DYW – Quick Start Guide

The following information outlines the core essentials around DYW, in order to provide a quick overview and introduction to support  planning and implementation.  It includes the following sections:

A.  What is DYW? – Introduction

B.  What are the key priorities? – DYW essential

C.  Key Resources

A.  What is Developing the Young Workforce?

  • Developing the Young Workforce is a seven year programme to reduce youth unemployment by 40% by 2021.
  • The national milestones are set out in Scotland’s Youth Employment Strategy.   
  • The programme is built on the CfE entitlements for children and young people set out in 2008 in Building the Curriculum 3.
  • DYW is a key education policy, as highlighted by John Swinney at consecutive SLF addresses : “Our education policy is enshrined by three major policies, Getting it Right for Every Child, Curriculum for Excellence and Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce.” (SLF 2017)
  • A focus on STEM sits at the heart of DYW. The Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy, Making Maths Count report and  STEM Strategy for Scotland  will contribute useful and relevant insights.
  • DYW has a particular and significant contribution to make in realising the Scottish Attainment Challenge outcomes, in particular priority 4: Improvement in employability skills and sustained, positive school-leaver destinations for all young people.

B.  DYW Essentials:   What are the key DYW priorities ?

  1. The Career Education Standard (CES 3-18):     Read the Career Education Scotland (3-18).  This document contains the key entitlements and expectations around DYW in education and provides guidance for planning and progression.

Reflective question:

  • To what extent am I familiar with the entitlements and expectations outlined within the CES 3-18?
  • To what extent do I use the CES 3-18 to plan relevant and coherent learning experiences?
  1. Education -Employer Partnerships:    Establishments need to continue to develop sustainable partnerships with employers, businesses and colleges, which will enable the delivery of meaningful work-related and work-based learning opportunities.

Reflective question:

  • What type of education-employer partnerships do I currently have in place?
  • How do I ensure that these partnerships are effective and sustainable?
  • To what extent do the partnerships contribute to the curriculum design and delivery?

3. Curriculum design:   Embed DYW consistently across all that is planned for children and young people throughout education, ie. within the curriculum,  through interdisciplinary Learning, Personal Learning and Achievement and  the life and ethos of the school as a community.  For more information see Scotland’s Curriculum Refresh Narrative.   Resources for teachers and practitioners can be access on My World of Work.

In secondary schools learner pathways should be planned to reflect the needs and aspirations of young people and offer a diverse range of tailored learning programmes from BGE into the senior phase.  This should draw on a wide range of work-related courses such as Foundation Apprenticeships, Skills for Work modules, HNCs etc delivered in collaboration with colleges, training provides and employers alongside traditional subject choices.

Reflective question

  • How effectively do you plan for career education opportunities and progression pathways for learners in your school?
  • In what ways does the curriculum provision and timetabling in your establishment incorporate career education for all learners?

4.  Connect learning with the world of work:  Whenever relevant learning should be linked to careers, the labour market, employability both theoretically as well as practically.    Education establishments should therefore create work-related learning opportunities for all learners from early years to senior phase.  This may include career insight, work  inspiration, enterprise, simulated  work environments connections.   Work-based learning should be provide to all learners aqs and when required, particularly however in the senior phase.  The implementation of the Work Placement Standard should be an integral element of this.

Reflective question:

  • To what extent do I plan and incorporate work-related learning opportunities across the curriculum
  • To what extent are partners involved in delivering meaningful, work-related experiences for learners,  the delivery of skills and qualifications and highlighting prospective career opportunities?
  • To what extent do all learners our have access to relevant work-based learning experiences and palcements.

5. Improvement Planning:  DYW should be included within the establishment improvement plan and the targets should be realistic and manageable and able to be overtaken in one school year. External partners, such as employers, community learning and development and colleges, and parents should be part of the improvement planning process.  However the voice of young people  should be clear in the establishment improvement plan.   All DYW activity and targets should be clearly focussed on outcomes for learners.

Reflective question:

  • What impact are improvement measures having on learning, success, achievement, confidence, positive destinations and so on?
  1. Skills:   There should be a clearer focus on enabling children and young people to recognise and track their own skills development and achievements across their learning.

Reflective Questions:

  •  How effective are profiling processes across the school/establishment?
  • To what extent do I provide opportunities to engage in profiling that supports learning and the development of skills for work and future career choices?
  • How well do I engage children and young people in meaningful discussion about their achievement within and outwith school, the development of their skills and assist them in profiling these to support their career journeys?

7.  Equalities and Inclusion:   Planning for DYW should address issues of equity, equality and inclusion. This includes: addressing parity of esteem across all types of learning and future destinations; challenging gender stereotyping; and meeting the specific needs of young people with additional support needs, from black and minority ethnic communities and those with experience of living in care.

Reflective question:

  • To what extent is our DYW offer inclusive of all learners and challenges stereotypes and bias with regard to gender, race/ethnicity, disability and learners with additional support needs ?

C.  Resources :

Next steps

  • Sign up for Education Scotland’s DYW e-newsletter
  • Find DYW news and information on the Education Scotland Learning Blog
  • Follow us on Twitter, https://twitter.com/ESskills @ESSkills
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