Video Transcript - Case Study: The T Level Transition Programme at La Retraite RC School
Ruth Coyle, Director of 6th Form
So as we're a school, we only have one Transition course we call it the Route to 3 and students from that Transition course might progress to any T level that is on offer. So, for example, if we've got somebody on the Route to 3 course that wants to progress to childcare, we'll make sure that their work experience is in a childcare setting and they can use the kind of skills that they've learned, the numeracy, literacy and digital skills they've learned in their childcare setting.
Whereas you might have some students that want to progress onto a digital T level, so they would then use the skills from the Level 2 course and when they progress onto the digital T level.
So that's kind of the way that we structure it here.
At the core of every T level are digital skills, so there's literacy, there's numeracy, but there's also digital skills and in the workforce for the future, whatever job you go into, you are going to have to develop your digital skills. We chose a qualification-based approach because we knew that this would satisfy the needs of the students and the parents, because if the student decided not to progress onto a T level, they would still come out with a qualification at the end of it.
Reynold Stober, Head of Faculty Digital T Level
The emphasis is not on the technical content. The emphasis is more on the skills, because the skills are universal across all the T levels. So it doesn't matter whether if you go to the childcare, digital, you are going to go into midwifery. The Transition is there to develop the skills that you already have, preparing you for the next level.
The skills we look at are employability skills, some key skills like team working, presentation, communication skills, and one of the coursework they've actually complete is the technical skill called communication in the workplace, which will give them the opportunity to work in school here with certain areas in the school so they will be able to interact with just the same skills that will interact outside the school environment like with employers, like working under pressure, critical thinking skills. So all of these skills are something that is needed for the Level 3 preparing them for the Level 3 T Level, whatever the occupational specialisation they want to go into.
Ruth Coyle, Director of 6th Form
We've always, in our sixth form, offered courses for all of our students because we're a comprehensive school, so we need to meet the needs of all of the students. We've always offered a Level 2 course and then three years ago we decided to offer the T levels, we see them as excellent technical education courses and we wanted our Level 2 students to have an opportunity to progress onto those courses and which is why we decided to go with the Transition Programme.
So as part of our teaching and learning strategy in the school, we have a T level working party where all the teachers that deliver on the T level and the Route to 3 courses get a chance to meet together and we know the Route to 3 course is really important and so we have quite senior people working on delivering the maths and English elements. So for example we have the Deputy Head who delivers the English content and ~Assistant Head in charge of numeracy, delivers the maths content. They would work with the team of Route to 3 teachers, they would work with the business teacher, the media teacher to see what sort of numeracy and literacy was happening within those courses, so then they could help the students in relation to that and they would also know about what kind of interest the student has? Is this a childcare student in the future? Is this a digital student in the future? How might whatever I'm doing with them and others in English help them in that area?
I think it makes it much easier for the individual learner if the staff see the programmer as holistic, and basically they are trying to develop all of these skills with the learner throughout all of the elements of the course and it also then helps the student with transferable skills when they progress onto Level 3 because they're able to see how all different parts of the course work together.
Tamsin Watson, Digital T Level Teacher
So the Transition Programme really helps students explore and strengthen their independent study skills as they will need that for the course later on, it's quite heavy with that, it gives them resilience, it gives them a sense of independence, and it also gives them a new perspective, like being able to adapt to a problem and see it from all sides.
So in terms of knowledge, what it provides them with is the independent study skills it gives them, the resilience, it gives them, the abstraction and decomposition, all the computational thinking skills that they would need in order to do any aspect within digital technologies.
Jorgen Mustiwa Student at La Retraite RC School
I think he's helped me in terms of that I know I am not alone because there are other people that are also in my position and I'm still able to come to A 6th form where I haven't passed maths and I'm still able to get a Level 2 qualification in digital media and business.
When I finish my Route to 3 programme, I'm going to do digital media and business and then go to university with my peers.
Reynold Stober, Head of Faculty Digital T Level
You realise that when you go out and see them outside the classroom, they're like different individuals. It's not like the same person you see in front of you in the classroom. So it is actually nurturing what they already had into their Level 3 T levels.
Ruth Coyle, Director of 6th Form
It's a great idea to offer the T level Transition Programme. It helps students progress on to the T levels where they can do a 45 day placement with an employer.
It's fantastic for social mobility. The AoC and the ETF provide excellent training for all of your staff, so I would definitely recommend offering the Transition in the future.
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