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North East LEP expands innovative Ford Next Generation Learning pilot programme

Three new education institutions have joined the North East Local Enterprise Partnership’s pioneering Ford Next Generation Learning pilot, which supports careers education in schools and colleges by bringing the workplace and classroom closer together.

Castleview Enterprise Academy in Sunderland, James Calvert Spence College in Amble and Sunderland College, Northumberland College and Hartlepool Sixth Form – which constitute Education Partnership North East – join Excelsior Academy in Newcastle and Churchill Community College and Norham High School, North Tyneside, on the innovative pilot programme that sees students learn through engagement with employers.

Originally piloted in Nashville, USA, the Ford Next Generation Learning model has resulted in an almost 23% rise in graduation rates and significant improvements in attainment, discipline and attendance in the district. It’s since been adopted by more than 30 US school districts.

Michelle Rainbow, Skills Director at the North East Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “The North East region is leading the way when it comes to new approaches to careers education.

“From our successful pilot of the Gatsby Career Guidance Benchmarks to our Education Challenge programme, we have identified new ways of helping young people connect with employers so they have a better understanding of the world of work.

“The Ford Next Generation Learning pilot has been a huge success and I’m delighted to welcome another three institutions onto the programme. Castleview Enterprise Academy, James Calvert Spence College and Education Partnership North East joined us on a recent visit to Nashville to see the model in action and hear from schools and students about the positive impact it’s having.

“Here in the North East we’re seeing an improvement in students’ motivation, oracy, teamwork skills and overall confidence. Students themselves have told us that they now have a much better understanding of why they are studying different topics, through linking the curriculum to real life situations.”

As part of the North East LEP’s Ford Next Generation Learning pilot, which is delivered in partnership with education charity the Edge Foundation, students have worked with employers including Go North East and Great North Run on real life projects that allows them to interact with people who work in businesses in their local area. They’ve also had the opportunity to meet surgeons, engineers and entrepreneurs.

Industry Alignment Support Officers, recruited by the North East LEP, work directly in schools and colleges to help them better engage with local businesses and apply real life work situations to the school curriculum. The North East LEP has appointed three new Industry Alignment Support Officers – Naznin Ahmed, Rachael Church and David Gibson – to work with the new intake of institutions.

Judith Quinn, Deputy Principal, Education Partnership North East, said: “The knowledge and experience gained from our visit and linking in with Ford Next Generation Learning, Academies of Nashville and the partners of the project will enable us to further implement career focussed relevant teaching and learning.

“We look forward to generating further excellence with our employer engagement links to the benefit of our Health and Life Sciences students career progression.

“The positive impact of this innovative project will drive a holistic approach for the development of students’ employability skills including maths and English skills.”

Emma McDermott, Assistant Vice Principal at Castle View Enterprise Academy, said: “The visit was truly inspirational. The opportunity to visit schools in Nashville provided us with a great insight into how employer engagement and vocational education can be integrated into a students’ curriculum.

“Whilst reflecting some of the good practice we have already established at Castle View Enterprise Academy, the visit also highlighted areas for development. For example, the importance of a partnership approach with the wider community right from the outset, from planning stage rather than just working together on the delivery aspect of projects.

“We are excited to see how this project develops the learner experience and our curriculum at Castle View Enterprise Academy.”

James Moore, Head of Sixth Form and Careers at James Calvert Spence College, said: “The international study visit to Nashville with the North East Local Enterprise Partnership in partnership with Ford Next Generation Learning was an amazing opportunity to transform our approaches to careers and curriculum learning.”

Scott Palmer, Ford Next Generation Learning Community Coach, said: “We are really excited to see the partnership with the North East Local Enterprise Partnership expand with a cohort of three new Education Institutions in the North East. We value and appreciate the first cohort of institutions pioneering the way on how the guiding principles of our framework translate to the UK Education System. We learn so much from all of the institutions we work with which will help us to develop our approach and impact as we grow the network internationally.”

Starr Herrman, Ford Next Generation Learning Implementation Coach, said: “As a former Director of the Academies of Nashville, and now as a Ford NGL Coach in the North East, I am thrilled and encouraged to see progress from our Phase 1 pilot to Phase 2 with our new cohort of schools and colleges. There is new energy and intentionality that will allow the partnership of the North East Local Enterprise Partnership, the Edge Foundation and Ford Next Generation Learning to transform education for students, teachers and partners with a community connected approach.”

The Ford Next Generation Learning pilot is part of the North East LEP’s Education Challenge programme, which aims to reduce the gap between the North East’s best and lowest performing schools and to integrate an understanding of the world of work and career opportunities into the curriculum.

Find out more at northeastambition.co.uk/education-challenge.

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Newcastle pupils learn how to prepare for the world’s toughest rowing challenge

Pupils at Newcastle’s Excelsior Academy have been taking lessons from two North East rowers who are set to take on ‘the world’s toughest row’.

On 12 December, Paul Hopkins and Philip Pugh, known as the Atlantic Dream team, will be setting off from La Gomera, in the Canary Islands, to race 3,000 miles to Antigua as part of the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge.

As they have been training for the challenge, they have also been running workshops with year 8 pupils at Excelsior Academy, helping the students to learn about topics including nutrition, design, weather and engineering.

“By working with Excelsior Academy we’ve been able to help the students learn through experiencing a practical project like our rowing challenge,” said Philip Pugh. “The students have learnt about the construction of our boat – which will be the only wooden boat in the race – as well as how we prepare for a challenge like this, the training we do and the equipment that we’ll be using.”

Paul Hopkins added: “Children ask the most amazing questions and they come at things from a very different angle from adults. We wanted to inspire children of all backgrounds to know that they can achieve amazing things.”

The partnership is part of the North East Local Enterprise Partnership’s Education Challenge programme, which is piloting a new model of learning in North East schools. The model is based on an approach which was first adopted in Nashville in 2005 and which resulted in significant improvements in attainment.

Michelle Rainbow, Skills Director at the North East LEP, said: We hugely appreciate the support and involvement of Paul and Phil with Excelsior Academy and I know the students have been really inspired by working with them.

“By supporting teaching in an applied context through projects like this, it really enables pupils to engage with the subject, helping them to understand how what they learn at school applies to real-world situations. They’re an amazing pair to take on such an epic challenge and we’re looking forward to following their progress and success.”

As well as hearing from Paul and Philip and having the opportunity to ask questions about the challenge, the students will also visit the Port of Blyth to learn more about the construction of boats.

The students had the opportunity to sign Paul and Philip’s boat and, once the pair begin the challenge, will track their progress using GPS.

“Taking on this challenge takes us away from our homes and families but it will help to know that we have the support of all the pupils at Excelsior when we’re thousands of miles from home,” said Paul.

“Our boat is signed all over by people from the North East and we are rowing for everyone in the region. We’re not looking forward to the sea-sickness and discomfort but we are definitely looking forward to returning to Excelsior Academy when we’ve completed the race and telling the pupils all about it,” added Philip.

The Education Challenge programme supports schools to tackle their key challenges so they can improve, closing the gap between the region’s best and lowest performing schools to ensure that no child is left behind. Find out more at northeastambition.co.uk.

The Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge will begin on 12 December 2019 and the Atlantic Dream team, who are the oldest pair of rowers in this year’s race, will be raising money for Tiny Lives and the Firefighters Charity. Find out more at atlanticdream19.com/

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Newcastle pupils partner with Port of Blyth to put learning into action

Students and teachers at Newcastle’s Excelsior Academy have been using applied learning to strengthen the links between schools and employers.

Holly Knox, Assistant Principal of Hadrian School at Excelsior Academy, talks about the school’s recent visit to the Port of Blyth and how it has helped students to apply classroom learning to real life.

We took two groups of our year 7 and 8 pupils to The Port of Blyth as part of their current project about renewable energy. The pupils have been focusing on the themes of renewable energy and climate change, and this visit to the Port of Blyth helped them to see some real-life applications of what they’ve been learning as well as being an opportunity to find out about STEM careers in the energy sector, which is one of the main growth sectors in the region.

Although we’re based in Newcastle, just a few miles from the sea, some of our pupils had never been to the coast before and many of them didn’t know that renewable energy equipment like wind turbines are developed and tested here in the North East. We wanted our students to be able to see for themselves how the North East plays a key part in the renewable energy sector, to find out about the different people who work in the sector, and to think about their own futures and the types of careers they might be interested in.

On the day, we had a tour of the Port, met people who worked in different jobs within the organisation, and we were able to see the technology and machinery in action, including the equipment which is used to dig the trench for the cable that stretches along the seabed all the way from Blyth to Norway. We also completed a hands-on challenge where pupils built their own mini wind turbines and competed to see which group could generate the highest voltage.

They came away enthused and excited about what they’d found out, and absolutely buzzing about what they achieved in building the mini turbines. The visit really inspired them and some of the equipment they saw in action was beyond anything they’d imagined.

Everything we did on the day linked with what we’ve been teaching in the classroom and back at school, the students are continuing to talk about what they learnt on their visit and connecting what they’ve seen with what they’re learning. Every day they are asking questions linked to the visit and we’re reflecting together on what we saw and heard, and what we now know about renewable energy in the North East.

It really was quite empowering for both the pupils and the staff involved and we will be repeating this project with our next cohort of students and we hope to build on this connection we now have with the Port of Blyth.

Holly Knox, Assistant Principal of Hadrian School at Excelsior Academy.

Excelsior Academy is one of three North East schools taking part in a pilot of project based learning.

Project based learning is designed to make learning in the classroom relevant to the world of work, embed careers information into the curriculum and equip young people with skills for 21st century careers.

It is part of the North East Local Enterprise Partnership’s Education Challenge and delivered in partnership with Edge Future Learning. It draws on a model developed by Ford Next Generation Learning in United States who are sharing their experience and expertise.

Find out more about the Education Challenge programme.

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North Tyneside pupils learn what it takes to complete the Great North Run

Paul O’Neil, an Apparel Coach from Nike’s Royal Quays store in North Tyneside, worked with Churchill Community College in Wallsend to help pupils work on a project in which the science curriculum has been taught through the lens of what it takes for a person to complete the Great North Run. 

The project is part of the North East LEP’s Education Challenge programme, working with employers to apply learning to real world context to improve outcomes for students.

Year 7 pupils at Churchill Community College have been working on a project exploring what it takes for a person to complete the Great North Run. They’ve spoken to orthopaedic surgeons about the human body, they’ve met the millionth person to complete the run, and I visited the school to talk about being active and using the right running equipment to help improve performance and prevent injury.

At Nike, one of our founding principles is to help create the future of sport by supporting young people aged 4 to 14. We have a community ambassador at every store and are encouraged to get involved with the community, whether it’s working with schools or providing volunteers at the local Junior parkruns, which we do every Sunday.

This was a great opportunity to speak to the students about running and encourage them to find out more about health and keeping active. We know that children start to make choices about their life when they’re aged about 7, and if they’re active at that age, they’re far more likely to continue to be active throughout their life.

During science lessons, the pupils at Churchill Community College had been learning about nutrition, injury and the human body and I built on this by talking about how the correct equipment can help reduce the risk of injury as well as helping you to keep safe, for example by using reflective equipment at night.

We also discussed factors that help to improve performance for runners and the visit involved hands-on activities for the pupils to take part in. I talked about my role at Nike as well as some of the other careers that exist in the sector such as product design.

The pupils were so engaged and excited and I think they have got a lot out of this project. Some people learn by doing and this way of learning caters to different learning styles, allowing pupils to learn in a hands-on way and see how what they learn in school relates to the world of work and wider life.

I was invited back to the school to see a showcase of the pupils’ work, bringing together everything they’ve learnt, including their own trainer designs, and it was great to see everything they’ve learnt during the project come together.

Paul O’Neil, Apparel Coach, Nike Royal Quays.

Churchill Community College is one of three North East schools taking part in a pilot of project based learning.

Project based learning is designed to make learning in the classroom relevant to the world of work, embed careers information into the curriculum and equip young people with skills for 21st century careers.

It is part of the North East Local Enterprise Partnership’s Education Challenge and delivered in partnership with Edge Future Learning. It draws on a model developed by Ford Next Generation Learning in United States who are sharing their experience and expertise.

Find out more about the Education Challenge programme.

 

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North East England is chosen as the first Ford Next Generation Learning Community outside of the United States

North East England has been selected as the latest Ford Next Generation Learning (Ford NGL) community, the first outside of the United States, it was announced at a celebration event with teachers, students and their parents, at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead.

Since last September, three pioneering local schools, Excelsior Academy, in Newcastle, Churchill Community College and Norham High School, both in North Tyneside, have been introducing elements of the Ford NGL education model into the school curriculum, with the support of education charity the Edge Foundation and the North East LEP.

The schools have followed the Ford NGL ‘road map’ which starts with local employers, students, parents, teachers and community groups coming together to create a ‘leaver profile’, outlining what skills, knowledge and attributes young people need to successfully move on to further education, training or employment when they leave school.

Each school’s Industry Alignment Manager initiates and manages relationships with local businesses who work with teachers to create projects for students. As part of one such project with People’s Kitchen, which supports homeless and disadvantaged people in Newcastle, students at Collingwood School of Excelsior Academy recreated the Jarrow march and learned about the history of the shipbuilding industry and the impact on local communities of its decline.

They filled shoe boxes with gifts and essentials for Friends of The People’s Kitchen, each one with a personal message from each child. The projects aim to solve real-world problems and make learning in the classroom relevant to the work place and the wider world. This project based approach also gives students profound employer engagement opportunities, helping them to develop critical skills like communication and team-working and giving them valuable insight into careers and help them make informed choices.

The Ford NGL model has transformed schools across the United States increasing academic achievement, lowering dropout rates and impacting on local economies by generating a strong talent pipeline for employers in the area.

Ford NGL’s executive director, Cheryl Carrier, said: “Ford NGL research has proven that community ownership and accountability is just as important to educating our children as good study habits and hard work. The Ford NGL partnership gives students and teachers a competitive edge that improves their chances for future success and will benefit the workforce and economic development needs of a region for years to come.”

Youngsters from Norham High School learned about local history via a project led by Go North East. Working with local charity Age UK North Tyneside, students interviewed older people about their experiences of the changes in public transport over their life-time and also gained insight into the career opportunities in the transport sector.

Go North East’s Training Manager, Keith Robertson, commented: “I think it’s fantastic. There’s not enough engagement with schools at the moment. This is a great opportunity for us to be able to get into schools and let them know what’s out there.”

Andrew Hodgson, Chair of the North East LEP, said: “The fact that the North East is the first region outside the USA to be designated as a Ford Next Generation Learning Community is a testament to the vision and drive of the schools, teachers and pupils who have been a part of this programme.

“Working in partnership with our Skills team from the North East LEP, together we have built on the pioneering work which has been bringing schools and employers together in the North East over the past few years.

“We’ve seen the positive impact it can have on outcomes for students and we will continue to work with more schools and colleges in the region to give each and every young person the best possible start to their working lives.”

The Edge Foundation introduced Ford NGL to the UK and has been working in partnership with the North East LEP as part of its North East Ambition initiative to address skills shortages and youth unemployment across the region. In September, three more schools in the area will join the pilot embedding project based learning into the school day.

Claire Goodwill, the Principal of Milburn School, Excelsior Academy, said: “It has been inspirational to see pupils and parents working with employers and community groups to discuss what skills and attributes are needed. On the days that project based learning takes place, attendance is excellent and the behaviour incidents that we log are lower on those days. It really is having an impact.”

At Thursday’s event, students from all three schools gave presentations about the work they’ve been doing to teachers, parents, employers and representatives from Edge, the North East LEP and from Ford NGL. Ford NGL personnel flew to Newcastle especially for the occasion and to present the schools with their trophies recognising them as part of a Ford NGL community.

In 2017, Ford Motor Company Fund invested more than $18 million in scholarships and other innovative education initiatives, such as Ford NGL.

The next three institutions to take part will also be announced, Castleview Enterprise Academy in Sunderland, James Calvert Spence in Amble and Sunderland College, Northumberland College and Hartlepool Sixth Form which constitute Education Partnership North East.

The Edge Foundation’s Chief Executive, Alice Barnard, said: “We witnessed first-hand the incredible work Ford NGL has done in the United States and could see clearly it could benefit young people, communities and local economies in the UK. At Edge we believe all young people should have the opportunity to fulfil their potential; that means not just acquiring knowledge, but being able to apply that knowledge in the real world, to be creative and curious, nurture those critical skills which the 21st century workplace demands and learn as much about the wider world of work as possible to be able to make informed decisions about their future.

“Using project based learning, profound employer engagement and involving the whole community is a compelling approach to learning which has been shown to help young people thrive, regardless of their background or assumptions about their abilities.”

Find out more about the North East LEP’s Education Challenge programme,which aims to reduce the gap between the North East’s best and lowest performing schools and to integrate an understanding of the world of work and career opportunities into the curriculum.

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Parents and students get a taste of careers in the energy sector

A group of parents and students from two North East schools have spent the day visiting Newcastle College Energy Academy in North Tyneside and businesses at the Port of Blyth in Northumberland, meeting people who work in the energy sector and finding out about some of the different career paths open to them.

The day was part of the North East Energy Safari, organised by the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), which aims to help both parents and students find out about the varied career opportunities within the energy sector in the region.

Tom Gallon, Industry Alignment Support Officer at the North East LEP, said: “One of the aims of the day was to ensure that parents as well as their children understand some of the new opportunities across the North East, particularly in the energy sector, where these jobs weren’t necessarily here five years ago.”

“It’s really important that we had both parents and students there, because parents are still the primary influencers and if they can see those amazing opportunities they’re going to support their child fully, and ensure that everyone has that equality of opportunity.”

After the visit, Luke, a year 9 pupil, commented: “It’s a lot easier when we go to the places because you can have a look at exactly what they’re doing and the environment that they work in, so it’s preparing me for when and if I do go into that job.”

Parents who attended on the day said: “Today’s been really informative, we found out so much more about the career paths for our kids, not just university or academic learning.”

“We didn’t realise how much was going on in the energy sector and it’s actually quite surprising how much is available for both males and females to do.”

Watch this short film of the day to hear more from some of the parents, pupils and employers who took part:

This event was part of the North East LEP’s Education Challenge programme, which aims to reduce the gap between the North East’s best and lowest performing schools and to integrate an understanding of the world of work and career opportunities into the curriculum.

Find out more about the Education Challenge programme.

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New report demonstrates impact of employer engagement on student outcomes

A report released this week by the Education and Employers charity shows that students who learn about the world of work through direct contact with employers are more motivated to achieve better grades at school – findings which correlate directly with the work we are already carrying out with schools and businesses here in the North East.

The findings of this report measured the impact of secondary pupils having talks, meetings and careers sessions with employers and found that students were more motivated when they had contact with people who work in different industries, with previously low achieving pupils in particular seeing an increase in motivation and time spent revising for GCSEs.

These findings are of significant interest to us here at the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) as we have seen evidence of this positive impact on young people here in the North East through our Education Challenge programme, which aims to raise attainment in our schools by integrating an understanding of the world of work and career opportunities into the curriculum.

The North East LEP Skills team is working to bring schools and employers together to give young people the opportunity to learn about the range of career and education options open to them once they leave school, direct from employers, educators, and people who work in a range of industries. We know that these encounters with employers help young people to raise their aspirations and develop skills that employers are looking for. Pupils, parents, teachers and employers have all told us that this method of direct contact with the world of work helps to open young people’s eyes to the variety of opportunities open to them.

We want each and every young person in our region to have the best possible start to their working life and it’s reassuring to see that this new research fully supports the approach we are taking here in the North East to improving outcomes for young people and helping them to see the relevance of what they study in the classroom to their future lives.

Neil Willis, Regional Project Lead: Education Challenge, North East Local Enterprise Partnership.

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Bringing the North East energy sector into the classroom

The North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has worked with local employers and Berwick Academy in Northumberland to give year 9 pupils at the school a flavour of the different types of careers which exist within the North East’s thriving energy sector.

Explaining why the event took place, Neil Willis, Regional Lead: Education Challenge at the North East LEP, said: “Berwick is an amazing part of the country. It’s a beautiful rural, coastal area, but that means that it’s sometimes difficult for students to have those meaningful encounters with employers. Within a short distance of here there are many opportunities within the energy sector, which is one of our growth sectors.”

Businesses including EDF Energy and Northern Gas Networks attended the event to help students learn about some of the opportunities in the North East energy sector, through hands-on activities and workshops.

One of the students who attended the event said: “I didn’t know that engineering wasn’t just building bridges and designing buildings It’s actually got loads of different applications like design, production, scheduling and all the different jobs that I wouldn’t have assumed you could get within that sector.”

Watch our two minute video to hear from staff and pupils at the school and find out more about the event.

This event was part of the North East LEP’s Education Challenge programme, which aims to reduce the gap between the North East’s best and lowest performing schools and to integrate an understanding of the world of work and career opportunities into the curriculum.

Find out more about the North East LEP’s Skills programmes.

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Local MP sees new way of learning being piloted in North East schools

Local MP Chi Onwurah heard from children who have been working with local employers as part of an initiative to transform learning in the North East.

National education charity the Edge Foundation, have partnered with the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to pilot the teaching model in three schools in the region. They invited Chi Onwurah, MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central, to meet students and teachers from Excelsior Academy in Newcastle, Norham High School in North Tyneside and Churchill Community College in North Tyneside, who began projects in September last year.

Students in years 7-9 have been learning about subjects like local history, digital technology and sustainability via projects run in partnership with local businesses. The approach encourages children to develop critical skills such as team-working, communication and problem-solving, see the relevance of what they learn to the real world and gives them insight into the world of work.

Chi Onwurah said:

“It was truly inspiring to hear the students talk about their projects; the pride and sense of achievement shone through. I’d like to praise the schools which took part and the dedicated teachers who invested their time. The structure of our economy and the challenges society faces are changing; young people need to be equipped to be active citizens with the skills to succeed in jobs that have yet to be defined. Skills such as problem-solving and team-working, creativity and resilience, promoted by this approach, are what is needed to enable the economy in the North East and beyond to adapt in a competitive and ever changing world.”

Chi saw presentations by the students at a showcase at Excelsior Academy and met teachers and staff from the schools.

Edge Foundation Chief Executive, Alice Barnard, commented:

“We are bringing together all our research, the most robust evidence and best practice pedagogies from the around the world and want to share this with schools in the UK as part of Edge Future Learning. The projects the students did last term have been tremendously successful and the feedback from teachers, students and their parents and carers has been overwhelmingly positive. We want to shout about this and invite other schools in the North East and beyond to join this transformation.”

Neil Willis, Education Challenge Project lead at the North East LEP, said:

“The North East is leading the way in piloting this new approach to learning in our schools and it’s fantastic to be able to demonstrate the impact this is already having on pupils’ engagement and attainment. By bringing schools together with local employers we hope to transform outcomes for young people in the North East.”