VOCATIONAL ENHANCMENT PROGRAMME
Vocational Enhancement Programme is an integral part of the wider Careers Educational & Guidance Programme. Pupils are provided with opportunities to learn for work, through work and about work in an ‘out of school’ context.
KS4 (Yr 11,12) WORK RELATED LEARNING
Work Experience – 1 week block or 1 day per week as app.
Work Experience offers our school leavers the opportunity to learn about the world of work its disciplines and relationships through direct contact with the work place. A period of time spent in the actual work place helps them gain an insight into the demands, challenges and possible stresses of the job and in turn develop a more realistic perception of the world of work and their place in it. The placement itself enables pupils to get the feel of work, so they can make more informed choices about the careers they wish to pursue.
Occupational Studies – 1 day per week - timetabled
Occupational Studies is designed to be accessible to a wide range of learners of all abilities. The qualification is designed to provide a more ‘hands-on’ approach to learning. It focuses on the knowledge, understanding and skills required in 4 occupational areas over 2 years. What makes it different is that it focuses on a particular kind of knowledge, understanding and skills providing the potential for learning in an important ‘out-of-school’ context.
It is neither expected nor intended that pupils will become ‘competent’ or trained in the occupational area being studied they will however gain a good foundation from which to progress.
Programme: - 2 years – 1 day per week (Y11- Friday / Y12- Thursday)
Accreditation: CCEA – Occupational Studies
Year 11 – Pupils complete 2 units x 16 week sessions
Year 12 - Pupils select 2 more units –16 week sessions
National Skills Profile (NSP) – 1 day per week – timetabled
NSP has been designed to provide pupils with practical experience of various types of work and develop their social and lifeskills. It offers a flexible profiling framework which allows schools to select modules appropriate to the individual needs of pupils.
The qualification structure includes 6 essential skill areas and 13 vocational areas with 5 modules in each. Schools/colleges can ‘mix and match’ these modules as they feel appropriate. NSP provides a progression route along which pupils can move at their own pace and build upon achievement within a skill area. It creates a bridge into mainstream qualifications and/or further vocational qualifications.
Programme: - 2 years
Accreditation: - OCR - NSP/Practical Work Skills
Year 11 - 1 day per week (Thursday)
Year 12 – 1 day per week / timetabled am. only (Friday)