Working in education is a privilege. It’s also a challenge when engrained disadvantage impacts young people’s opportunities. The Fylde Coast, where I work, is filled with immense potential, writes Carolyn Hall, Director of Climate and Culture. Yet the academy trust where I work also witnesses the employment and life challenges our pupils face. Last year, with support from our partners and funding from the Youth Futures Foundation for the Blackpool Connected Futures Partnership, we launched the Compass Curriculum. This carefully designed career pathway connects Fylde Coast Academy Trust’s Year 10 and 11 students with vocational options in a college setting. Offered to all Year 10 students as a Friday option, around 320 pupils across the Trust grabbed the opportunity in the first year – that’s over a third of our Year 10s. Compass is now providing these students with opportunities to build vocational and life skills and boost their career prospects, regardless of their background or ability. After connecting with Edge and the Deeper Learning UK network, we realised how many other academy trusts were looking to build students’ vocational skills. This gave us the confidence we needed to lead the charge.
We’ve now curated a portfolio of courses with Blackpool including health and social care, construction, engineering, e-sports, and hair and beauty. A similar partnership with Myerscough College includes land-based courses in areas like agriculture and animal care. These partnerships complement rather than compete with the Trust’s own offering, ensuring students can build on existing skills without duplication. For instance, the Trust excels in food design and catering, so our college partners now offer more specialised options like cake decorating. We're currently in our first cohort of the two-year programme. On Friday afternoons, students spend three hours at college exploring vocational subjects. Fridays have historically presented an attendance challenge across our academies and we’ve already seen 1% improvement in attendance
Additionally, students are engaging socially with their peers across the Trust in ways they never could before. And familiarising them with college surroundings and tutors is smoothing the school-to-college transition. We didn’t want Compass simply to offer a standalone taster of vocational subjects, so, wherever possible, we’ve also ensured that the pathways are structured to allow for progression from Level 1 (Year 10) to Level 2 (Year 11). Students enrolled in the health and social care course, for instance, have shown remarkable engagement, with many expected to complete their Level 1 by Easter in Year 10. This means our college partners can tailor courses to offer an education or healthcare pathway, such as an NHS route. With strong GCSE results in maths and English students can progress to Level 3 at 16 when they attend college, setting them on a clear trajectory for their future careers. That’s an exciting prospect.
We’re gathering clear information about what’s popular, allowing us to enhance option taster days for our next cohort. Even those who haven’t engaged that well with Compass are teaching us a lot about how to support and improve the experience. For instance, we’re partnering with Blackpool Sixth Form in our second year to broaden our academic offering. New GCSEs in ancient history, economics, psychology and sociology should appeal to those students who weren’t attracted to vocational routes. And Blackpool Football Community Trust is offering a Level 1 and 2 coaching course to complement those taking PE options, leading to an accredited coaching qualification.
The main benefit, though, is the clarity Compass provides around potential career paths and the skills learners need to pursue them. Currently, 90% of pupils say they would recommend Compass to the year group below. I’d say that’s a high satisfaction rate. Ultimately, the Compass Curriculum is driven by what’s right for our pupils. It doesn’t actively contribute to Progress 8 measures, which itself is a clear sign of why we are committed to it. Compass isn’t a statutory exercise – it’s about nurturing well-rounded, career-ready young people. Membership of Deeper Learning UK and support from Edge, Big Education, Youth Futures and Right to Succeed, among others, has been invaluable.
The importance of a strong support network to help an initiative like this thrive can’t be over-estimated. Right to Succeed has even described us as pioneers, which is a real source of pride.
This is just the start. In the future, I would love to develop a fully-themed Key Stage Three curriculum, perhaps something along the lines of the Morecambe Bay Curriculum or the Maritime Curriculum from Cowes Academy tailored to our context. Seeing the progress we’ve already made reassures me that we’re on the right track. So long as the funding allows, we’re going to keep it up.
Written by
Carolyn Hall, Director of Climate and Culture, Fylde Coast Academy Trust