IMPORTANT: 21st CENTURY SKILLS!

I was in Sheffield today with John Barber and Anna Sheard from B&E South Yorkshire working on the Cutlers' Ambassadors Programme which aims to develop 21st Century Skills as fundamental building blocks within the curriculum for target groups of young people at Bradfield School, Stocksbridge High School, Yewlands Technology College and Firth Park Community College in Sheffield.

It's interesting to know that high-performing countries like China, Finland, South Korea, and Singapore realise the global economic landscape has changed, and in response, they are re-imagining their education systems by focusing on developing 21st-century skills. We need to persuade the powers that be here that the future is only going to be secured if we develop a 21st Century Learning Framework to drive our learning landscape. A framework built on 21st Century Skills as well as subjects. The Cutlers' Ambassadors programme is developing as a powerful skills based framework and, like China, Finland, South Korea, and Singapore, we realise that character, resilience, grit, enterprise and creativity need to be at the heart of our learning provision. The Cutlers' project schools are looking to broaden and enrich their curriculum offer to create communicative, imaginative, creative, tech-savvy students who are prepared for jobs that do not yet exist. We recognise that education and learning matter and want to place an intense focus on attracting the brightest and the best into science, engineering and advanced manufacturing!