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Leading wrap-around, holistic CEIAG provision

Case study

The leadership at Grange Technology College developed a wrap-around philosophy towards careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG) so that students' experiences of guidance are not limited to isolated events. Their approach to CEIAG has been founded on high-quality dialogue rather than a system-led process.

Key learning

  • The headteacher and leadership group have built a structure of teams across the staff supporting CEIAG, which enables coherence and participation.
  • CEIAG is led by an assistant headteacher supported by the careers lead – a teaching and learning responsibilities (TLR) post for the detailed planning and delivery of careers education.
  • The CEIAG assistant head researched the practice in other schools, working with the leadership group and school improvement activity groups (SIAGs) to develop provision.

Background

Grange Technology College is a large 11–19 community school situated in southwest Bradford. It has approximately 1,800 students, including 300 in the sixth form. Its students are from a multi-ethnic background, of whom around 90 per cent are of South Asian heritage. The school has a high rate of free school meals, and many students come from socially deprived backgrounds. Grange has a specialism in technology, a second specialism as a training school and has high-performing specialist school status.

Key challenges

Introducing change

One of the main challenges faced by the school has been to alter the way in which some staff prefer to work.

"You always meet barriers. One is some people like their job to be very tightly defined and very clear cut, and, all things being equal, would prefer to work in isolation rather than collaboration…but you have to recognise there’s the potential for that before you start and to make sure people are supported and feel comfortable in a changing role." (headteacher, Grange Technology College)

Engaging parents

Engaging parents has been a barrier and is very much a work in progress.

Solutions

Leadership structures and approaches

The leadership group discusses CEIAG on a needs-led basis to ensure constant improvement.

SIAGs have an open membership and facilitate high-quality dialogue concerning the monitoring of aspects of provision, including CEIAG. Complementing the SIAGs is the COBRA group. Its core membership is drawn from the leadership group, year directors and other key personnel. It takes a holistic view of provision for students and their achievement. Involvement of the CEIAG assistant head and careers lead is seen as crucial, "as often IAG (or rather its absence) is the crucial factor or key element when things are not right" (headteacher).

The CEIAG assistant head also meets with:

  • the PSHCE team, led by the careers lead, that meets to support the delivery of CEIAG at key points
  • a support team concerned with provision for individual students: the school has invested significantly in establishing an extensive network of support staff, equivalent in status and remuneration to middle leaders

Delivery model

In terms of a curriculum model, CEIAG is delivered primarily through personal social health and citizenship education (PSHCE) lessons, in what was termed a 'spiral curriculum’:

  • CEIAG provision expands at key points: Year 9 for the Key Stage 4 (KS4) options process, and Year 11 for post-16 transition.
  • A structured programme of activities and PSHCE lessons across the year is delivered by a designated citizenship/PSHCE team, drawing in part on software such as Careerscape.
  • Option choices are open, rather than guided: students have the opportunity to select from a wide range of qualifications and are not guided towards a particular curricular pathway of, for example, mainly academic GCSEs or vocational BTECs. They are given information about what different qualifications mean, what they can lead to, and are then "supported to make the right decision" (leadership group member).

Introducing change

Collaboration among staff has been developed through:

  • regular SIAG meetings enabling staff from across the school to meet, discuss and agree a way forward
  • open dialogue between colleagues as a means of establishing responsibilities and clarifying roles

To achieve this, the school has:

  • invested time and resources into subject staff’s involvement in delivering aspects of CEIAG
  • provided training for teachers and offered CEIAG support to tutors
  • asked subject staff to plan lessons that link curriculum content with the world of work

Engaging parents

The school is actively exploring ways of improving the quality of engagement with parents, in the context of a predominantly trusting parental community.

The move to vertical tutoring will, the school hopes, empower students to engage their parents even more in conversation about their aspirations and the consequent skills, values and qualifications required.

Evaluation of impact

The school’s relentless determination to improve ensures it adopts "a very open attitude towards evaluation" (leadership group member).

The school used at least one process to benchmark its practice, namely the Bradford quality standard for CEIAG. However, other CEIAG awards have been declined as their methodology captured what had been done rather than what was needed.

The CEIAG assistant head and careers lead use evaluations, such as student voice questionnaires, compiled by the careers lead. These have led to changes, for example, in how options evenings are delivered.

Students are aware of staff checking on the effectiveness of CEIAG delivery, confirming that questionnaires are used to capture their views on the impact of provision.

Next steps

From January 2011 the school changed its tutor group system from a year-based model to a vertical tutoring model. The impetus for this has been the desire for that wrap-around, holistic approach to CEIAG where students are supported not just by tutors but by other students as well. Again, it is intended that high-quality dialogue will be generated by the new structure, leading to the right decisions being made.

Further information

Report written by Steve Shaw, National College research associate and deputy headteacher, Brighouse High School, Bradford