1

Making employability support in

schools fit for purpose

This session brings together 2 contrasting projects

together to ask the question how can schools effective

embed employability training within their practice?

The Facework Project is a

creative approach which has

been co-designed with

students to introduce

Character Education and

Attitudes for work informally

using peer-review.

The Jobcentre Plus Support for

Schools aims to inspire young

people, teachers and parents to

think about the world of work

and the huge range of exciting

opportunities to support them

in their transition from school.

2Department for Work & Pensions

Jobcentre Plus Support

for Schools England

Nicholas Robinson, DWP Labour Market Policy and

Employer Strategy

3Department for Work & Pensions

Jobcentre Plus Support for Schools: the story so far

Policy

proposed

2011

Manifesto

commitment 2015

Announced in Summer

Budget 2015

Launched in Birmingham &

Solihull District January 2016

Expanded to a further 9 pathfinder

districts April 2016

Impacted on 140 schools by July 2016 with over 40

employers engaged

National rollout across the whole of England from

28 Nov 2016

Pathfinders

Approx. 10 School

Advisers (full-time

equivalent) spread

across 10 JCP

districts covering 140

schools.

National rollout

Approx. 85 School

Advisers giving capacity

to cover 1,000+ schools

(i.e. around a third of

secondary schools in

England.

4Department for Work & Pensions

Because…

In May 2016, 6.5%

(121,000) of 16 –

18 year olds were

NEET

Young people can

experience a relative

reduction in earnings

lasting 20 years

following

unemployment in

their youth. Only 5% of

school leavers

go into

Apprenticeships

And for 16 year

olds the figure

is 42%.

Employers rate 36% of

17/18 year olds leave

school as ill-prepared

for work.

10 % of

students going

into higher

education drop

out

“The information

students received about

careers was too narrow.

Too many students

were unaware of the

wide range of

occupations and

careers that they might

consider”.

Why Jobcentre Plus Support for Schools?

5Department for Work & Pensions

What can Jobcentre Plus Support for Schools provide?

Advice and

information on

routes into

apprenticeships…

and

traineeships.

Promotion of parity

of esteem between

vocational and

academic routes

into work.

Help in

sourcing work

experience

placements…

Arranging pupil

visits to local

employers…

Sourcing

employers for

careers events or

inspirational

presentations

Advice on the local

labour market, the

growth sectors and

employers

recruiting in the

area.

Employability

skills

CV

writing

Interview

skills

On-line

presence

The offer...

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Who is this support directed at?

Jobcentre Support for Schools is demand-led, flexible and responsive:

the school decides…

Teachers

Support could be

used to up-skill

teachers on

apprenticeships or

the local labour

market (for

example) for use

in future careers

lessons.

Students

Group sessions or

presentations on

any aspect of the

offer can be

delivered.

Parents

Advice and

information for

parent groups, for

example if they are

doubtful of the

benefits of

apprenticeships.

7Department for Work & Pensions

What doesn’t Jobcentre Plus Support for Schools provide?

Careers adviceWe leave that to the experts, for example the National Careers

Service.

Duplication or

replacement of

existing provision

We are working closely with CEC and other stakeholders (e.g.

Education Business Partnerships, the National Careers

Service, etc.) to ensure our offer complements existing

provision in schools.

A substitute for

Connexions

Jobcentre Plus Support for Schools was not conceived or

intended to be “Connexions on the cheap”.

There is a wealth of really excellent support already out

there that schools can call upon, but we believe our

extensive network of employers, nationwide coverage of

JCP advisers, and experience of helping school leavers who

have drifted into worklessness gives us a perspective that

can add value and supplement the current delivery of

careers support

8Department for Work & Pensions

What do schools think of Jobcentre Support?

“The impact of JCP Advisors on our students and their parents has been fantastic… Students have a new energy and buzz in discussing their futures, and have positively embraced all the opportunities offered.”

Jo Daw, Head of School Safeguarding in Holy Trinity Catholic School, Birmingham

“Working alongside a School Advisor from Jobcentre Plus has been highly beneficial to us as it has

provided us with someone who has links to local businesses and training schemes...”

Trevor Tiit, Head of sixth form, Beverley School, Middlesbrough

“[The School Adviser] has been a great support and has assisted in securing some work placements for

us along with introducing other partnerships.”

Suzanne Strathern, Hills View Academy

“We are giving our students the best chance to find employment when they leave school. By working with

[the School Adviser] from the Jobcentre they are learning about traineeships and apprenticeships, CV

writing and interview technique. Because [the School Adviser] is the expert the situation is more real and

students are really engaged.”

Head teacher, Newman School, Rotherham

More information on how Jobcentre Support for Schools has been received and lessons learned can be

found in the pathfinder evaluation report which we expect will be published on the gov.uk site

Making employability support in

schools fit for purpose

9

HOW DO WE MAKE EMPLOYABILITY

RELEVANT AND IMPACTFUL …

… for Young People?

… for School Leaders?

… for Policy Makers?

Lessons learnt in

developing Facework

10

But you probably have to do it by …

Careers guidance

Work experience

Employer engagement

First Attempt In Learning !

Definition of Employability

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“A set of achievements – skills,

understandings of personal attributes – that

make a person more likely to gain

employment and be successful* in their

chosen occupations, which benefit

themselves, the workforce, the community

and the economy”

Professor Mantz Yorke (2006)

meaningful

character strengths

* and flexible

in a changing global contextThe world of work has

changed rapidly in 10 years

and we aint seen nothing yet !

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and

write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” Alvin Toffler

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… for Young People?

See reflections at: http://facework.today/reflections/ and TES article and Huffington Post articles

Especially “Pushed-out” YP

Doesn’t want a job for life

Less likely to be loyal to one company

Wants a job with purpose

Wants flexibility in their workplace

Work collaborative and in networks

Prefer to learn by doing

Have high expectations

Be Interest – driven

Be co-designed with young people

Validated in the real world

Involve alternative assessment

Be engaging and immersive

Focus on attitudes and character

Creative (inc using social media)

The expectations of

many millennials:

Less work

Less security

Less national identity

Less social mobility

Less opportunity to be supported in school !

The reality for many

millennials:

For Employability support to

be fit for purpose it needs to:

Methodology

Deep empathetic understanding,

listening carefully to young people and

shaping the learning from their social

context.

Flip the roles from teacher to student

and co-design use YP, their language and

their media to “teach once, learn twice.”

Enable students to show-case changes in

attitudes & behaviours within real world

settings and share stories through

conversations and video.

RIGOUR – all the ‘Employment Intelligences’ are cross mapped to OCR accreditation in ‘Life and Living’ ‘Employability’ and entry level English and Maths

Some examples from FW

• Finding work is a “Lottery” so we created the world’s first educational scratch card.

• Students don’t want teachers to score them, so we created a peer-review “mate’s rates” score card and quizzes.

• Not another inspirational story of success from a distant expert, instead we filmed the young peoplesharing their own authentic insights

• No to Worksheets so we created Challenges,

• Don’t ban social media, find your social media that make these soft subjects relevant.

• Don’t remind me of my negative past promote the positive. ‘What makes you Sparkle like a diamond?’

How do we help students see these skills as transferrable ?

Also include (and validate) how students gain

these skills outside of school ?

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… for School Leaders?

… the last supportive adult in a YP’s life ?

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2) Prioritise High Quality Work Experience placementsSee http://www.fairtrain.org/

Four things School Leaders can do

3) Prioritise Employee EngagementLook at WorkTree model in Milton Keynes www.worktree.org

1) Invest in High Quality Careers education www.gov.uk/government/publications/careers-guidance-provision-for-young-people-in-schools

4) Use Character Education as a route into

Employability trainingSee the Jubilee Centre’s work at the University of Birmingham

http://www.jubileecentre.ac.uk/

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Each of you look at the

strengths you selected

last week and choose

one and say why they

were on your list

EG.

BRAVERY IS ON THE LIST

BECAUSE WITHOUT IT

……..

Character Education

From a lesson last week

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Our top five Character Strengths.

FAIRNESS

BRAVERY

HOPE

LOVE

KINDNESS

(Leadership)

?

See David Brooks RSA video re the importance of Character

Education in helping Young People

https://www.thersa.org/discover/videos/rsa-shorts/2016/david-brooks-on-character-in-the-selfie-

age?id=newsletter/fellowship/281116

https://www.thersa.org/discover/videos/rsa-shorts/2016/david-brooks-on-character-in-the-selfie-age?id=newsletter/fellowship/281116

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… for Policy Makers?

What one word sums up why Policy makers need to act to

ensure employability is taught in schools ?

Group exercise ?

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Questions ?

Developing Employability and

Enterprise shows how to help others

develop the behaviours and attributes

needed to thrive in the modern

workplace and shows how employability

can be measuredstephen@carrick-davies.com

www.facework.today

mailto:stephen@carrick-davies.comhttp://www.facework.today/