Businesses and schools develop ‘Bradford Bacc’

The Bradford Baccalaureate aims to tackle a skills shortage in the local economy and “negative perceptions” about the city among young people.

To earn the new qualification students will need to achieve success in GCSE subjects and demonstrate they have learned “soft skills” such as working in a team and problem solving to help make them more employable.

It is being developed in response to the Government’s English Baccalaureate – a new benchmark that aims to reward pupils who pass a set of traditional academic subjects at GCSE.

The E-Bacc, launched by Education Secretary Michael Gove last year, is awarded to pupils who achieve a C grade or above in six GCSEs comprising English, maths, two sciences, a humanity: either geography or history, and a modern language.

A new group of education leaders in Bradford fear this approach will reinforce the importance of school league tables without equipping young pupils with the skills local employers are calling for.

The Bradford Baccalaureate is now being developed by Bradford Council’s new Education for Enterprise group, made up of teachers, volunteers and business leaders who are looking to create a similar style of qualification to the E-Bacc but tailored to meet the needs of the city’s economy.

Detailed plans will produced at the start of the new academic year to get schools working with businesses to look at ways of making pupils better equipped for the workplace. The qualification would also be intended to instill a sense of belief in Bradford among school students.

Group member Gerard Liston, who is also head of enterprise and Laisterdyke Business and Enterprise College in the city said: “The English Baccalaureate focuses on a set of core subjects including English, maths and sciences. It is of course important that schools do focus on this but we feel that this alone is too restrictive.

“We also need to get young people to learn the skills they will need in the workplace and to work with employers to deliver this in a way that is accredited.

“This is not being done as a criticism of the English Baccalaureate. We are trying to understand what Mr Gove is saying but this is a constructive and creative response to it. This is a perfect example of how localism can work.

“Schools and business are coming together to create something which addresses the specific needs of Bradford.

“Reports have revealed low levels of skills and high levels of unemployment in Bradford, as well as poor local and external perceptions of the city.

“The Bradford Baccalaureate is proposed as a method of capturing a wide range of academic performance, alongside non-academic achievements that help to develop employability skills.

“Importantly, the learning will be enriched by the involvement of local employers, who will portray a positive picture of the opportunities that exist in the district for employment and self-employment.”

Mr Liston said that the knowledge the qualification would look to develop would include “soft skills” such as team working, communication and problem solving – areas which employers say are lacking among school leavers in the district.

Local businesswoman Karen Miles, the chairman of the Education for Enterprise group, said: “We are bringing together public, private and third sectors to co-ordinate education that supports Bradford’s education priorities and its economic prosperity. It is only by working together that we can address deep-seated issues that are holding back this district.”

BID TO BROADEN BASE OF EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONAL

THE Bradford Baccalaureate is not the first time education bosses in Yorkshire have looked to develop an alternative to the Government’s flagship qualification.

Hull head teacher Andrew Chubb has launched a campaign to Build a Better Baccalaureate after voicing criticism at the way the E-Bacc was put together.

He has questioned why religious education was not considered and also voiced fears the qualification could create a divided schools system.

Mr Chubb, who is principal of the Archbishop Sentamu Academy, in Hull, is now at the forefront of a campaign to create a baccalaureate system which recognises success in a broader base of subjects than the E-Bacc.