Views & Opinion Interim Headteacher at the TBAP 16 – 19 Academic Alternative Provision (AP) AcademyInterimHeadteacher at the TBAP 16 – 19 Academic Alternative Provision (AP) Academy


In 2014, a shocking figure was released by the Department for Education in the Destination of key stage 4 and 5 pupils report: students who attended an AP school at key stage 4 had less than a five percent chance of attending higher education. It was this statistic, combined with the fact that the majority of sixth forms in London have very high GCSE grade entry requirements (leaving little opportunity for AP students to follow an academic pathway), that motivated the team at TBAP to make a difference to our AP students’ life chances beyond secondary school.


In 2014, a shocking figure was released by the Department for Education in the Destination of key stage 4 and 5 pupils report: students who attended an AP school at key stage 4 had less than a five percent chance of attending higher education. It was this statistic, combined with the fact that the majority of sixth forms in London have very high GCSE grade entry requirements (leaving little opportunity for AP students to follow an academic pathway), that motivated the teamat TBAP tomake a difference to our AP students’ life chances beyond secondary school.


In many cases, a vocational route is the most suitable for 16 year old AP students to take – but not all. We wanted to meet the needs of young people who possess the ability and desire to follow an academic pathway with a little extra support, but had previously suffered a disrupted or troubled educational experience, resulting in them attending an AP secondary school. We are the first post-16 AP academy to open in the UK


the first post-16 themattending


Inmany cases, a vocational route is themost suitable for 16 year old AP students to take – but not all.We wanted tomeet the needs of young people who possess the ability and desire to follow an academic pathway with a little extra support, but had previously suffered a disrupted or troubled educational experience, resulting in an AP secondary school.We are AP academy to open in the UK


and all our students will take the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (DP). The main reason for choosing to offer the DP instead of A Levels, is the breadth of the programme. The six subject areas in the DP allow our students to catch up and fill in the gaps they’ve missed due to the difficulties they have encountered in earlier education. Students who study the DP are expected to take on a slightly higher workload than A Level students. However, this benefits our students enormously, because they have often missed out on essential areas of learning during key stage 4. It also gives our students more time and opportunities to discover their likes, dislikes and passions. The DP is a value-added curriculum in terms of the additional work that goes alongside it; the theory of knowledge course within the DP is very structured and a good way to introduce our students to critical thinking. The extended essay component really sets young people up with the skills required at university.


and all our students will take the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (DP). Themain reason for choosing to offer the DP instead of A Levels, is the breadth of the


programme. The six subject areas in the DP allow our students to catch up and fill in the gaps they’vemissed due to the difficulties they have encountered in earlier education. Students who study the DP are expected to take on a slightly higher workload than A Level students.


However, this benefits our students enormously, because they have oftenmissed out on essential areas of learning during key stage 4. It also gives our studentsmore time and opportunities to discover their likes, dislikes and passions.


The DP is a value-added curriculumin terms of the additional work that goes alongside it; the theory of knowledge course within the DP is very structured and a good way to introduce our students to critical thinking. The extended essay component really sets young people up with the skills required at university .


The flexibility of the programme means that we can also offer subjects that really interest our students, such as anthropology. This flexibility is a particularly important point to reflect on, in light of A Level subjects, such as history of art, being dropped by examination boards. Just the other day I was walking past the anthropology class, and the students were discussing Marxism; something you wouldn’t necessarily expect in an AP academy!


.


TBAP’s mission aligns very closely with the IB’s; it focuses on a holistic education, driven by values and the development of interpersonal skills as well as academic success.We want to turn our students int o agents of positive change, to increase their aspirations, and we believe the IB will drive this. Six weeks into the school year we could not be happier with our choice to offer the IB to our students, and we are


TBAP’s mission aligns very closely with the IB’s; it focuses on a holistic education, driven by values and the development of interpersonal skills as well as academic success. We want to turn our students into agents of positive change, to increase their aspirations, and we believe the IB will drive this. Six weeks into the school year we could not be happier with our choice to offer the IB to our students, and we are extremely excited for what the future holds for them.


extremely excited for what the future holds fo r them .


The flexibility of the programme means that we can also offer subjects that really interest our students, such as anthropology This flexibility is a particularly important point to reflect on, in light of A Level subjects, such as history of art, being dropped by examination boards. Just the other day I was walking past the anthropology class, and the students were discussingMarxism; something you wouldn’t necessarily expect in an AP academy!


Vie ws & Op inio n


Alternative curriculum for alternative provision Comment by GEMMA DIXON


Alternative curriculumf or alternativ e provisio n Comment by GEMMA DIXON


Finding the right teacher for a fraction of the fee Comment by PETER CARPENTER, CEOof TeacherIn


Formany schools, when it comes to sourcing supply teachers, recruitment agencies can be an expensive avenue with costly fees. Over the past year, the amount schools spent on supply teachers through agencies alone reached beyond £821m. In themidst of a recruitment crisis and an uncertain economic climate, that figure takes on frightening proportions.


The picture appears to be little different for supply teachers. In a 2016 supply teacher survey by the National Union of Teachers (NUT), 77 per cent of supply teachers stated that agencies were their primary route for sourcing work, with only 17 per cent liaising directly with schools, down from 39 per cent in 2010.


In theory, this is fine. Agencies can streamline the process for busy schools and save themtime sourcing supply teachers. However, agencies are also free to determine their own pay levels, which means that some supply teachers can end up having their wages cut in half.


Even in a period of teacher shortages, this


doesn’t seemto have an impact on supply teacher pay, with the NUT finding that amere six per cent were paid £150 ormore per day. To put this into a daily rate, that is still around


Novemb e perspective, even as


r 2016 2016


10 per cent below the national rate for a teacher with five years’ experience.


But without the help of an agency, how do schools ensure they’re sourcing the right teacher and equally, how can supply teachers benefit without having to forgo a significant amount of their wage?


Teaching and learning has been enhanced through the use of technology over the last few years; therefore the same concept shouldn’t be disregarded when it comes to recruitment opportunities.With the right resources, schools should be able to cut out themiddleman and connect directly with supply teachers.


But it seems this is yet to be recognised.While the same survey asked respondents whether they had obtained work via “supply register operators” – a specialist platformthat cuts out agencies and p rovides schools and supply teachers with direct employment opportunities – very few fully understood the question, highlighting a lack of awareness for this type of service.


This suggests there needs to be a greater understanding of the alternative opportunities available.


As well as cost-savings, connecting schools and www


supply teachers directly can createmanymore opportunities including access to teacher pension schemes, continuing professional development (CPD) programmes as well as a simpler way to manage staffing and records.


Digital systems can help put the power back into the school’s hands by simplifying the process and allowing everything to bemanaged in one place, fromstart to finish. Schools can access vetted profiles of available teachers in the area,


there are no schedul automatically captur send out real-time n


e data and bookings to ensure otifications of jobs and


ing conflicts. Likewise,


teachers are able to liaise directly with the school offering a placement, receive student data ahead of time, and get paid directly.


For schools that are used to working with agencies, itmay seemeasier to stick with what you know, however, with the technology available today, schools can nowmanage the process themselves just as effectively. The transition can be as easy as going frombooking a taxi over the phone to using Uber.When it comes to identifying themost effective supply teacher, while ensuring the staffmember are getting


themost for theirm both the school and


www.education-toda y.co.uk


.co.uk 31 oney, it’s a no brainer.


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