Head of Education CCMS Overview of Education Initiatives in West Belfast Education Initiatives in West Belfast The Initiatives Extended Schools Integrated Services for Children and Young People ID: 421307
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Terry MurphyHead of Education, CCMS
Overview of Education Initiatives in West BelfastSlide2
Education Initiatives in West BelfastSlide3
The Initiatives
Extended SchoolsIntegrated Services for Children and Young People Post Primary Area Learning CommunitiesAchieving Belfast
Full Service Community NetworkLiteracy and Numeracy Signature ProjectWBPB Community Education Initiative Programme
WBPB West Belfast Community ProjectSlide4
Extended SchoolsExtending the range of services in the schools with high levels of pupils entitled to free school meals
Two very successful clusters in Greater Falls and Whiterock/Upper SpringfieldAdditional services are mainly school based with only limited engagement with community organisationsProvides a very good basis for further development as primary ALCsSlide5
Integrated Services for Children and Young People
Designed to demonstrate that an integrated services approach to supporting families would be most effectiveCovered all of West and Shankill Was an effective community intervention model
Sustainability would have required cross Departmental commitmentContinuing under a revised management arrangementSlide6
Post Primary Area Learning Communities
Post primary partnerships aimed at collaborative curriculum deliveryAnticipated full compliance with Entitlement Framework requirement for 2015Has been given additional funding to promote improvements in Literacy and Numeracy outcomes
An effective model of good practice with the potential to broaden its agenda to include an emphasis on school improvementSlide7
Achieving Belfast
An initiative to help schools close the achievement gap for primary and post primary pupilsHas provided additional maths and English teachers and BELB supportStrong evidence of improvement and gap closing in most schoolsMay have been more successful if it had a stronger community engagement dimension from the outsetCurrently under reviewSlide8
Full Service Community Network
Established initially to support children and families affected by community issues in Upper WhiterockProvides a range of support services for schools and familiesWorks very closely with other community based groupings such as the Extended Schools clusters and othersHas some similarities with ISCYP
Recently evaluated by ETI as being a ‘very good’ initiativeCost effective and could easily be replicated elsewhereSlide9
Literacy and Numeracy Signature Project
A regional initiative providing additional Maths and English teachers to help with improvements at end of KS2 and GCSEHas provided two years employment for over 200 recently qualified teachersIs focusing on grade improvement at GCSE especially for those at risk of achieving a ‘D’ rather than a ‘C’
Will be beneficial but is not a good school improvement strategyAimed at achieving the 2015 PfG targetsSlide10
Community Education Initiative
The latest initiativeAimed at encouraging schools and community organisations to work together in the interest of raising achievementFunded through BELB to West Belfast Partnership BoardIn very early stages of implementationInitial focus will be on after school support for pupils Slide11
West Belfast Community ProjectFunded through
DE to West Belfast Partnership BoardFocus on Transition, literacy and numeracy support through provision of:Easter School
Saturday SchoolSummer Transition School Early Years, Primary, Post
Primary learning and transition support
Family Learning componentSlide12
Challenges
Too many strategies adding to the complexity of managing education in schoolsOften overlapping in emphasis especially with the recent focus on Literacy and NumeracyLack consistency of commitment – mostly 3 year programmes with a limited delivery periodNeed to reduce the number of initiativesD
evise a single, coherent, school improvement strategy with an integration of planning across the schools and community providersSlide13
More Challenges
Initiatives help but do they contribute to long term community transformation?Many young people in the West are high achievers – many others are not – only sustained and targeted capacity building support will bring long term community improvementThere is a ‘hearts and minds’ dimension to the work of raising achievement – any new strategy should have this as a key area of emphasis.