Plan to boost technical education in Barnet

The council’s post-16 education and skills strategy proposes creating “dedicated technical and vocational sixth-form provision attached to one or more existing sixth forms”.

Director of education and skills Ian Harrison told councillors the headteacher of The Jewish Community Secondary School (JCoSS) in New Barnet said his school was already looking to establish post-16 technical and vocational sixth-form provision.

“We think that would be a major benefit,” Mr Harrison told a meeting of the children, education and safeguarding committee on Monday. “It is so hard for religious schools to develop technical and vocational education.”

He added: “We have said to JCoSS that subject to this committee’s decision, we would like to explore ways of helping them to find sites for this separate provision.”

Schools in Barnet have been rated among the best in the country in recent years, with more than 96 per cent of pupils at schools that were graded good or better at their last Ofsted inspection.

But according to the education and skills strategy, there is a lack of vocational provision in the borough’s schools.

While Barnet ranked seventh in average point scores for A-level entry in 2020, it was 110th in the equivalent scores for technical levels.

Improving this strand of learning will be a key priority for the council over the coming year after a recent Government white paper placed a greater emphasis on the importance of technical education.

As well as dedicated sixth-form provision, the council’s strategy aims to minimise the number of youngsters who are not in education, employment or training.

It also focuses on boosting the opportunities for disadvantaged young people – including care leavers and those with special educational needs and disabilities – to progress to suitable education, training and employment.

The strategy and the plan to develop dedicated technical and vocational provision were unanimously approved by the committee.