Graham Towse, principal, Hull College

The art of being the boss hasn’t come naturally to Hull College principal Graham Towse.

“My first experience of management was a disaster to be honest,” he admits.

In 1995, having progressed to engineer at De-Smet Rosedowns Ltd, the company where he began an apprenticeship 10 years earlier at the age of 16, Towse moved upwards on the career ladder.

“And I hated it,” he says with a laugh.

“I remember saying to my wife, ‘I think I’ve hit my ceiling — I’m never going to be a manager, that’s not how I am’.”

But he says management skills can be learned — something that happened when he moved into FE teaching for the first time the following year.

“I sort of accidentally fell into FE,” he says.

His company had wanted him to move to India, but with two small daughters, Amy, now 23 and Anna, now 21, Towse declined the offer and instead accepted a tutoring role at Hull College.

“And I learned about management that way — through a range of different roles, from managing students to having 60 staff underneath me as head of engineering and being a deputy at Bishop Burton and Grimsby Colleges,” he says.

“Engineers are difficult people to manage — and I learned a lot.

“I learned tons of stuff around leadership and management and the difference between the two.

“Training courses and textbooks will give you the theory, but the application of it you learn through mistakes.

“There’s a lot of us as managers and leaders in FE who are quite transactional, process-driven, quite hard, and trying to balance that with the emotional side of it is a skill which I think can be learned, but it’s a very difficult one to learn.”

But Towse has always had a rocky relationship with learning.

family
Towse (right) with his family. From left: wife Sharon and daughters Anna and Amy

“I did terribly at school — awful,” he says. “I just pratted about to be honest. I just wasn’t interested.

“I sort of fancied going to sea, joining either the Royal or the Merchant Navy, so I went to Trinity House — a nautical college, the only one in the UK — and got to wear the sailor’s outfit and all of that.

“While I was there, I did GCSE engineering, and I sort of quite liked it, the practical side of things, but failed the exam abysmally.

“I’ve never been academic. Okay, now I’ve managed to get a master’s degree, but it was hard work. Nothing ever came easy to me.”

However, he’s philosophical about his journey.

“In some ways, it turned out all right, because if I had applied myself, things might have been totally different — I may have gone in a different direction, who knows?,” he says.

As it was, at 16 Towse realised the sea wasn’t for him, and decided “to stay with his roots” and his then-girlfriend, now wife, Sharon, in Hull.

He started his engineering apprenticeship, which at the time entailed a year of classroom-based learning before entering the workplace, at Hull College. This presented its own challenges.

“It’s changed now, but back then a young apprentice engineer took a lot of stick,” he says. “Nowadays, some of the things they did to us would be illegal. They’d hold you upside down, tie you to an engine hoist, hoist you up and leave you hanging.

“But you get used to it, and it was part and parcel of being an apprentice back then — that’s just how it was and it was accepted in the trade. Obviously it has changed significantly now.”

At 18 he married Sharon, then an apprentice with the council, and the couple bought a house.

He finished his apprenticeship and continued to work for the same company, who also put him through an engineering degree with the University of Humberside, before making the move into FE.

“I didn’t know how to be a teacher,” he says.

I have a motto — don’t let not knowing how to do something stop you from doing it

 

“I started August 27, 1996, and started teaching September 3 — six days and I was in front of a class, with no material.

“And you learn, and you get on with it, and I think that’s what it’s like in life. And that’s what keeps it all interesting for me.

“I have a motto — don’t let not knowing how to do something stop you from doing it.”

Towse’s softly-spoken Yorkshire accent stops this from sounding arrogant — and it’s clearly not meant that way.

“People or students say to me: ‘I can’t do that, I don’t know how to do it’,” he says.

“Well, sorry, have a go at it anyway and
do it.”

After a decade at Hull, he had risen to become director of 14 to 19 provision, when a deputy principal role opened up at the nearby land-based Bishop Burton College.

“I was looking for the next step and there wasn’t really an opportunity at Hull to progress,” says Towse.

“It was something totally different too — that college is very commercially active. It’s got its own farm, you’re dealing with pigs and horses and I’ve never had anything to do with animals before.

“I learned loads from the principal, Jeanette Dawson. I think we clicked. She was kicking my backside every day, don’t get me wrong, but she could get on with what she needed to and she trusted me to get on with stuff.”

After four years there, Towse got “itchy feet” and applied for a deputy role at the Grimsby Institute, which was still reeling from an abrupt change in leadership.

“They had gone through a rocky road at Grimsby,” says Towse.

“The new principal, Sue Middlehurst, and I worked really well together and we transformed the college.”

Towse had planned to stay at Grimsby, and was being groomed to take over the role of principal when Middlehurst retired — but the principalship at Hull College came up.

Towse, aged 17, using a lathe as an apprentice engineer
Towse, aged 17, using a lathe as an apprentice engineer

“For me it was a no-brainer,” says Towse. “It’s the college that actually saved me, because I’d left school with nothing. I think I got three O-levels at grade C, and did my apprenticeship and day release there, I did my HNC.”

But in going back, he says, “the loop was closed”.

“That was 18 months ago now, and it’s been brilliant,” he says.

The 28,000 learner college, currently rated outstanding by Ofsted, was among the first to directly recruit 14-year-olds last year, with an initial cohort of 200 — the largest in the country.

“That’s a real challenge for us because we’re sort of leading the way on it,” he says.

“Nobody has really done it before, so we’re picking up all sorts of things along the way that we perhaps didn’t think about when we first set out, but I hope that that really gets going in a bigger way.”

He adds: “It’s an interesting time in FE at the moment. Obviously, there are funding challenges, but everyone has that, but the study programmes, maths and English are a big issue in Hull.

“More than 70 per cent of the young people that come to us have less than a grade C in maths and English and that’s typical of a large FE college in a deprived area.”

Telling young people who have had bad experiences at school that they have to take maths and English is a struggle he says, and isn’t helped by the emphasis on GCSEs.

“Functional Skills are much better, students are able to contextualise and understand how to apply it to the trade they’re studying,” he says.

“I think if we lose them, we lose them at our peril, and getting it back again will be very difficult.”

But being the principal of the college you attended, has added benefits for dealing with unwilling students.

“Because I’ve been there and done it, through FE, you get a bit of respect,” he says.

Indeed, a picture of Towse using a lathe as a 17-year-old apprentice hangs in his office.

“What you get from young people sometimes is: ‘You don’t know, you’ve never done this…’” he says.

“And I can point to the picture, say to them, ‘Actually, yes I have…’ and that’s been really powerful.”

It’s a personal thing

 

What is your favourite book, and why?

I’ll read anything. The book that really got me into management thinking was The Goal by Eliyahu M Goldratt. But when I pick up Dan Brown and Lee Child books I can’t put them down

What is your pet hate?

Those that lack ambition for themselves and their organisation and those that do not take responsibility and instead look for others to blame or criticise. One my previous bosses always used to say: “Look in the mirror before you look out of the window”

What do you do to switch off
after work?

I like to read when I can. I’m quite handy at most practical things and I like gardening and DIY too. My wife and I have totally remodelled our house by ourselves over the years

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

I’m not bad at music trivia, so I’d invite the crew from Never Mind the Buzzcocks for a fun night with a curry and a few beers

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

I never really had a plan as to what I wanted to be. I fancied the Navy for a bit. I had a working class upbringing where you were expected to enter a trade, which I did. I am of course now in my dream job as principal of the college in my home city which saved me after I didn’t do well at school

 

 

Careers advice on apprenticeships criticised by Ofsted FE and skills boss

Ofsted FE and skills director Lorna Fitzjohn told the House of Commons Education Select Committee that too many schools were failing to advise young people about the benefits of apprenticeships.

Ms Fitzjohn this morning gave evidence to MPs in Portcullis House, Westminster, that focused on how the number and quality of apprenticeships for 16 to 19-year-olds could be improved.

She said poor careers advice at schools, which tended to encourage young people staying in education post-16 to take A-levels and higher education degrees, was one of the main reasons that the number apprenticeship starts in the age group had “flatlined”.

Ms Fitzjohn added: “We did a survey last week which showed that only one-in-five schools were offering quality careers advice. That clearly is a worry.”

She added: “Although they [schools] were aware of the National Careers Service, it was very underused.

“We certainly see schools, parents and young people having quite a poor understanding of what apprenticeships are about.”

She also spoke about the role that local enterprise partnerships could play in apprenticeship growth and her concern for young people outside of education and without a job.

Other people who gave evidence were Katerina Rudiger, head of skills and policy campaigns at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Conor Ryan, director of research and communications at the Sutton Trust, and James Whelan, head of mathematics at Harris Academy Morden secondary school in Surrey.

Read issue 120 of FE Week, dated Monday, December 1, for more.

Cap: Lorna Fitzjohn giving evidence at the committee hearing

Still in tune? The skills system and the changing structures of work

Dame Ruth Silver explains the origins of the latest Skills Commission report, which raises several ‘strategic alerts’ for the skills system and calls for more ‘systems thinking’ to ensure provision remains relevant and related to a rapidly changing world.

Skills Commission reports have always attempted to be ‘scripts for the future’ for sector leaders, policy makers and politicians to draw on, and our most recent contribution is no exception.

The ideas behind this inquiry had been a long time coming. While our other recent reports One System, Many Pathways, The Move to Improve (one and two), and Specialisation had focused on various reforms, institutions, and aspects of education and training, the commission recognised that wider societal changes were taking place that required fresh thinking and a wider lens.

Taking a step back and examining the system in its entirety from the perspective of ‘ changing work’ presented itself as a worthwhile, much needed enterprise, particularly at a time of public austerity and significant changes to the funding of skills provision, and its positioning in relation to the labour market.

The enthusiasm from the commission as we ‘entered the looking glass’, so to speak, and heard from leading labour market economists, journalists and academics, was hugely encouraging.

As we analysed the changing shape of the economy and new labour markets, examined occupation change, learned about emerging business structures, rates of training, the rise of flexible working patterns, and significant demographic and cultural changes, not only did we confirm the validity of our line of enquiry, we came to realise that the challenges facing the skills system were perhaps greater than we had imagined.

How does the system, for example, respond to training and progression opportunities in a flexible and polarised labour market, the reduction in structured entry routes into work for young people, the extension of working life, rapid technological innovation, and continuing disparities in outcome based on social class or gender?

Our repeated habit of constructing today’s solutions to fit yesterday’s problems is leaving a terrible inheritance for the next generation

These implications and the others highlighted in the report pose serious questions to all parts of the system and our assessment of the system’s components against these concerns prompted us to flag four ‘strategic alerts’ that require urgent attention.

Strategic alert one was uncertainty around the responsibility for training in an increasingly flexible labour market. Number two was declining social mobility owing to a reduction in the alignment of skills provision to work. Three was fragmentation in the system making it difficult for employers to engage. And four was alarming policy dissonance between different Central Government departments.

The alerts reflected points that were repeatedly raised by contributors to the inquiry but beyond these our discussions with providers, representative bodies, and employers raised a whole host of other issues which require more nuanced considerations. For example, we encountered tensions within the apprenticeship model between those who want a focus on delivering the high level skills required by industry and the professions, and others who wish the model to expand rapidly to restore our broken youth labour market.

Other recurring themes of the inquiry were around the possibilities ‘personal learning’ accounts could offer in an age that will require continual reskilling, the frustrations caused by seemingly arbitrary age restrictions on funding, uncertainty around structures of oversight, and the problems caused by funding systems not sufficiently flexible enough to respond to labour market intelligence.

These issues and the many others highlighted in the report require serious consideration from policy makers and new solutions. Our repeated habit of constructing today’s solutions to fit yesterday’s problems is — in so many instances from the state of the property market to the environment — leaving a terrible inheritance for the next generation.

With a skills system that we found in parts to be seriously out of tune with the rapid and unplanned changes in work, it is the Skills Commission’s hope that all players in the system will take heed of the issues raised in the report and join us in finding ways to create sustainable solutions that will serve individuals well in a flexible and polarised labour market as well as businesses in a high-tech and globally competitive economy.

 

Making a job out ofcareers education

It’s been a particularly busy month in FE with the combination of the Skills Show and the Association of Colleges annual conference, and if you’re working in marketing, very very busy.

We also had school recruitment fairs and stands at the Ricoh Arena’s careers event.

And if our presence at these events has taught me one thing it’s that children still like pens and badges.

It was a fantastic experience to engage with so many young people at the Skills Show and yet I did think we were missing a trick in influencing a generation.

So many primary schoolchildren were running around grabbing as many badges, sweets and pens that they could squeeze into their freebie bags and I did not feel like they had been briefed by their teachers as to what the Skills Show was all about.

Do not get me wrong this is not a criticism of the Skills Show — it was an impressive display of providers putting on interactive and meaningful activities for young people to engage with.

It is more an observation that from a young age we have got to get better at educating young people on what they could do and become.

Employers should want to engage proactively with young people to inspire, empower and influence

But whose job is this? Teachers have enough to do and I cannot help but think this showed at the Skills Show. Those teachers who escorted their pupils in the large seemed to provide little focus as to the outcomes of the day.

By the time a group of primary schoolchildren reached our stand and we had asked what they all wanted to be when they were older, they all chimed in perfect harmony “badge makers”.

But it’s not easy delivering exciting and compelling careers education to young people and even more of a task when you get to secondary school where all advice and guidance can easily take a competitive slant.

So what can we do? At a local level we should be inviting our schoolchildren into college and engaging with them as early as possible to show them what their brothers and sisters are up to.

We should definitely be adding focus to activities outside and inside school, for example making sure that there are schemes of work which piece together interests in future occupations and jobs; it would have saved me a fortune in pens and badges if the visitors had been given tasks for the day.

We should be placing more responsibility on employers to engage with young people as the pipeline of their workforce into the future. Employers should want to engage proactively with young people to inspire, empower and influence.

And the National Careers Service needs to be far more proactive in engaging with young people and seen as a service which is readily available to use. At the moment it’s a bit of an enigma.

Schools themselves need to buy in help if they cannot achieve delivery of impartial careers at the statutory level. And this is where colleges could help by delivering a function in partnership.

Staffing in schools, colleges and elsewhere needs to become highly professionalised where such a service is delivered: oh, the irony to make a job out of careers.

I myself am a product of luck — I received little to no careers education, worryingly even less effort was made at my university where I think investing tens of thousands of pounds deserves for you to receive care and attention on an individual level. And not everyone will get lucky, some will fall, some will find their feet but why leave it to chance?

 

Edition 120: Tim Eyton-Jones, Monica Box and Sarah Robinson

Barnfield College has announced that its new principal will be Tim Eyton-Jones.

He is currently the principal of John Ruskin College, but is due to leave in March.

Mr Eyton-Jones leaves the sixth form college, in South Croydon, having joined in 2009 — the year before it was rated as inadequate by Ofsted. It was revisited by inspectors last year, who gave it an outstanding grade.

He said: “I am very sad to be leaving John Ruskin College as it is a truly outstanding organisation. I will miss the energy and professionalism of the staff and students and I want to wish them all success for the future. I would also like to thank everyone for the support I have had while in post.”

A college spokesperson said: “The corporation would like to thank Mr Eyton-Jones for his hard work, commitment and inspirational leadership over the last five years.”

Monica Box, Barnfield College interim principal, will remain in post until Mr Eyton-Jones joins. She has previously led City College Manchester, South Kent College and more recently Kensington and Chelsea College, each in the capacity of interim principal.

She replaced previous interim principal Dame Jackie Fisher at the end of October. Dame Jackie’s interim position was initially for six months, but at the request of the board she agreed to stay on for a further three months.

Governors’ board chair Robin Somerville said: “I’m confident that under Mr Eyton-Jones’s leadership Barnfield College will go from strength to strength, and he will finish the much needed transformation of the college started by Dame Jackie and continued by Ms Box in their interim capacities.”

The recruitment process to replace Mr Eyton-Jones at John Ruskin is under way.

Meanwhile, the 157 Group has elected Sarah Robinson OBE, principal of Stoke-on-Trent College, to serve as chair for the next 12 months.

She takes over from Peter Roberts, chief executive of Leeds City College, who has been chair since November 2012.

Ms Robinson said “I am delighted to be taking on the role of chair at an immensely important time for FE.

“As next year’s general election approaches, the 157 Group’s role in influencing policy will be vital to securing the best possible education and skills system for learners and employers.”

She said she was “proud” of the 157 Group’s work.

Ms Robinson added: “I pay tribute to Peter Roberts, who has led the 157 Group so expertly for the last two years, and to my fellow members of the 157 Group, for their continued commitment to our work.”

Dr Lynne Sedgmore CBE, executive director of the 157 Group, said, “Enhancing the lives of learners and improving the experience of employers is central to everything that colleges do — and Stoke-on-Trent College is an excellent example of that.

“I am therefore delighted that Sarah Robinson will be our chair for the coming year, and I look forward to working with her for the benefit of our education and skills system.”

 

Lambeth College poised for indefinite strike — again

Indefinite strike action could be set to hit Lambeth College for the second time in eight months, after unions unveiled plans to walk out in a continuing row over staff contracts.

The University and College Union (UCU) has released a timetable of escalating one, two and three-day strikes starting next week, culminating in an open-ended strike from Monday, January 19.

Its members walked out for five weeks beginning in June over plans to introduce contracts for new staff, which the union says would leave teachers with longer working hours and less annual leave and sick pay — returning three days before the summer holidays.

Una O’Brien, UCU regional official, said: “The situation at Lambeth College is now very clear and the management cannot be in any doubt at how angry staff are about the new contracts.

“We hope that strike action, which will certainly mean major disruption again at Lambeth, won’t be necessary. The college needs to sit down with us to talk through changes to staff contracts and work towards finding a solution staff are happy with.”

The new contracts at the centre of the row offer 50 days a year annual leave — 10 days fewer than that given to existing staff.

However, Lambeth principal Mark Silverman has said the terms of the contract, introduced from April 1, were “in line with sector norms”.

He said they were part of the college’s recovery plan following financial deficits of £4.1m in 2012/13 and £3.5m last year.

Mr Silverman said: “I’m disappointed that UCU are calling members out on strike when their own representatives are, in negotiations with the College, increasingly accepting of the current situation where we have two contracts co-existing.”

A strike ballot which opened on September 22 was shelved early the next month while the union considered an “improved offer” from the college, where existing staff would stay on the original contract until September 2017, or accept a £1,500 “cash incentive” to transfer to the new contract.

However, in the latest ballot, the results of which were announced last week, 66 UCU members voted to strike, from a turnout of 80 members from a staff of 250.

The first strike is expected to take place on Thursday, December 4, for one day, followed by a two-day strike on December 9 and 10 and a three-day strike is scheduled for December 15, 16 and 17.

Following Christmas, a two-day strike is planned on January 7 and 8, with three days of striking on January 13, 14 and 15 before the indefinite strike is set to begin on January 17.

A UCU spokesperson said: “We have welcomed a commitment from the college that it will not impose the new contracts on staff employed before April 2014.

“However, the union remains unhappy with the two-tier employment structure the contracts have produced and wants the new contract removed or a fresh one drawn up with its agreement.”

Mr Silverman said: “We have given strong assurances over the last year that the new contract is for new staff, and that we will not be imposing it on existing staff, and I’m pleased that UCU are now acknowledging this.

“We have launched a voluntary scheme where existing staff can transfer to the new contract and accept the incentives that UCU declined last month.

“A good number of staff have already made the transfer, and staff still have a further six weeks to volunteer.

“With staff transferring to the new contract voluntarily, UCU more accepting of both the two-contract status and the college’s assurance of not imposing changes, and such a low turnout on the ballot, one has to wonder what further strike action hopes to achieve.

“Our focus now is to manage the strike effectively and ensure that our learners are not disrupted.

“We plan to keep the college open and functioning throughout further industrial action.

“We will focus on supporting our learners, and we are absolutely determined that we will not allow them to be disrupted.”

All-age apprentice starts down for second consecutive year but improvement for 16 to 18

The number of new apprentices in 2013/14 was down by nearly 70,000 on the previous year — the second consecutive annual fall, according to official figures out this morning.

All-age apprenticeship starts were at 440,400 last academic year, down 13.7 per cent, having been at 510,200 the previous year, and 520,600 in 2011/12.

The 2012/13 fall in all-age apprenticeship starts was the first since 2005/06 when the figure of 175,000 was down 7.5 per cent from the previous year.

Within the fall in the 2013/14 figures, were decreases from 165,400 to 159,100 (-3.8 per cent) for the 19 to 24 age group and 230,300 to 161,600 (-29.8 per cent) among those aged 25+.

A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) said: “The introduction of the 24+ Advanced Learning Loans impacted on the number of adult apprenticeship starts recently — but as soon as it became clear that loans were not the preferred route for employers or prospective apprentices we decided to remove apprenticeships from the loans programme. As such we look forward to seeing this trend reverse in future and a boost to the number of adult apprentices.

“We are reforming the funding of all apprenticeships to put employers in the driving seat and ensure apprenticeships deliver the skills businesses need to grow and compete. More than 1,000 employers are now involved in designing high quality apprenticeships as part of the successful trailblazers initiative.”

However, one positive note in the apprenticeship figures was that 16 to 18 starts were continuing to recover and were up on 2012/13, from 114,500 to 119,800 (4.6 per cent).

It was the first annual increase for the age group in two years, with the 2010/11 number of 131,700 having been 12.8 per cent up on the previous year.

The final (rather than provisional) figures were in today’s Statistical First Release, where the number of traineeship starts for 2013/14 was also revealed to have been 10,400.

“Traineeships are off to a strong start, with the first year of the programme seeing more than 10,000 young people taking the opportunity to gain the skills and work experience that will put them on track for a rewarding career,” said the BIS spokesperson.

“Leading employers such as Virgin Media, Barclays and the BBC have committed to create thousands more traineeship opportunities over the coming years and, following a public consultation, we are now broadening the learner eligibility for the programme from January so that even more young people can benefit.”

For analysis of the figures, read edition 120 of FE Week, dated Monday, December 1.

The Skills Show 2014

Click here to download the supplement 

Welcome to this FE Week supplement covering the Skills Show 2014.

It was an action-packed three days at the Birmingham NEC, with more than 75,000 visitors experiencing more than 50 have-a-go activities and getting inspiration about careers and skills.

Alongside that, we had the National Skills Competitions finals, where, as well as winning a gold medal, talented youngsters could be invited to compete for a squad place for WorldSkills 2017.

We’ve got a quick guide to the Skills Show and some information about its organising body, Find a Future, on page three.

The Skills Show isn’t just about one event however, so you can find out more about the Skills Show Experience and Roadshow, which spread the Skills Show message around the country, on pages four and five.

On pages six and seven we take a look at some of the things happening at the Skills Show and ask some familiar faces what they think of it, and City & Guilds UK managing director Kirstie Donnelly and her PR intern Maria McSorley take on some of the have-a-gos.

Next, Find a Future chief executive Ross Maloney and chair Carole Stott discuss this year’s show and their future plans on page eight, before Skills Show volunteers get some well-deserved credit and then Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg gives his verdict on proceedings on page nine.

Amid the hustle and bustle of the show, the UK’s top skills learners were battling it out in the National Skills Competitions and we talk to some of the training managers, judges and competitors from page 10 to 13.

But it isn’t just young people who want careers advice — their parents want to know how to support them, as Chris Mosler, blogger for Mumsnet and Thinlyspread.co.uk, explains on page 14.

On page 15, Association of Employment and Learning Providers chief executive Stewart Segal explores the role of independent learning providers in WorldSkills and the Skills show.

The Skills Show finished in style on Saturday night and we’ve got coverage from the closing ceremony and interviews with the gold medal winners on page 16, followed by full results tables on pages 20 to 23.

The Skills Show may be over but the mission to promote the skills sector and provide careers advice continues, and you can join in the conversation online with @FEWeek.