The decision to close schools and colleges to the majority of young people as part of the national response to the Covid-19 pandemic is set to have a significant impact on the lives of students, parents, carers and the workforce in schools and colleges on a national and local level.
It has been noted that the impact may be felt hardest by young people in Year 11 and Year 13. Not only will their exam grades be assessed differently, but the planning for their next steps into Post 16 and Post 18 are likely to have been affected.
As the decision to close education settings was also extended to colleges and sixth forms, many learners completing their programmes of study this summer will also face huge disruption to their examinations and onward career and education plans. In particular, this will affect learners who are either completing A-levels or Level 3 vocational programmes and holding a conditional offer from at least one university or completing other forms of study programme without an offer or guaranteed progression plan for further education, training or employment in place for next year.
Careers Derby, in a bid to help address these issues, has created a Careers Derby YouTube channel to provide support and information to young people.
The YouTube channel provides bitesize videos for 16yrs – 18yrs olds to help inform their decision-making process. These videos have been produced by key partners involved in supporting young people and coordinated by Derby City Council, Learning, Inclusion & Skills team.
The bitesize videos cover a range of themes such as ‘Who is there to help?’, ‘Apprenticeships’, ‘How to Search for a Job’ and many more topics to help young people develop educationally and professionally during this difficult time.
The YouTube channel was created in collaboration within a number of key partners across the city, all keen to help support young people in Derby. This includes D2N2, the Careers & Enterprise Company, DANCOP (Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire Collaborative Outreach Programme), Derby College, Derbyshire Education Business Partnership (DEBP) Luminate Careers & Coaching, Space@Connexions, University of Derby, Community Action Derby and local employers (including Toyota, A Logical Ltd, Remarkable.net, Rolls-Royce).
From the conception of the idea at the beginning of April, a tremendous amount of effort has been put in to plan, develop and deliver successful videos. All have been produced specifically for the Careers Derby YouTube channel with key partners individually and collaboratively.
Another benefit of this is that we will have continued access to these videos and others will be developed, schools can then utilise in their own Careers Education programmes.
Councillor Evonne Williams, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said:
It has been well established that a key group that will be disadvantaged as a direct result of the pandemic is young people, particularly those nearing school-leaving age. It is therefore absolutely vital that as a community we pull together to help offer support, advice and reliable information to young people in Derby, preparing them as best we can for their future in an educational and professional sense.
Rachel Quinn Head of People & Skills at D2N2 said:
As our economy begins to recover from the shock of the pandemic, it’s imperative that we inspire our future workforce, give them timely advice on their career prospects, and showcase the types of work that will be available. I want to thank all the organisations that have helped kickstart Careers Derby, many of whom are part of the Enterprise Adviser Network and are helping to reinvent careers education across Derby.
Megan Hubbard, Head of DANCOP:
DANCOP has been in full support of this project; working together collaboratively has allowed us to best respond to local need and provide much needed support to our young people at this confusing and uncertain time. This provides a platform that we can continue to collaborate from in the future as we continue to respond to the impact of the pandemic.