The first of the government’s new 14-19 Diploma courses for Cumbrian learners will be up and running in September as planned.
The assurance from Cumbria County Council and area 14-19 Partnerships regarding the provision of the Diploma courses follows comments in the national press yesterday by Jerry Jarvis, managing director of the Edexcel awarding body, that there were still problems with the courses and teacher training.
Cumbria is one of the leading authorities in the country in delivering 14-19 reforms and particularly in preparing for the delivery of the full learner entitlement to 17 Diploma lines by 2013. From September 2008 all five first phase Diplomas –in Construction & The Built Environment, Creative & Media, Engineering, IT and Society, Health & Development –will be delivered by the Furness 14-19 Partnership.
Preparation for Diploma delivery has been underway for well over a year in all Cumbrian 14-19 Partnerships and, contrary to Mr. Jarvis’s assertion, delivery staff in all Furness schools and colleges who will be teaching Diploma courses in September have benefited already from a comprehensive local professional development programme in addition to the standard national three day training package.
The chair of the Furness 14-19 Partnership, Dave Kelly, Principal of Barrow-in-Furness 6th Form College stressed that Diploma courses for Furness learners will be of a high quality:
"Diplomas involve partnerships between schools, colleges, training providers and employers. We in Furness have a tremendous track record in terms of collaborative working and our preparation for Diploma delivery has benefited immensely from this. We are on course to deliver quality learning in all five of the first Diploma lines.
"We are confident everything is in place for the Diplomas to begin in Furness on schedule in September and that they will open up a wide range of new and flexible opportunities for Furness learners."
Dave Green, Furness Diploma Project Manager, is excited by the opportunities that Diplomas will bring for students to engage with employers. He said:
"The applied learning within all Diplomas will enable all our young people to develop the skills and attributes for survival and success in the 21st century world of work."
Brian Wood, Furness 14-19 Area Development manager, said:
"I am convinced that learners and their future employers will benefit enormously from the Diplomas.
"They have been developed in partnership with employers and universities and will deliver a quality learning experience fit for the 21st Century. We have invested considerable time, energy and expertise in what we believe is an appropriate and much needed addition to the qualification system. Diplomas will meet the needs of large numbers of our learners in a way that the current range of qualifications has failed to do for a considerable time.
"Mr Jarvis is concerned that Diplomas will be too demanding. I can only reply that we would be failing our students if the qualifications did not provide the challenge and rigour that employers and universities rightly demand. The Cumbrian view is that our learners will rise to that challenge, will see the relevance of their learning and will develop a whole set of transferable skills -in team working, communication, leadership and management - that will be essential for their future careers."
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Further information from Alison Lister, Media Team, on 01228 606335