SHEFFIELD UTC

I visited the Sheffield University Technical College again yesterday afternoon. I was there, with my colleague Mike Garnock-Jones, to meet Nick Crew, Principal, and Brigidin Crowther, Assistant Principal, and talk to them about how the UTC might get involved in the Cutlers' "Better Learners, Better Workers' programme.

The McKinsey Report “Education to employment: Designing a system that works” highlights the fact that the current education-to-employment systems lack what is required to support young people effectively. We cannot afford tomorrow’s approach to be more of the same. "We need a new system, not patches on the current one. This requires the development of a common core, combined with tailored initiatives, enabling schools/colleges to offer customized, personalised and cost effective solutions that do not break the bank. This approach also critically depends on having an agreed set of common skills to teach.” This approach is at the heart of the work that the Sheffield UTC is doing and it's interesting that employers in Sheffield, led by the Cutlers' Company, have done exactly that and worked together with schools to develop an agreed set of common skills, tailored initiatives and a curriculum model that delivers academic rigour and produces rounded and grounded young people who have the skills and behaviours that are essential in the world of work. The opportunity to work together is an exciting one so watch this space!