COMING SOON: THE NEW BLBW AMBASSADOR HANDBOOK!

The Better Learners, Better Workers programme is based on developing the key skills that employers and research from across the Sheffield City region, the country and the world have told us young people need to succeed at school, at work and in later life. This handbook is to help the ambassadors develop a portfolio of evidence to show how they are developing the essential skills needed for success at school, college, university, and at work.

COMING SOON: THE NEW BLBW AMBASSADOR SKILLS BOOKLET!

The Better Learners, Better Workers programme is based on developing the key skills that employers and research from across the Sheffield City region, the country and the world have told us young people need to succeed at school, at work and in later life.

BLBW WORKSHOP AT DON VALLEY ACADEMY!

Sarah Ward and I were really pleased to be back at Don Valley Academy this afternoon working with Patrick Morris, who had managed to get 50 students interested in the 'Better Learners, Better Workers' programme, after the introductory assembly Sarah and I ran last week. We were there to deliver a workshop to explain the approach, the programme and the opportunities and challenges ahead for any students interested in working with us over the next two years.

MINDSET MATTERS!

There is a great difference between failing to achieve a result and the conclusion you draw about yourself. In Carol Dweck's book 'Mindset' she explains that those who stay down after a setback make a judgment that they have failed, not just that their attempt failed. Moreover, people with a 'fixed mindset' often generalize from their “failures” to conclusions such as, “I am a loser,” and “I will probably always fail. Therefore, they assume, there is no point in getting up and working at problems and issues. So they quit, they give up and they seek a more comfortable option such as eating, drinking, shopping whatever to avoid facing what they consider to be their personal failure.

THE LITTLE THINGS MATTER!

If like me you are fed up, with the vacuous celebrity culture that dominates everything in this country and the way the media and the rich and famous take advantage of the rest of us, you probably need encouragement to get you through the dark days. So, it was a lovely touch to get this card at the 'Made in Barnsley' celebration recently.

WHAT WORKS... WHAT DOES THE EEF TOOLKIT SAY?

The EEF Toolkit highlights the aspects that make a difference:

• Peer tutoring… learners work in small groups to provide each other with explicit teaching support.
• Small group work… professional educator working with two, three, four, or five students. 
• Collaborative Learning… where students work together in a group small enough for everyone to participate on a collective task that has been clearly assigned. 
• Digital technology… where learners use technology in problem solving or more open-ended learning.
• Feedback… information given to the learner about their performance relative to learning goals.
• Homework… including more extended activities to develop inquiry skills.
• Mastery learning… breaking subject matter and learning content into units with clearly specified objectives, which are pursued until they are achieved.
• Learn to learn approaches… teaching students specific strategies to set goals, and monitor and evaluate their own development.
• Outdoor and adventurous learning… involving collaborative experiences with a high level of physical (and often emotional) challenge. 
• Parental involvement… the active engagement of parents in supporting their children’s learning.

This research and guidance has driven the development of the “Better Learners, Better Workers’ programme over the last six years.

WHAT WORKS... WHAT DOES THE RESEARCH SAY?

Importantly, we know what works and the latest research on education and employer engagement suggests that we should:

• Do a lot of things… the more the better!
• Do a lot of different things… business mentoring, coaching, employer talks, work place visits, enterprise challenges, work experience, project work, team building etc. 
• Start young… the younger the better!
• Be coercive… “young people don’t know what they don’t know”!
• Be professional… quality matters!
• Ask the students what they think!

This research and guidance has driven the development of the “Better Learners, Better Workers’ programme over the last six years.

WORK MATTERS!

”Work is important to help us reach our targets and goals in life, our dignity, and our happiness and well-being. We know that work helps us meet our most basic and complex needs, providing a path towards financial security, securing our mental and physical health, and giving our lives meaning. The prospect of a good job that pays a fair wage should be part of our promise to all our young people.”

The world of work is changing fast and employers are increasingly looking for people with the right skills and attributes to succeed in the workplace. These skills, the ‘Better Learners, Better Workers’ skills, help improve productivity, create great teams and generate the ideas that every business needs to be successful. The ‘Better Learners, Better Workers’ programme develops the skills that matter in the world of work!

ONTARIO... WHERE SKILLS MATTER !

BACK AT DARTON COLLEGE THIS MORNING!

I was at Darton College this morning to talk to Year 9 students about the 'Better Learners, Better Workers: Made in Barnsley' programme. Dave Bond had organised the Y9 assembly this morning and the young people were a real credit to Darton College and their behaviour shows the work the team put in to make the College such a great place for learning.

There was a lot of immediate interest and I hope that initial interest continues and Dave and his colleagues identify a good and carefully targeted group for us to work with at a workshop at the College next week before we ask the students to complete an application for the ambassador roles.  We will then be interviewing to select our twelve ambassadors. Exciting times!

CELEBRATING SOME AMAZING YOUNG PEOPLE AT BARNSLEY TOWN HALL!

I was at Barnsley Town Hall last night with about forty of our Year 10 'BLBW: Made in Barnsley' ambassadors and their parents and carers to celebrate their achievements with the Mayor of Barnsley...

They are some amazing young people who it has been a real pleasure to work with over the last year and who have changed so much in such a short time... growing in confidence and developing the skills that matter in the world of work! I am really looking forward to seeing what these young people achieve this year as they explore in more depth their chosen employment sector... construction, engineering or healthcare and continue to develop their skills and abilities.

CONTACT ME!

OUR WEB-SITE!

THE NEW BLBW SKILLS!

BLBW BUSINESS CHAMPIONS!

BLBW GUIDE FOR PARENTS AND CARERS

Parents and carers are partners in the learning their children experience and we are keen to work with our parents and carers throughout the BLBW programmes. We provide briefing sessions, updates and regular opportunities for parents and carers to see what their children are doing and who they are working with.

THE BLBW AMBASSADOR PROGRAMME

We believe that every learner in the South Yorkshire should have:

• the opportunity to develop the enterprise and employability skills that matter in the world of work, which are also the key drivers of success at school and in life;
• access to independent and impartial advice and guidance about the work opportunities that exist in their community, South Yorkshire and beyond;
• experienced at least 100 hours/20 days experience of the world of work by the time they leave school/college/learning at the age of eighteen.

The 'Better Learners, Better Workers' programmes deliver that and more!

BETTER LEARNERS, BETTER WORKERS

The ‘Better Learners, Better Workers’ programme is a consistent and coherent, employer-led approach that develops, in young people, the skills needed for employability and the world of work. It reconnects schools and business/employers through Business Champions and builds relationships and an understanding of the world of work in schools. In simple terms, it provides:

• Businesses with home grown talent which will allow them to grow; and 
• Young people with the skills they need to gain employment and be the best they can be!

To find out more contact me at chris@brilliant-learning.co.uk!

BACK AT DON VALLEY ACADEMY TODAY!

My colleague Sarah Ward and I launched the 'Better Learners, Better Workers' programme at the Don Valley Academy this morning.

 We were both were impressed at how the students listened and behaved during the assembly and we are hoping for a lot of interest from these young people.

We will be back next week to run BLBW workshop for a select group of students who will then complete application forms and be interviewed for places on the BLBW programme.

AUSTRALIAN JOB CLUSTERS!

AUSTRALIAN JOB CLUSTERS!

MOVING BEYOND JOBS TO SKILLS!

 

THE NEW WORK MINDSET!

We have known for a long time that the way we work will be increasingly affected by three global economic forces; automation, globalisation and collaboration. If we want young people to capitalise on these opportunities and navigate the challenges brought by these changes, they need a set of transferrable employability, enterprise and world of work skills. 

TRUST MATTERS!

We need to create learning organisations and my visits to schools recently have shown me once again that it is essential that leaders and teachers are involved in the co-construction of learning. I visit so many wonderful schools where peer learning activities give all staff, including headteachers, the opportunity to engage in professional dialogue about teaching and learning. This can only happen in a culture of high-trust and only if a headteacher is prepared to model teaching and learning to her colleagues.

Delegation and shared responsibility are also important. In successful schools, all staff and particularly school leaders, will model learning-focused leadership by constantly talking about learning and teaching. All staff should be seen as part of a learning team with golden threads that link them to the students and learners in the school. School leaders should aim to create a culture where all staff and students are learning from each other and teaching each other.

DON VALLEY ACADEMY JOINS THE 'BETTER LEARNERS, BETTER WORKERS' TEAM!

I visited the Don Valley Academy in Doncaster earlier this week to catch up with their new principal, Richard Brooke, who used to work with the BLBW team in Sheffield when he was principal at Outwood Academy City.

Richard was a passionate supporter of the Sheffield programme working with us on the engineering programme and the pilot of the South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue programme. Richard's leadership and vision challenged and helped shape the developing programme and some of his students achieved remarkable results as BLBW ambassadors. I am looking forward to working with Richard again with a  great team and some great young people in Doncaster.

IMPORTANT STUFF...

BETTER LEARNERS, BETTER WORKERS GOES FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH!

The 'Better Learners, Better Workers' programme started six years ago as 'Made in Sheffield' with four schools and 48 students. ​By 2015-16 we were working with 12 schools and colleges and around 400 ambassadors.

We have made progress in Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham working with some great new schools and we are now working with 30 secondary schools, academies and colleges and around 500 BLBW ambassadors from across South Yorkshire. An enrichment programme was agreed with the CEC to reach an additional group of young people from the BLBW Lead Schools (Centres of Excellence) we established in Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield. These students we​re offered a WOW Factor programme: a ‘lighter’ school-based version of BLBW, which enabled​ us to test the wider transferability of a BLBW Enrichment Programme to all BLBW​ schools. This was hugely successful and we will be rolling this out to all new BLBW schools this year​. Exciting times... watch this space!

DARTON COLLEGE JOIN THE 'BETTER LEARNER,BETTER WORKERS: MADE IN BARNSLEY' TEAM!

I visited Darton College this afternoon to talk to Kate Davies, the principal, Sean Guy, the assistant principal, and Dave Bond, the CEAG coordinator about the 'Better Learners, Better Workers: Made in Barnsley' programme. It is a quite amazing place and I was really impressed at the atmosphere and behaviour while I waited to see the team at the end of lunchtime. The building is fantastic and Kate and her team are clearly doing something very special for some very fortunate young people. ​
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I am really pleased that Darton College are joining the 'Better Learners, Better Workers: Made in Barnsley' team and know that they and their students will bring something special to the programme. I am looking forward to returning to Darton College to talk at the Y9 assembly on Wednesday next week and then to do the workshop and interviews to select our new ambassadors.
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