The Albion High School goes the extra mile to engage pupils with vocational qualifications

The Albion High School in Salford is motivating pupils by introducing a Healthy Eating online vocational course alongside their GCSEs. The school has introduced the course to engage pupils and personalise learning and has taken the Government’s Home Access initiative further by offering pupils laptops to access learning anywhere, at anytime. The online vocational courses are delivered online through www.vision2learnforschools.com from Creating Careers and allow the pupils to go that extra mile and gain a vocational qualification that is equivalent to a GCSE.

By introducing an online vocational qualification, pupils can learn at their own pace on computers, completing units and submitting work via the vision2learn for schools online environment. Pupils can choose units from a broad selection of modules to build a flexible, personal course of study, which meets their individual needs. The Healthy Eating course incorporates units on diet, nutrition and food issues, including a wide range of healthy eating tips, resources and ideas. Sessions also include information about healthy eating for vegetarians and allergy sufferers, details on malnutrition and eating disorders such as anorexia, and questions on food labelling and food additives. The pupils complete exercises, such as researching and creating their own healthy eating plans and menus to help them to eat a healthy balanced diet, while teachers can track the students’ progress as they go, receiving assignments and sending feedback via the internal email facility. The Albion High School has gone a step further and will be offering pupils laptops and free wireless broadband to take home, taking its lead from the Government’s Home Access initiative that offers computers and internet access to low-income families.

Diane Wood, Deputy Headteacher at The Albion High School commented: “The vision2learn for schools courses have worked really well, we were able to personalise learning to suit our pupils and as a result they have achieved fantastic results. What motivates the pupils most is being able to work at their own pace and receive feedback on their work quickly. Once pupils receive their marked work and can see that they are doing well, it spurs them on to complete the next unit. The Healthy Eating qualification has opened doors for our pupils, giving them options they may not have had if they had only relied on a traditional curriculum. Over the next year we aim to introduce further courses to our pupils including Equality and Diversity and ITQ, a vocational qualification in IT User Skills.”

Jonathan Ovenden, Business Development Director at Creating Careers commented: “The Albion High School is leading the way by offering its pupils these courses and is a shining example of personalised learning for all pupils whatever their ability. Quite often, pupils who cannot engage with traditional education just need confidence and to be shown that they are bright and capable of achieving. We work with schools to provide courses that build this confidence in pupils and give them a nationally recognised qualification at the same time.”

For more information about vision2learn for schools please contact Jonathan Ovenden at Creating Careers, Tel: 07730 402653 or email: jonathan.ovenden@creatingcareers.com; website: www.creatingcareers.com.