Ipsos | Uni Connect Phase 3 : Attainment-raising Activity – Final Report
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2 How have partnerships progressed with attainment-raising delivery ?
2.1 Introduction This chapter outlines findings about how Uni Connect partnerships developed attainment-raising plans and progress towards delivering these activities in schools . It covers how partnerships targeted schools and learners as well as how partnerships designed activities to meet the needs of schools and learners . It also covers what activities are currently being delivered and how delivery has been adapted from original plans .
2.2 Development , scoping and co-design
Summary : There were two main ways in which the activities have been tailored by partnerships to meet schools ’ specific needs :
1 ) The co-development of delivery plans with school staff 2 ) The emphasis on addressing the local area ’ s attainment needs
2.2.1 Co-development with schools Partnerships emphasised the importance of co-developing delivery plans with schools to ensure activities were tailored to the needs of schools and learners . This often related to the aims and content of the activities ( e . g . meta-cognition , study skills ) and how this fit with the school ’ s existing curriculum approach . This was enabled when there was good alignment between the school ’ s existing curriculum approach and the attainment-raising ambitions . Discussions about practical issues such as the school ’ s preferences around timetabling and how learners are selected for activities often required ongoing conversations from planning stages through to delivery . Partnerships stated that by including “ what schools wanted ”, engagement was better as a result . However , the practicalities required for codeveloped planning and delivery was a challenge for some partnerships in practice as this required additional time , resource and flexibility . In some cases , this also had significant impacts on partnerships ’ original plans , which had to be adapted in flight . This is discussed further in section 2.5
Some partnerships described the process as more co-consultation or co-agreement rather than codevelopment : making sure the activities were relevant and appropriate to what the schools needed and wanted , but the schools were not playing a major role in developing the delivery plans .
2.2.2 Co-development with partners Partnerships felt that delivery plans were successfully co-developed with partners as well as schools . This was especially the case with higher education partners . Delivery staff noted that the codevelopment of delivery plans was particularly enabled by strong existing relationships between the core team and partners and schools . Good communication was key in maintaining these relationships which itself was enabled by staff having one consistent contact for partners .
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