Learning Plus Raising Standards & Widening Participation Conference Easthampstead Park Conference Centre 7 May 2009 John Philip Widening Participation

The Session – An overview Since 2003 Little Heath School has expanded from being a relatively small and successful “traditional” Sixth Form of 222 students to an organisation which offers a broad range of courses to students of a wide variety of ability (410 in September 2008). At the same time Little Heath has sustained outstanding value-added ratings, for example ALPS – 2008 inclusive. In 2008 Little Heath School’s KS4 – KS5 CVA was This session will look at how this increase in student numbers was achieved and will focus in on one of our courses that has led the way in widening participation most successfully – Health & Social Care.

Expand? How? We looked at the CURRICULUM at KS5. Do you offer the right courses to attract the maximum numbers of students to ‘stay-on’? We looked at RECRUITMENT into KS5. Do you have an effective and sufficient programme of interviews / taster lessons etc? Do you actively encourage all students to stay on?

Rapid Expansion YEARNUMBER IN Y12 NUMBER IN Y13 TOTAL NUMBER IN 6TH FORM January January January January January January September

We give students a chance Band A : Average GCSE more than 6.4 Band B : Average GCSE = Band C : Average GCSE = Band D : Average GCSE less than 5.0 Year /08 Little Heath Y13 in 2007/08 A* = 8; A = 7; B = 6; C = 5; D = 4; E = 3

With a rising tide of results We had over 70% more candidates in 2007 than in Nearly 70 more young people got improved qualifications and life chances. YearCandidatesEntriesABCDE

New Qualifications since 2002 AS / A LEVELS Critical Thinking Drama & Theatre Studies English Language Media Studies Music Technology PE Psychology RE Applied A LEVELS Leisure StudiesSingle Business Single or Double Health and Social CareDouble I.C.T. Single Applied ScienceSingle LEVEL 2 COURSES Business BTEC National Art & Design BTEC National Health and Social Care BTEC National Football CoachingNVQ

The Right Courses? From 2003 we made a conscious decision to introduce more vocational / applied courses into the Sixth Form at Little Heath This is the ALPS analysis of our 2008 Health and Social Care Double Award A Level results 2.92 GCSE points to CD at A Level 3.50 GCSE points to AB at A Level

Look how well they have done Average GCSE scores – all between 3.13 and 3.57 This student gained AACC at A Level from an average GCSE score of 3.50 A* = 8; A = 7; B = 6; C = 5; D = 4; E = 3

Health and Social Care Double Award AS / A Level Level 3 Equivalent to 2 A Levels Nearly all students progress from AS in Y12 to A Level in Y13 BTEC First Diploma Level 2 Worth 4Cs (or higher) at GCSE Two courses available in Year 12

Health and Social Care Double Award AS Assessment 6 units of work in Year 12 4 coursework units = 66% of final grade 2 exam units = 33% of final grade Entry Requirements 4 A*-C at GCSE Preferably grade C in English

Health and Social Care BTEC First Diploma Assessment 6 units of work in one year course (Year 12) All coursework units = 100% of final grade Worth 4 GCSE higher grades Work experience is an integral part of the course Entry Requirements A willingness to work! Students with low GCSE grades can improve their qualifications, gaining more confidence and further opportunities

Health and Social Care The Keys To Success 1.Committed hardworking teaching team 2.Support from SLT 3.Fantastic students who want to raise their game in the Sixth Form 4.2/3 coursework suits the students who take the subject

Health and Social Care Advantages of the course 1.Regular feedback from teachers on coursework units enables significant progress 2.A student-centred course promoting independent learning 3.Work placements that underpin the relevance of the course and prepare the students for the world of work and / or further study

Our Students (Exemplars) Kiki Don AS Grades – AA Average GCSE score – 4.91 Progression Kiki hopes to be a social worker and is currently applying to various units Tasha Edmonds AS Grades – BC Average GCSE score – 3.71 Progression Tasha has a place at TVU for September 2009 studying Adult Nursing

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