Support for new principals is a key priority, says John Smith. But who will provide a framework as LSIS winds down?

Ofsted’s chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw is right: the key to successful leadership and management essentially, but not exclusively, lies with the principal.  If not, what are principals for?

But how are new principals supported so that they are competent and confident in their new role?

Many different stakeholders should be interested in the answer.  The college community itself: students and their parents have most to gain from a well-run college; the staff who rely on the principal to  create a rewarding, in all senses, work environment and even to provide on-going job security; and governors who as lay non-executives rely on the principal’s advice.

Then, as many colleges are also key social and economic hubs, there is the local community.

And it’s obvious that the contribution of colleges to national priorities — and the reputation of the sector — essentially relies on the collective competence of some 340 or so principals, including inexperienced, new postholders.

New principals themselves will be well aware of the impact on their career prospects of a poor Ofsted result or financial difficulties, particularly after the brief honeymoon period is over.

The issue is a pressing one, given the forecast high turnover of principals. For instance, in Lancashire’s 12 colleges, half of principals will have moved on by the end of this year, a turnover unprecedented in recent times.

There’s never been fully established training or consistent structures of on-going support for new principals”

Of course, new principals will have previous experience to bring to their key responsibilities.  Many, but not all, will have had experience of managing curriculum, teaching, learning and quality, finance, resources and external relations, while all will be expected to have managed staff.  But critically they will not have gained this experience as a principal — which really is a game-changer.

However, two specific challenges may be particularly problematical.  First, the new incumbent must develop a strategic grasp of constantly changing policy and relate it the unique circumstances of their own college.  Looking at the big picture, telling staff and governors about it in easy-to-understand terms and then translating it into action will be a new experience for many.

Second, and just as critical, will be developing an appropriate relationship with the governing board, including establishing an acceptable balance and boundaries between governance and management.  The current government policy of delegation of powers to governors, combined with on-going financial pressures, make this a priority.  But it is something that new principals will never have taken the lead on.

Over the years there’s never been fully established training or consistent structures of on-going support for new principals; initiatives and programmes have come and gone.  Many have simply learned on the job.

Discussions with new principals in Lancashire indicate that there’s no great demand for highly structured support systems.  What they do appreciate is the opportunity to network with one another and, importantly, with experienced principals.  The monthly meetings of the Lancashire Colleges Group, where both strategic and operational issues are discussed, allow such an opportunity.  New principals also value mentoring by a more experienced peer.

These, then, may be the key elements of support for new principals: networking on a personal, local, regional and national basis, and mentoring support by request.  In
other words, support provided by principals for principals.  New principals will
ask where, if at all, any successor to the Learning and Skills Improvement Service programmes fit in.

And who will take the lead in providing a framework of support? The planned FE Guild?

John Smith, former principal of Burnley College.

ERS practitioners can now have their skills and expertise properly acknowledged. About time too, says Helen Richardson

FE colleges are playing a greater role in the delivery of employment related services (ERS) to jobseekers claiming Jobcentre Plus benefits (more than 200,000 unemployed people undertake education or training at colleges).

The introduction of a single adult skills budget two years ago, and the subsequent New Challenges, New Chances report, have provided the flexibility that colleges need to develop programmes for the unemployed that meet what employers need.

Many are now developing and delivering ERS unit courses of their own. Some have gone further by getting involved in the delivery of government welfare-to-work schemes such as the Work Programme (more than 80 per cent of Work Programme supply chains have colleges within them; Newcastle College is a prime provider).

This reflects an accepted recognition that a qualification is not a final destination but just one component of a learner’s journey towards employment and career progression.

Resourcing such provision can be a challenge; traditional FE roles, such as tutors or assessors, have associated qualifications (PTLLS, CTLLS, TAQA).

Equivalent pathways have yet to be embedded for practitioners delivering ERS courses, with few staff having accredited skills that prepare them for their learners’ many barriers to work.

The challenge for FE colleges is wider than simply delivering programmes for the unemployed, it’s about prevention of further generations of worklessness”

This can lead to questions about the quality and performance of the courses and services offered.

But things are moving on. A framework of ERS practitioner qualifications and units at level three and above has now been accredited and The Institute of Employability Professionals (IEP) established.

For the first time, ERS practitioners are able to have their skills and expertise properly acknowledged. Early qualitative evidence suggests that staff with ERS qualifications are more productive and more likely to achieve performance targets.

The challenge for FE colleges is wider than simply delivering programmes for the unemployed, it’s about prevention of further generations of worklessness.

A local college has a major impact on its community’s long-term ambitions for economic and social success in the form of higher wages, higher aspirations and more stable and secure lives.

Recent research from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (“The Impact of Further Education Learning”), suggests these benefits include greatly increased job security, higher pay and greater prospects.

In the same way that we should be educating our children from primary level up about the importance of a strong work ethic, so we should be educating our FE senior managers, lecturers, student support services and curriculum leads about the importance of getting and keeping a job.

FE leaders are looking at ways to instill and embed employability across their curriculum by ensuring that their whole workforce understands the importance of preparing learners for the world of work.

They understand that their key performance indicator of a destination is not just an Ofsted and funding requirement; it’s the right thing to do.

Helen Richardson,managing director at Workpays

City & Guilds’ Content Exchange will share digital learning materials, saving time for tutors and students who spend hours looking for quality resources, says Kirstie Donnelly

Technology has connected the world. Young people who have grown up with mobile phones and laptops can’t imagine a world without it.

About 75 per cent of 16 to 24-year-old who responded to YouthNet research said they couldn’t live without the internet, and 45 per cent said they were happiest when online.

This paints a clear picture: the internet, and technology more broadly, is central to engaging with young people. In a time of rising youth unemployment,  investing  in engaging and inspiring young people, however we can, is a priority.

However, even though technology is becoming embedded into virtually everything we do, FE has faced barriers and issues.

This has been recognised by the Ufi Charitable Trust, an organisation that funds technological projects to improve vocational education. And the first recipient of the trust’s funding? I’m pleased to say it’s City & Guilds’ Content Exchange.

The exchange is a hub where all types of digital learning materials can be shared throughout the FE sector. Our research suggests that some 75 per cent of teaching and learning content is user-generated, and yet it isn’t being shared. As a result, tutors and learners spend evenings and weekends looking for learning content. Our vision is to create a resource that puts high-quality resources at their fingertips, saving everyone time while improving the quality of content.

‘Marketplace’ concepts are popping up everywhere, so the model and theory behind are not new. For example, LinkedIn could be seen as a type of content exchange, where people can connect with like-minded individuals within their industry and share articles, videos, job vacancies and so on.

75 per cent of teaching and learning content is user-generated, and yet it isn’t being shared”

We know through our work with employers, as well as FE colleges and training providers, that there are some great pieces of learning content that need to be shared. If we can start to pool these resources, we believe that we will see six benefits: less time spent by learners and tutors sourcing information and resources more motivated learners opportunities for contributors to make money through selling their content reduced costs for colleges – they won’t have to buy or search for content a community where people can recommend and review resources improved quality of resources, thanks to awarding body approval, and user testimonials.

It’s early days yet, with the project focusing on hairdressing, beauty therapy, cookery and carpentry. This will allow us to test demand and see where there are areas for improvement. If the pilot is successful, we hope to create a community working together to enhance the quality and accessibility of learning resources.

The Content Exchange is just one way that technology can help to enhance learning, but there are so many other opportunities. For instance, City & Guilds has recently acquired Kineo, a global e-learning services company. Kineo has always operated an open-source model and is inspiring us to do the same.

As a result, we’re exploring how we can connect the learning that happens within employers, to learning within FE colleges and training providers.

This has the potential to make the Content Exchange richer and more relevant, so people can develop the skills they need for happy, successful careers.

City & Guilds is determined to keep pushing the boundaries in this space. Tell us if you have any ideas or would like to get involved. And keep your eyes open for more updates on the Content Exchange.

Kirstie Donnelly, director of product, learning and technology, City & Guilds

A new partnership of sixth-form colleges is determined to pursue high performance, innovation and creativity, says Simon Jarvis

Ten of the country’s leading sixth-form colleges have formed a partnership The Maple Group, to maintain and promote outstanding teaching and learning.

Group colleges make a significant contribution to the nation’s economy: together, more than 20,000 youngsters are enrolled at a member college. More than 80 per cent will go on to higher education; about one-third of those will accept places in  Russell Group universities.

About 8,000 youngsters currently studying in Maple Group colleges are taking A-level mathematics; more than 15,000 16 to 19–year–olds — three quarters of the student cohort enrolled at group colleges — follow at least one science, technology or maths (STEM) course. Currently, six group colleges are in the top 10 in the table of colleges and schools with the largest number of students achieving high grade A-levels in ‘facilitating’ subjects.

The rationale for The Maple Group is simple: our colleges represent all that is excellent about post-16 education. Working together in partnership enables us to share expertise and ideas; to disseminate superb practice; to provide a commentary on educational developments.

We often see students with AS grades that are far higher than would have been predicted by GCSE performance”

This initiative reinforces our shared commitment to providing the highest quality educational opportunities to thousands of youngsters.  In the coming years, members of the group will continue to be respected advisers to the country on all matters relating to post-16 education.

The debate on A-level reform is a good example: Maple Group colleges oppose the removal of the AS in its present form as we feel it will lead to students studying only three subjects at A-level, a lack of breadth in the post-16 curriculum and a return to the imprecision of predicted grades.

Such a narrowing of choice at 16 will force our students to specialise much earlier than their counterparts in Europe, and prevent them selecting which of their courses to take forward to A-level to maximise their achievement.

Moreover, as a group of sixth-form colleges with a comprehensive mix of students, we often see students with AS grades that are far higher than would have been predicted by GCSE performance. The removal of AS-levels will destroy this possibility for thousands of students, thereby reducing social mobility.  In addition, students who leave education at 17 will do so without formal qualifications — with nothing to show for a whole year of A-level study.

Maple Group colleges expect to play a leading role in supporting the future success of government initiatives such as the academies programme, specialist maths schools and reforms of the examined curriculum.

The member colleges are a trusted group, widely acknowledged by students, parents, teachers, universities and ministers as being amongst the very best. Maple Group colleges have an unrivalled lengthy track record of high performance, respected for innovation, creativity and leading the development of post-16 pedagogy.

We are beacons of excellence in the country, sharing a passion for learning and an undiluted vision of what constitutes an outstanding education.

Simon Jarvis, principal of The Sixth Form College, Farnborough, is chair of the Maple Group 

Members of the group are Cardinal Newman College, Preston; Greenhead College, Huddersfield; Hills Road Sixth Form College, Cambridge; Holy Cross College, Bury; King Edward VI College, Stourbridge; Peter Symonds College, Wincheste, Sir John Deane’s College, Northwich; St Dominic’s Sixth Form College Harrow; The Sixth Form College, Farnborough and Winstanley College, Wigan

As the government seeks to define vocational qualifications and strip out those that are not ‘rigorous’, Lynne Sedgmore reflects on the purpose of vocational education and training

We sometimes get so caught up in the detail of the latest initiative that obvious contradictions fail to leap out at us.

The publication of It’s About Work…, the promised Tech Bacc and the proposal of a VET centre have put vocational education, pedagogy and training at the centre in debates about education policy. About time. But we have a mountain to climb if we are to overcome the innate preference of many families for their children to pursue academic routes to success.

The current consultation on vocational qualifications for 16 to 19-year-olds aims to establish standards for level three qualifications as an assurance of their quality and that they be something to aspire to. This is a worthy aim indeed.

A key plank of the consultation is the proposal to define qualifications more strictly as either ‘occupational’ or ‘applied general’, depending upon whether they are designed to prepare young people for a specific career or to teach broader skills that may be applied in a number of careers..

As part of the drive towards increased public information for potential learners, these categories would then be used to report on the performance of particular programmes in particular institutions. So far, so good, you might think – vocational qualifications will be presented on a level playing field with their academic counterparts. And both categories undoubtedly have a good proportion of The Commission on Adult Vocational Teaching and Learning’s ‘line of sight to work’.

But why is there a need to categorise? The term ‘applied general’ doesn’t seem very sexy. Why would a young person want to do something which, from its label alone, would not seem to be specific at all? It feels like something of a value-laden term, which could make well-respected qualifications like the BTec in business instantly less appealing.

Should we be advocating that those on a vocational pathway study something that is ‘narrow’?”

Coupled with the Skills Minister’s view that “far too little genuinely occupational education takes place among 16 to18-year-olds”, we might reasonably wonder whether ‘applied general’ qualifications are intended to be less valuable. Perhaps it is right for young people entering vocational education and training to specialise in preparing for a specific occupation.

But, for adults, we read in the skills strategy published last month that many ‘occupational’ qualifications are “too narrow”. Surely this is the same suite of qualifications being studied by younger learners? Should we be advocating that those on a vocational pathway study something that is “narrow”?

And what constitutes success for someone on an ‘occupational’ course? A job in what they have trained for, many would say. But what of the young person who studies hairdressing and decides instead to apply their learned business skills to set up their own customer care consultancy? Or the engineer who is taken with the mathematical elements of the work and decides to become an accountant after pursuing a degree in maths?

Are these students ‘failures’, or simply a testament to the amazing things that can happen when a course contains the broadest mix of practical and employability skills?

Attention to developing a broad range of skills for work and employment is what those in the FE sector are renowned for. We know that success is as much about attitude and skills as it is about occupationally specific knowledge. I cannot help but wonder how being any more specific than that will be of help to anyone.

Lynn Sedgmore, executive director of the 157 Group