It should be part of a school’s remit to develop pupils’ self-belief, perseverance and resilience, according to advice from a cross-parliamentary group, supported by the CBI.
The group suggested that a school needs to be more than just an ‘exam factory’, and that students should leave their education as well rounded individuals, equipped and ready to face the challenges that lie ahead of them.
This is something that we certainly identify with at NCFE. Academic success is not the only way to judge how prepared a young person is to gain employment or progress in their lives. Speaking on behalf of the parliamentary group, Baroness Claire Tyler has said they had seen "clear evidence that what are often misleadingly called 'soft skills' actually lead to hard results".
Linked to this, research completed by James Reed and documented in ‘Put your mindset to work’ showed that given the choice between someone with the desired mindset who lacks the complete skillset for the job, and someone with the complete skillset who lacks the desired mindset, a total of 96% of thousands of employers surveyed picked mindset over skillset as the key element in those they seek and retain.
As educators, we have a duty of care to the young people in our trust. School and college is about more than just English and maths - personal, character and social development is something that can’t be ignored and truly deserves its place at the heart of education as we guide, mentor and empower the next generation.
Many of the schools that we work with have taken the strategic decision to continue delivering additionality courses (such as equality and diversity, personal development, personal effectiveness at work) in order to give their learners an added advantage as they progress into the ‘real world’.
Other schools have chosen to deliver vocational qualifications which hold GCSE equivalency such as NCFE V Certs, involving students in project work, team work and creativity. These qualifications engage pupils in an alternative way, motivating them to fulfil their potential. We currently have a number of V Certs available in the creative sector, with additional new V Cert qualifications in Business and Computing which will be ready for delivery in September 2014.
Ultimately, it’s about treating each pupil as an individual and supporting them to be the best version of themselves in every aspect of their lives. Give us a call on 0191 239 8000 if we can help you in your qualification delivery – we’d be more than happy to hear from you.
