Business Plans
Development and Business Plan 2002 - 2003

Birmingham as a self-sustaining literate, numerate and IT competent community

Birmingham becomes a city within which:

  • adults and young people have adequate literacy/numeracy skills to be able to participate in community, social and economic activity
  • adults in employment have levels of communication/numeracy to do work tasks well and see opportunities for self-development
  • employers and employees recognise a shared responsibility for continuing development of communication/number skills of employees and the workplace
  • those seeking employment have essential communication and number skills for employability
  • pupils leave school having reached highest achievement levels in literacy/numeracy and confident with IT support for these
  • children, young people and adults see themselves as able to be readers, writers, communicators in range of ways
  • there is a strong culture of reinvesting literacy/numeracy skills for the benefit of others
  • parents are confident in own abilities to develop literacy/numeracy skills in children
  • levels of literacy, numeracy and IT skills in Birmingham increase to exceed national target levels for pupils at Key Stages 1-4, and for adults

Birmingham Core Skills Development Partnership exists to ensure that levels of literacy, numeracy and IT key skills in Birmingham increase to exceed national target levels for all client groups.

The Partnership forms part of the wider strategic planning and operating mechanisms between Birmingham City Council, Birmingham Voluntary Service Council and Birmingham & Solihull Learning and Skills Council, in conjunction with a range of strategic partners. The Partnership can be contacted at:

    Birmingham Core Skills Development Partnership
    100 Broad Street
    Birmingham B15 1AE

    Tel: 0121-248-8083
    Fax: 0121-248-8002
    Email: office@coreskills.co.uk

Contents

Development Framework

The Core Skills Development Partnership supports activity which:

Strategic elements

  • links to the implementation of broader strategies
  • adds value to mainstream activities by improving the quality and diversity of opportunities
  • focuses on the needs of specific client groups, especially at identified critical transition times
  • trains staff in appropriate ways of embedding key skills in a wide range of mainstream programmes
  • enhances the existing professional development of staff to create whole-organisation approaches to core skills development
  • sustains the changes long-term by creating new ways of working that become independent of on-going financial support

Activity/operational elements

  • is structured not just on pilots but on activity that has impact on whole structures
  • increases multi-agency approaches and joint planning, with differing roles clearly defined
  • assists organisations to identify what creates success and to make this the norm
  • has some targeting based on need, without defining people/organisations as failing
  • expands the use of appropriate technologies to accelerate learning
  • supports assessment and target setting, based upon disaggregated, reliable information
  • increases the volume of voluntary activity
  • contributes to planned outputs and contributes towards longer-term outcomes

Development and Business Plan 2002-2003

Contents

Click any section below:

  1. Context for 2002 - 2003
  2. Strategic Objective 1 : Raise the baseline attainment of children on entry to school
  3. Strategic Objective 2 : Raising the literacy and numeracy attainment levels of pupils at school age
  4. Strategic Objective 3 : Increasing the key skills levels of young people out-of-school
  5. Strategic Objective 4 : Meeting the specific needs of disadvantaged groups
  6. Strategic Objective 5 : Raise the key skills attainment levels and increase the employability of unemployed individuals
  7. Strategic Objective 6 : Develop the key skills of employed individuals in order to enable job retention
  8. Strategic Objective 7 : Increasing the levels of individual commitment to core skills development
  9. Organisational Developments
  10. Spend and Leverage table
  11. Generated Output table

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Context for 2002 - 2003

The need for a city-wide focus on core skills development, as described in the original SRB Challenge Fund bid, remains. The annual business planning approach, within the broad initial framework, continues to be a very cost-effective way of staying responsive to the rapidly changing national education and training agendas. The current context shaping the Partnership’s support for developments includes:

  • As part of the Skills for Life strategy, the Government intends to train all managers and key staff of Neighbourhood Nurseries, so that they are better able to identify and address the literacy, language and numeracy needs of parents. This training will ensure that nationally 1,800 Neighbourhood Nurseries’ staff become advocates for Skills for Life and act as mentors to support parents, especially those living in disadvantaged communities. Helping parents with their literacy and number work will increase their chances of finding work and help to improve the quality of life for them and their families. This work is being taken forward by a consortium, led by the national Basic Skills Agency, with us as a key partner.
  • In Birmingham an increased number of Sure Start and Family Support developments are linking education and health services to provide stronger starts for learning in children. With the Flying Start work in health centres, hostels and refuges; and with the work on language development in young children, these developments are adding up to a whole city network of support. Work is taking place to improve literacy and numeracy resources in City Council nurseries and day nurseries but more needs to be done via nurseries in the private and voluntary sectors. These activities are now beginning to add up to a consistent layer of support for literacy, language and numeracy development 0-5.
  • The implementation of national literacy and numeracy strategies within primary schools, and the extension of these strategies to more schools via support from this Partnership, has enabled Birmingham schools to improve much faster than schools in other similar areas. The gap between Birmingham and the national average has been closing year on year. Within the last year there are signs that this trend is slowing down and if large improvements are now to be made, these are likely to need a set of more tailored, targeted, and differentiated approaches.
  • Birmingham has annual Key Stage 2 targets leading up to 2002 that have been agreed with the Standards and Effectiveness Unit of the Department for Education and Skills. The target for raised attainment in numeracy for Birmingham at the end of Key Stage 2 in 2002 is 75%. The target for English is 80%, with corresponding 2003 targets of 81% (English) and 80% (Maths). These represent challenging targets and will require both continuing intensive support to some schools, and new approaches with others. New targets for 2004 are due to be declared by the Department of Education and Skills, in 2002.
  • The Education Service Strategy for Birmingham identifies a key need to reduce the equality gap through the promotion of evidence-based practice and interventions for specific individualised groups, in particular Looked After Children; Bangladeshi pupils; Pakistani pupils; Afro Caribbean pupils and white disadvantaged boys. Other particular groups continue to create specific concerns nationally and locally – families in temporary hostels and refuges; refugees and asylum seekers; people with dyslexia; and children who (for one reason or another) dip in and out of structured learning.
  • The increased diversity and availability of development funding, via the Local Education Authority, creates an increased need for an overall literacy and numeracy strategy targeted at reaching specific objectives by given dates.
  • As part of a Public Service Agreement arrangements with the Department for Education and Skills, Birmingham is able to reduce some of its reported planning documentation and to focus on challenging targets – with a specific emphasis on GCSE attainment.
  • The national ‘Diversity Pathfinder’ projects will establish, in Birmingham, a ‘collegiate academy’ of a group of separate secondary schools acting together to create a ‘commonwealth’ for the benefit of pupils and staff. This will result in dividends in staff development, timetabling/shared curriculum, support services, buildings maintenance/renovation, admissions etc.
  • There will be an increase the Standards Fund to increase the number of summer literacy and numeracy schools. To achieve the best results, primary and secondary schools work together to plan a catch-up programme for every pupil who needs it from the last term of primary school to the end of their first year in secondary school. Schools will be given the freedom to use their funding flexibly to achieve this. This builds on developments already established through the Partnership.
  • There are plans to extend the Standards Fund to provide secondary schools with resources to stop 11-year-olds falling behind in English and maths, in addition to increasingly freeing schools from many of the administrative burdens associated with development activities
  • Birmingham is compared with other authorities that are judged to be the most similar to Birmingham. In comparison with these ‘statistical neighbours’ Birmingham has the highest rate of improvement over the last five years in KS2 English, second highest in KS2 mathematics and highest in GCSE average point score.
  • In secondary schools new targets have been set for 14 year olds. The continuing need to improve standards at Key Stage 3, supported by the new national strategy for literacy and numeracy in the early years of secondary schools, is marked by an equally pressing need to improve pass rates in GCSE English and Maths in Year 11 at the end of Key Stage 4.
  • Parents of pupils at secondary schools can support pupils best when they get detailed information about the pupils’ progress. This relies on pupils having individual learning plans that get regularly reviewed, and finding new ways of engaging large numbers of parents in curriculum discussions with schools.
  • A variety of projects exist, within the Education Business Consortium, and these increasingly need to be brought together and provided as core services linking schools and the world of work.
  • This year will see the start of the Birmingham and Solihull Connexions Service – a support service for 13-19 year olds to help overcome the barriers that are preventing some young people from making a success of their lives. This service will also give support to young people who are disengaged from learning or employment. The skills and awareness level of the Personal Advisers will be crucial to ensuring the basic skills needs of young people are met.
  • Skills for Life: The national strategy for improving adult literacy and numeracy skills was launched by the Prime Minister and David Blunkett on 1 March 2001. It aims to improve the literacy and numeracy of 750,000 adults with low skills nationally by 2004. Birmingham has been acting as a pathfinder for the implementation of the national strategy.
  • The most significant change in context is the establishment of a unified planning and funding mechanism via the establishment of local Learning and Skills Councils. The national Learning and Skills Council Strategic Framework and Corporate Plan identifies as priorities:
    • To raise achievement of young people aged 19, measured by the proportion attaining a Level 2 qualification, and to reduce the proportion lacking the basic skills of literacy and numeracy.
    • To raise achievement of young people aged 21, measured by the proportion attaining a Level 3 qualification, and to reduce the proportion lacking the basic skills of literacy and numeracy.
    • To raise achievement of the entire adult population, measured by the proportion attaining a Level 3 qualification, and to reduce the proportion lacking the basic skills of literacy and numeracy.
    • A local skills strategy will set out how the local Council will build long-term relationships with local employers, engaging with them in defining skill needs and developing their workforces.
    • A local participation strategy will set out the local Council’s plans for bringing more people into learning, especially from groups which are currently under-represented.
    • A local learning strategy builds on the other two (but also feeds back into them), identifying how the local Council will deliver educational and training provision which meets local employers’ and learners’ needs.
  • The local Learning and Skills Council has commissioned a review of adult basic skills. The outcomes of this review will strongly inform development work over the next year.
  • The Adult Basic Skills Strategy Unit in the Department for Education and Skills is responsible for co-ordinating a wide range of activities aimed at improving the quality of, and access to, literacy and numeracy training, and encouraging adults to address their skills needs. It works closely with local teams, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Employment Service, the Prison Service and the Prisoners Learning and Skills Unit within the DfES.
  • The measures proposed for realising adult basic skills national targets are diverse. As well as continued backing for basic skills developments via earlier initiatives such as UfI/learndirect and the union learning fund, the framework now includes emphasis on new Sector Skills Councils and a comprehensive workforce development strategy.
  • Through national and local regeneration programmes there will be substantial increase in the number of neighbourhood learning centres; and UK online centres offering local access to ICT. Each of these is expected to contribute to the adult basic skills agenda.
  • A strong emphasis is being put on voluntary and community sector capacity building - as advocates for the excluded; as deliver of services; and as a significant employer. Locally work will be carried forward in partnership with Birmingham Voluntary Service Council as well as through direct work with voluntary and community organisations, and key intermediary organisations. A number of service development groups are being established, which will be key routes for expansion of basic skills services.
  • Advantage West Midlands, the Regional Development Agency are promoting a Learning and Skilful Region and seeking to develop a regional skills strategy by developing a concordat approach to skills development on region-wide issues between Advantage West Midlands, Learning and Skills Councils and other partners. One key strand of the skills needs is clearly basic skills.
  • Nationally there continues to be a push for improvements in standards of Information, Advice and Guidance on accessing employment, training and educational opportunities. Information, Advice and Guidance re basic skills is part of this drive locally and nationally. Work needs to be done to ensure that national promotions, national information routes and local information databases all connect smoothly.
  • The review of National Training Organisations (NTOs), "Meeting the Sector Skills and Productivity Challenge" sets out the government's vision for the future in all parts of the UK and backs the establishment of new Sector Skills Councils and a Sector Skills Development Agency. This enables a continuation of the focus on the basic skills needs in relation to each sector, and a suitably differentiated set of approaches to be taken within a common framework.
  • The ‘Skills in England 2001’ report showed that 1 in 10 employers had experienced the problem of skills shortages, with basic skills, particularly numeracy, highlighted as a key need. Lack of basic skills costs the economy up to £10bn a year with a detrimental effect on business performance.
  • Improvements are being made in the ‘stock’ of skills held by the workforce. In 1995 16% of the economically active held no qualifications, by 2001 the figure dropped to 11%. This attainment of qualifications and participation in education and training varies between gender, ethnic group and locality.
  • Demand for skills has risen especially in professional and highly skilled occupations which are expanding much faster than the low skilled jobs market. This is set to continue and many jobs in key sectors could remain vacant because there are not enough people with the right skills to do them. There is a need to relate work based basic skills activity to specific, differentiated gaps in various sectors.
  • Bringing together the Employment Service and the Benefits Agency into one set of services from April 2002 opens new possibilities e.g. via the new Job Centre Plus venue at Northfield. Employment Service staff are screening more people for basic skills needs, and referring more for basic skills support. Increased numbers of basic skills referrals are also expected via the New Deal for Disabled People programme.
  • To support the National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal the Department for Education and Skills has set targets for minimum performance levels that apply to all Local Education Authorities and all schools.
    • Education authorities were set a target that by 2004 no authority should have fewer than 38 per cent of pupils achieving 5 GCSEs at A*-C.
    • - Schools were set a target to have no fewer than 20 per cent of pupils achieving 5 GCSEs at A*-C by 2004, and rising to 25 per cent by 2006.
  • Whilst government strategy details a range of policies and programmes - some of them directly focused on areas of greatest need - that are in place to raise standards in schools and keep young people and adults in learning; these are not sufficient to meet the scale of development needs across Birmingham.
  • The aim of the overall strategy for neighbourhood renewal is to bridge the gap between the most deprived neighbourhoods and the rest of England. Central to the changes needed is the involvement of local people in deciding how their area develops. This has implications for the extent to which all people in an area have sufficient language, literacy and numeracy levels for confident engagement. In Birmingham, the partners have set up a City Strategic Partnership, which collectively has responsibility for developing a Community and Local Renewal Strategy. The intention is to establish a further series of local strategic partnerships. The City Strategic Partnership will be required to produce a Community Strategy and later a Local Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy.
  • Two Regeneration Zones are being developed that flow across areas of Birmingham. Whilst these Zones are picking up area-based developments, if they are to meet their aspirations they will also need to pick up on some of the thematic models and approaches that have been developed.
  • Much of the early development work of this Partnership was to raise the quality of the delivery infrastructure across Birmingham. Approaches and models have thus been embedded, from the beginning, within schools, the Local Education Authority, the local Learning and Skills Council and the emerging Connexions service.
  • The approach taken by the Partnership is being recommended as one that needs to be carried forward in a broad range of other contexts, where the emphasis is increasingly on outcome-based planning.

Contents

 

Strategic Objective 1

Raise the baseline attainment of children on entry to school

By:

  1. Offering consistent support to parents and families
  2. training key staff in a range of agencies
  3. creating increased consistency of pre-school intervention across areas and communities

Specifically in 2002-2003 support will be given to:

  1. Raising the standard of literacy/numeracy resources in private and voluntary nurseries.
  2. Establishing best practice in Foundation Stage.
  3. Language development (0-3 year olds).
  4. Family workshops in all day nurseries.
  5. Family workshops in remaining nursery schools.
  6. Maintain bookstart activity.
  7. Additional support to families in hostels.

Challenge Fund Support in 2002-2003: £160,000
Planned Outputs:
parents assisted 10,000
training weeks 20

Outcomes from this activity:

Baseline Assessment average scores will be maintained at 4.6 (Language and Literacy) and 4.6 (mathematics)

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Strategic Objective 2

Raising the literacy and numeracy attainment levels of pupils at school age

by:

  1. producing a body of key staff who are highly skilled in the teaching and learning of the key skills of literacy and numeracy (including the supporting use of ICT)
  2. increasing pupils’ access to an ICT infrastructure to support learning
  3. creating closer links between the school curriculum and the needs of employers
  4. engaging parents more closely in the literacy/numeracy development of their children

Specifically in 2002-2003 support will be given to:

  1. Substantial courses for language and maths co-ordinators and those seeking promotion to these posts.
  2. Alternatives at KS4/key skills at KS3&4.
  3. Support for developments at the Centre for Accelerated Learning.
  4. Assessment within alternative curriculum.
  5. Whole school development of literacy/numeracy.
  6. Establish whole-school parental involvement in more schools.
  7. Extend models of family literacy/numeracy.
  8. Focus on foundation curriculum/English as Additional Language/ICT.
  9. ICT in schools, to develop literacy/numeracy.
  10. Menu of secondary interventions to make a difference.
  11. Y10/Y11 learning gateway.
  12. Targeting underachieving groups and underachieving schools.
  13. Primary and secondary quality mark work.
  14. Embedding support for the Rotunda learning centre.
  15. Focus on the quality of teaching and learning.
  16. Embedding curriculum support for KS2/3 transfer.
  17. Cross-curricular language and maths.

Challenge Fund Support in 2002-2003: £2,776,565

Planned Outputs:

pupils benefiting 25,000
training weeks 70
employers in collaborative projects with schools 100
pupils in collaborative projects with businesses 1,000
parents supported 6,000
students in collaborative work with parents 750
volunteers 250

Outcomes from this activity:

Attainment at Key Stage assessments: English Maths
July 2002 July 2003 July 2002 July 2003
KS2 Level 4 & above 80% 81% 75% 80%
KS3 average level (expected = 5) 67% 71% 65% 70%
KS4 GCSE (A*-C) 48% 50% 48% 50%

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Strategic Objective 3

Increasing the key skills levels of young people out-of-school

By:

  1. Increasing the volume and quality of literacy/ numeracy/ ICT development available through out-of-school learning and support.
  2. Increasing the linkages between the various home/school/ community curricula related to literacy and numeracy developments.

Specifically within 2002-2003 work will be done to:

  1. Sustain homework support opportunities, Stories from the Web, Summer literacy/numeracy schools etc.
  2. Create increased opportunities for writers; storytellers etc. in range of settings.
  3. Bridging young people into use of library resources

Challenge Fund Support in 2002-2003: £184,000
Planned Outputs:
young people 2,000
training weeks 30

Outcome:

10% increase in the volume of young people from target groups using libraries

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Strategic Objective 4

Meeting the specific needs of disadvantaged groups

Specifically within 2002-2003 support will be given to:

  1. Social inclusion activities in library services
  2. Activity to raise attainment in underachieving groups in schools.
  3. Building core skills capacity into Probation/Youth Offending Service.
  4. Core skills and housing organisations.
  5. Core skills and voluntary organisations.
  6. Adult basic skills targeted on groups listed in national strategy.
  7. ESOL developments across range of providers.
  8. Link with excluded groups.
  9. Open/flexible learning.
  10. Outreach to bridge homeless/offenders/refugees/care leavers.
  11. Programme of writers in children’s’ homes.
  12. Staff expertise re dyslexia
  13. Basic skills and clients with mental health difficulties
  14. Targeting workplace basic skills for ethnic community employees

Challenge Fund Support in 2002-2003: £1,790,200
Planned Outputs:
training weeks 100
people trained to qualifications 300

Outcomes from this activity:

increased number of 19 year olds who have a level 2 qualification

increased number of 21 year olds who have a level 3 qualification

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Strategic Objective 5

Raise the key skills attainment levels and increase the employability of unemployed individuals through post-school education and training provision

By:

  1. establishing ways of embedding the relevant key skills enhancements into existing and emerging opportunities.
  2. producing a more skilled cohort of staff, in relation to guidance, assessment and delivery re key skills.
  3. developing vocationally-specific language and numeracy provision.

Specifically, within 2002-2003 work will be done to:

  1. Addressing basic skills via health organisations.
  2. Developments within Learning Gateway/Connexions.
  3. Enhancing core skills through work with young people.
  4. Enhance key skills in New Deal.
  5. Gallery 37 – key skills and arts training.
  6. Delivering basic skills and information advice and guidance.
  7. Outreach and ‘employability’ work via Employment Service.

Challenge Fund Support in 2002-2003: £865,827
Planned Outputs:
training weeks 2100
people trained to qualifications 2000
trained unemployed people getting jobs 200


Outcomes from this activity:

(a) More than 120 new staff whose retraining focuses on core skills development

(b) A 4% increase in the number of adult learners engaged in raising their basic skills levels

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 Strategic Objective 6

Develop the key skills of employed individuals in order to enable job retention
and encourage career progression

Specifically within 2002-2003 work will be done to support:

  1. Core skills development within specific sectors.
  2. Work related intensive; company process analysis.
  3. Core skills developments via Learndirect.
  4. Integration of core skills into employer services and workplace support.
  5. Promotions to employers.
  6. Support to employer networks and learning centres.
  7. Core skills developments via trades unions.
  8. Enhancing the IiP process to focus on basic skills
  9. Developing a range of brokers and learning champions

Challenge Fund Support in 2002-2003: £756,770
Planned Outputs:
obs safeguarded 6,700
training weeks 300
people trained to qualifications 700
employers with employee development schemes 125
businesses advised 350

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Strategic Objective 7

Increasing the levels of individual commitment to core skills development

Specifically within 2002-2003 support will be given to:

  1. Developing the role of community organisations.
  2. Reading volunteer recruitment and training.
  3. Extension of adult basic skills mentoring roles.
  4. Voluntary sector development plan.

Challenge Fund Support in 2002-2003: £184,000
Planned Outputs:
voluntary organisations assisted 30
community organisations assisted 15
new volunteers 100

Contents

 

Development of the organisation and operation of the Core Skills Development Partnership

 The Partnership has now developed a significant national reputation for its work and has been able, in turn, to contribute to national developments. We are acting as a National Pathfinder for the government adult basic skills strategy.

Partnership processes have been evaluated and the ‘change model’ that underpins our work has been clarified. The lessons are being taken up by other regeneration programmes.

We are continuing to meet all contractual requirements for outputs, leverage, spend etc. Central structures have been kept small and flexible, with the development team composition being reshaped to meet changing demands.

Challenge Fund support in 2002-2003 £35,093

Spend and Leverage 2002 - 2003

SO1
SO2
SO3
SO4
SO5
SO6
SO7
 Mgmt & Org 2002 - 2003 Total
Challenge 160,000 2,776,565 184,000 1,790,200 865,827 756,770 150,545 35,093 6,719,00
Public Leverage 5,000 250,00 800,000 1,055,00
Private Leverage 100,000 100,000

 

Outputs Generated 2002 - 2003

 
SO1
SO2
SO3
SO4
SO5
SO6
SO7
1999-2000

Total
1Aii. Jobs safeguarded           6,700   6,700
1B Pupils Benefiting   25,000           25,000
1C Qualifications       300 2,000 700   3,000
1E Training Weeks 20 70 30 100 2,100 300   2,620
1Fi/ii Unemployed into jobs         200     200
1J Young People     2,000         2,000
1Ki. Collaborative work with employees   100           100
1Kii. Collaborative work with pupils   1,000           1,000
2D Businesses           350   350
8Ai. Voluntary Organisations             30 30
8Aii. Community Organisations             15 15
8C Volunteers   250         100 350
8D Employee Development           125   125
1N Parents 10,000 600           10,600
1P Schools            
1Kiii. Students/parents   750           750

  

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