The success of the British team at the EuroSkills competitions this month demonstrates the skills and talent of our young people.
In the hospitality industry we have a plethora of competitions, ranging from Masterchef, both for amateurs and professional cooks, Futurechef, for school pupils, to the premiere Salon Culinaire competition organised by the Craft Guild of Chefs at the bi-annual ‘Hotelympia’ international trade exhibition.
Past winners of these competitions have gone on to greater success in the industry.
In addition to the cookery competitions, the restaurant industry’s skills are dissected by assorted restaurant critics and restaurant guides with their awards, rosettes and stars.
The most respected, the Michelin Guide, was published last month creating a further 15 Michelin-starred restaurants in the UK, nine of which are in London.
London is now the culinary capital of the world with 48 Michelin-starred restaurants and more than 150 different ethnic cuisines available.
Around 20 years ago most of these Michelin restaurants would probably have had a head chef from the continent.
However, today more than half of these restaurants have British head chefs and most of their brigades of cooks are also British.
This is a tribute to the work of FE college catering departments and training restaurants, and especially the apprenticeship providers in this sector.
Several of the chefs who initially trained at their local FE college have progressed to become national celebrities — Gordon Ramsay, Heston Blumenthal, Marco-Pierre-White.
Let us hope the promises made by all parties to substantially increase apprenticeship numbers were not just political rhetoric, but will be met with actual cash increases to grow the programmes
One of this year’s new Michelin Guide star winners, Jason Atherton of Social Eating House, started his career in the kitchen on the YTS programme.
Jason helped HIT (Hospitality Industry Training) launch its traineeship programme for the hospitality sector last year and practices what he preaches with trainees and apprentices in his kitchens.
To meet the demand for highly-trained chefs for the fine dining sector, my own company HIT has launched a professional chefs academy in partnership with three prestigious hotel chains and some independent restaurants.
A feature of our academy will be master-classes from Michelin-starred chefs, many of whom HIT currently works with.
The growth in eating-out in the past few decades, the explosion of restaurants and coffee shops in the high streets, plus the conversion of pubs into gastro pubs has required a continual demand for skilled chefs and front of house staff.
Overall, the FE skills sector has risen to this challenge to provide the skilled workforce needed to make the UK a destination of choice for overseas visitors and London, the culinary capital of the world.
I trust the politicians who wined and dined their way through their party conferences over the past few weeks, appreciated the skill and dedication of the hotel and catering staff who served them.
Let us hope the promises made by all parties to substantially increase apprenticeship numbers were not just political rhetoric, but will be met with actual cash increases to grow the programmes.
Similarly, the new minister seems to be looking carefully at the predecessor’s proposed reforms.
When he studies the various consultations, he should note that those actually involved in apprentices, employers and providers alike were adamant that the suggested reforms were not needed or would not work.
It was outside bodies, without the experience of delivering apprenticeships themselves, who failed to understand the minutia and the hidden wiring involved, who pressed for changes.
Funding directly to employers, rather than to providers is purely a political stance with no benefits to either party, just a further bureaucratic burden to employers.
In fact for independent learning providers, it will mean a substantial reduction in funding as they will have to charge employers VAT and pass it on, almost in full, to the government.
This can only mean a reduction in service and therefore quality or more providers withdrawing from apprenticeship delivery.
MidKent College acting principal Simon Cook is to continue in the role until August next year following the death this summer of Sue McLeod, it has been announced.
Mr Cook was appointed acting principal in July after the death of mum-of-one Ms Mcleod at the age of 53.
College governors have ruled that he will remain in the post until next summer to “allow the college the space and time to settle after losing Sue.”
Ms Mcleod, who joined the college as a travel and tourism lecturer in 1993 before climbing the ranks to deputy principal and then principal, had been diagnosed with a brain tumour the month before her death.
Mr Grix’s contract as part-time chief executive and the College’s chief accountable officer will also be extended to August 2016. It is planned to advertise for a permanent principal at Easter next year.
Governors’ chair Sheila Potipher said:
“We feel that this option will allow the college the space and time to settle after losing Sue and is the best strategy for ensuring our
future success.
“With our highest-ever enrolments this September, we are looking forward to a bright positive year ahead for our students and staff.”
A restructure of the executive and senior management teams at Abingdon-based independent learning provider Qube Learning has resulted in Joe Crossley’s appointment as commercial director.
Mr Crossley said: “I’m delighted to have been given the opportunity to work for Qube. I’ve been involved with them in several capacities over the last three years and look forward to working with the rest of the executive and the management team to support the business to achieve its goals in
the future.”
Debbie Gardiner, chief executive at Qube Learning, which was rated as good by Ofsted at its last inspection, in 2010, said: “I’ve known Joe for some time and am absolutely delighted that has decided to join Qube.”
She added: “Joe will work closely with me and the other directors to bring about change and continuous improvement across the organisation.”
The last party conferences before a general election are always built upon a particular theme.
With the helm of the country up for grabs, the season can often be about last minute, ill-thought-through announcements, huge gaps in policy and unanswered questions about how, who and where.
This year’s circus has been no exception to the rule, and FE and skills has in some instances been left more confused as to the policies of the three main political parties than enlightened.
This year was FE Week’s, and indeed my, first foray into the coverage of all party conferences and I suspect it won’t be our last. FE has benefited from being in the spotlight this year, but it’s our job to make sure that doesn’t fade once the election has been fought in May.
In the first few pages of this supplement, we will focus on the various announcements of policy to have come out of the conferences, with coverage in chronological order. From Labour’s pledge to bring apprenticeships and university starts into line to David Cameron’s pledge to create 1m new apprenticeships and Vince Cable’s apprenticeship minimum wage rise, we have broken it all down for you, with analysis and reaction, on pages three, four and five.
As well as reporting on all the breaking news from the conference settings of Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow, FE Week also ran a fringe event at each of the three conferences in partnership with OCR, and reports from each of these events can be found between pages six and 13.
Finally, we gave the last word to the politicians themselves, with expert pieces contributed by Skills Minister Nick Boles, his Shadow Liam Byrne and a rare insight from Business Secretary Vince Cable, together on pages 14 and 15 along with analysis from resident FE Week expert Mick Fletcher.
Hopefully we can help you wade through the posturing, empty promises and rhetoric and give you a picture of what life in FE and skill might really be like under following next May’s election.
Ofsted proposals to halve the time between inspections of good FE and skills providers have been questioned by the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL).
Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw has launched an eight-week consultation on reforms to the education watchdog’s inspection regime intended to give “much clearer focus on ensuring that good standards have been maintained”.
Currently, good FE and skills providers face reinspection up to every six years if there are no concerns to trigger an earlier revisit — but Ofsted is looking at changing that to a “short inspection” up to every three years, unless concerns trigger one sooner.
Sir Michael said: “The time has come to introduce frequent but shorter inspections for good schools and FE and skills providers.”
He added: “It’s [six years] too long for us to spot signs of decline and it’s too long for improving institutions to show that they are now delivering an outstanding standard of education.”
But Dr Stephan Jungnitz, colleges specialist for the ASCL, said: “We feel strongly that moving to more inspections isn’t the right way. We understand the need for Ofsted, but the current thinking that college professionals can’t be trusted to make sound judgements themselves over what areas need improving and see those through themselves is misguided.
“What we need is fewer inspections and more responsibility placed with college professionals to drive improvements.”
Gill Clipson, deputy chief executive at the Association of Colleges, said: “There’s a balance to be struck between allowing good and outstanding colleges to get onwith the job and ensuring performance remains high. We’ll be consulting colleges to ensure our response reflects this balance.”
Also among the reform proposals was the introduction of a single common inspection framework for nurseries, schools and colleges, as exclusively revealed by FE Week two months ago.
The consultation further sets out proposals for four categories of judgements — leadership and management; teaching, learning and assessment; personal development, behaviour and welfare; and outcomes for children and learners.
“Ofsted’s decision to introduce a single inspection framework for pre-school, primary, secondary and further education (FE) will need careful implementation,” said Ms Clipson. “We understand the principle behind this decision, but will need to be convinced that training provided by FE colleges, particularly for adults in the workplace, can really be judged on the same basis as the education given to school children.”
Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), questioned the sense of another round of inspection regime reforms.
She said: “None of this helps teachers to do a better job. Ofsted doesn’t look like it knows what it wants. It has made substantial changes to school inspection frameworks or guidance on average twice every year since Michael Wilshaw became chief inspector in January 2012.”
Dr Lynne Sedgmore, executive director of the 157 Group, said: “We will be taking time to digest the full details of Ofsted’s proposals but welcome anything which signals increased trust in the professional abilities of educational leaders to maintain high quality.”
The consultation is available on www.ofsted.gov.uk and runs until December 5.
EDITORIAL
Keeping an eye on providers, no matter what their last inspection grade was, is the role of Ofsted.
From outstanding (grade one) to inadequate (grade four), the education watchdog must be alert to signs of declining quality across the sector.
While more frequent inspections might therefore be welcomed, by some, it should be remembered that Ofsted is just talking about good (grade two) providers here.
Under changes brought in from last month providers requiring improvement (grade three) could go two years before reinspection — previously it was a maximum of 18 months. Yes, that’s Ofsted inspecting good providers more frequently than before, but ones requiring improvement potentially less frequently than before.
Inadequate providers continue to expect a revisit within 15 months, and outstanding ones will only see an inspector if there is something going wrong — at least, that is according to Ofsted.
In the summer, FE Week reported how one provider graded outstanding eight years ago was next inspected this year and was branded inadequate. And yet in 2010/11 it had recorded success rates more than 10 percentage points below the national average.
Get tough on good providers who might be slipping, fine, but outstanding ones can slip too and so, in light of the above example, better monitoring of grade one providers and an end to the open-ended timescale for reinspection seems equally valid.
Jill Westerman had a very tough year in 2006 — the kind of year that might have persuaded others to consider their futures.
But instead, Westerman drew inspiration from the difficulties to step up and become principal of her beloved Northern College in September the following year.
“My youngest daughter Tanith was seriously ill with kidney failure,” she says.
“We took her to the doctor thinking she had a virus and within 24 hours she was in the children’s renal unit in Nottingham.”
The emotional turmoil of seeing 14-year-old Tanith suffering clearly still has an impact on Westerman, who struggles to tell me about it when we meet at the British Library in London, a regular haunt of Westerman’s.
Westerman with daughter Aisling (left), husband Martin and daughter Tanith at the palace in 2010 when Westerman
was awarded a CB
“She had three bouts of peritonitis with emergency hospital admissions following the diagnosis of kidney failure and for some months we had to drive her three days a-
week to Nottingham for haemodialysis,”says Westerman.
“She never once complained, she was so ill and she never once said ‘why me?’ — she just got on with it.”
In the same year, Westerman’s father, Albert, who had struggled with dementia and had lost his sight, died at the age of 82.
In the middle of all of this, Ofsted arrived at Northern College, where Westerman was programme co-ordinator at the time, and as nominee, she was on the front line dealing with inspectors.
The college sailed through the inspection, scoring outstanding across the board — a standard it has maintained to this day.
“I’d never really thought of myself as a principal before,” says 58-year-old Westerman.
“But I just thought, if I can manage this, I can manage anything.”
She was she says, also inspired by Tanith herself.
“After two years, she was lucky enough to have a transplant, this was in her GCSE year, but she went on to get the best grades in the school.”
Tanith is now her third year studying medicine at Leeds University.
Westerman was also prompted to move into leadership by taking part in a senior leadership development course.
Westerman with husband Martin after cycling the Camino de Santiago in Spain in 2013
“It just really inspired me, both in terms of reading about the theory of leadership and being able to think about my own practice,” she said.
“That was almost ten years ago but many of us who were on the course, like Dawn Ward [now principal of Burton and South Derbyshire College] and Paul Wakeling [now principal of Havering Sixth Form College] still meet up.”
Westerman also spent time as a council member of the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS), which was closed and replaced with the Education and Training Foundation in August last year.
“It was a loss to the sector but we are where we are,” she says, adding that she is looking to the future.
Westerman is now chair of the Further Education Trust for Leadership (FETL), set up with £5.5m left over from LSIS and overseen by former LSIS chair Dame Ruth Silver.
“I think it’s really important to have that space to think, both for the individual principal and for leadership within the sector — and that space and time is something that’s difficult to find,” says Westerman.
“There’s a lot of research about leadership in schools, there’s a lot about universities but much less thinking has been done about the FE sector.
“We need to be thinking about leadership for the future, rather than focussing solely on present issues.”
I realised for the first time how much having an education means having power
and control over your own life
Westerman’s passion for education, she says, began with her mother, Sheila.
“She was very bright, very able, but she left school at 14 during the Second World War and I think she was frustrated that she’d never been able to go any further,” she says.
“So both she and my father drummed into my brother Roger and I how important education is and it is something for which I am eternally grateful.”
Roger, now retired, also went into education, becoming an education psychologist.
Under her mother’s encouragement, Wakefield-born Westerman passed her 11-plus and made it into the local grammar school.
However, at 18, the idea of going straight to university didn’t appeal.
“Nowadays it’s quite common to take a gap year – nearly everyone does it,” she says.
“But back then it was quite unusual.”
She initially took a job as a clerk at West Yorkshire District Council but within a few months decided it wasn’t for her.
Instead, she found herself teaching adults at the West Midlands Travellers School, and the experience of working with Irish travellers, she says, was a “real eye opener”.
“I realised for the first time how much having an education means having power and control over your own life — and how much these people who were already excluded from society were even more disadvantaged by not having education, not being able to read,” says Westerman.
Westerman aged 4
The impression was confirmed a few years later when, after studying English at the University of Durham and a brief stint teaching English as a foreign language in Spain, Westerman got herself a job as a community support worker on an East London estate.
“I’d been hired by the residents themselves,” she says.
“Because they were bright people and very clued up — they know all the facts and all the issues, but they felt that, because they didn’t have an education, they couldn’t hold their own talking to developers and the council and utility companies and so on.”
In 1985 she enrolled on a certificate of education course at Garnett College, where she met future husband Martin, also training as a teacher.
After the birth of the couple’s daughters, Aisling, now 24, and Tanith, and with the price of housing in London beginning to rise, they decided to move North.
And it was in May 1993 that Westerman first walked into Northern College for Residential and Community Adult Education, in Barnsley, as a part time lecturer and, she says, it was love at first sight.
“It’s in such a beautiful setting in a big old stately home and the ethos there was, and is, so committed to helping people change their lives,” she says.
“Everyone, from the leadership and management, to the receptionists, really care about our students.
“We’ve had people arrived at the door, take a look around at the surroundings and decide ‘this isn’t for me’ and I’ve seen the receptionists run after them, bring them back and take the time to talk them round and encourage them to come in.”
The college offers short, intensive residential courses, as well as year-long access to higher education courses, giving students time to focus on their studies, away from what can be quite chaotic lives.
“When you think about it, we’re actually very used to the idea of residential adult education — that’s what universities and a lot of management training are,” says Westerman.
“And I really don’t see why access to that sort of experience should be limited by class or level of education.”
After that turbulent inspection of 2006, the college has been re-inspected this year and maintained it’s perfect grade one scoresheet.
And as a keen promoter of the importance of leadership, how much credit does Westerman take for her college’s success?”
Well I could jokingly to go ahead and say ‘all of it’,” she says.”But actually part of you wants to say ‘it’s all down to my team, my staff and the wonderful work they’re doing, it’s nothing to do with me’.
“Of course, I think the answer is that it’s probably a little bit of both.”
What is your favourite book, and why?
This is a difficult question as I have so many favourite books. The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer is not necessarily a favourite, but I read it when it was first published and I was 14. It fundamentally changed the way I viewed the world, made me a feminist and has influenced my life ever since
What is your pet hate?
Small anti-social acts, like able bodied people parking in disabled bays
What do you do to switch off after work?
Physical activity as a contrast to work. I do jive and ballroom dancing classes and like walking and cycling at weekends. I’ve run a couple of half marathons for charity. I’m also in a book group and a member of the Women’s Institute. I do my fair share of slumping watching DVD box sets, too
If you could invite anyone, living or dead, to a dinner party who would it be?
Mo Mowlam, who worked at Northern College but left before I arrived, Nelson Mandela — my ideal leader, President Jed Bartlet from the West Wing (I do know he’s not real, but it would be a privilege to hear him discuss leadership with Mo Mowlam and Nelson Mandela), Bruce Springsteen, and George Eliot [Victorian era writer], for her wisdom, compassion and understanding
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
I wanted to be either a famous author, because I liked reading, or an English teacher, because it was my favourite subject. I achieved my ambition as I did become an English teacher
Claims by Business Secretary Vince Cable that he stopped government officials from “killing off” FE have been backed by former Skills Funding Agency (SFA) director of provider services David Hughes.
Dr Cable told a fringe event at the Liberal Democrats’ conference in Glasgow last week that he blocked moves in 2010 to enforce drastic funding cuts for “post-school” training.
The BBC website reported that Dr Cable claimed civil servants advised him to “effectively kill-off FE”, suggesting the savings could have paid for his party’s pledge to axe university student tuition fees.
And Mr Hughes, who left the SFA in April 2011 before becoming the chief executive of the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (Niace) six months later, said: “Dr Cable was not misleading people with his comments. Those kind of views were aired by civil servants but never to the point that it became a serious policy proposal.
“It was an unprecedented time for government spending cuts and people were thinking the unthinkable.
“Dr Cable and [former Tory Skills Minister] John Hayes both fought the corner for adult skills and community learning.”
Mr Hughes joined Niace three years ago after a year at the SFA and before that served a number of senior roles at SFA predecessor body the Learning and Skills Council.
He dealt directly with Dr Cable through his role as national director for funding, where he oversaw government payments to providers.
Dr Cable reportedly told delegates at the fringe event: “I could have taken the advice we had from the civil servants, who said ‘well, why don’t you just effectively kill-off FE. Nobody will really notice’.”
He added: “The easy way out would have been to have taken all the money out of the FE sector and out of training and I said ‘we are not doing that’.”
Julian Gravatt, assistant chief executive at the Association of Colleges, said: “Although it is pleasing to hear Vince Cable prevented even worse funding cuts being handed out to FE colleges in 2010, it does need to be recognised funding for adult skills has fallen by 35 per cent since then.
“While the demise of FE colleges might not have been noticed by officials in the ivory towers of Whitehall, the vital services they provide to communities up and down the country in the ‘real world’, despite funding cuts, would definitely have been missed.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said: “In 2010, like all departments, we took a long hard look at all of our spending to achieve the level of cuts required.
“Despite the tough fiscal climate, we have retained our commitment to FE. Overall funding for adult FE and skills is £4.1bn in 2014-15.
“In the past four years, as part of the overall funding, £1.7bn in capital investment has been made available to FE colleges with funding set to continue.”
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has repeated his pledge to protect education funding “from cradle to college” in his last party conference speech before the election.
Mr Clegg told delegates at the Liberal Democrat conference at the SECC in Glasgow this afternoon that his party would protect education funding for everyone up to age 19, while also providing a two-thirds discount on travel to educational institutions for 16 to 21-year-olds if it returns as a junior coalition partner next May.
But questions about the detail of the policy remain unanswered. The party has not yet clarified whether the budget will be protected as a whole or in three separate parts – for early years, school and 16 to 19 education – to prevent large amounts of money from being moved from one to another.
He told conference that, “given half a chance, anyone can shine”, adding: “For me, that is what our new commitment to expanding childcare to all two, three and four-year-olds is all about. That is what our new commitment to healthy lunches for all primary school children is all about.
“That is what our new commitment to helping with the travel costs faced by all college students is all about. That is what our new commitment to a qualified teacher in every classroom is all about. That is what protecting funding from cradle to college – even as we clear the deficit – is all about.”
