Providers take over as Somerset charity goes bust

Two providers have been forced to step in to support students after a training and education charity went into administration due to funding difficulties.

Learning South West, which worked with leaders and practitioners in both youth and education and training organisations, was based in Taunton, Somerset.

A spokesperson for accountancy firm Mazars said Tim Ball, partner at its Bristol office, had been appointed joint administrator for the charity on April 11.

He added the charity, which had an annual income of around £2.5m, had 10 employees of which “the majority have been made redundant”.

But there was hope for some of the learners, after Wiltshire-based charity The Learning Curve and National Star College, in Cheltenham, confirmed they were making alternative arrangements.

The Learning Curve, which provides training and development to the voluntary sector and wider community, secured Learning South West as a subcontractor for 2015/2016 to deliver level three apprenticeships in youth work.

But a spokesperson told FE Week on April 20: “We have two apprentices who were supported by Learning South West and we are making alternative arrangements which will allow them to finish their qualifications without being affected.

“Our contract with them [Learning South West] had only been in place for a couple of years”.

National Star College, a specialist FE college for people with physical disabilities and learning difficulties, also intervened to ensure more learners could complete their training.

The college had been involved in running level five specialist diplomas for nine existing teachers on behalf of Learning South West.

After learning of its demise, National Star announced it would continue teaching the diploma to the learners affected and had arranged an alternative venue at its own site for training.

“We received no advanced notice that this was going to happen,” said David Finch, National Star director.

“The course is on teaching learners with disabilities and we felt it was important for these teachers to complete the training.

“National Star took the decision that it would continue to run the diploma at our own cost.”

Learning South West had previously contacted the nine learners to tell them that the diploma would be stopped.

One of the students, Angela Braysher, who teaches at Kingston Maurward College in Dorset, spoke of her relief that National Star had stepped in.

“I was disappointed I was when I heard the news as I had just completed my first assignment and thought it was going to have been a waste of time,” she said.

Kate Howard, chair of trustees at Learning South West, made a statement on its closure.

She said: “Our unhappiness is compounded as young people and adult learners are the ultimate beneficiaries of our work.

“We are aware this is a major loss to the FE and skills sector and vital youth support services.”

Mr Ball, from Mazars, said: “The charity, which operated in partnership with various government and national agencies, has faced significant uncertainty with its future funding, leading to the board of trustees reaching this very difficult decision.”

The SFA declined to comment on the demise of Learning South West.

However, a spokesperson confirmed that it had not been a lead provider with an SFA contract since 2010/2011.

Coast to coast challenge

Sport students from Salford City College pushed themselves to the limit in a ‘coast-to-coast’ challenge to raise money for Sport Relief.

The event, which formed part of the second year BTec sport unit, challenged students to cycle across the narrowest part of England, from Workington in Cumbria, to the coast near Newcastle.

In total the students covered 140 miles in just six hours, using equipment from the college gym.

They used two rowing machines, an exercise bike, and a treadmill, working in a relay along with various staff members.

The students, who raised almost £150, had already found sponsors for their participation, and took it in turns to measure the number kilometres covered.

Sport lecturer Richard Lee said: “Not only did we raise a lot of money for this worthy charity, the teams who ran the event did themselves proud.

“In particular, students Ainsley Allen and Nikita Stirrup, who were there from the very start to the very end counting the kilometres and tracking the progress of those taking part.”

 

Main image from left: Ainsley Allan, aged 19, and sports tutor Chris Wilde cycle and row during the ‘coast-to-coast’ challenge

Rare restored car goes under the hammer

A rare car that was restored by East Durham College students has been sold for a whopping £17,500.

The car, a BMW 850csi, was donated to the college’s technical academy’s motor vehicle department last summer.

The extremely rare vehicle was the first to ever be fitted with a V12 engine and manual six speed gearbox — one of only 160 produced to this specification.

Twelve students and three staff members carried out restoration work, including replacing its hydraulic pipes, fitting new ABS speed sensors and giving the car a full service, before putting it up for auction.

The auctioneers, Tennants of Yorkshire, valued the BMW at between £8,000 and £12,000, but the highest bidder eventually paid much more.

Rob Hutchinson, centre manager at the technical academy, said: “The motor vehicle department had done a great job to make sure the car is back to its original standard, making sure it was in a great condition.

“We were hoping to get a decent value back from the car, as we knew it was an extremely rare vehicle, but none of us were expecting the final total we received.”

The money from the auction will now go back into the motor vehicle department to fund further student projects.

Main image: Technical academy centre manager Rob Hutchinson with the BMW 850csi buyer Panos Roulias

Wilshaw FE furore continues as Ofsted inspector investigated

The fallout is continuing over Sir Michael Wilshaw’s much-criticised comments about FE — as FE Week has discovered that one of the Ofsted chief’s own inspectors is under investigation after calling for him to go.

The chief inspector provoked a huge backlash when he laid into the FE sector during an appearance before the Commons Education Select Committee on March 2 — claiming it was “in a mess” and 16 to 19-year-olds should be taught in schools, not colleges.

It provoked Ofsted inspector Tony Davis into delivering a passionate speech at a recent NewBubbles Leading Aspiration FE Conference, in Heathrow (pictured), criticising Mr Wilshaw’s comments and calling for him to be removed from the post before his planned retirement in December.

Sir Michael Wilshaw, Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills.
Sir Michael Wilshaw, Ofsted chief inspector

Ofsted has now told FE Week that it is investigating whether Mr Davis, who delivered a presentation with the title “elephant in the room”, had breached his contract as a result of his comments.

A spokesperson said: “Our contract with Ofsted inspectors (OIs) sets out clearly our policies and expectations on matters such as conduct, use of the OI title and conflicts of interest.

“We will always investigate when allegations are made to establish if any policy has been breached.”

When told about this, Mr Davis told FE Week: “I have in no way contravened my Ofsted contract or the ‘OI Engagement Guidance’, which says we ‘should not damage the reputation of Ofsted’.

“On the contrary, it is because I value Ofsted’s reputation so highly that I am asking for the Ofsted leadership to stand down the chief inspector.”
Tricia Hartley, the former chief executive of the Campaign for Learning, heard his speech at the conference.

Reflecting on this, she said: “Tony stole the show, with a vigorous, well-evidenced refutation of Wilshaw’s highly publicised recent comments on FE.

“He suggested that Sir Michael’s immediate departure on gardening leave for the remainder of his tenure could not come soon enough, in order to stem the damage done to the sector’s reputation by his hostile statements.”

The government distanced itself from Mr Wilshaw’s comments two days after he appeared before MPs.

“We are very supportive of the work done by colleges and distance ourselves from Sir Michael’s comments,” a source close to Education Secretary Nicky Morgan told FE Week.

Martin Doel, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, also challenged Sir Michael to justify his opinions — which he said had caused “a good deal of consternation and anger” — in a letter shared with the paper.

He wrote: “Quite apart from the conflict inherent in her Majesty’s chief inspector being called to give evidence in his official capacity and then providing a personal opinion, even personal opinions require justification if they are not to be regarded as mere prejudice or an unreliable anecdotal judgement.”

Caroline Allen, CEO, Orchard Hill College Academy Trust

Despite being principal of Orchard Hill College for 21 years, Dr Caroline Allen does not have an office of her own — she is out and about too often.

“It would be such a waste of a room,” she says.

“I’m never in one place. My colleagues always joke that they need to put a tracker on me and see where I go.”

Orchard Hill, a specialist college for students with learning difficulties, is spread across five different sites in London, and will take on a sixth in Hillingdon in September.

Allen is also director of the Orchard Hill Academy Trust, which includes six schools.

She believes that maintaining strong links between these different institutions and their communities is vital — and she is encouraging more collaboration with local employers, mayors, health teams and housing associations.

“Wherever possible we try really hard to build strong relationships and partnerships with our local communities, and one of my key messages that I’m trying to get out at the minute is ‘we’re here with you’,” she says.

Allen was born on Christmas day 1963 in Guildford, not far from Orchard Hill’s main site, where we meet.

A lot of vocational, professional learning is playing to people’s talent or creativity

She was the youngest of three girls and her sisters Cheryl and Wendy gave their names to the family home ‘Cherwen’. “I was a bit of an afterthought,” she laughs.

Her father, Graham, worked for a merchant bank and her mother, Maureen, was a dressmaker. They still live in the same home and Allen describes her childhood as “really lovely”.

“When I was little I used to have parties in the summer, because of course you couldn’t really have a party at Christmas,” Allen says.

“My mum used to say it’s an official birthday — like the Queen.”

Allen’s education began at local primary school The Raleigh School in Horsley, and then Tormead, a selective independent girls’ school in Guildford.

The school gave her “a lot of understanding about how the world works”.

She remembers her headteacher, Ms Shackleton: “She was about my height, she was tiny, but she had a big personality.

“She would say every day, every assembly: ‘Hold your heads up high girls.’ ”

Allen says she still heeds this advice today.

“When I’m walking through the college now, I might have all these things going on in my head, but I think of that. If I went round as a nervous wreck everyone else would be too — it catches.”

She studied music, English and French at A-level, and as the only person in the year doing music she was taught one-to-one.

She sang and played piano and even managed full marks in her theory exam — despite her teacher “tearing his hair out” while she was learning.

She then went on to attend the Central School of Speech and Drama at Swiss Cottage, and did her teaching degree there in speech and drama.

“It’s paid off enormously with what I do, because I’m talking to people all the time, I’m talking to big groups.

“I think all teachers should get drama trained, it’s really good for interaction and communicating in different ways. A lot of the staff here are into some form of creative hobby.”

She says this really helps in working with young people with special needs.

“A lot of vocational, professional learning is playing to people’s talent or creativity and I think that we need to not lose that as we go forward,” she adds.

Allen’s next step was a big one — she wanted to see the world, so bought a one way ticket to Hong Kong.

She stayed there for two years and during this time gained her first experience of teaching.

“I taught everybody from age two to age 64. I taught English as a foreign language, business English, kindergarten, and I taught people with special needs as well,” she says.

“One of the people I worked with was quite severely autistic, he was quite challenging in his behaviour so I was working a lot on communication with him — I enjoyed that.”

By the time she returned to the UK, Allen had decided that special needs was the field for her.

“I found the job here as a teacher and immediately knew this is it, that’s the one,” she says.

It is 29 years since she first joined Orchard Hill and she jokes: “It’s like the Bermuda Triangle here – you’ll never escape.”

Allen now lives in Cheam, Sutton, with her son Kieran, who is 18.

He is studying Visual Effects and Games Design at North East Surrey College of Technology (Nescot).

They are close and recently travelled to Paris for an Easter holiday together.

“He’s lovely, I’m very lucky. He’s such a nice person, very supportive,” she says.

Kieran is volunteering with the Orchard Hill digital learning department once a week, helping with a project that Allen is particularly proud of because it has been partly created by the students.

They have worked on a digital portfolio tool that profiles a learner’s journey electronically, and Allen says it has been really important in helping them to convey their successes to others.

The college also offers traineeships and Allen has cultivated a partnership with Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals in London to deliver these, which has presented a great range of learning opportunities for Orchard Hill learners.

“With the two hospitals and also the community teams, there is virtually every job in the world in that little area,” she says.

“Within the hospitals, they’ve got Costa Coffee and that sort of thing, so it’s not just the hospital jobs there are other franchises as well.”

Allen says that some of the students at Orchard Hill find communication very difficult, but she adds that with a bit of patience opportunities can be found for everyone.

“It’s very challenging, but once you get through all of that and teach them how to communicate well, they can find their niche – the thing that they’re really good at.

“I always say we’ve all got a slot, and if you’re in the wrong slot that’s when things can go wrong. It takes a bit of trial and error.”

She gives that example of one student with particularly challenging behaviour who eventually found a job in a training centre for boxing. “They love him,” she says with a grin.

Outside of Orchard Hill, Allen sits on the Education Funding Agency Advisory Board and the London Young People Education and Skills Board. She is also a member of the Association of Colleges London Regional Committee and a governor at Croydon College and St Dominic’s School, in Surrey.

These additional roles help her to maintain an understanding of the sector as a whole and how its different parts are connected.

She says that seeing things from a range of perspectives is important in helping students with special needs to progress through education and into employment.

“In education, people are under pressure to show results and attainment, and that doesn’t always help with inclusion. It’s the value added that I think we should be focusing more on, rather than very simplistic qualification outcomes.

“Our students should be appreciated for what they can offer, as opposed to being thought of as recipients of care.”

She adds that communicating clearly and building strong connections with the local community is part of driving this forward.

“It’s about having a lot of really enthusiastic support both ways and trying to work together so that our students can get good outcomes from those relationships,” she says.

“You always learn from everybody else — it might be a problem fitting it all in my diary, but I think it is a good way of working.”

 

IT’S A PERSONAL THING

What’s your favourite book?

Emma by Jane Austen

What do you do to switch off from work?

I do Qi Gung and Tai Chi. I’ve been doing that for about 30 years and I reckon it’s the only way I can survive. I also do swimming and golf. I go walking with my son in National Trust places and we like that because he is a brilliant creative storyteller and he makes up stories as we go. We do a lot of travelling

What’s your pet hate?

I don’t like people being rude. I think it’s unnecessary

If you could invite anyone to a dinner party, living or dead, who would it be?

The Dalai Lama

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

I wanted to be a teacher. My drama teacher when I was little, probably about nine or 10, was just fabulous. Her name was Felicity Blackstone. She really helped me and talked to me as an equal. She gave me a love of Shakespeare too. She inspired me

 

CURRICULUM VITAE

Born: 

1963 – Born in Guildford, Surrey

Education & Career:

1968 – Joined The Raleigh School

1975 – Joined Tormead School

1982 – Began studies for a B.Ed (Hons) degree in Speech, Drama & English at Central School of Speech and Drama

1985 – Completed an MBA at University of Keele

1986 – Moved to Hong Kong, taught English as a Foreign Language/Business English/Special Needs

1987 – Move back to the UK and started teaching at Orchard Hill College

1995 – Made principal of Orchard Hill College

1997 – Son Kieran born

2000 – Appointed chair of Learning & Skills Council London South

2006 – Awarded OBE for services to FE in Queen’s Birthday Honours list

2008 – Member of the London Region Learning & Skills Council for one year

2009 – Completed a PhD in organisational management and business excellence at Birmingham University

2011 – Became Vice Chair of Croydon College Corporation

2012 – Member of London Region Young People Education & Skills Board, London Councils

2013 – Made chief executive officer of Orchard Hill College Academy Trust

 

Click on the image for a larger version

Dr-Caroline-Allen-timeline

First prize for funky bunch

A pair of enterprising students from Bedford College were triumphant in the 157 Group ‘Going Further’ Digital Skills competition last week.

Ben Dixon, aged 18 and Kylan McCaffrey, 20, who called themselves Benny Ben and the Funky Bunch, competed against five other finalists at Google headquarters.

The competition challenged students to test their digital and design skills by redesigning the 157 Group website.

During the final each group pitched their design to a panel of experts, who quizzed them on their work in a Dragons Den style format.

From left: Ben Dixon and Kylan McCaffrey at the 157 Group ‘Going Further’ Digital Skills competition

The judging panel included Ian Pretty, 157 Group chief executive, TV presenter Maggie Philbin, Nigel Sale, senior manager at Google, and Sophie Devonshire, chief executive of The Caffeine Partnership.

Ben and Kylan, who study a level three BTec diploma in IT, bagged an HP Chromebook and an HP Officejet Pro printer each for winning as well as an ingenious HP Sprout Pro for their college.

Skills Minister Nick Boles said: “157 Group’s competition is an excellent way to help students gain the skills needed in our increasingly digital world. The participants will take away a wealth of experience to use in their future careers.”

Movers and Shakers: Edition 171

George Trow has announced his retirement as principal of Doncaster College after more than six years at the helm.

He will leave at the end of the summer term.

Mr Trow moved to Doncaster College in May 2010 during a time of trouble.

The college had been rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted in 2008 and was on the brink of financial failure.

In its most recent Ofsted report Doncaster College was rated ‘good’.

Chair of the corporation, Paul Pascoe, said: “George is an inspirational leader who has led the college from a position of difficulty to one where the college has real belief in itself, able to deliver the very highest quality to its students who are always at the very heart of all the college does.

“The college is now in a much improved and strong position in the business and local community and is seen as a key player in Doncaster’s economic future.”

Mr Trow joined Doncaster College from his position as principal of Rotherham College of Arts and Technology.

He has worked in a range of colleges for more than 30 years.

Meanwhile, Ioan Morgan CBE has joined Farnborough College of Technology as interim principal following the retirement of Christine Slaymaker CBE.

Mr Morgan has been a principal for 25 years in a number of different colleges, latterly at the Warwickshire College Group.

He said: “I am very proud and excited to have this opportunity to lead Farnborough which has a fine national reputation for high quality and financial strength.

“Challenges for all colleges lie ahead, but I am confident Farnborough will be ahead of the game and will, as always, have learners at the heart of all it does.”

Ms Slaymaker retired after working at the college for nearly 15 years.

She said she had “enjoyed” all of her time at Farnborough and paid tribute to the “hard working, diligent and professional staff who have achieved so much in terms of national accolades and plaudits but also for each and every individual learner who studies with us.”

And the Association of Colleges (AoC) has announced Ian Ashman, principal of Hackney Community College, as its president-elect.

Mr Ashman will take over from current president John Widdowson on August 1.

Having begun his career in FE in 1993, Mr Ashman has held a range of college posts across London, and has been a principal for more than 13 years.

He has been chair of the AoC London region since 2010 and is also a member of the London Enterprise Panel – Skills and Employment Working Group.

Commenting on his new position, Mr Ashman said: “I want to help the AoC continue to make the strongest case for the sector during a period of change.

“We need to ensure that colleges have a powerful voice in the coming year, particularly given area reviews, delegation of skills funding and financial pressures, alongside the transition to a new chief executive.

“I am looking forward to travelling around the country to visit colleges while working closely with the AoC team, to influence decision makers, to secure the best outcomes for our students, communities and colleges.”

The Department for Education (DfE) also announced this week that Jonathan Slater would take over from Chris Wormald as the head of civil servant.

Mr Slater, currently director general and head of the economic and domestic affairs secretariat at the Cabinet Office, will take up the role of permanent secretary at the DfE on May 3.

The news follows the announcement in January that Mr Wormald, who has been the DfE’s permanent secretary since March 2012, would be moving to the same position at the Department of Health.

Theatrical make-up winner

An artistic Rugby College learner has picked up more than £1,500 worth of prizes after winning a student theatrical make-up competition.

Lydia Noble, who studies a level three extended diploma in production arts, travelled to the professional make-up academy in Birmingham for the national Student Artist competition.

Lydia Noble (right) and her make-up model, Lauren Colledge, aged 17
Lydia Noble (right) and her make-up model, Lauren Colledge, aged 17

The 20-year-old, who beat 10 others in the event, said: “It was my first competition so I really didn’t think I’d win. When I heard my name called it was so exciting, especially as all the other competitors were so good.

“I definitely want to go into film and TV make-up, so this is great for my CV.”

Lydia’s prizes included a range of special effects make-up and brushes as well as a trip to London for a professional photoshoot.

Kelly Taylor, lecturer in theatrical make-up at Rugby College said: “For Lydia to win in her first competition is fantastic, and the prizes she has won, as well as the experience, will set her up really well for her future career.”

 

Main photo credit: Credit Tt Visuals

 

Hold fire over outright subcontracting ban

Mark Dawe explains warns against hasty decisions being made over subcontracting because of a new Skills Funding Agency (SFA) review on brokering.

The SFA review of the use of brokers in relation to subcontracted skills provision should not be a reason in itself to add further weight to calls for an outright ban in subcontracting.

At AELP, we are under no illusions that the future of subcontracting as a whole is under the spotlight.

It is an indictment of the current system that the opportunities to pursue subcontracted business are now so numerous

The SFA has decided to ban subcontracting for all loans funded provision from 2017-18, while at the same time the total loans facility being offered to colleges and providers is being increased by 29 per cent.

It will be interesting to see if the larger facility can be exhausted without subcontractors in the market, even with the agency actively approaching current subcontractors to see if they want direct access to it.

The other shift in policy is that under the levy system for apprenticeships, subcontractors will be able to redeem their employers’ digital vouchers directly with the SFA, if they are on the Register of Training Organisations (ROTO).

Given the implications of a large number of providers possibly taking advantage, this has necessitated an agency review of the capacity and capability tests that need to be satisfied before a provider is admitted.

We have always said that a key tenet of the apprenticeship reforms should be the upholding of employer choice, which actually exists under the current system.

But the reform process needs to be managed, so as not to cause unreasonable disruption to customer relationships that have worked well and delivered successful results.

It is arguably the scale of subcontracting and the associated payment of management fees that have prompted this policy response.

Yet the AELP case is that this could have been avoided if the current funding system worked better.

Growth of good performing independent training providers through a direct contract has often been restricted, even though new employer demand has been clearly evidenced.

So it is hardly a surprise that as entrepreneurial businesses, they have gone looking for it from other sources, particularly from institutions that either don’t have a work based learning capability or a strong employer engagement strategy.

The biggest frustration of the handling of providers’ growth requests over the last year or so has been that committed employers willing to offer apprenticeships have had to be turned away, because there was no guarantee that funding would be forthcoming.

But it is also an indictment of the current system that the opportunities to pursue subcontracted business are now so numerous that brokers are able to flourish as part of the market.

On the issue of subcontracting best practice and the question of justifiable management fees, AELP alongside the Association of Colleges made a major effort to bring about improvements three years ago in the form of the Common Accord.

And although the accord has a reference within the funding rules, its voluntary status could have arguably been bolstered by more forceful backing from the authorities.

The case for allowing subcontracting to continue to be part of publicly funded employment and skills provision has been persuasively set out elsewhere, such as providing employers access to specialist providers in complex areas such as construction projects.

The largest levy paying employers are likely to want to do deal with only one provider, but it shouldn’t be expected that a single provider can deliver everything the employer needs.

For example, how often will a level two apprenticeship provider in call centre operations be able to also offer a level seven in management?

Therefore, it would seem appropriate to encourage strong partnerships of providers to ensure employers get outstanding provision across all their requirements and not prevent such practice through artificial restrictions.

Before any further policy decisions are made, it would certainly be very helpful for the SFA to publish a clear statement of what the Agency deems as subcontracting.