
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
50 | GK TRAINING SERVICES
learners, in order to inform external
organisations of what the learners
have enjoyed and what is important
to them, highlighting the learners’
favourite topics and achievements.
This is a way of portraying to
external organisations the work
we do and some of the work our
learners complete. This is also a
way of motivating learners to take
ownership of specific tasks, which
results in a real sense of satisfaction
uponcompletion.
Overcoming restrictions
When our organisation was founded,
one of the challenges we faced was
the recruitment of young people.
This was a result of us being a
small provider in the borough and,
although demand was high, it took
us a considerable amount of time to
become recognised. Through hard
work and determination to succeed,
we formed links with external
agencies, such as the local council,
schools and other organisations that
support young people.
The young people’s experiences have
contributed to us overcoming this
challenge significantly as word of
mouth has become a huge factor in
our recruitment process. That, along
with our quality of provision, success
rates in relation to qualifications,
learner retention and progression
rates, has led to us overcoming this
barrier and we now successfully receive
a large number of referrals throughout
the academic year.
Reductions in government funding
year on year have had an impact on
the organisation, which now has to
deliver more provision for less income;
however, streamlining our processes,
careful management and innovative
delivery methods have somewhat
combatted this issue.
Continual development
As we move forward we hope to
develop facilities to accommodate
more young people and deliver more
SEND provision for 16 to 24-year-olds.
To achieve this goal, we will need to
increase specialist staffing levels to
support our SEND learners. Secondly,
we are looking at increasing our
traineeship provision to widen the
opportunities for optional progression
from other programmes within
ourservice.
Lastly, by increasing the base of
employers that we work with, we can
maximise the opportunities available
to young people, so they become
more likely to gain employment
and are given more varied options
for the work placement element of
their chosen programme. Through
these improvements, we can achieve
a brighter future for GK, and for
ourlearners.
As we move
forward we
hope to develop
facilities to
accommodate
more young
people and
deliver more
SEND provision
for 16-24 year
olds
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Tutors carrying out an
enrichment day with
year 11 pupils to raise
awareness of options
available to them after
leaving school