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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. Xlerate with xl is a joint venture principally between the Princes Trust Scotland ( PTS) and Young Enterprise Scotland ( YES). It was developed at the request of the Scottish Executive and The Hunter Foundation ( THF) to tackle the need to improve the educational and employment outcomes for young people not fully benefiting from a more formal school curriculum. It is supported by the THF as part of their overall support for the Scottish Executive's Determined to Succeed ( DtS) enterprise in education strategy 1.
2. Durham University Curriculum Evaluation and Management ( CEM) Centre was commissioned by the Scottish Executive and THF to evaluate xlerate with xl. The programme comprises six modules, including the recently-developed xlerate (enterprise) module from YES. This evaluation makes an assessment of the overall programme, with particular reference to the xlerate module, and is based on research undertaken between January 2005 and January 2006.
3. In general terms xlerate with xl is aimed at young people in secondary schools who are not achieving their full potential. This may be due to disaffection with the school, or other reasons, such as a lack of confidence or self-esteem. An important aim of the programme is to increase their enterprising behaviours, and knowledge of enterprises, which will help them to succeed in education and give them a positive start in adult life.
4. The programme was established in 2004, and currently there are in excess of 150 clubs in nearly all local authority areas in Scotland. It is based on the PTSxl and YESFranchise programmes - which gives six key components or modules:
1. Personal, Interpersonal and Team Skills
2. Citizenship and Community Awareness
3. Community Based Project
4. Residential Activity (where possible)
5. Preparation for the World of Work
6. Xlerate (enterprise project)
5. Students apply to join the programme towards the end of S2. If selected they spend about three hours a week during S3 and S4 working in groups of about 12 students. The groups are led by two advisers, typically one of whom is a teacher in the host school and the other a youth or community worker. The clubs generally have their own room, and a senior member of staff who is a link with the school management. PTS appoint co-ordinators who oversee up to about 30 clubs. The students work can be accredited with either SQA Higher Still or ASDAN awards.
METHODOLOGY
- Visits to 10 clubs piloting the new xlerate module during April and May 2005 to meet with students and advisers
- Focus groups with the co-ordinators and two groups of advisers
- Additional telephone interviews including with headteachers from 7 host schools
- Meetings and ongoing contact with key people in PTS and YES
- Two on-line surveys, firstly in February 2005 and repeated in November / December 2005. These looked at the students' view of the programme and assessed their enterprising attitudes and behaviours compared to those of other mainstream students.
MAIN FINDINGS
6. Overall we found xlerate with xl to be an excellent and very effective programme, and one which is having a very significant impact on the young people. We received very positive feedback from students (and advisers) during the site visits, as well as through the surveys. A number of key findings from the visits and surveys are detailed below.
7. Personal and social qualities - many aspects of the programme were found to be of substantial benefit to the development of the students. This included increased / improved:
- confidence and self awareness
- communication and organisational skills
- willingness to take responsibility and improved team working skills
- ability to cope with new situations and finding new ways of doing things.
8. The club sessions - the students enjoyed being members of the club (although not all were happy with the term club):
- they looked forward to the sessions and felt they could do with more time
- they made new friends, felt a part of the group, and would recommend it to others (personal and team skills activities were most popular)
- they got on very well with advisers - indeed only 2.5% said they did not. This relationship is very much the key to the success of xlerate with xl.
9. Educational needs - the students took a responsible and realistic view of their needs, and for quite a number the programme helped them;
- identify individual learning needs
- encourage students to value education and to become more motivated
- develop skills for work and improved future work prospects
- improve school work generally, and relationships with other teachers - the latter increased significantly between S3 and S4.
10. Assessments and the future - most students took SQA Higher Still awards, with some doing ASDAN; we found that they:
- felt both the programme and award will be useful in the future
- are generally quite positive about Scotland and its future
- generally had a positive attitude towards portfolio work - given that the majority of students are boys, many of whom had not been engaging in mainstream education, this is a particularly significant finding
- parents and carers are interested in the programme.
11. Quite a number of students said they did not enjoy going to school. Indeed for some, xlerate with xl was their only contact with education. Potentially quite a few (certainly post-S4) are likely to be at risk of becoming NEET (not in employment, education or training). As discussed in the report we are confident that the programme can help students avoid this situation.
12. Between S3 and S4 the number of students planning to stay on at school beyond S4 increased to a similar level to those wanting to go to college or into training. It was also found that during this period their ideas about future work increased; however, there was a very large reduction by the time they reached S4 in the number of students feeling there were work opportunities in their home area. This important final point has implications beyond the education system.
13. Possibly linked to this was a significant reduction in those wanting to become self-employed - this is in spite of the positive responses to the xlerate (enterprise) part of the programme.
14. In terms of enterprising attitudes and behaviours, we found surprisingly little difference between xlerate with xl students and their full-time mainstream counterparts. However, one significant and important difference was in terms of curiosity - xlerate with xl students were found to be significantly more curious.
CONCLUSIONS AND KEY RECOMMENDATIONS
15. Advisers - without doubt it is the advisers who are very much the key to the programme. We were very much impressed with their enthusiasm and commitment - and while this is, of course, not unusual in the early stages of a new programme, serious consideration needs to be given as to how this can be maintained; in particular how they are appointed, managed and supported as the programme expands and develops.
16. Staffing appointments - the current model of a teacher and a youth or community worker should be maintained and, where appropriate, other staff, including support staff, should have the opportunity to be involved. In terms of appointments, it is fairly straightforward for teachers to be assigned and timetabled by their school. However, for the youth or community workers, issues such as employment status and tenure, as well as line management, should be further clarified and formalised.
17. Planning and preparation time - while the PTS do provide guidelines, this did vary to some degree and further clarification / agreement should be reached. Furthermore, this should be done with the various additional 'unspecified' roles in mind ( e.g. informal support outside of club time) - the benefits of which can be highly significant, even if relatively intangible.
18. Training (advisers) - currently, the initial two training courses are relevant and well received. However, further more specific training should be offered, in particular to address the needs of working with the particular types of students on the programme. And wherever possible, all advisers should attend events in the host school, as well as attending both youth and community-based training events.
19. Coordinators - can have up to 30 clubs / schools to look after and this ratio should not be exceeded. Whilst the relative locations are a factor, they can still be 'stretched' in providing the necessary support. The needs of new advisers, in particular, can be quite significant, and new initiatives such as the Quality Assurance system will have an impact on their time. Their training needs, in particular in terms of their management roles, should be further considered.
20. Operational protocols - both clubs and schools would benefit from more formal expectations or agreements in terms of issues such as resources, including staffing and accommodation.
21. Other bodies and stakeholders - much of the potential strength of xlerate with xl lies in the quality of the relationship with the many other stakeholder organisations, including schools, local authorities, health sector, community organisations, and so on. A wide ranging multidisciplinary approach is often necessary to address the complex needs of the students, and therefore contacts should be further developed and maintained.
22. Programme advisory group - within the clubs, schools and many other organisations there is a vast amount of knowledge and expertise that could be more formally called upon to advise on the development of the programme. To this end, we would recommend the establishment of a national advisory group to work with the PTS and YES. This group could include existing advisers, headteachers from the host schools, local authority representatives, and other interested parties.
23. Assessment and accreditations - while appreciating that there will be quite substantial changes to the systems nationally, we would suggest that a simpler single-track approach be adopted, rather than the current twin ( SQA or ASDAN) route. We note that at the time of writing that there are ongoing contacts between the SQA and ASDAN, and would hope that a joint, or ASDAN accredited by the SQA, award could be offered.
24. Work placements - for a variety of reasons these have not happened, although we understand there is a proposed pilot programme. We have little doubt that such placements would be of great potential benefit to many of the students.
25. Xlerate module - in terms of the businesses that are created, we would suggest that these should either be product-based or a continuous service (rather than one-off events). We would also suggest that further consideration is given to the products offered through YES - organisations such as Traidcraft might be possible partners.
26. Residential - for a number of reasons, not all students do the residential component. We would recommend that the PTS and other relevant bodies strongly encourage clubs to offer this, and that resources (including personnel) are made available to enable all students to take part.
27. Before and After - consideration could be given for a similar S5 / S6 programme, although operated separately. Likewise an S1 / S2 programme which linked in with primary feeder schools might be of benefit; in particular in terms of the primary / secondary transition.
28. NEET strategy - the programme could be more explicitly targeted at potential NEET students, and contribute to the strategy more generally. While both the contents and the methods of working have much to offer potential NEET students, we do still feel there is much to be learned (both ways) from other programmes.
29. Quality assurance - we agree with the general principles which have been adopted, but would still suggest that the system should be more in line with the HMIe How Good Is Our School ( HGIOS), including the Enterprise in Education Quality Indicators. This would also allow the xlerate with xl system to more easily feed in to the host schools' quality systems.
30. Performance monitoring - although some data is collected on a UK-wide basis little use is made of it at the moment. Further consideration should be given as to how the PTS and other stakeholders can use it, and where possible how it could tie in with existing systems to avoid duplication, particularly in terms of collection. We would also suggest establishing a continuous monitoring system to help understand how the programme works, as well as helping to identify the most suitable students. In addition the system could track students after they leave, so as to help assess the long term impact of the programme.
31. Host schools - a number of schools have found the programme to be of benefit in terms of their social inclusion agenda. Other potential benefits include the opportunity for teachers and support staff to work with students in a different setting, and for schools to further develop wider community links through the clubs.
32. Finally - it is clear that xlerate with xl has got off to an excellent start, and having grown rapidly, we agree with the PTS that a period of consolidation and capacity building is appropriate. And it follows that support should be given for the programme's continued expansion and availability. In spite of the desirability to further formalise some of the operational aspects of the programme, we would hope that the culture of learning and innovation which has underpinned its development continues, and that xlerate with xl is able to further evolve to help meet the needs of many of the young people in Scotland.
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