The aims of the Specialist Schools Programme
The overall aims of the programme are to:
- Raise attainment for all students both in the specialist subjects and across the whole curriculum;
- Strengthen and develop the quality of teaching and learning strategies in the specialist subjects and use them to help raise standards throughout the school;
- Extend opportunities for vocational learning and enrichment activity through the specialist subjects, including through links with sponsors, business, employers, further and higher education institutions and organisations related to the specialism;
- Develop within the school, characteristics which signal its specialist ethos and identity and which are reflected in the school’s mission and objectives – including through encouragement of increased take-up and interest in the specialist subjects;
- Work collaboratively with partner schools to provide or facilitate high quality learning opportunities and outcomes in the specialist subjects – by sharing specialist facilities and resources, enhancing further the quality of teaching and developing and disseminating good practice; and
- Develop the capacity to provide or facilitate high quality learning opportunities and outcomes in specialist subjects, either working as an individual school or working collaboratively with other schools, within the school’s wider local community, including local businesses and employers.
The vision for Sir John Talbot’s Technology College:
- Promote a culture which is scientific, technological, enterprising and vocational;
- Raise attainment in design & technology, science and mathematics;
- Contribute to whole school improvement through innovative approaches to teaching and learning, particularly through the use of new technologies;
- Develop and share good practice across the curriculum and in particular across the specialist subjects;
- Improve post-16 participation in the specialist subjects;
- Provide a range of enrichment opportunities and vocational learning in the specialist subjects to improve understanding and extend learning for students and others in the community;
- Share and develop resources with a local family of schools and the wider community; and
- Increase the future employment opportunities for students to develop the skills needed to progress into employment, further education/training and higher education according to their individual abilities, aptitudes and ambitions.
