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Raising student aspirations through CEIAG to improve student outcomes: maximising partnership work in an inner-city context

Case study

Enabling students to think differently about their future underpins the school’s CEIAG ethos and actions, resulting in its implementation across the curriculum and through out-of-hours activities. A wide range of in-school, out-of-school and out-of-hours provision aims to ensure that "everyone takes part in as much as possible" (deputy head).

Key learning

  • Establishing partnership work with business, entrepreneurs, community organisations, universities and colleges is an effective way of raising aspirations and improving student outcomes.
  • Developing a whole-school focus on enterprise and creating an associated pedagogy bring the real world and the school world together.
  • The leadership and management structure includes two co-ordinator posts for business and enterprise and careers to lead and manage key aspects of provision.

Background

Swanlea School is an 11-18 mixed comprehensive school of approximately 1,000 students; an additional 360 study at its collaborative sixth form college sites. Located in Whitechapel, East London, the school is in an area of high deprivation yet lies sandwiched between the affluence of the City of London and Canary Wharf. Swanlea has business and enterprise specialist status and extensive and embedded partnership links with business and the local community.

Key challenges

The school faced a number of challenges to its CEIAG provision, including:

  • ensuring staff commitment and involvement
  • mitigating disruption to the curriculum
  • keeping it fun and fresh
  • engaging families
  • focusing on sustainability

Audited staff perceptions revealed that the business and enterprise specialism and consequently CEIAG had little or no relevance to most curriculum subjects.

Solutions

Leadership structures and approaches

  • The senior leadership team (SLT) chose to disassemble its business and enterprise specialism to focus on enterprise in a school-wide approach that "linked everything that we do to the real world and to opportunities" (school governor).
  • CEIAG is led within the context of the business and enterprise specialism, with a deputy head responsible for strategic leadership.
  • An underpinning leadership and management structure included creating two complementary non-teacher co-ordinator roles for business and enterprise, and careers.
  • The SLT has sought to establish, develop and maintain an extensive range of partnerships that contribute to CEIAG and enterprise learning.
  • School governors, particularly those with curriculum and community responsibility, are involved in the development and delivery of CEIAG through personal links to business and organisations and active participation in events and as mentors.

Delivery model

  • The formal, taught curriculum comprises enterprise learning located both within and across a range of subjects. Form teachers deliver discrete careers education sessions through personal social health and citizenship education (PSHCE) lessons during form time.
  • Super learning days (on themes such as getting ready for employment) are held where year groups and their teachers participate in whole-day events three or four times a year and work with and alongside partners and volunteers from business and the community.
  • Extensive after-school, weekend and summer school provision includes:
    • visits to universities and businesses
    • meetings with mentors
    • attendance at conferences
    • receiving coaching relating, for example, to interview techniques
  • Links with higher education institutions aim to inspire students towards academic progression through presentations and mentoring programmes.
  • An increasingly active alumni association provides talks, presentations, mentoring services and first-hand IAG.

Ensuring staff commitment and involvement

This was addressed though staff consultation and in-service training (Inset) activities, focusing on establishing and incorporating the independent learning and enterprise pedagogy across all curriculum areas, which staff had created together. The SLT ensures this is embedded through lesson observations focused on the extent to which learning is related to the real world.

Mitigating disruption to the curriculum

The introduction of super learning days and additional event days has largely addressed the issue of minimising disruption to curriculum work whilst maximising the provision’s impact. This is complemented by careers education being taught during tutorial time as part of the PSHCE curriculum and through after-school, weekend and summer school programmes.

Keeping it fun and fresh

Concerns relating to approaches becoming stagnant across the years are addressed through:

  • annual provision reviews by the deputy head and business and enterprise co-ordinator
  • using students’ event evaluations
  • expanding the range of partners and mentors who introduce new activities each year
  • adapting the structure and location of whole-day events as students progress through year groups

Engaging families

The school aims to generate support mechanisms for students and their families through:

  • providing maths, literacy and ICT classes for parents and carers
  • creating support for groups of minority ethnic background families through meetings, newsletters and a named school contact and interpreter
  • offering a wide range of off-site visits and activities for students to introduce skills such as independent travel, which many do not possess

Sustainability

Some financial support does come through partnerships, such as that with Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, and the school acknowledged the substantial support provided through the large number of volunteers and community provision. To further increase in-house capacity, the business and enterprise and careers co-ordinators will train to achieve careers adviser qualifications.

Evaluation of impact

Strategically, the SLT sought to improve teaching and learning by raising student aspiration through partnership work. In 2005, 40 per cent of students achieved 5 A*-C grades at GCSE; by 2010 this had risen to 75 per cent. The school evidences this as a direct measure of the impact of reforms and the integrated CEIAG approach, together with high NCFE level 2 ‘Developing enterprise capabilities’ qualification achievement rates in Year 9. The school also cites a fall in exclusion rates, improved attendance and increased university places (in particular Oxford and Cambridge).

Next steps

  • Extend opportunities into the recently established four-site, collaborative sixth form.
  • Expand partnership work. The school has noted that in times of employment instability, increasing numbers of personnel are looking to volunteer as a way to enhance and boost their own CV and job prospects. This means there is currently no shortage of willing and skilled volunteers to pass on their skills to students.

Further information

Report written by Karen Gannon, National College Research Associate and Deputy Headteacher, RNIB Rushton School, Coventry