Motherwell College
These case studies are based on visits to some schools and colleges by HMI over the period 1999-2001. These visits provided the main evidence base that was used in drawing up the characteristics of good practice identified in Section 2.
The case studies provide information selected to illustrate some of the characteristics of good practice, and cover a range of differing contexts. They do not set out to provide comprehensive accounts of all that the schools and colleges were doing to make transition effective, nor to provide a balanced evaluation of their work. Some schools and colleges feature in more than one case study, to enable a separate focus on particular features of transition.
The final two case studies are somewhat different from the others in that they represent schools which have found particular challenges in introducing their pupils to further education. These case studies refer to difficulties as well as to good practice, and cite staff views on areas for development.
Throughout the case studies and the later sections of this report, the term "student" is used to refer to both college students and school pupils.
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Index of Case Studies A Headwell School (Fife) and Lauder College B Schools in North Lanarkshire and Motherwell College C Schools in Inverclyde, James Watt College and the wider professional network D Bothwellpark High School (South Lanarkshire) and Motherwell College E Balwearie High School (Fife) and Glenrothes College F Donaldson's College (Independent) and Edinburgh's Telford College G Schools in Perth and Kinross and Perth College H Saint Roch's Secondary School (Glasgow City) and North Glasgow College I West Lothian Schools and West Lothian College K Ashcraig School (Glasgow City) and Motherwell College L Portland High School (North Lanarkshire) M Rosehall Behavioural Unit (North Lanarkshire) The following pages provide an analysis of the characteristics of good practice that were most evident in each case study. |
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Characteristics of good practice |
Mutual awareness and communication |
Named staff member |
Support linked to needs |
Learning and teaching |
Age-appropriate curriculum |
Information informs planning |
Curriculum continuity |
Gradual transition |
Information about options |
Discussing post-school options |
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A Headwell School (Fife) and Lauder College |
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B Schools in North Lanarkshire and Motherwell College |
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C Schools in Inverclyde, James Watt College and the wider professional network |
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D Bothwellpark High School (South Lanarkshire) and Motherwell College |
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E Balwearie High School (Fife) and Glenrothes College |
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F Donaldson's College (Independent) and Edinburgh's Telford College |
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G Schools in Perth and Kinross and Perth College |
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H Saint Roch's Secondary School (Glasgow City) and North Glasgow College |
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I West Lothian Schools and West Lothian College |
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J Fife Council |
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K Ashcraig School (Glasgow City) and Motherwell College |
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L Portland High School (North Lanarkshire) |
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M Rosehall Behavioural Unit (North Lanarkshire) |
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Characteristics: information about options; gradual transition; age-appropriate curriculum
Students at Headwell School have a wide range of complex needs. There is a particular focus on communication and students use symbols, gesture, and touch/delta talkers as appropriate to their individual needs.
There is a carefully thought-out programme to help make young people moving from the school to Lauder College clear about the college environment they will meet. It starts in the senior class in the year before they move to college. Young people are gradually introduced to the college environment by the use of photographs and simulated situations.
The canteen
Students are shown photographs of the canteen. They discuss where they will choose their food, where they will eat it, and how they will pay for it. In the classroom situation the students practice using coins, and making choices. They discuss with their teachers what to do if faced with an unusual or expected situation (for example, a price rise which could mean they do not have the correct coins for their usual purchases). The students already make weekly trips to local cafes with their teachers, where they get used to purchasing and eating food away from their school environment. Teachers accompany the students on visits to the college canteen at various times. This includes quiet spells to familiarise students with the environment, followed by busy spells to highlight the hustle and bustle and noise levels.
Bus journey
The school makes very good use of photographs to introduce students to their route from school to college. The staff have prepared a booklet of photographs for each student showing the landmarks on the way, such as junctions and local buildings. Teachers 'talk the students through' the journey. They then make the journey together. At first, they use the photographs in conjunction with the real journey. Teachers gradually give students more and more responsibility for their journey. The students begin to pay their fare (or show their bus pass) by themselves. They wait for the bus at a bus stop rather than join it at the same time as the rest of the class. Eventually students are able to make the journey to college unaccompanied.
The college environment
The students are given photographic information about the college layout, the people they will meet and college facilities. The school staff work with them on role-playing situations they may meet in the college. The young people make up a folder entitled 'Things I'm learning to do'. This includes commonly used words and signs that the young people have to learn to recognise. The school places high emphasis on the use of role play to help young people make decisions about the safest strategy to employ if they meet problems in the college environment. Speech and language therapists work with college tutors to build up a "college" vocabulary for the students with language difficulties. The students add key words to their touch talkers in preparation for the FE environment.
Characteristics: gradual transition; curriculum continuity; information informs planning; age-appropriate curriculum; learning and teaching
The college is committed to inclusion and provides an extensive range of student support. The link programmes, as with the other special programmes, aim to give students access to an integrated adult education environment; promote confidence, independence, self-awareness and self-esteem; provide a differentiated range of educational opportunities; and enable students to experience success.
Students in their fourth, fifth or sixth year at school attend one of four link programmes. Each runs on one day a week. The schools and college negotiate the programme content. It is imaginative and interesting to students, and gives them the experience of an adult and vocationally-oriented environment. Numbers are quite large, which enables a range of classes to be offered and students can choose their subjects.
The Monday programme is for students who need little support in using the college facilities. It includes fitness testing, media, fast food preparation, computing and classes to promote personal and social development.
The Wednesday programme is for students who cope independently around the college but may need personal care. Subjects include music, painting and decorating, reception skills, sign language, Internet, upholstery, psychology, bakery, team building, and bricklaying. The Tuesday programme is for students who have completed the Wednesday programme, and provides additional options.
The Thursday programme is for students who need support in using college facilities. It includes art, group skills, personal presentation, drama and games.
These link programmes complement the curriculum that students follow in their schools. They also introduce students to a more vocational curriculum in an adult environment as a means of helping them to make decisions about what to do when they leave school. College staff give schools information on student progress on the programmes.
If students decide they want to attend a full-time programme they are asked to attend an Assessment Week. This allows college staff to take an overall look at students' skills and organisational ability and score them in key areas. This information helps staff and individual students discuss and decide on a suitable curriculum. It is used along with information from schools, from the future needs meetings and from Progress Files. The week is planned to be fun but also challenging for the students. They are put in groups of ten, mixing students from different schools. The activities include numeracy and communication assessment, drama, and planning on a fixed budget for an outing for the end of the week. Schools provide transport to college and any support that students need. The results of the assessment are recorded systematically and shared with individual students, their schools and their careers advisers.
Characteristics: information informs planning; mutual awareness and communication
James Watt College has a large Faculty of Learning Support, which offers a range of special programmes and services for students with particular support needs. It runs STEP programmes for young people, mainly school leavers.
The STEP programme draws students from many schools including mainstream secondary and special schools. Approximately ten years ago the college set up a STEP Working Party bringing together all associated schools. The working party meets periodically to make sure that all students have a good experience of transition to college, and that college programmes suit their needs. The schools invite college staff to attend future needs assessments for young people, and also other meetings convened to address specific issues or needs.
The STEP Working Party meets twice a year. Each meeting has an agenda that reflects the issues at that time of the school/college year. Working party members include college staff, learning support teachers or other appropriate members of school staff, careers advisers and representatives from other agencies, as appropriate. Among its activities the working party:
This formal meeting makes efficient use of staff time, puts professionals in direct contact with one another, and promotes more informal contact among the various centres about individual students or specific issues.
The working party has developed a referral form for students attending the link programmes. It provides an effective way of transferring necessary information to the college, and is the basis for personal learning and support plans. The form records school attendance and attainment records, placements undertaken, students' strengths and weaknesses in learning, the nature of any learning difficulties and a note of the support provided at school.
The gathering and transfer of information happens in other ways including the use of Progress File in special schools, and informal contact among the students, their parents, school and college staff and other professionals. The combination of human involvement and effective documentation helps the college to provide the curriculum and support that the students need.
Characteristics: gradual transition; learning and teaching; support linked to needs; named staff member
The staff in Bothwellpark High School work closely with Motherwell College to provide post-school placements for their senior students. Students' learning difficulties range from moderate to severe and complex, and some have autistic spectrum learning difficulties. They make good use of the Thursday Link Programme5 offered by the college. The school has developed the 'support model' as a means of ensuring that no student is intentionally or inadvertently excluded from the range of curricular life and experiences available to others of the same age. With support, students can make a gradual transition to college life. The level of support is determined by the individual needs of the student. A member of the teaching staff has responsibility for the link programme, supported where applicable by auxiliary staff.
The process of preparation prior to embarking on a college link programme is very much in line with the general learning and teaching approaches used in the school. For example, the school staff gradually introduce students to the short walk from the school to the college gates, and then the journey through the busy college environment. They make good use of photographs - not only of the important features of the journey and locations in the college, but photographs of each student completing the journey and being in the college. Staff use the photographs in the classroom to discuss the transition to college with the students and to help them visualise themselves in the college environment.
This method of support has proved to be particularly necessary with students with autistic spectrum and communication disorders, who have found the move to college particularly daunting.
The school has a profile system in place containing, for each student on the link programme, information on the communication and behaviour support needs, the strategies to be used and the resources required. To ensure success, it is essential that there is consistency of approach between school and college. In some cases, the member of the school staff supporting the student will individually explain, and 'model' the use of each student's communication programme to the college staff. In some instances, a member of the school teaching staff has been able to observe the communication between college lecturers and students and offer practical advice to the lecturers to develop appropriate strategies with the student. Where a student uses a communication system like Makaton signs in school, this will also be used in college as necessary.
After transfer, school staff meet regularly with a link lecturer from college to discuss the individual progress of the students. This ensures that any areas of difficulty are identified at the earliest possible stage and dealt with appropriately.
Characteristics: discussing post-school options; information about options; gradual transition; age-appropriate curriculum; support linked to needs; named staff member
Students in their fourth and fifth year in the school's department of special education are given the opportunity to attend the Thursday Bridgework course at Glenrothes College. Before they make a decision to start the course, the students are given good information about the college. This includes information leaflets for students and their parents explaining the organisation of the Bridgework course, discussion with students who have previously attended the course, and meeting a college link worker. This college representative attends each student's future needs assessment meeting and arranges, if necessary, individual and group college visits for parents and students.
Students make a number of visits to the college before starting their course. Staff accompany them on a tour of the buildings and show them classrooms and social areas in college. Students are introduced to lecturers and students they will meet from other schools.
When students make the decision to attend college, the department provides an induction programme before their first college visit. The students work through a Going to College Preparation Booklet. This process helps them find out about college and, importantly, how they will travel to college, what they will do there, and the subjects they will study. Lessons in the department focus on the different skills and attitudes that the students will require in college. Students are encouraged to discuss their experiences after each day in college. These discussions are used to help solve any problems that they have met.
Students are given the opportunity, gradually, to build up their time in college. Their initial one day a week Bridgework course builds to a four day a week course prior to them finally leaving school. The transition through the programme is monitored. It is discussed with a college representative at their annual review, and at their final 'Leaver's Review Meeting'. The same college representative attends all the meetings and good personal links are built between the department, college, students and their families.
The college and school discuss particular needs of individual students. The college attempts to meet all needs. A Lifeskills class is arranged for students with more complex learning needs. A small group of these students attend the college on Thursday mornings only and learn about lifeskills in a small flat within the college. As with the Bridgework course, additional time can be negotiated to suit the needs of the students.
Characteristics: support linked to needs; named staff member; mutual awareness and communication
Donaldson's College is the national school for deaf children and children with speech and language impairment. The lifelong learning department in the school has developed a Life-skills course for students who need a high degree of support to develop independence. As part of this course, good links have been established with Telford College.
Three students on the school's Life-skills course attend Edinburgh's Telford College one day a week. During their time in college, two members of their school staff support them. This is a high level of commitment from the school, but it ensures that the students have the support they require. The school staff sign for the students and ensure that they understand the college lecturers' instructions. School and college staff liaise closely to ensure that students' individual needs can be met.
Other students from the school attend Edinburgh's Telford College for blocks of time during their final two years in school. Again, two members of their school staff support these students during each session at college. In addition to giving direct support to students in college, the school staff provide 'deaf awareness' information sessions for the staff in the college. A link person from the college works closely with the school. The link is particularly strong because the link person is himself a 'signer' and can communicate with the students.
The school has developed services to support students in further and higher education. It provides interpreting and oral communication services for deaf students at universities and colleges. In addition, the school assesses the needs of students in college courses and recommends appropriate technological aids to support them.
Characteristics: discussing post-school options; information informs planning; named staff member
The college has appointed a key worker to support students on special programmes and to act as the main link with schools, parents, careers advisers and social workers. The key worker has good relationships with schools and plays a central role in the transition process.
The key worker:
The students, their parents and other supporting professionals come to know the key worker well during the transition period. She builds good relationships with the students and their parents, responds to telephone calls and arranges visits to college. She is a valued member of the staff team and works closely with academic and care staff. The key worker provides information to the team leader to help with decisions about the individual student's curriculum, attendance arrangements or support needs and can often advise on student issues which might affect attendance or performance. She monitors the transition process informally by being aware of the stages students are going through in making decisions about post-school placement.
Students can enter the link programme at any time of year, joining an existing class group. The key worker notes how they settle in, for example their likes and dislikes, how well they manage in the canteen, and their social interactions with staff and other students. She is the main contact when schools request feedback on student progress on the link programme.
The key worker continues to provide direct personal support to students at college, through classroom and lunch-break support, and in accompanying students to classes in the main college building. Students make good use of the informal guidance and pastoral support she provides.
Characteristics: discussing post-school options; age-appropriate curriculum; named staff member; mutual awareness and communication
The school identified a number of students entering S4 who had long-term absence and for whom current school strategies to maintain attendance had not succeeded. The school/college partnership offered them full-time attendance at college on a programme that would return them to the education system, provide certification and give them the opportunity to progress in further education.
The college drew up a list of vocational programmes with a January start that these students could join and looked for opportunities to include the development of core skills. It ran a series of 'taster' sessions in these areas in the autumn so that the young people could try them out and experience other aspects of college attendance.
In the meantime the school explained the initiative to students who might benefit. It made contact with the parents of students who expressed firm interest. These parents were generally enthusiastic and supported the alternative arrangements made for their children. They signed a contract, which confirmed that they agreed to the students attending college, that they would ensure regular attendance and that they understood that the students would be withdrawn from Standard Grade courses. If the students subsequently did not attend college, they were required to resume school attendance until they reached school-leaving age.
There was a celebratory launch to reinforce students' commitment. Parents and students were able to meet many of the college staff involved.
The college liaison officer was a key figure in the students' transition to college. He:
The school and college evaluated the initiative and found significant positive outcomes for a number of the students. They responded well to the adult environment of the college and the practical aspects of the curriculum.
This initiative was initially supported by the European Social Fund. Although project funding was not subsequently available, some of the lessons learned have been taken forward and similar arrangements are made individually for students who would benefit.
Characteristics: curriculum continuity; information informs planning; named staff member; mutual awareness and communication
Most mainstream and special schools in West Lothian and West Lothian College staff have well-established links with the key agencies in the local community, in particular with the careers advisers who provide the link for students from school to college. This network of professional support benefits individual learners at each stage of development.
Each member of the college learning support team has time allocated for liaison, and for maintaining relationships with a particular school. This includes attending future needs assessment meetings, attending review meetings and parents' evenings, and playing an active role in the school classroom. When students come to college for the first time on the school link programme (for students from mainstream schools) or the leavers programme (for students from special schools), the college staff member, who is by now a familiar face, greets them and their teachers. This link college staff member remains available as a support to both teaching staff and to students as well as having a key teaching and assessment role.
Before students go to the college for a link or leavers programme, the schools provide assessments of their interpersonal, practical and life skills. They also provide information on attainment and details of work placements and integration into mainstream classes. This information indicates future development needs and informs curriculum planning at college. College learning support staff and teaching staff meet at an early stage to address particular curricular issues.
The college assesses students while they are attending link and leavers programmes and reports on students' progress to their schools. The programmes are organised in six-week blocks and are flexible, so that individuals may repeat a block or move into other options.
When students wish to enrol for full-time Transition to Work programmes, college and school staff meet to share judgements before reaching a joint view of which course would be suitable. They discuss the full range of assessment information which has been gathered. They also discuss teaching and learning approaches, strategies for helping learners in their personal and social development, and curriculum support materials and resources that have been useful. This helps them to incorporate these materials and resources into work at college and to advise college lecturers on how best to meet individual students' learning needs.
Characteristics: information about options; support linked to needs; mutual awareness and communication
Fife Council has adopted a co-ordinated approach to supporting young people with particular needs from school to college or other placement. The council's education service links with other bodies and services in order to enable its school leavers to make a smooth transition to their next stages.
The Educational Liaison Officer and Education Adviser for Special Educational Needs have key roles. They are closely involved with the future needs assessment process, where they provide information and advice in relation to the transition from school to college. They also:
The service has wider links which support the needs of individuals in Fife in accessing post-school education and training. These include links with:
Characteristics: gradual transition; information informs planning; support linked to needs; mutual awareness and communication
The school provides education for students of secondary school age with physical or visual impairment, drawn from a wide area in the west of Scotland. It has long-established links with several colleges in the west of Scotland, as a result of placing students, where appropriate, in colleges in their local area.
In particular, the school has well-formed links with Motherwell College, mainly to deliver an S6 curriculum which involves, for almost all students, attendance at college on Wednesdays throughout the school session. Students visit the college for a week prior to commencing regular attendance, during which time college staff prepare individual assessment profiles. School staff identify a number of benefits of weekly attendance. These benefits include the possibility of mutual support and a positive group dynamic.
In addition to its general awareness and experience gained from students' attendance at college over S6, the school has effective arrangements to support students for whom college provision post-school is believed appropriate. Staff believe that the future needs assessment meetings, involving all the relevant interests and including careers and college staff, provide effective forums for planning. They emphasise the need for agreed plans to be absolutely transparent and precise, to ensure that commitments in terms of support are on the record and that there are clearly designated responsibilities and named contacts.
The nature of the special needs of many of the school's students means that the school gives close attention to preparing young people for independent living. The young people value their access to a special resource in Glasgow and praise the development of appropriate accommodation at some colleges.
Characteristics: discussing post-school options; age-appropriate curriculum; named staff member
Portland High School students, aged 14+, are predominantly boys with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. The school meets the needs of particular students by arranging placements in college where school staff consider this to be appropriate, in consultation with other key agents including social workers and careers advisers. Placements are therefore highly individualised, sometimes selected to take account of students' home locations. However, most of the school's placements have been with Motherwell College. The school staff value advantages of the large scale of the college and the positive attitudes of its staff.
The numbers of students involved and the nature of their needs means that it is unrealistic to think in terms of groups or classes attending college. The school makes a significant investment in staff time needed to arrange and support individual placements.
School staff perceive a balance of advantage and disadvantage in the opportunities to place students on an "infill" basis at Motherwell College, as follows.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Staff have considered work experience as an alternative route to some of the benefits of attendance at college, such as exposure to adult values and vocational development. Arrangements for work experience have much in common with college placements. Similarities include the need for individually-tailored placement; the consequent cost in staff time; the need for careful judgement on what might best meet students' needs; careful preparation for the placement, involving negotiation with student, parent, careers staff and college or employer as appropriate; and ongoing monitoring and support.
Characteristics: information informs planning; age-appropriate curriculum; named staff member
Rosehall Behavioural Unit provides part-time education for young people aged 14+ with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties which staff described as increasingly severe. Patterns of attendance and periods of enrolment are very diverse.
The unit aims to place students who choose to progress to further education in colleges convenient to their home locations, which cover a wide area in the west of Scotland. Placements are essentially individualised so there are few formal link procedures. The exception to this is the school's links with Motherwell College. Staff have a high regard for the ways in which the college's curriculum structure and its scale of provision facilitate placements, and for the positive attitude displayed by college staff.
Staff introduce students to the idea of college placement over the final six months of their attendance at the unit. They introduce the idea in the environment of future needs assessment meetings, at which careers staff and college staff are typically present. Most attempts at placement are based initially on the headteacher's judgement that college represents an appropriate route for the individual student.
School staff believe in the value of college placement, and note that placement arrangements needed to be developed further. They have identified a number of issues that need to be addressed if students are to progress successfully into further education.
Staff perceive the essential requirement to be good support before and during placement, for example by providing mentors, accompanied visits and continuing support on placement.
They also see Modern Apprenticeships as a possible attractive, alternative route which would suit the vocational impulse of many of the unit's students and which would involve an element of college placement.
