Case study Secondary: Down on the farm The Diploma in Environmental and Land-based Studies has been in schools and colleges since
September last year. Caroline Johnson tells us how her school in Kent used its existing resources to become one of the fi rst to successfully deliver the course
Environment and Land Based (ELBS) Diploma. However, students of the Level 3 ELBS
B 14
Diploma at T e North School in Ashford, Kent, have been displaying their “Fashion from the Farm” outfi ts created out of materials found in the natural environment. T e school has off ered the ELBS Diploma
since September 2009 at Levels 2 and 3, and has used its Rural Dimension status to create an exciting Diploma programme to inspire young learners in the environment and land based sector and to raise their achievement. More than 50 schools in England hold the
Rural Dimension status, which recognises their commitment to extending learning throughout the curriculum by using the outdoor classroom as a resource, while providing students with an understanding of environmental issues and the countryside.
RIGHT LIGHTS, thumping music and models striding up and down the catwalk. Not perhaps a scenario associated with the
T e North School is an urban school, which
has the oldest school farm in Kent with a wide range of animals including cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry, small mammals and exotics. T is has provided a base from which to off er the BTEC First Certifi cate in Animal Care, and BTEC Nationals in Animal Management for two secondary schools in Ashford for several years. Hence, having passed through Gateway 2, the North School was fortunate to have specialist land-based staff already in place to help with the development of the ELBS Diploma. T e school’s initial challenge was to develop
holistic projects that would demonstrate to learners the interwoven nature of the environment and land based sector, rather than dealing with individual strands discretely, while also being aligned with the exam board specifi cations and clearly mapped across to individual units. By building on the schools embedded Rural
Dimension curriculum, staff were able to develop projects working alongside established
employer partners, benefi ting from their skills, knowledge and facilities. Establishing a Rural Dimension ethos
throughout the school has helped to ensure that our Diploma programme meets the personal, learning and thinking skills (PLTS) requirements of the qualifi cation, and added real value to the learning experience. To support this development, the school
invested in redeveloping a disused technology block to create a new purpose-built centre to extend our rural activities and curriculum programmes. T is centre comprises teaching classrooms, a workshop, indoor climbing wall, community room and computer suite, enabling students to take part in a range of activities. Alongside a robust and engaging curriculum,
we have found it is equally necessary to establish an eff ective marketing process to ensure the programme’s success. As a completely new course, promotional literature was created to explain how the 14 to 19 Diploma worked, and to dispel concerns over progression opportunities. Information evenings also
Delivering Diplomas • Volume 2 No 2 Autumn 2010
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