It’s not every day you get to meet with the potential Deputy Prime Minister (and Education Secretary), and our very own CEO Jo Harper and Chief Education Officer Rachel Cave made the most of it, discussing the importance of language and the impact of our Learning Philosophy in helping every single student feel included, our fantastic outcomes for disadvantaged students, and the very particular benefits some of our UTC students get from a different approach to education.
Minister Bridget Phillipson visited UTC Reading late in September, along with Reading Central MP Matt Rodda, and Reading Borough Council leader Liz Terry and lead councillor for children Wendy Griffith.
Jo talked about the crucial role UTCs play in the education offer in the UK, citing the impact we see with our students in terms of social mobility, and the outcomes our disadvantaged students achieve, for example, in 2024 all our UTC Reading students headed to university, double the national average1. She and Ms Phillipson discussed the need for better transport access to UTCs, with Ms Phillipson talking candidly about the impact that her own free bus pass had made to her life growing up.
“The sub-regional nature of UTCs, especially our three outside London, means that we know that students who would really benefit from this education are missing out because they can’t afford to travel to our schools” says Jo.
Our success as a Trust with four UTCs in preparing students (and employers) for apprenticeships was also of interest to our guests; we know that our students are much more likely to complete their apprenticeship than the 60% national average, achieved through leveraging our close relationships with employers. These mean that we can ensure our students really understand what an apprenticeship will mean for them and require of them; and our employer partners have a chance to get to know their potential employees much more deeply before they join. This struck a chord with our local guests, as Reading has a higher NEET rate than the South East1, 2, but UTC Reading strongly bucks this trend.
Rachel’s personal passion for inclusion and belonging shone through in the discussion, with a passionate discussion of the impact of the inclusive language deeply embedded in our Trust, brought to life through our Learning Philosophy. It’s focus on the emotions and motivations for learning, as well as the brain, are gaining more and more recognition within education as having real power to help students get the most from their education.
“It’s quite incredible to think that we’ve been doing this for 13 years”, commented Rachel, “we’re very much in line with the DfE’s thinking in this area and are delighted that the power of recognising the three aspects that must come together for effective learning is becoming increasingly accepted.”
“ ‘Belonging’, ‘connection’, ‘inclusion’; these are all words that are integral in ALET schools” said Jo “as they are vital to help us Transform Lives Through Learning. We’re really proud to introduce some of our fabulous students to our honoured guests today, and help them to see the great work our staff are doing on this shared mission.”
Read more on this story here: https://www.utcreading.co.uk/blog/deputy-leader-hopeful-visits-utc-reading/
Citations:
- Baker Dearing Trust destinations report, December 2024
- https://data.youthfuturesfoundation.org/dashboard/neet, South East rate 9.7%, Reading LA 12%
