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Skill Force works in schools to provide alternative learning for
selected young people in areas of high deprivation and skills shortage.
It aims to address attendance, exclusion from school and behaviour,
re-motivating participants towards school courses and increasing
their employment chances. The teaching focuses on the key skills
of communication, problem-solving and team building, using practical,
real life examples. Skill Force came into life in Millennium Year
as a joint Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Department for Education
and Skills (DfES) project. In April 2004 it became a not for profit
Community Interest Company called Skill Force Development, giving
it a more flexible structure.
A small team, mostly young former members of the armed forces, teach
skills and outdoor education to groups of about 20 pupils, who are
selected as being unlikely to attain five GCSEs at grades A-C and
likely to respond to a more vocational syllabus. This syllabus replaces
two of their usual subjects, and usually covers ASDAN Bronze or
Silver and Wider Key Skills awards; the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze
award; the Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Entry Level Certificate in
Preparation for Employment; and two St John Ambulance Young Lifesaver
awards. Literacy is addressed through practical work like planning
for trips or other rewarding activities, and students build up a
portfolio of work while being encouraged to take particular pride
in its presentation, which is enhanced through ICT. Involving the
students in the planning phase of activities through high quality
talk has also led to written work of an unusually high standard.
Other factors contributing to the scheme's success are the high
quality of tuition in intensive outdoor training and practical skills,
and the informal approach of the instructors, who are on first name
terms with the pupils and who provide positive and achievable male
and female role models for them.
The scheme has been evaluated by the British Market Research Bureau
and by the Institute of Education. From the initial two pilot schemes
(in 2000), over 90% of pupils gained their Bronze ASDAN award and
80% expected to gain the Silver; 100% achieved the first aid qualifications.
In the second year of evaluation, of the students highlighted by
headteachers, 71% were still in school at the end of the year. One
headteacher commented that since Skill Force had taken on the most
difficult pupils, the others in their class were able to learn better
and learning support staff could be removed from those classes.
The scheme also seems to be having an impact on truancy levels;
the aim is for 92% average attendance, and at one school Skill Force
participants had the highest attendance of any group within the
school. Those overseeing the scheme judge its main impact to be
on the self esteem of the participants.
Skill Force is funded equally by the MoD and DfES, with some local
funding to enhance the core provision; however, direct MoD control
is due to end in April 2004, making the scheme the UK's first Public
Interest Company. It is overseen by the Secretary of State for Education,
Ofsted and the Prime Minister. Local Education Authorities, New
Deal for Communities, Education Business Partnerships, Education
Action Zones and others provide local support, and school teachers
are present at most of the activities; the awarding bodies also
contribute at a strategic level. There are 23 teams nationwide,
involving over 4000 pupils, but there are plans for further expansion.
These will include Scottish schools, following a pilot in North
Lanarkshire.
According to an evaluation of the pilot by Glasgow University, schools
reported improved attainment, attendance, behaviour, confidence
and maturity from the pupils who took part in Skill Force, with
less stress for teachers as a result. Some pupils achieved awards
for the first time in their lives as a result of the scheme. Skill
Force instructors became involved in the wider life of the school
and were able to share skills with teachers. One of the lessons
from the pilot was that it is beneficial to have a broad range of
pupils in a group rather than only the most disruptive; for example,
those who lack confidence and the gifted and talented can also benefit.
(TES Scotland, 13 August 2004)
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