Wolverhampton named Beacon Council for 14 to 19 work
Released: 5 March 2008
Wolverhampton City Council has been recognised as a beacon for excellence. The authority was awarded Beacon Status yesterday (March 4) for its work with 14 to 19 year olds.
Wolverhampton’s 14 to 19 team was shortlisted in the Better Brighter Futures category of the national Beacon Scheme for Excellence in Local Government Awards.
The high profile event, held at the Royal Horticultural Halls in London last night, recognises local authorities’ clear vision, outstanding achievement and service excellence.
Wolverhampton was highlighted for leading the implementation of reforms in learning for 14 to 19 year olds. By working in partnership with a variety of organisations to offer young people more personalised learning opportunities, the team is transforming participation, attainment, inclusion and skills.
Councillor Paula Brookfield, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: “This is fantastic news for Wolverhampton. We have already achieved big increases in the number of young people who not only gain nationally recognised qualifications at 16 but continue to take part in learning after this age.
“This award recognises that Wolverhampton is leading the way in 14 to 19 provision and the benefits in improved participation, aspirations and achievements can be further built on to bring about a significant and permanent impact for all our children and young people.”
Councillor Christine Irvine, Cabinet Member for Schools, said: “The award of Beacon Status is a huge national endorsement of the strength and success of the 14 to 19 Partnership in Wolverhampton and I would like to congratulate all who contributed towards achieving this for the city.
“It is clear that the way in which schools and other providers of learning are able to work together to improve the opportunities on offer for our young people is amongst the best in the country.”
The council was shortlisted after a rigorous application process which began with a lengthy written application submitted in June 2007. The next step was to host a panel visit to the city early in December which was responded to with extremely positive feedback.
The panel said: “The enthusiasm and commitment of all the partners to making the 14 to 19 agenda a reality was clearly evident, and the impact on the young people in terms of increased attainment from the wider, personalised curriculum choice was also evidenced by the young people themselves.
“This demonstrated the power of the local authority’s inclusive area-wide curriculum, that access was being provided to it, and the transformational power of learning.”
The panel also commented on the extensive evidence of employer engagement and the opportunities given to young people to learn in new environments such as further education colleges and with employers. In addition they commended the impact of more diversity and choice in the curriculum offered to young people, while also retaining their entitlement to the core curriculum.
The final stage was a presentation to the panel in London which, again, the team was complimented strongly on. The presentation board said it demonstrated the “cohesive and dynamic partnership”, strong leadership, the shared vision, effective involvement of parents and young people’s participation in decision making as well as the “strong ‘can-do’ culture that has been developed”.
Additional information
The Government established the Beacon Scheme in 1999 to identify excellence in local government and enable best practice to be shared with others.
In this, the ninth round of the scheme, 38 Beacon awards have been given to 44 authorities across 10 themes, from an original pool of 143 applications involving 132 authorities.
For further information see www.beacons.idea.gov.uk
Issued by the press ofiice.