A PASSPORT TO EMPLOYMENT!

I attended a meeting of the Sheffield City-wide Learning Body yesterday afternoon. They were incredibly positive about the work we are doing and provided strong support for further developing the Cutlers' "Made in Sheffield" Programme which is now working with six schools, the advanced manufacturing/engineering sector and the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS FoundationTrust.

The programme draws heavily on research and evidence of what works and needs to be underpinned by cultural change rooted in the skills and values we know should be at the heart of any highly effective organisation... character, resilience and grit, creativity and innovation, team working, problem solving, critical thinking and communication. We are now carefully considering how we extend the programme to reach more schools and other key sectors within the Sheffield City Region; sectors like creative/digital, retail and sport and leisure. The foundations of the programme lie with the "Made in Sheffield" skills, the "Made in Sheffield" Skills Passport and a commitment to project-based learning. We aim to enrich, enhance and extend the curriculum through coaching, mentoring, masterclasses, challenges and visits. Importantly we have the support/endorsement of local businesses, colleges and universities who are helping us develop the programme. Hopefully we can create a digital hub where we store the projects/ideas for any of our partner schools to access and use within any curriculum area. The City-wide Learning Body recognised that we also need to carefully consider how we extend the programme into colleges, post-16 and importantly into primary schools. This must be through a skills-based project-based approach to learning which draws on the same research and evidence of what works.