Themes

Regions

Learning & Skills

“In the 21st century, our natural resource is our people – and their potential is untapped and vast. Skills will unlock that potential.” - Leitch Review, December 2006

The development of learning and skills is fundamental to the economic and social well-being of the UK and Europe. Building policies and infrastructures that can support the level of development required is now a major priority.
Across Europe, governments are seeking to build systems that can meet the needs of businesses and individuals in a variety of ways. These include: developing a better understanding of education and training; reforming the accreditation and qualification systems to encourage flexibility in the labour market; extending the definition of learning to encompass informal learning; and developing robust planning and quality assurance systems.

ECOTEC can help you:

  • Find and implement practical solutions;
  • Gather a clear picture of supply and demand in learning markets and help to identify business skills needs;
  • Evaluate education and training programmes, and recommend how they can be developed to meet your objectives;
  • Develop sustainable policies that meet the needs of the economy and of diverse communities;
  • Determine where your policy should head in the future and assess the quality of provision, provider capacity and capability development.

Service Portfolio: Evaluation of transition information sessions

Classroom

Department for Children, Schools and Families (former Department for Education and Skills)

ECOTEC is evaluating an important national project for the Department for Children, Schools & Families, to engage parents in their child's learning and development. This two year pathfinder evaluation will identify lessons learned from effective work with parents and carers, to inform national rollout in 2008 as part of the Every Child Matters policy reforms.

The project
The 'transition information sessions' demonstration project offers a core framework for working with parents and carers, which can be adapted to meet local needs. It aims to build relationships with parents when their child starts primary or secondary school - key transition points - and to enable fast and effective referral to services that are offered in the local area. This is an important dimension to the Extended Schools concept, and recognises that ultimately all schools require effective parent partnership to deliver positive outcomes for children and families. At pathfinder stage, some 500 schools are delivering sessions in 2006-07 and a further 500 in 2007-08.

The evaluation
The aim of the evaluation is to establish the effectiveness of the various local models for planning and delivering the sessions, and to identify their impact on parents, families, schools and communities. ECOTEC is working in partnership with Professor John Bastiani for the evaluation - a leading national expert in home-school links and parental involvement. The work includes a national baseline survey of 2000 parents, observations of sessions in six local authorities, and in-depth interviewing with school staff, partners, parents and carers. The interim report is due in March 2007 to provide recommendations for next year's cohort of schools. Final reporting will take place in March 2008.

laurie.day@ecotec.com
+44 121 616 3600


Other projects in this Portfolio