Business, Administration and Finance

Nicola Walker, Diploma Line Lead, St Helens Partnership
Alice Towers, Director of Learning for Business and Technology, Thornhill School
John Lambern, 14 - 19 Lead Diploma Champion, Thurrock Consortium

Learner: I don't know what I want to do yet, but I know I want it to be exciting. I'm all right at school, you know all right with my written work and that, it's just - I just wish that there was a way of getting good qualifications but doing more than just sitting in a classroom writing. Like going out for a few days a week doing exciting stuff, oh that would be so much better. That's never going to happen is it?

Narrator: Creating a meaningful vision is the first step towards successful Diploma delivery, exciting and motivating learners, while reflecting the needs of higher education. In Newcastle, the St Helens Consortium has brought its ideas to life, with a play which communicates its vision to stakeholders.

Nicola Walker, Diploma Line Lead, St Helens Partnership: I think that the play highlights to students the opportunities, the different options available to them. To employers, what the outcome will be, how they can input into the future workforce and to parents to give them that information, so what is actually out there, what's new, why it's new, why it's good, how it's going to benefit and what it's going to contribute and add to their children's future.

We wanted to have something, innovative, creative and something that reflected on what the Diploma was, that it was different and it's a different style of learning.

Learner: Last week a woman from the bank came in and they spent the day working on a task she'd set them. Louise said it was great because she got to ask people, you know from business already doing the jobs, questions. And all the skills she learnt she can use in practical tasks and working environments. It sounds fantastic when she talks about it.

Learner: She loves that Diploma thing doesn't she?

Learner: Oh yeah.

Nicola Walker: As a consortium we are collaboratively creating the vision and creating an inspirational new qualification that's going to benefit learners and create an inspirational, innovative young workforce.

Narrator: Part of the Sunderland City Wide Consortium's vision, is based around making dramatic changes to the learning environment and providing daily opportunities to challenge learners with real workplace practice.

Alice Towers, Director of Learning for Business and Technology, Thornhill School: Within the Pallion Centre the business, admin and finance area at the moment is actually being used as a computer area with 20 computers in. We're actually going to remodel that area and we're going to give it the feel of a working office. As part of the teaching process, instead of actually having a normal teaching lesson, the students will have in tray tasks, out tray tasks, we'll have board meetings, we've got a small conference area to the side of the classroom that we'll actually use for meeting with employers and when we have outside speakers coming in. So it gives them a real feel, it moves them away from the classroom situation and we're actually going to equip the room so it actually looks like a modern working office.

We intend to set up an enterprise activity called the Sunderland Futures Enterprise. And as part of that the students will actually have the benefit of working with employers, gaining real life work experience, for example bringing in conferencing managers who would then guide our students on setting up the conference facility within the Pallion Centre. And also working in other areas such as providing the hospitality and catering for the conference venue, which would be the major enterprise activity as part of the Business, Admin and Finance Diploma.

The learning will be more than 50% applied because they are actually taking part in the development of a real life organisation in every lesson that they're actually taking part in.

John Lambern: Hello, John Lambern, how can I help?

Narrator: As the 14 - 19 Diploma Line Lead for the Thurrock Consortium, John Lambern is playing a key role in developing the consortium's vision.

John Lambern, 14 - 19 Lead Diploma Champion, Thurrock Consortium: Initially the vision for the consortia was developed by the strategic partnership and the 14 - 19 Strategy Manager. That was fielded down to the delivery group for 14 to 19. How that bid came together was really how the partners saw it working around the table. It was thinking beyond sort of the traditional education and thinking beyond the fact that students were sat in a classroom. There was an applied element, there was a practical element, but of course there was still an academic rigor.

I saw the Diplomas in Business and Administration particularly as a real opportunity, an opportunity to develop something new, an opportunity for students to really be engaged and link with the employers.

By listening to the business partners it would enable a course to be developed through the Diplomas that young people could really benefit from, with such an applied learning element that they would be prepared for the work place.

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