Lewes Rural

Kathryn Stoner, Principal, Ringmer Community College
Julian Ashworth, Assistant Headteacher, Priory School
Sam Twilley, Information Technology practitioner, Priory School
Learner 1
Learner 2
Learner 3
Julie Dougill, 14-19 Development Manager, E Sussex Community College
Learner 4
Katie Tearle, Education Manager, Glyndebourne
Brian Streeter, Engineering training provider

Kathryn Stoner, Principal, Ringmer Community College: The consortia we work in is the Lewes 14-19 Rural Partnership.  We're called a rural consortia because obviously we're in a rural situation.  We are scattered around so for instance, this school is about four, five miles from Lewes.  Chailey is sort of six the other away.  Plumpton's another 10 further on.  Priory and Sussex Downs are situated in Lewes.  And the Pupil Referral Unit.  So it's scattered over a quite wide demographic area.

Julian Ashworth, Assistant Headteacher, Priory School: I'm a member of the Deputy Heads Working Group which has been tasked to facilitate Diploma delivery across the whole of the Lewes Rural Partnership.  We currently have on offer the Information and Communication Technology Diploma at both Level 1 and 2 and we have a Creative and Media Diploma.  But we also have students who go to Eastbourne and we also have students who go to Ringmer Community College to do another Creative and Media Diploma which is more Media Arts based.

Sam Twilley, Information Technology practitioner, Priory School: We've only been teaching since September because it's a new course.  It's been going really well.  It's been quite hard work trying to get all the resources up and running, but it has been really enjoyable trying to find exciting ways of getting the information across to the children.

Learner 1: I do lots of project work like finding out Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and stuff like that in the airports, buses, things like that.

Learner 2: It's business and ICT put together instead of being different two completely different subjects.

Learner 3: I thought I'd do something new instead of normal core ICT.  It's a lot more into where you'll go into a business.

Sam Twilley: One thing that's been really important to us on this course is to make sure they get some experience of ICT in loads of different industries – in tourism, in sport, in music and in theatre.  They get a choice really of having a wide selection of progression routes.

Kathryn Stoner: When it's Diploma day, you go in and there's a real buzz to the place and seeing the students from the other schools there, students learning alongside each other who are different ages...  The staff are really enthusiastic about it.

Julie Dougill, 14-19 Development Manager, E Sussex Community College: A small rural board like the one we're sitting in here can't offer all of the Diploma lines so our learners have got to access that from somewhere else.  So our transport and access policy is very much aligned with the development for the Diploma provision.  So we thought through very carefully about where the provision is located across the authority.

Learner 4: I'm in Year 12 and I'm studying for the Engineering Diploma.  I have to travel for about an hour - getting on a train and then a bus from about 20 minutes away.  There's not many other courses as good as this.  There's a lot of job opportunities to come out of it and it's a fun course to do.

Katie Tearle, Education Manager, Glyndebourne: As an organisation, we want to engage locally and this work with the Diploma helps us to deliver that.  There's also skills delivery.  We are always looking for people to enter the arts either as artists or people who make props or wigs or costumes.

Brian Streeter, Engineering training provider: I'm meeting employers all the time to encourage them about taking on an apprentice and with the new Diploma, really informing them of what the Diploma is.  Those employers that become aware are very, very keen to become involved.  They're quite excited that they'll be dealing with students that have had some education and training that is going to be relevant to the world of work.

Kathryn Stoner: The main thing is the reaction of the students to the Diploma because it's been so positive and they really, really love that way of learning.