude.  There was also use of business ambassadors to help inspire pupils and enterprise skills are also embedded into the curriculum.  The Ignite group for able and talented pupils mainly promotes the STEM skills.

 

Mayfield pay for an EBP package with careers advisers coming in two days a week to fit in with the timetable for the Year 10 and 11 pupils and the adviser works with pupils on work placements and goes out to visit them offering a personal service.  There is also collaboration with other schools and attendance at a guidance group chaired by the city council's post?16 education adviser Lyn Exley.

 

There is a difficulty with responsibility when pupils leave the school to go to college the school is still accountable and it is hard for teachers to undertake this role.  She hoped that relations with colleges continue to develop so that there is a close dialogue when pupils are transferring.  This will take time and meetings to ensure that all are aware of pupils' movements.

 

The business ambassadors coming in to speak to pupils had been successful in helping overcome barriers and the fear of the future and gave access to speak to adults.  Year 11 pupils have a programme of career interviews and are helped to develop an action plan (run by EBP).  Some pupils are offered extended work placements and the aim was to offer interviews to Year 10 pupils later in the year.

 

The school has good links with Portsmouth Aviation, offering work experience and some engineering apprenticeships.

 

The following additional information was provided in response to members' questions:

 

·         The school welcomes talks by its previous alumni; the colleges will tell the school how pupils have progressed and those that have gone to Russell Group universities.

 

·         The schools do not just speak to the local colleges but further afield to ensure that the pupils are looking at the right courses to be successful.  Shirley (with the SENCO if appropriate) would visit the college to talk through issues especially where a pupil is "at risk".  The aim is to try to help the pupil choose a course where they can achieve rather than a choice based on friends and therefore early careers guidance at school is vital.

 

(b)          Alan Brennan, Service Manager, Hampshire Learning & Employability, Catch 22

 

Alan Brennan's briefing paper had been circulated with the agenda.  Catch 22 is a national charity and social enterprise working with young people and young adults to help those in tough situations to turn their lives around.  Their programmes help those they work with to steer clear of crime or substance misuse so they can do the best they can in school or college and develop skills for work.

 

Alan's role is to deliver education-based programmes to deliver a study programme for 16 year olds upwards.  There are 29 learners in the city today and they work with 35 people per six months.  The learners are vulnerable and disadvantaged young people, often with low aspiration or achievement or attainments, those at risk of exclusion or already excluded, they can have criminal records, be challenging behaviourally and are often NEET[1] or at risk of being NEET.  It was reported that the training centre is in Fratton and other programmes run in the city are run by the colleges.

 

Catch 22 deliver apprenticeships in Portsmouth and Hampshire for 16?24 year olds and they have successfully delivered a PCC pre-apprenticeship pilot of 13 learners so far, five of whom have progressed to apprenticeships, one to full time education with seven still in training.  In Portsmouth Catch 22 delivers level 2 and level 3 apprenticeships in childcare, business administration, customer service and sport/active leisure (between 300 and 400 apprentices).

 

There is also a corporate funded (HSBC) "Route to Work" (RTW) programme supporting young people in Portsmouth and Hampshire aged 16-24 to progress to employment which includes mentoring and supporting towards employment.  The RTW employability brokers provide one to one job search support and mentoring, there is a dedicated service that sources employment and apprenticeship opportunities for young people and there is financial assistance with the cost of training for some participants.  The HSBC funding was a three year funded investment worth £9 million nationally to Catch 22 (representing £300,000 investment in Hampshire).

 

The following additional information was given in response to members' questions:

 

·         The apprenticeships in customer service would lend itself to a range of business opportunities with local companies such as Southern Co-op, solicitors and estate agents.

 

·         It was noted that there were more apprenticeships being offered than young people applying for them.

 

·         Mike Stoneman reported that there is a post-16 curriculum map being developed by Lyn Exley which could be circulated to the panel which would help show where there is both over provision and gaps in opportunities.

 

·         Most referrals to Catch 22 came through the Integrated Targeted Youth Support Service (ITYSS) although others came from young people who know of the service and through other agencies.

 

·         With regard to the work with those at risk of permanent exclusions Alan reported that there was potential for Catch 22 to work with Key Stage 4.  Whilst there is not yet funding for this but their provision lends itself to those on the fringes of exclusion.  This would need to be paid for by the schools where pupils are pre-16.

 

(c)          Helen Brennan, Head of Student Support Services, Highbury College

 

Helen Brennan had circulated a briefing paper.  Highbury College is a large general, further education college in Portsmouth with a broad academic and vocational curriculum in 13 subjects.  The college is spread over six sites, five of which are in Portsmouth, bringing a range of full time and part time provision.  The three careers advisers are the equivalent of two full time and they work with all the students and help on average 250 progress to university each year.  There are a lot of entry level 1 and 2 students who would not be prepared for university (which is mainly level 3 entry).

 

The Highbury Employment Careers Service runs in partnership with Reed/NCFE which has been successful in engaging with employers in securing jobs for students.  This partnership which started in February 2013 resulted in the 2012/13 academic year of over 740 vacancies taken from 339 unique employers, 331 interviews attended by Highbury students registered with Reed/NCFE and 240 students placed in employment.

 

Those liaising with local schools working with pre-16s: 450 pre-16 students come in on pre-college programmes plus the college representatives go into schools to tell pupils about college opportunities and to mentor Year 10 and 11 students.  (There are 50 motivational presentations to year groups 9, 10 and 11.)  College staff also attend Year 8 and 9 school options events to provide progression information.

 

The schools and colleges are communicating better regarding the transition, especially for vulnerable pupils.  The college runs January start programmes for those wishing to re-engage in education and there are programmes for those with mental health difficulties and for NEETs who need extra skills.  The emphasis at the college is on employability and running a range of specialist programmes. 

 

Partnership working with employers is highly effective and benefits students. In 2012/13, the College worked with 666 employers and had 1998 sponsored students.  In 2011/12 the College established a partnership with IBM for the delivery of apprenticeships; new partnerships were developed with Veolia and with Hampshire Constabulary for the delivery of their apprenticeships in 2012/13.

 

Further information was given in response to members' questions:

 

·         Mike Stoneman reported that the local authority had recently bid for funding for where there were gaps in provision for those with emotional and behavioural difficulties and a capital funding for refurbishment at Harbour School would be undertaken. 

 

·         The pattern for work placements is governed by the students' needs and college has been successful in finding placements.

 

·         To encourage confidence and a smoother transition there was pre-assessment of numeracy and literacy skills so that students were placed on the right level of programme.  There is continued assessment during the first half term of the academic year with flexibility if there is a need to change course.  The college has two programmes called Prepare regarding confidence building, literacy and numeracy skills as 12 week courses as a transition to full time courses in the January term.

 

·         Both pupils and adults in the community can seek careers advice from the college.

 

·         With regard to raising the aspirations of the students it was reported that the Higher Education Fair was extended to representatives from professions.  Where pupils did not want to go to university the aim is to raise their awareness of jobs.  A lot of the courses at Highbury are vocational and so the pupils are made aware of a wide range of jobs within that sector of study.  There is also a hall of fame of employment success stories and showing what salaries can be earned as an incentive to students.  At the end of level 1 and 2 there are talks to encourage progression to the next level.  Pupils are advised that it is advisable to be in level 2 or 3 to secure future employment.

 

·         Whilst there had been an impact on the construction industry due to the recession some students may have ended up on a full time carpentry course rather than apprenticeship but they can transfer to an apprenticeship when it becomes available.  A lot of parents had felt that college was the best place for their children whilst the industry was in recession.  However the college was noticing more apprenticeships in construction were now becoming available.

 

·         The college has work exchanges overseas with trips to Hungary for mechanics, a Finnish exchange for hair and beauty would be taking place and there were also links with a German college.

 

(d)          Phil Harris, Vice-Principal and Oona Taylor, Head of Careers Guidance, Portsmouth College

 

A briefing paper was circulated for the panel members.  Portsmouth College provides a high proportion of level 3 provision with traditional subjects to progress to university.  It also offers a mixed curriculum with a broader vocational offer with a sizeable level 2, BTEC and GCSE consolidation and level 1 provision to encourage the gaining of skills.  This broad spectrum responded to the changing employment opportunities with new strands of apprenticeship and moving towards work placements.

 

There is a good relationship with local schools as the team wish to work on the "whole journey" from the end of school through to college and the chosen progression route.  The college was represented at careers fairs with employers coming in to meet with students.  Staff worked with students to ensure they are choosing the right courses when the first interventions take place at school and as part of the enrolment process. 

 

Once the students are at college staff work closely with them and involve a number of outside agencies organising employment weeks, and other events: speed networking, Creative Industries Day, employment skills day. 

 

As there is such a broad range of programmes most of which are not vocational the staff make students aware of the range of destination routes.

 

It was reported that the number of students going to university is declining so the college is introducing a sophisticated employability programme and changing the timetable to facilitate this.  This would allow time for opportunities in college and outside to reach more students.  There was also work being undertaken with parents regarding the world of work and student funding with a number of events for students' parents having increased.

 

For those at the top of the academic range there is an intense programme to encourage aspirations to the Russell Group universities not just to the local choice universities.

 

In response to questions from panel members further information was given:

 

·         Students have different paces of progression and can change their mind regarding careers as their first choice can be based on limited knowledge, so the careers events and taster sessions give them more information and options are kept open for them.  The college also uses ex-students/alumni successfully to encourage current students. 

 

·         To ensure that there was not underachieving the staff work early on looking at the entry requirements for chosen careers including the GCSE grades at enrolment to try and assess the most appropriate options/subjects eg the right grades in the sciences for a medical degree.  This is handled sensitively looking at related jobs in that field to broaden options where appropriate. 

 

·         There is also use of sandwich courses as this helps employability and the armed forces come into work with the students in a cross-section of subjects.

 

(e)          Kim Rayner, Director of Alternative Curriculum Provision, Admiral Lord Nelson School

 

ALNS has three aims - to produce confident individuals, successful learners and valuable citizens.  A lot of work is undertaken in the Aspiring Futures projects and PHSE includes work related fields such as trips to Portsmouth, Southampton and Chichester universities.  In Year 9 there is a focus on option choices and apprenticeships not just the route to university and there are personal development days for each of the year groups.  There are talks with colleges and two weeks work experience placements.

 

The school co-ordinator finds placements.  In Year 10 personal development days are work related looking at finance, university, military training and other employers come into the school.  The PHSE course for Years 10 and 11 is called Aspiring Futures and is mostly work related.  The careers advice service at the school is commissioned through Portsmouth City Council so the school has maintained its previous adviser who gives impartial advice to Years 10 and 11.  Work takes place with pupils at risk of permanent exclusion to offer them careers advice not just anger management and emotional intelligence solutions.

 

At Key Stage 4 there are a range of pathways and the school aims to keep the number of pupils that are classed as NEET very low (there had been a blip in 2010 when there had been a significant increase in the number of teenage pregnancies to a level of seven so PCC's sexual health education had been commissioned and there had been zero teenage pregnancies in the last two years.  It is also important for pupils not to change schools too often as this could lead them to being vulnerable to becoming NEET.

 

This year's careers fair attended by employers and further education colleges had been attended by Years 9, 10 and 11 pupils.  There were also pathways for vocational apprenticeships.  The school has maintained vocational subjects such as hairdressing even though this did not attract performance points.  The view of the school was that it was important for the children to leave with the skills that they needed.  ALNS also support an alumni service and offers careers advice to ex-students who are emailed to check that they have gone into further education or into a job.

 

(f)           Mike Stoneman, Strategic Commissioning Manager, Education, Portsmouth City Council

 

Portsmouth City Council as the local authority do not have sixth form provision (except for the specialist provision at the Mary Rose School) so funding for post-16 education was not through the local authority.  However PCC do work with the providers of this provision and are looking at the provision in the city mapping the areas of local provision and where there are gaps.

 

Work takes place with Highbury College with learners with social and learning difficulties and at Portsmouth College with learners with severe physical difficulties to support them into employment.

 

The NEET figures in the city for 16-18 year olds had stayed at around 7% where pupils find it hard to either find or stay in post-16 provision.  The responsibility for careers advice and guidance where there is the risk of poor outcomes lies with the Integrated Targeted Youth Support Service (ITYSS).  Lyn Exley currently chairs the Careers Education and Information Advice & Guidance group which involves all schools.[2]  This reports to the 14-19 Partnership Board where there is a focus on the outcomes for vulnerable young people.

 

Approximately 200 pupils are being home educated in the city who could be at risk of poor outcomes. 

 

Whilst there can be difficulties with the transition from school to college there is a good post-16 offer in Portsmouth with a diverse and varied curriculum.

 

The representatives present accepted that there were some difficult transitions for students going from school to college and those who dropped out didn’t always tell their colleges.  Phil Harris stressed that they were welcome to come back and asked that if schools are aware of such instances they make contact with the college so the colleges know that the student is leaving.  Helen Brennan reported that if a pupil indicated they wished to leave Highbury College there would be a panel review to examine what had gone wrong and to see if they needed to come back on a different course.

 

(g)          Sharon George, Youth Support Commissioning Manager, Children's Social Care & Safeguarding, PCC

 

Sharon George has responsibility for the Youth Offending Team, ITYSS, Positive Achieving and the Young Persons Support Team.  She reported that the number of young persons in the NEET category had not changed much despite the opportunities given there was still a hardcore of approximately 400 choosing not to engage. 

 

PCC had retained the Go For It drop-in centre (previously run by Connexions).  Between 700 and 800 young people a month call in there for advice.  Here there are two boards with job opportunities but this mainly reflected volunteering opportunities rather than paid work in the current climate. 

 

PCC offers traded careers advice service to five schools.  There are youth advisers for level 3 who can offer guidance to those home educated also.  With regard to tracking this had been complicated by the new arrangements raising the participation age to 18.  There is regular contact with the young people who are NEET to offer support and they are sent information of apprenticeship events.

 

The challenge around careers advice is that there is not a standard offer in the city schools were responsible for procuring it.  To ensure that young people were on the right course she felt that IAG ??? should be earlier that Year 9/10, even in primary/junior school, to inspire aspirations for higher education as early as possible.

 

The following additional information was given in a general discussion at the meeting by participants.  Sharon George undertook to look at further information regarding the number of NEETs that were home educated although she stressed it was a small proportion of the 400.  NEETs can have learning difficulties, be teenage parents, medically unfit or have substance misuse and it was agreed that a breakdown of the group would be useful by ward for members of the panel.  This would help being where the resources were most needed.  (ACTION Sharon George). 

 

It was reported by Mike Stoneman that whilst NEETs start at 16 the problem in the city is the high rise in number at 17 years old and the biggest challenge was to see why the drop-out rate was so high at the age of 17.  The Catch 22 pre-apprenticeship scheme was successful in helping to reduce the NEET figures (see handout).  Whilst funding had been reduced the pilot study had been successful. 

 

It was felt that the rising number of academies in the city would not affect the careers advice as schools were responsible for procuring their own so whilst Charter Academy had decided to use PCC's career service others thinking of transferring to academy indicating they would continue to use Portsmouth City Council.

 

Liz Crate (PCC's Employment and Training Contracts Manager) reported that with regard to 17 year olds the Positive Direction Youth Contract was run by PCC and there were low referrals for 16-17 year olds however this offered funding to get them back into employment.    She further reported that the community work placement bids would be launched in April for six month work placements.  

 

The chair thanked all the witnesses for their very interesting presentations and interaction in the sharing of information with each other and the panel.

 

(h)          The written evidence regarding the business in the community report "What's the Risk?" regarding employing young adults with criminal convictions was noted.

 

Penny Lane, Strategy Adviser reported that she was looking at apprenticeship provision in the city and would have a draft report to submit as written evidence to the panel at a future meeting.  She also reported on that day's Chancellor's Autumn Statement and she would send information to the panel regarding the references made to funding for higher apprenticeships, the lead towards employer-led responsibility for funding and towards payment by results.  There were also changes regarding Job Centre Plus support for 16 and 17 year old NEETs to find apprenticeships and the 16 hour rule was being rescinded so claiming of jobseekers allowance on traineeships would be permitted and for unemployed 18?21 year olds there was a skills support pilot for JSA claimants .