Cranford Review 2019

Cranford’s research
into high performing
educations systems around
the world continued in
December 2018 with
Kevin Prunty, Executive
Headteacher, and Rob
Ind, Joint Head of School,
visiting Norway. Cranford
was selected in January
2018 by the Minister of State for Apprenticeships and
Skills Anne Milton MP, to be one of the first providers
of the new T-level vocational qualifications at Post 16,
and the purpose of the trip was to visit Technical and
Vocational colleges and Upper Secondary Schools in the
Scandinavian country widely regarded as having one of
the best technical education systems in the world.
We visited the capital Oslo, the industrial ‘Oil Capital’
Stavangar (Norway’s third largest city), the northern
municipality of Tromsø inside the Arctic Circle and were
welcomed into 4 different schools and colleges. With the
support of the British Council, we were lucky enough to
meet a range of students, teachers and education leaders
and learn about their approach to post-16 education and
the value they place on local industry partnerships and
technical competencies. The colleges were particularly
well equipped and investment in technical education has
clearly paid off in Norway.
Despite the darkness in Tromsø where it is only light for
an hour a day in December, the relationships between
staff and students were warm and positive and we were
impressed by the confidence of the students showing us
Cranford in the Arctic Circle
around, their independent learning skills and
the esteem in which technical education and
indeed teachers in general were held.
There was also an opportunity to take in
the aurora borealis but just as inspirational
were the things that chimed with Cranford’s
core values: the work Norway puts into
the rehabilitation of offenders, their focus
on immigration and integration and their
determination to ensure all students progress
to full employment.
We look forward to continuing our partnerships
with the educators we met and submitted an
Erasmus Plus bid to continue working with
them.
In August 2019 we were delighted to have
been awarded over 60,000 euros through
an Erasmus Plus grant (far in excess of our
previous record of around 40,000 euros) to
support a project which will see us continue
working with Kvaløya Videregående Skole in
Tromsø, alongside a regional college in the
Netherlands Stichting Regionaal Onderwijs
Centrum’s Hertogenbosch, on technical and
vocational education within the context of
a changing European landscape. Cranford’s
outward-facing international dimension
continues to grow and strengthen as does
our unwavering commitment to high quality
vocational as well as academic education.
Rob Ind (Head of School)
Teachers from Bogota, Colombia
On
22nd November 2018, Cranford Community
College welcomed a delegation of 13
teachers from Bogota, Colombia, who were in the UK
on a trip organised by the British Council and the SSAT
(the Schools, Students and Teachers network), to gain
a better understanding of the English Education system
in action. Their visit allowed us to showcase some
of the unique features of teaching, learning and the
curriculum at Cranford. The group wanted to engage
with senior and middle leaders to talk about their
strategic and operational roles, explore
how the school has led and sustained
successful improvement and importantly
gather students’ views about their learning and school
experiences. The group met members of the student
body, both formally and as their tour guides. The
delegation was very impressed and commented: “do
let the year 13 students who led the tour of the school
and spoke so confidently, eloquently and proudly about
life at Cranford how impressed everyone was by them”.
Philip Dobison (Consultant – Internationalism)
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