the story so far...

5 years ago I was working in a massive secondary school in Greenwich, having a great time exploring exciting new ways of learning with young people.   One of my responsibilities was for the curriculum so I formed a working party (that's what you do in schools) of really passionate staff who gave a damn big time not just about the diet of learning our kids were getting but also that all our youngsters could access learning and gain qualifications for their skills at all levels.

We had spent months sorting out the breadth of subjects on offer, tested out pilot groups in exciting new courses which included challenge based learning rather than exams and really looked creatively at how we could offer genuine choice to the most able yet make sure they had all the boxes ticked for the universities who were ramping up the entry requirements by the minute.  But our biggest sticking point for some time had been the less able of dis-engaged young people in our school.  we had explored BTEC courses and found they fitted the bill for some, but the ones who just enjoy learning new skills, love the outdoors and can be successful with the support of a team around them were leaving us with a problem.  We could find plenty of courses targeted at this group but none that offered genuine competitive GCSE equivalent qualifications to recognise the learning of these young people. So the decision was made to create our own bespoke course (that's what you did at our school).