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Bracing North Sea dip to warm veterans’ hearts

East Riding College public services learners braved the freezing North Sea cold to raise funds for the Royal British Legion.

The group of BTec level two and three students jumped into the water at Bridlington north beach wearing British Legion T-shirts as forces veterans looked on.

The learners came up with the idea as part of the ‘enterprise’ element of their course, which requires them to plan and execute an event. The final total raised was £177.

Tutor Julie Marr said: “The learners decided that they wanted to do something different and fun that could potentially raise more funds for the British Legion.

“Obviously, this is highly relevant to the subject matter of the public services courses, which many of our students have chosen because they plan to go into the armed forces.”

Pic: Public services learners making a splash for cash in the freezing North Sea. From left: Brooke Wedge, aged 18, Casey Reece, 16, Keisha Sowden, 18, Laytata Rugg, 16, and Beth Shipley, 17

A call to collaborate for the future

While area reviews mean colleges will become closer than ever before, Martin Simmons argues that collaboration was always going to be key to the sector’s future.

Mergers, funding ’simplification’, crazy targets, political dogma — where lies there any certainty in this landscape: this landscape, the beloved of so many, despite the best efforts of the meddlers and the ignorant? I can think of two certainties.

Firstly, our future learners will require and indeed thrive using digital technologies. Secondly, investment in FE will decline year-on-year for the foreseeable future. These two certainties make for difficult bedfellows and if we are to reconcile the opposites then we necessarily need to work in a different paradigm. That different paradigm is collaboration.

Curriculum development and delivery is where the real opportunities for successful collaboration lie

Having had the privilege to work in a team of eight colleges, together with an awarding organisation, sector skills council and private research organisation, I can attest to the truism that collectively we really can achieve, exponentially, more than we can ever achieve alone.

And curriculum development and delivery is where the real opportunities for successful collaboration lie. Yes, there are savings to be had in shared payroll, management information systems and, possibly, IT services, but nothing compared to what can be achieved by working together on curriculum content for online delivery.

We and others within the recently formed Designelearning Network have successfully delivered a blended learning solution to the first cohorts of budding e-learning Designers.

In less than one year, our project wrote — and had Ofqual approved — the content and detailed schemes of work for a new level three and four diploma in learning design, something we could never have achieved alone, more particularly as everyone in the team had their day jobs to do.

Again, a couple of indelible truths. Firstly, as we all know, it takes too long for individual practitioners to develop, let alone refresh, good quality online materials. Secondly, while you can buy materials from the private sector, much of it is prohibitively expensive and it is ‘locked down’ so that teachers cannot customise the materials for their own needs. As for MOOCs (massive, open, online courses) proceed cautiously.

At the risk of sounding like a 1960s advert for Kibbutz living, the answer to both ‘certainties’ may be found through collective, collaborative effort. If we find partners (whose values we share) and work together, then we will really accelerate the development of online content.

If the sector starts to train its own digital learning design technicians, then we will all have the capacity to adapt, customise and update the e-learning materials that we import from our partners.

Training the designers is now possible thanks to the diploma in digital learning design (collaboratively written and developed) — yes there is an investment required, but an extremely modest one given the potential return on that investment.

And no, it’s not Nirvana because all professionals will always want to change the content to suit themselves. But this is no different to buying a textbook: you use one section as is, another gets cut up and rejigged into a handout, a further bit is ignored.

It’s the mind-set that must change. And there is some precedent. Sharing between colleges on big European Social Fund-type projects has worked (it has also spectacularly not worked, but we cannot afford to work on the lowest common denominator) and I have heard objections on the grounds that we are competitors and need competitive advantage. But I have yet to hear a 16-year-old applicant ask whether our level two on-line childcare learning materials are of the same standard as our FE college 15 miles up the road.

You will notice that this article has not suggested that colleges will necessarily secure grand savings through on-line learning and that is because I don’t think there are (m)any — certainly in the short term. Using online learning to increase income, on the other hand, does open up both national and international learning opportunities, as I can clearly evidence.

Online learning — as many esteemed colleagues are advocating — is about meeting need, it is about what our learners demand, it is about the Martini of learning: “anytime anywhere”.

Timetable for ‘multi-stage’ Functional Skills consultation unveiled

The Education and Training Foundation (ETF) has unveiled the timetable for a “multi-stage” consultation on how maths and English Functional Skills qualifications should be reformed.

A spokesperson told FE Week today that it will be running “many different activities until late June” geared towards collecting views on how the qualifications should be reformed by 2018.

The first consultation set to launch in the coming days and close on April 7 will, he said, focus on “employers and technical experts”.

A second consultation with providers and other sector experts will then run from mid-May until late June.

The spokesperson said that employers will be invited to submit further views through an additional online survey, although no launch date has been announced for this yet.

“This is a multi-stage process and there are many opportunities to get involved,” he added.

It comes after FE Week revealed on December 1 that the ETF had appointed Yorkshire-based Pye Tait Consulting, in partnership with the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (Niace), to lead the consultation on its behalf, following a public procurement process.

The government had previously asked ETF to carry out a comprehensive review of English and maths Functional Skills, as reported in FE Week in July, that will lead to new qualifications being launched in 2018.

David Russell, ETF chief executive, said today (January 14) that his organisation was “delighted to be leading this important piece of work”.

David Russell, ETF chief executive David Russell- ETF — David Russell, ETF chief executive

“Many employers have concerns about the standards of maths and English of prospective employees. However, of those employers that have first-hand experience of Functional Skills, 87 per cent found them to be a useful qualification,” he added.

Mr Russell said that while “GCSE is the principal qualification in England for maths and English, and will remain so”, many younger and older adults “who have struggled with these subjects at school, benefit from being taught Functional Skills because they see clearly how they will benefit them in life and work”.

“We are seeking the views of teachers and trainers, employers and their representatives to ensure that our proposals to Ministers are as widely and soundly based as possible,” he added.

“The aim is then to help learners achieve a recognised qualification that provides them with the skills they need to support them in gaining employment and with everyday life.”

An ETF spokesperson added that it intended to present a report to Ministers by the end of August, with a view to the reformed qualifications being ready to teach by September 2018.

Skills Minister Nick Boles said: “Functional Skills qualifications are designed to deliver the level of English and maths skills employers are looking for, helping people into work and to get on in life. I welcome the ETF’s consultation as the first phase of a reform programme which will provide more rigorous and respected Functional Skills qualifications, and I urge employers of all sizes to get involved.”

The ETF published a review in March 2015, called ‘Making maths and English work for all’, which found that Functional Skills were Functional Skills were “not broken, but could be improved”.

The review, launched in January and led by former Jersey principal Professor Ed Sallis, was tasked with examining the perception and value of non-GCSE English and maths qualifications among employers.

It focussed on Functional Skills, despite a number of other alternatives to GCSEs, because they “have been designed to meet the needs of employers.”

It looked to the future, stating that “there are steps government and others can take to accelerate the rise in employer recognition and further improve the relevance, rigour and value of these [Functional Skills] qualifications.”

Miranda Pye, Pye Tait director: “Last year’s consultation showed us that 87 per cent of employers who know Functional Skills value them. This time we need employers to tell us precisely what maths and English skills they need, so that the reform programme can deliver maths and English of genuine value to the individual and the economy.”

Visit www.etfoundation.co.uk/functionalskillsreform or www.pyetait.com/fsreform to find out more about the consultation.

Providers who get FE Free Meals cash set for £15m DfE bursary fund cut

Providers who dish out FE Free Meals cash to learners are set to be hit with a £15m cut to the overall bursary fund next academic year.

The Education Funding Agency revealed in a letter to providers, published today, that it was moving to act over the issue of “double funding” — where providers had FE Free Meals allocations, at £2.41 a-day per learner, and could also use discretionary bursary fund money to pay for disadvantaged learners’ meals.

The letter, from EFA national director for young people Peter Mucklow, told how a ‘ringfence’ between the two funding pots was being removed to “maximise flexibility for institutions receiving both allocations”.

Mr Mucklow wrote: “Prior to academic year 2014 to 2015 colleges and FE providers had been supporting the cost of meals for students who needed them on a discretionary basis from the discretionary bursary. The external evaluation of the discretionary bursary estimated that this represented over £15m of discretionary bursary spend annually.

“Provision of FE Free Meals is now established and in its second year of implementation. In academic year 2016 to 2017 we will remove £15m from the budget in respect of this double funding. For academic year 2016 to 2017 discretionary bursary allocations will be adjusted to take account of this for those providers in receipt of an allocation for post-16 free meals.

“We plan to allocate free meals funding to FE institutions for academic year 2016 to 2017 based on their R04 data returns based on the numbers of students they have assessed as eligible for and in receipt of free meals in academic year 2015 to 2016. No change is planned in the £2.41 rate.”

Mr Mucklow’s letter did however, contain better news for the sector, outlining how the Department for Education had kept the money granted per student next academic year at £4,000 for 16 and 17-year-olds and £3,300 for 18-year-olds.

Martin Doel, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said: “This will help colleges to continue to provide quality education and training for their students and a stable working life for their staff.

“There are challenges ahead for colleges, such as new technical qualifications, new A Levels and an increased number of students retaking GCSE English and maths; however, knowing that they have stable funding will help them to tackle these challenges.

“The DfE still has some savings to make, but they pledge that there will be no further cut to the basic rate of funding is a positive move for colleges.”

Among the other issues covered by Mr Mucklow were the phasing out of the funding protection formula and the lifting of the traineeships restriction to only good or outstanding providers and a funding commitment for the programme.

Stewart Segal, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP), said: “The growth commitments for apprenticeships and traineeships for the remainder of this Parliament represent very good news for young people who need a greater number of vocational learning opportunities as post-16 options under Raising the Participation Age.

“It is particularly pleasing to see the EFA consider further growth funding of traineeships in the current year and that the DfE now has in place a system for recognising in-year growth. AELP is also pleased that the core funding rate for 16 and 17-year-olds is being maintained but this does mean that providers still have to manage cost increases.”

One girl’s experience of a gender journey in FE

Bullying and harassment is something one-third adult transgender learners go through, according to a group of MPs. Beatrix Groves, who has worked in further and adult education for around 30 years, explains her experiences of the sector having changed gender in 2008.

I have been a teacher in further and adult education since 1986, though only in my current gender identity since 2008.

The post 2008 period has been interesting, and mostly successful. Indeed, I’d go as far as to say that the business of actual teaching and being a transgender person has been relatively straight-forward. This (of course) comes with the caveat that I know I’ve been lucky.

I seem to have picked the right time and right places to go through my transitional phase, dropped the ‘bloke’ identity and picked up the current female one with few of the expected horrors. For this I must particularly thank my students, who have been unfailingly sympathetic, interested, supportive, and at the very least willing to learn how to work with a transperson in a teaching role.

If I were to pick up on issues that have bothered me, then these have very much been in relation to my employers.

As someone who is heavily embedded in the ‘contract culture’ I have a very strong opportunity to compare and contrast the reactions of educational providers to both my transition and my day-to-day working regime.

For the most part, changing identity within the job was easy. One organisation happily put my old male records under ‘seal’ to prevent them being accessed by staff without my authority. Most organisations seem to have looked on the whole process as being no more important than a marital name change. Whether this was because of ignorance or attitude is unclear, but what was plain was that they took no cognisance of the issues that can impact on a transperson in the workplace. None of them implemented any ‘post-change’ support. There was no monitoring, and no attempt to find out how I was ‘settling in’.

As a transperson I felt myself to be very much ‘on my own’

Additionally, there was also little or no attempt to give training on transgender issues to colleagues and other staff, something that I would have valued as a sign that they were taking my change seriously.

One (very famous) adult education body called in a ‘transgender expert’ from their head office to do some training, but failed to ask me to come along to be involved. When I complained I was ignored. I later asked to do some follow-up training with their staff (my colleagues) on issues they’d missed, but had to request this at least three times over a 12-month period before any action was taken. There was a distinct sense of embarrassment at having a trans tutor around, and an unwillingness to admit that they hadn’t a clue how to cope.

This shines a powerful light into the workings of Equality and Diversity policy and practice within AE/FE. Just about every provider has an E&D policy, but the impression (from experience) that I get is that these are simply words on paper, and little actual initiative is taken to make them functioning aspects of organisational culture.

In effect, as a transperson I felt myself to be very much ‘on my own’ as regards to issues that I might encounter.

The legal aspects of compliance having been taken care of, providers seemed to not care to much as to how I was fairing in my work unless there was a problem that directly affected my capacity to be a good teacher.

Trans equality has to be more than just words on paper. Recognition of difference needs to be proactive, and not (as it is at present) largely a process of hoping nothing nasty happens that might get into the press. FE/AE needs to pull its cultural socks up, get weaving with processes that flexibly support policy, and that work collectively to create an accepting, inclusive environment.

Niace successor Learning and Work Institute to debut at London launch event

The Learning and Work Institute will make its formal debut tomorrow with a launch event in London’s Canary Wharf.

The new organisation brings together the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (Niace) and the Centre for Economic & Social Inclusion (Inclusion), though no staff members from either body have been or will be laid off as a result of the merger.

A spokesperson for the Institute said the new body was an “independent research, development and campaigning organisation” with the aim of “promoting lifelong learning, full employment and inclusion”.

It would build on its founder organisations’ previous work and Niace’s offices, in Leicester and Cardiff, and Inclusion’s offices, in London, will all stay open.

The spokesperson added that it would “be a powerful voice for adult learners, the low paid, the unemployed and those most disadvantaged in society”.

David Hughes, former chief executive of Niace (pictured right), has taken up the role of chief executive officer for the Learning and Work Institute. He said: “The new organisation will offer research and development project services, policy development, statistical analysis, events, conferences and campaigns.

“As a new thinktank, our work will deliver the evidence we need to endorse, challenge and improve public policy and delivery, employer behaviour and society’s attitudes to learning, skills and employment. We will continue to campaign for lifelong learning, full employment and inclusion.”

Dave Simmonds, former chief executive of Inclusion, will continue to work for the organisation on a part time basis until July. A spokesperson said that during this period he would work “to complete existing projects commitments and to tie up outstanding matters related to Inclusion, thereby helping ensure a smooth transition”.

Tomorrow’s three-hour event will be hosted by financial services firm JP Morgan from 5.30pm at 25 Bank Street, Canary Wharf, E14 5JP.

It will showcase Ambition London, a new project delivered by the Learning and Work Institute and funded by JPMorgan Chase Foundation, which aims to help low paid workers in retail and health and social care in London to improve their skills and their earnings, through better access to advanced learner loans.

Ahead of the event, a new website for the Learning and Work Institute will be unveiled today at www.learningandwork.org.uk

Niace, based in Leicester, and Inclusion, based in London, announced their alliance in February 2015 and said at the time that future merger could not be ruled out.

The full merger and was confirmed at the IntoWork Convention on July 14, 2015. Mr Hughes said at the time that there “were no plans for any other job losses” in connection with the merger, but he couldn’t rule them out before the government’s spending review. In November the new name of the Learning and Work Institute was approved by Niace members.

Commenting on the launch of the Institute, Mr Hughes said: “We want learning and work to count so that we have a skilled workforce, higher productivity and better paid jobs.

“There has never been a more important time for learning, employment and inclusion issues to be tackled together. With 5m adults in the UK lacking basic literacy and numeracy skills alongside widening skills gaps, we believe learning investment needs to increase for people across their careers and support people into active retirement.

“The devolution of employment and skills will provide great opportunities for better support to get people into work and to progress at work, but more needs to be done to understand how to do that and to find out what works best. Better services at local level will lead to more inclusive economic growth.”

MPs call for action with one-third of transgender adult learners bullied or harassed

A parliamentary committee today called for government action after being told how one-third of transgender adult learners experienced “unacceptable” bullying or harassment.

The House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee (WEC), chaired by Basingstoke’s Conservative MP Maria Miller (pictured above), looked into the issue between September and November and published its report, entitled Transgender Equality, this morning.

Key findings in the area of post-school education, which covered both FE and higher education, included one third of trans-students having been bullied or harassed on campus, and trans students being more likely to leave their courses as a result of this harassment.

“The levels of bullying and harassment experienced by trans-students in further and higher education are unacceptable,” the report said.

The inquiry had “heard evidence that in FE the learning environment for LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender] learners might be more hostile than that in higher education,” it said.

Evidence to the inquiry had been submitted by the National Union of Students (NUS), the Government Equalities Office and Skills Minister Nick Boles, among others.

The report’s authors said they “welcomed” Mr Boles’ offer, given during the inquiry’s evidence session on October 28, to raise the issue with universities.

“We recommend that the government hold similar conversations with FE providers.”

The report also called on the government “take steps” to ensure that all FE staff received training in gender identity awareness.

Speaking exclusively to FE Week, WEC chair Maria Miller, said she was “shocked” by the “level of transphobia that we’ve seen”.

“The reason why it is so important to get the change that the minister agreed needed to happen is because too many students are choosing to leave their courses because they feel there’s a lack of policies or facilities in place to support them as transpeople,” she said.

Charley Hasted, aged 29, who is studying for a BTec in applied science at Lambeth College, was assigned female at birth, but identifies as neither male nor female.

“I know who I am, but I still hear comments, homophobic, biphobic language, get thrown around,” they said.

“I’m in a position to challenge that when I hear it from other students but I think I’m very lucky. I’m also the LGBT officer at the college, so I know I’ve got staff members who’ll back me up if I do challenge it whereas I think a lot of students wouldn’t have the assurance that they know the staff are there to back them up if they do challenge.

“There are two trans people at Lambeth – me and one other – and neither of us are out to our classmates. We’ve both mature students, but neither of us feel comfortable being out to our classmates – which I think tells you a lot.

“I think the most important thing is making sure that trans students know that if they want to come out to staff or students they’ll be respected and their identities will be respected, and that staff will challenge derogatory language when it’s heard. You have to create an environment in which the student is comfortable being out.”

The evidence submitted by the NUS, and cited in today’s report, came from a January 2015 survey of more than 900 FE learners.

The survey was carried out by the Forum for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Equality in Post School Education, which is made up of a number of partners including the NUS, the Association of Colleges (AoC), University College Union (UCU), the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) and the Skills Funding Agency (SFA).

Initial findings from this survey, published by the NUS in April, showed that 59 per cent of non-binary learners — those who said their gender identity was neither male nor female, which included trans men and women — had experienced homophobic or transphobic namecalling.

Thirty-eight per cent had been harassed, 32 per cent had been threatened or intimidated and 17 per cent had been physically assaulted.

Almost half of the non-binary learners surveyed said they had “seriously considered” leaving their course.

In comparison, the NUS said, a 2014 survey of 4,000 students from 80 higher education institutions found that 18 per cent of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students had experienced name-calling at least once.

Fran Cowling and Robbie Young, NUS LGBT+ officers, said that today’s report showed there was “much more to do” to ensure that “trans students can equally participate” in FE.

An AoC spokesperson said: “It is unacceptable for any member of staff or student in a college to be a victim of bullying.

“We work with our members to support their awareness of the issue of bullying and harassment. Colleges work hard to ensure that those at risk have the right support in place.”

The government is yet to comment on the WEC report.

Main image above: Yui Mok/PA Wire

For help and advice on transgender issues visit:

All About Trans — http://www.allabouttrans.org.uk/

Stonewall — http://www.stonewall.org.uk/

Gendered Intelligence — http://genderedintelligence.co.uk/

Forum for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Equality in Post School Education — https://sgforum.org.uk/

New year, new beginnings, new challenges

Months of waiting for the official birth of the Learning and Work Institute came to an end on New Year’s day. Its chief executive, David Hughes, outlines the future of the organisation and also his view of what’s in store for the sector it serves.

As we start a new year, FE colleges in England are facing enormous challenges not just from funding cuts, but also from radical reforms that will fundamentally change the face of the sector. Those changes require a whole new mindset, a new set of relationships and new approaches for everyone involved in learning, skills and employment.

So what better time to be launching a new organisation dedicated to creating a world in which everyone is be able to realise their potential and ambitions in life, learning and work? Perhaps more practically, the Learning and Work Institute will build on the proud and successful history of the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (Niace) and the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion in researching what works, influencing policy, developing new ways of thinking and helping to implement new approaches.

In a more devolved environment, our support will become even more important to ensure lessons learned in one area are shared with others. And as the call for more integrated employment, skills and health services gets ever louder, our expertise and experience will be invaluable.

But let’s not lose sight of the enormous challenges facing colleges and independent learning providers (ILPs). The apprenticeship levy, advanced learning loans for 19+ and devolved commissioning of the Adult Education Budget as well as employment services fundamentally change the game.

As we research what works and develop new approaches, we will share our findings and use the evidence to improve policy both nationally and locally

Employers and learners will become paying customers, quite literally, and the days of funding allocations and contracts with national agencies will become a part of the rich history of FE. Some may even look back wistfully at the good old days of the Learning and Skills Council despite its shortcomings.

As customers, learners and employers will inevitably behave differently — that’s what has happened in higher education following the introduction of higher levels of loans. The new customers might want more information about the outcomes of their investment — a job, pay progression, productivity increase, perhaps. Learners will want the provider to be clear about how the learning fits with the local labour market and what employers think of a qualification. Both employers and learners might want more flexible delivery, with a blended approach which utilises technology more effectively.

With devolution, local commissioners will be looking for more integration of learning and skills with employment, health and other support. New relationships will be needed for providers to be able to join up support for unemployed people, low paid and for those with health and disability needs. Outcomes rather than qualifications will be the new language and tracking of learners after they leave will become the norm.

All of these demands will increase the pressure for innovation and investment just at the time when funding cuts are biting into margins and reserves are at record low levels. That’s why the Learning and Work Institute is an important part of the picture — what we do can help providers to navigate their way through these challenges and changes. As we research what works and develop new approaches, we will share our findings and use the evidence to improve policy both nationally and locally.

We will continue to be the national voice for lifelong learning. Our focus will remain on those who have missed out in compulsory education and the labour market, on the most disadvantaged, on equality and diversity. Our passion will continue to inspire, through the Festival of Learning and other campaigns, more people to believe in themselves and their ability to learn, develop and succeed. To achieve our ambitions we will work closely with colleges and training providers, just as Niace and Inclusion always have. Support for Learning and Work Institute is vital if we are to support more people to realise their ambitions and potential.

See FE Week edition 160, dated Monday, January 18, for coverage of the Learning and Work Institute’s official launch event set to take place tomorrow night in Canary Wharf

Providers in dark on 16 to 18 apprenticeships and traineeships growth as SFA misses notification deadline

The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) has missed its deadline for confirming growth requests for 16 to 18 apprenticeships and traineeships, saying only they would be confirmed “as soon as we can”.

The SFA announced in August, in a document entitled ‘Operational Performance — management rules 2015 to 2016′, that it would clarify growth requests with providers by January 8.

It was part of streamlining measures to the process introduced by SFA chief executive Peter Lauener, which meant that for apprenticeships and traineeships there are now two, instead of the previous three, windows to request in-year growth.

But FE Week was alerted by a college source on Monday (January 11) that it had still not received confirmation, and the SFA declined to comment at the time on whether the same thing had happened with all providers.

However, the SFA told FE Week and confirmed in an Update message on its website: “We are not yet in a position to confirm support for your request. We apologise for this delay and will confirm the position as soon as we can.

It added: “Thank you to those colleges and training organisations that submitted a growth request for 16 to 18 apprenticeships and/or 16 to 18 traineeships. It was part of our performance-management point 1 in December 2015.”

“For further information, please contact your Central Delivery Service adviser,” it said.

The SFA declined to comment ahead of publication on why confirmation of the growth requests has been delayed.