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Governors take driving seat with Data Dashboard

Governors will have greater access to performance information on their institutions with Ofsted’s launch of an online dashboard expected to take place on Monday (May 8).

The Data Dashboard has been designed to allow governors to assess how the provider is meeting the economic needs of its local area and the priorities set out by the local enterprise partnership.

It will contain each provider’s achievement rates for different areas of provision and information on how they are performing nationally and learner destination data — although it is understood that Ofsted has dropped plans for the dashboard to show how far learners move away after completing their course.

The dashboard has been warmly welcomed by Ofsted grade two-rated Northumberland College governors’ chair Jacqui Henderson (pictured), who took up the role in April 2012.

“It would be true to say the governing body at Northumberland College gets all this information from the senior management team, but I do think to have it all from one source would be really helpful,” she said.

“And for any college where this information isn’t already available to them this will make things a lot easier and will have the most impact.”

When FE Week first reported on Ofsted’s plans for a dashboard in June last year, then-director of FE and skills Matthew Coffey said the dashboard would help to support governors.

“Weak accountability, leadership and governance are common failings in poor provision,” he said.

Ofsted deputy director for FE and skills Marina Gaze said: “It is important that we are always mindful of the link between education and employment and this tool will be a vital asset in helping learners to achieve their career goals.”

Mrs Henderson agreed that more information would allow governors to hold principals to account.

“It’s really important that members of the governing body are engaged and enabled with information,” she said.

“At Northumberland one of the first things I did was to make sure this information was top of the agenda in every governors’ meeting.”

Are you a governor? Email news@feweek.co.uk to tell us what you think of the Data Dashboard.

Fewer than two applications for every traineeship vacancy

Official figures showing fewer than two applications for each traineeship vacancy have sparked concern about a “general lack of awareness” of the government’s new flagship youth unemployment scheme.

A freedom of information (FOI) request from FE Week showed just 4,160 online applications were made for 3,480 traineeship vacancies in the eight months since the programme’s launch in August last year.

And with the system only showing the number of applications — rather than applicants — it’s likely the headcount was actually lower because one person could have made more than one application.

A spokesperson for the Association of Employment and Learning Providers said: “A general lack of awareness about traineeships is part of the issue, which is why in tandem with the new statutory guidance for schools on careers advice, it’s important that more local employers and providers can get into schools to explain the benefits of the new programme.”

The traineeship figures are overshadowed by those of apprenticeships, which attracted more than 12 applications per vacancy between August and the end of October last year, according to the most recently figures from the National Apprenticeship Service.

Its report showed 461,530 applications were made online for apprenticeships during this period — which compared to 36,700 vacancies (according to the same FOI response from the Skills Funding Agency).

Teresa Frith, senior skills policy manager for the Association of Colleges, said apprenticeships were bound to attract
more applications as they were more established.

But, she said: “There has been no direct marketing [for traineeships] to potential trainees or their parents or influencers, and it may well be that the expectation of the student is that they go directly onto an apprenticeship rather than a pre-cursor programme.”

The news on applications comes six weeks after FE Week reported that there were just 3,300 traineeship starts in the six months following the scheme’s launch.

However, Skills Minister Matthew Hancock said this month that he hoped 5,000 new traineeships would be created through the employer ownership pilot scheme.

A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said: “Many traineeship providers are already using the apprenticeships vacancies service to reach young people.

“However, it is not compulsory for providers or learners to use the system for traineeships, so these figures are only a part of the wider positive picture.

“Some providers will choose other routes to advertise places and some applicants will be referred directly, for example by Job Centres.”

Specialist colleges leader tells of concerns over new SEN law

The impact of a new law aimed at improving special needs provision in general FE and sixth form colleges could be limited by funding and capacity constraints, a sector leader has warned.

Alison Boulton (pictured), the chief executive of the Association of National Specialists Colleges (Natspec), has said a new legal obligation for colleges to accept learners with special educational needs (SEN) may create an extra financial burden.

Under the new rules, which are part of the Children and Families Act 2014, general FE and sixth form colleges will have to admit SEN learners if the college is named in their education health and care plan — drawn up with the help of local authorities (LAs).

Ms Boulton said: “There are two key challenges for colleges. One is linked to the duty to co-operate with LAs, which is important but as yet difficult to achieve in practice. Many LAs still focus on school issues at the expense of post-16 provision.

“The second is linked to the major funding reforms for high needs students and the loss of additional learning support in general FE colleges. The recent FE Week/Policy Consortium survey showed the extent of concern about these changes and the impact on students and colleges.

“It seems probable that the numbers of students seeking FE places will increase, because local authorities have not always undertaken proper assessments in the past. A number of these young people will request an education, health and care plan, which may well lead to significant funding problems for colleges as the local authorities’ high needs budget will not provide sufficient support.

“Overall, this is an important piece of legislation with the potential for real benefits for young people with learning difficulties or disabilities, but the risks associated with funding and capacity could limit its impact.”

Deborah Ribchester, senior policy manager at the Association of Colleges (AoC), said: “Colleges appreciate that they have new duties to admit students when named in their plan and are supportive of this, given the reciprocal duty on LAs to cooperate with colleges in the assessment and planning process.

“These changes are significant and will require new ways of working with LAs which are now both commissioners and funders of places for high needs students.”

A spokesperson for the Local Government Association said: “We already work with FE colleges and they are an important part of the local offer for all children and young people in our areas, including for those with SEN and disabilities.

“The act places a new burden on councils for a wide range of the reforms and we are negotiating these new burdens with government now.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We are changing the law so that, for the first time, colleges have a legal duty to accept young people with special educational needs, if they request a place there.

“We have already provided councils with £70m to help them prepare for these changes. We have also provided guidance to all colleges on what these changes mean and will be providing them with extra money to cover any new costs that may arise.”

Royal seal of approval for horse rehabilitation centre

London Olympic eventing silver medallist Zara Phillips was guest of honour at the opening of Warwickshire College’s new Equine Therapy and Rehabilitation Centre.

Ms Phillips, who is the daughter of Princess Anne, was given a tour of the facilities and a demonstration of an equine water treadmill used for training and rehabilitating horses, which is the only one of its kind in the UK.

Bjarni Sigurdsson, who designed and manufactured the treadmill, flew over from Iceland for the opening event attended by around 70 guests including local vets, college staff and students.

Ms Phillips said: “This centre is fantastic. Moreton Morrell students are hugely lucky to be able to work with these amazing facilities.”

She also took part in the British Eventing Spring Horse Trials, which took place at the college and involved dressage, show-jumping and cross-country events.

Cap: From left: Horse Pot Luck, its owner John Wrottesley and Zara Phillips at a water treadmill.

College launches student paper

LeSoCo College in South London has launched its first ever student newspaper.

The first edition of the LeSoCo Times was written and created by students and covered everything from funding cuts to fashion, food banks and film reviews.

The newspaper’s sponsor Michael Buckmaster-Brown, founder of Emblem publishing, provided help and advice.

Principal Maxine Room said: “LeSoCo is about creating experiences for students, not just giving them qualifications. The students who have been a part of the creation of this newspaper have had their horizons broadened. They’ve had to be entrepreneurial, creative and imaginative to make this project happen.”

The college was formed in 2012, through a merger between Lewisham College and Southwark College.

Cap: Students who worked on the newspaper with principal Maxine Room (back row, third from left) and sponsor Michael Buckmaster-Brown (front row, centre)

Apprenticeship reforms must be tested, says AoC

The Association of Colleges has called for government proposals for apprenticeship funding reform to be “carefully modelled and trialled” over fears changes could create barriers and reduce quality.

In its response to a technical consultation on the proposals to use PAYE or a credits system to fund apprenticeship, it warned that not enough was known about how either system might function in practice.

The response said: “We recognise that the mechanisms offered are theoretically simple, but we have significant concerns that the approach to be adopted will not be fair and will provide an advantage to larger employers who are already involved in apprenticeships against smaller businesses and those new to the scheme.”

It was also concerned that putting employers in charge of paying for apprenticeship training could lead to a drop in quality.

The association’s response said: “It is difficult to predict precisely how price negotiations will work in practice, but BIS research strongly … suggests that apprenticeships will be price sensitive.

“If this proves to be the case there is a real risk that quality provision will be undercut by the cheapest offer.

“Even if such behaviour is short lived, it will impact adversely on apprentices and on some high quality providers who may well choose not to remain involved.”

The association recommended extensive pilots be carried out to explore the potential impact of the reforms on the system.

It said it believed that the reforms could lead to higher quality apprenticeships which met employer needs if they recognised the additional costs of smaller businesses and of working with younger apprentices.

The response said: “We do, however, continue to have serious reservations as to how government intends to implement these changes.

“We feel that the changes need to be carefully modelled and trialled to determine whether they will indeed support the intent.”

It added that the association did not believe the phase one trailblazers on their own would be enough.

“We would expect all pilot and transition activity to be evaluated to check whether it is better than the existing system,” it said.

“Without such an evaluation this will amount to a significant amount of change and expense for very little (if any) gain over the current arrangements.”

Best feet forward for sports massage demonstration

The first person in the UK to qualify as a sports massage therapist using just her feet demonstrated her techniques to students studying for a level three diploma in spa therapies at Doncaster College.

Sue Kent was one of thousands of people across the world born with disabilities in the 1950s and 1960s because their mothers were prescribed the drug Thalidomide while pregnant.

She uses the heels, balls and toes of her feet to massage and passed a level four diploma in sports massage at Cardiff Metropolitan University in 2010.

Ms Kent, who now runs her own sports therapy business, gave a talk at the college on disability in the workplace and demonstrated her massage techniques, before inviting learners to try them out too.

Hair and beauty lecturer Karen Gregory said: “Sue is a great motivator and her drive and motivation was infectious.”

Ms Kent provided massage for paralympic athletes during London 2012 and Channel 4 showed her in action during its coverage of the games.

Student Brogan Bush said:

“I had a really good afternoon with Sue learning to massage with feet.

“Sue was very friendly and the experience was great.”

Cap: Sue Kent demonstrates her massage techniques to staff and students

Marcel secures US basketball scholarship

Barnet and Southgate College BTec student Marcel Thomas Lee secured a basketball scholarship at an American university.

The 19-year-old level three sports and basketball learner sent two video clips — one of him training and one of him playing a game — along with his academic results to Hardin Simmons University, in Texas, to secure the placement.

He is flying over to the US in July for a four-day training session and will be starting the four-year degree course in sports fitness in September.

Hara Markos, sports lecturer at the college, said: “Marcel trains for three hours every day and is equally committed to his studies, playing basketball has kept him motivated to attend college and he has scored 100 per cent attendance over his three years here.

“Marcel is polite, loyal and respectful to his teachers and peers, he’s a great role model and thoroughly deserves his scholarship.”

Cap: Sports and basketball student Marcel Thomas Lee

Rock samples collected from former working mine

Chemistry A-level and level three applied science BTec students from South Cheshire College went underground in a former working mine to collect rock samples.

A group of 24 students visited the site at Ecton Hill, in Staffordshire, which was mined for copper and lead for more than 3,500 years up to its closure in 1891.

The learners were taken tens of metres underground to see the conditions miners would have worked in.

They also collected rock samples and used chemical tests to identify different minerals present.

Chemistry lecturer Neil Hewitt said: “The group very much enjoyed collecting samples in this beautiful location and hearing about the geology and history of the area. It was a fantastic opportunity for them to take their chemistry skills out of the college laboratory and use them in the field.”

Cap: South Cheshire College students wearing mining hats.