Dick Palmer, CEO, Transforming Education in Norfolk

Dick Palmer had a dream shared by many teenage boys: to become a professional footballer. And it was within his reach until his father shared a few “wise words” and told the young Palmer that he “was to complete his education and go to university”.

Palmer, 58, grew up in the small town of Brecon in the Welsh valleys with his mother, a housewife and father, a sign writer. He went to the local boys’ grammar, Porth County.

But while he was a “talented and keen footballer”, he heeded his father and went on to study economics at the University of Wales in the mid-70s, the first of his family to go on to higher education.

He then spent several years travelling, eventually settling in Greece for five years, managing a coach company that arranged excursions across mainland Europe. But it was the years spent travelling, including spells in the Far East and Africa, that helped to shape the man that he has become. “It opened my mind to so much more.”

He now lists the ability to speak Greek as a key skill – in recent years he’s even offered to teach colleagues as part of the City College Norwich’s skills sharing programme.

Dame Ruth Silver taught me a tremendous amount. She was inspirational.”

He never intended to teach, but says that he tried it 1985, loved it and has never looked back. “I found myself teaching two classes. The first was teaching IT to teachers; that was terribly tough. But I found it rewarding. The second was to students who had learning and mobility difficulties. Those two experiences ignited a passion that led to me pursuing teaching as a career.”

In the next 15 years, Palmer taught in a variety of institutions in Leeds, Selby and South London. In 2000, he moved to the Department of Education and Skills where he spent 18 months as their head of e-learning. His first senior management role in a college was at Lewisham College where he was appointed deputy principal in September 2001. “My time under the leadership of Dame Ruth Silver taught me a tremendous amount about becoming a leader and prepared me for a principalship. She was inspirational. We were doing lots of seriously innovative stuff at the time. I knew then that I wanted the opportunity to provide greater opportunities to many more people.”

It did not take many interviews for Palmer to secure a principalship. “City College Norwich was the first I applied for, and I got it. Being offered the role in 2003 was a very proud moment.

“You hear lots of tales about Norfolk and Norwich; to the outside observer it could feel like a world away from the hustle and bustle of London. True, it is very different to London. But this is my home and my children’s home and I love it. It is a beautiful county that is rich in history and culture. I have no regrets moving here. Norfolk will now always be my home.”

When I look back now and see what we have achieved as a college, I made the right decision in not quitting.”

While Palmer has certainly fallen in love with Norfolk, life as a principal has not always been so rosy. “There was a period where I was ready to walk away and leave it all behind,” he says now. All new principals start with new ideas and proposals for change – but for Palmer it was not about making his mark, it was about “building a college that truly served its community”.

“When I joined I was startled by some of the processes that were in place; the lack of engagement with the community and not having a complete curriculum offer. It was heavy with level 3 courses, but lacked a provision for levels 1, 2 and entry programmes. I wanted to make a variety of changes to the structure of the organisation and its offer.”

Palmer paints a picture of a figure lonely at the top during those early days. “Change was going to be far more challenging than I had first thought. I had come to a new college, in a new city. It felt as if there was no one to support me. All leaders require a team around them; I had not yet built that team. The task was one that had to be undertaken on my own.

“When I look back now and see what we have achieved as a college, I made the right decision in not quitting. In fact my biggest regret is that I did not come to Norwich earlier.”

Palmer speaks about some of the more daring changes that he has made. “Students are at the centre of what we do. I was passionate that they should play a central role at the top table of my organisation. We increased our number of student governors to three and included the union president on my senior management team. Although daring in the sense that I was not entirely sure what contribution they would make, each president has made a significant impact and has ensured that the college responded to students’ opinion efficiently and effectively.

“It made me realise that the risk was worth it. As a college we were receptive and agile, thanks to listening and acting upon the students’ voice.”

Palmer received national recognition for his work and commitment to the students’ voice when in 2009 he was awarded the LSIS principal of the year award.

He beams as he tells of his pride in the college that he has transformed. “The college has gone from strength to strength. We have a great team with great students who are truly at the centre. We serve our community and are honoured to be able to make such a contribution to Norfolk.

“I am passionate about the role colleges can and must play in their community; they are a central part. We’ve worked tirelessly building and enhancing relationships with local employers, civic leaders, parents and community groups. It has paid off.”

And his proudest moment? “The day that I travelled to London, to collect the Queen’s Anniversary Award for Higher and Further Education.

“I went with my governing body chairman and around ten students who were part of Rug Room, our centre for students who have autistic spectrum disorder. I was elated by the recognition from the Queen for the college’s work with students with ASD and to see those students chatting with the Duke of Edinburgh was just great. That day is unforgettable.”

Palmer was recently appointed CEO of the Transforming Education in Norfolk (TEN) Group, a federation of City College Norwich, two academies, a shared services company and a university technical college (UTC) due to open in September 2014, and remains chief executive of City College Norwich. Palmer is also one of five founding members of the pioneering Gazelle group, a group of principals supporting further integration and entrepreneurial skills within the curriculum.

“The next few years pose many challenges and opportunities.

“It’s going to be busy, but I’m ready for the challenge.”

Why colleges should be allowed to be creative to meet local needs

The chances of the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) agreeing to 50 per cent flexibility in adult skills budgets were very low — but if you don’t ask you don’t get, says Lady Sharp.

The idea of the Innovation Code put forward in our report The Dynamic Nucleus – Colleges at the Heart of Local Communities, was that it would give colleges a degree of flexibility in allocating  resources to meet local needs that did not fit neatly into budget headings.

Perhaps, above all, we had in mind the ability to use funds to seed initiatives that would not necessarily yield returns in the short period but would lay the groundwork for longer-term returns.

An example here might be the development of a partnership with the local police and/or youth offending team to set up a series of workshops — in bicycle and motorcycle maintenance, perhaps — that could develop into a set of apprenticeships but, in the short term, would provide activities to help to keep young men aged 16 to 21 off the streets.

In the report we suggested that colleges graded good or outstanding by Ofsted should be able to allocate up to 25 per cent of their adult skills budget to address local priorities.

This was carried forward into a recommendation to the government that they should “establish an Innovation Code to fund responsive provision that meets locally assessed priority needs. This should total up to 25 per cent of the college’s annual adult skills budget (by September 2012) rising to 50 per cent (by September 2013)”.

We were deliberately flying a kite. We knew that the chances of the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) agreeing to 50 per cent flexibility were very low — but if you don’t ask you don’t get. We were delighted that the White Paper, New Challenges, New Chances, published soon after our report, picked up the idea.

What is particularly disappointing about the SFA’s take is that it quotes the idea for the code as coming from our report and then misinterprets it”

However, had we read the paper more carefully, we would have seen that the idea was translated into something narrower than we intended; it was to be “for funders to draw down funding for programmes that meet a particular employer skills need while they are simultaneously developed for QCF”.

The SFA has refined this further in the guidance issued in August this year (The Innovation Code: A Guide), which suggests that the code may be used where “a provider, liaising with local employers…identifies a particular skills gap for which there is not an appropriate accredited qualification available in the QCF” and “may identify either existing provision or propose entirely new provision” that “will need to be developed to move into the QCF”.

It then goes on to make it clear that any proposal must respond to employer/business needs and must be broadly suitable for developing within the QCF.

What is particularly disappointing about the SFA’s take is that it quotes the idea for the code as coming from our report and then misinterprets it, wrapping it up in precisely the sort of restrictions that we were trying to get away from.

We were looking for a funding methodology which, together with the new Foundation Code of Governance emphasising accountability to local stakeholders, encouraged colleges to be creative and entrepreneurial in identifying and meeting local needs. As it is, there seems still to remain a substantial disconnect between the new freedoms being introduced to determine priorities locally and flexibilities necessary to deliver those priorities.

Lady Sharp is the Liberal Democrat education spokesperson in the House of Lords

 

 

Cash boost on out-of-favour qualifications

Funding for a host of politically unpopular workplace qualifications is set to rise, with payments for one course rocketing 508 per cent. Click here for the list.

Payments for more than 1,100 workplace qualifications (formerly known as Train to Gain) will rise this month as the Skills Funding Agency aims to simplify an “overly complicated” funding system.

The average increase in provider funding for the courses, which include diplomas in professional cookery and domestic plumbing and heating, is 39 per cent, to £2,380.

However, some courses such as diplomas in vehicle accident repair body competence and work-based land-based engineering operations have had much bigger increases at 508 per cent, to £8,861, and 363 per cent, to £5,968, respectively.

The cost of these changes will be based on the choices learners and employers make throughout this year in deciding which skills offer is right for them and will not, therefore, be known until the end of this academic year.”

An agency spokesperson declined to say whether it had carried out projections for the cost of the latest changes, which will be backdated to August.

She said: “The agency is creating for the first time a clear and transparent approach to funding rates as part of its work to simplify a system that has, in recent years, been overly complicated with different rates applying to different programmes delivered by different types of providers.

“The creation of a flexible single Adult Skills Budget has enabled all providers to deliver the full range of qualifications and delivery models.that started in 2011/12.”

She added: “The cost of these changes will be based on the choices learners and employers make throughout this year in deciding which skills offer is right for them and will not, therefore, be known until the end of this academic year.”

The increases come seven months after the agency increased funding for 750 other workplace qualifications, despite the number of learners falling every year from 906,100 in 2008/09 to a provisional 323,900 for 2011/12.

Train to Gain has long proved less popular than apprenticeships with the government as a means of workplace learning. It came under heavy criticism from former FE Minister John Hayes when he was Shadow Minister.

In November 2009 he said: “The service has a massive deadweight cost. The scheme accredits existing skills that are on offer and assesses rather than trains. It doesn’t focus on higher-level skills.”

The funding boost for providers is the latest payout from the agency following a relaxation in the rules governing how much cash colleges pay back where they fail to hit delivery targets.

In May, FE Week revealed the agency had allocated an extra £240m since the start of the academic year. An updated spreadsheet for 2011/12, published by the SFA, showed allocations had risen to more than £4bn. The extra funding was distributed mostly through the Adult Skills Budget, which rose 7 per cent to £2,604,934,311.

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Editors comment 

Providers delivering standalone NVQs in the workplace are being given another funding rate boost.

The extra cash in their November payment will be for funding instalments since August 2012 (thus applied to carry-in as well as new starts), as well as future payments.

This will come as a welcome Christmas bonus, but to my knowledge no-one was calling for the change and the Skills Funding Agency simply justifies it on the basis of ‘alignment’ with classroom funding, in advance of a ‘streamlined’ future.

In my view this is an indefensible waste of public money.

Sure, don’t give the cash back to the Treasury, but what about reversing the cuts to ESOL and other worthy adult courses?

What at about using hundreds of millions in under-delivery to avoid introducing new, complicated and costly loans for level three learners aged 25 and over?

It is also worrying that it remains unclear whether the agency has even come up with the projected cost of these increases.

“We can only tell you what it will cost at the end of the year,” it says.

Well, yes, that is obviously the case, but surely you’ve worked out if it is affordable — haven’t you?

What would be worse, an agency withholding its projections from public gaze or an agency that hasn’t done any projection whatsoever for its spending of taxpayers’ money?

Hopefully neither is the case.

Nick Linford, editor

Provider challenges new-look inspection

One of the first Ofsted inspections under the new common inspection framework is to be disputed.

Merseyside-based Central Training, which bills itself as one of the UK’s largest providers of vocational training and education, was inspected over five days from September 17.

The company, which is made up of sports, skills, business and fitness divisions, was graded as inadequate. It was rated as “good” when it was last inspected in late 2009.

The latest report said Central Training’s “large majority of learners” made slow progress and did not complete their programme within the planned time.

“Assessment practices are not effective in supporting learners to make timely progress.

With all of the above considered, it is difficult to rationalise this with the grade four we got.”

“The quality of learners’ experience varies greatly across the provision due to weaknesses in the management of improvement processes.”

However, Gary Wiswell, the company’s chief operating officer, said he planned to appeal the grade.

“We are extremely unhappy with many aspects of the inspection — one of the first to be done under the new framework,” he said.

“We believe the data used to reach judgments is factually incorrect and measured against inapplicable benchmarking.

“For example, Central Training delivers apprenticeships in sport nationally. In their comment, Ofsted used overall success data, rather than sector-specific data, to describe success rates as significantly below average. “We are obviously very disappointed that despite raising concerns over the use of inapplicable data, both during and after inspection, our objection was ignored and has led to a false judgment.”

He said that feedback throughout the inspection was good with 80 per cent of observations of teaching, learning and assessment being graded one or two.

“The inspectors agreed with our internal monitoring arrangements and judgments. With all of the above considered, it is difficult to rationalise this with the grade four we got.”

Mr Wiswell said that Central Training was committed to improving all aspects of provision and looked forward to working with the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) and the Learning and Skills Improvement Service. Central Training received £816,056 of SFA cash last year under the adult skills budget and £963,833 to deliver 16-18 apprenticeships. This year, it has been allocated £837,858 and £1,024,137, respectively, plus £4,096 for 19-plus discretionary learner support.

A spokesperson for Ofsted said it did not comment on individual inspections.

At last, a report written by people who understand FE

The clear recommendations of the Lingfield report reflect the complexity of the sector, says Lynne Sedgmore, executive director at the 157 Group. Shame about the blip on 14-18 education…

The final report of the independent review panel into professionalism in FE — the Lingfield report — deserves to be widely and carefully read.

Unlike many reports of recent years that merely repeat conventional wisdom and grand rhetoric, this paper deals carefully and constructively with some longstanding and difficult issues.

The recommendations are clear and reflect the complexity of FE. It is evident, for instance, that the authors understand the sector. They note the variety of audiences that it serves and, while recognising the difficulties that such diversity can cause, do not resort to easy proposals.

The Lingfield report is refreshing in setting out what is good about FE”

The complexity of the sector is there for a reason, and while it may desirable to have more clearly defined roles, or less confusing qualifications, change needs to be approached with caution.

The report is also refreshing in setting out what is good about FE. It is important, for instance, to record that its performance has improved immeasurably since incorporation in 1992  — that it readily compares with similar systems in other advanced countries — and that colleges now have highly sophisticated management and governance.

In particular, the report highlights how FE institutions have taken on responsibility for maintaining and improving quality, and how they have a clear focus on improving teaching and learning.

In light of this progress, the report is right to conclude that the time has come for a new settlement for the sector.

The 157 Group has welcomed the steps that the government already has taken to reduce regulation, but has also been among those arguing that this needs to be extended to the freedom to develop our own curriculum. The suggestion that the FE Guild might be the focus for sector leadership in this area is imaginative.

In the same way, the 157 Group has been arguing for a more sophisticated approach to inspection; one that focuses on a college’s capacity to improve rather than a potentially brief and unrepresentative snapshot.

Again, the suggestion that chartered status might be linked with a move to a Quality Assurance Agency-style award is imaginative and helpful.

The need to reinforce the professionalism of FE staff by removing layers of external regulation and giving scope for professional autonomy chimes with our own thinking in relation to promoting excellence in teaching and learning.

A sudden split at the age of 19 is unhelpful. We would argue that a 14 to 24 phase better reflects the reality of modern life”

The report’s one jarring note is the treatment of the 14 to 18 phase of education — one that we see as particularly important because for most young people it spans the transition from school to adult life.

Lingfield seems to characterise the involvement of FE with anyone who is not qualified to level two by the age of 16 as ‘remedial’, making the bold assumption that improvements in schools will remove the need for all such work.

While a critical aspiration, in reality no amount of school improvement will alter the fact that pupils learn at different rates, or that some are better motivated by a more practical and vocational curriculum.

Nor do we see a continued involvement with young people as in conflict with a focus on adults — indeed, we see a sudden split at the age of 19 as unhelpful and would argue that a 14 to 24 phase better reflects the reality of modern life.

Although the government has not formally responded to the report, it is good that the Minister has already agreed to move forward with the creation of an FE Guild.

The 157 group is part of the sector-wide alliance that has been asked to develop proposals for the guild and we hope it can be an effective and powerful vehicle to drive many of the other changes that Lingfield proposes — and which we fully endorse.

SFA ‘assured’ over Elmfield payments

A system of payments from the provider behind the UK’s biggest apprenticeship programme to the firm whose staff it trains has been given the green light by the Skills Funding Agency.

Elmfield Training, which was allocated £41m by the agency for the current academic year, has previously defended the payments to giant supermarket chain Morrisons, saying that it was “only right to share costs”.

The payments — understood to be £60 for every learner — began after the provider started one-day development sessions on key skills with apprentice staff at the chain, which last financial year had a turnover of £17bn.

Funding rules state that providers “must not use apprenticeship funding provided by the SFA to pay apprenticeship wages”.

But an agency spokesperson told FE Week that it is happy with the payments.

In this instance we are assured that funds are not being used in an inappropriate manner.”

“A training provider would not be able to use public funds to pay the salaries of staff covering for apprentices being released for off-the-job training sessions,” she said.

“Under the apprenticeship contract, employers agree to release staff for a minimum of one day a week and it is anticipated that this would be sufficient time to cover the needs of the individual and the requirements of the programme.

“In this instance we are assured that funds are not being used in an inappropriate manner.”

A spokesperson for Elmfield, which claims to have delivered around 100,000 apprenticeships for Morrisons since October 2009, said: “We’ve always supported Morrisons’ learners one-to-one with key skills, and last year we decided to add a one-day development day with groups of learners.

“The extra tuition means that we’ve been able to maintain high pass rates on both literacy and numeracy.

“For many of our learners in Morrisons, it’s the first time that anyone has supported them with these skills — and obviously it’s had a very positive effect on their confidence, as well as their ability to perform well at work.

“Morrisons makes a huge financial contribution to the apprenticeship through all the training and support it provides learners. Where additional costs are incurred to improve the quality of the programme, it is only right they are shared fairly, with ourselves as the provider.”

A Morrisons spokesperson said the company was also happy that the payments from Elmfield were above board.

The agency’s OK comes as company accounts reveal that Elmfield director Gerard Syddall, who owns 95 per cent of the company’s shares, took just under £900,000 in pay and dividends last year. Elmfield posted a £5.3m profit with Companies House — £7m down on the year before.

News of the payments and Elmfield’s continued profitability comes weeks after FE Week reported claims that the provider was proposing to shed a third of its 600-strong workforce.

In early October, two of every three staff were warned that they could face redundancy, according to a worker who wanted to remain anonymous.

The Elmfield spokesperson described the redundancy figures supplied to FE Week as “inaccurate, selective and misleading”. It would not comment further.

The company also declined to comment further on the payments system to Morrisons.

Apprenticeship highs and lows

Apprentice numbers in engineering and construction have plummeted while management apprenticeships have rocketed 45 per cent.

Engineering, based on provisional figures for the full 2011/12 year, fell 30 per cent to 12,890, while construction dropped 18 per cent to 12,850.

Their high points, respectively, were 20,700 apprenticeship starts in 2006/07 and 18,330 in 2010/11.

The numbers appear in a breakdown of the 502,500 new apprenticeship starts announced by the government last month.

The number of start-ups was welcomed, but there was also concern that the number of 16-18 apprenticeship starts had fallen 10 per cent from the previous year to 22,000.

Gordon Marsden, Labour’s shadow FE minister, described the fall in construction and engineering apprenticeships as a “serious concern”.

He said: “These figures come on top of continuing gloom about decline in construction industry activity and echo the worrying fall in apprenticeship starts for 16 to 18-year-olds.”

Earlier this year Mr Marsden called for incentives to increase starts in high-quality apprenticeship areas, such as engineering and construction.

He suggested that the government use the Growth and Innovation Fund to give incentives to large companies to buddy-up with both their supply chain and other small and medium enterprises in their sector.

“This, and giving Local Enterprise Partnerships more funding and powers, as Lord Heseltine has just recommended, would also help.

“We desperately need action orchestrated locally to kick-start growth to expand younger and older people’s apprentice opportunities in these areas.”

These figures come on top of continuing gloom about decline in construction industry activity and echo the worrying fall in apprenticeship starts for 16 to 18-year-olds.”

The number of management apprenticeship starts rose to 43,330 last year. In 2003/2004 there were just 880.

Matthew Street, Skills CFA interim head of development, said: “Management and leadership skills have a huge impact on the development, productivity and performance of organisations of all sizes, in all sectors.

“We’re really pleased with the increase in management apprenticeships over the past few years, with the numbers suggesting a real tipping point has been reached for team-leading and management apprenticeships.

“We have been promoting the value of business skills for a number of years and we believe that management is management, regardless of the sector or industry an individual is working in. It’s a great boost to see the generic-management and team-leading apprenticeship numbers taking off.

“It’s interesting to note that management apprenticeships are predominantly taken by individuals already in employment, with significant numbers being over 24.

“To us, this suggests that there is increasing acceptance that apprenticeships aren’t just for learning basic skills or for younger learners. Skills CFA and FE have been promoting this for many years.”

Chris Jones, chief executive officer and director general of City & Guilds, said: “It’s extremely encouraging to see such an increase in numbers of management apprenticeships — it shows apprenticeships and the vocational route more broadly are being recognised as viable routes to advancement both in more office-based and managerial roles, as well as the traditional trade sectors.

“At City & Guilds, we have always believed that learners should be able to reach the highest levels through work-based learning.

“It’s vital that investment should be focused on the provision of fuller progression routes for young people.”

Heseltine questions funding agency’s future

A wide-ranging report from the Tory grandee Lord Heseltine (right) questions the role of the Skills Funding Agency, instead calling for devolved powers and funding to be handed to regions through local enterprise partnerships.

The former deputy prime minister suggests that almost £48bn of government cash in different Whitehall departments should be placed in a single local funding pot. He also proposes adding a further £9bn of EU cash, arguing that EU spending was bureaucratic and inefficient.

The 39 partnerships would then bid for the cash to spend on meeting local needs “free from Government diktat”.

One of the 89 recommendations in Lord Heseltine’s No Stone Unturned report says: “The budget for vocational training for learners aged 19 and over, and all funding currently set aside for apprenticeships for those aged 16 and over, should be devolved to local areas through the single funding pot.

“This therefore calls into question the continuation of the Skills Funding Agency (SFA). Each partnership should incorporate skills’ needs within their local economic plans driven by the needs of local employers and the practical experience of FE colleges.”

free from Government diktat”

His report was released just over a month after the Association of Colleges (AoC) warned that the partnerships were failing to take advantage of the “fantastic” education resources offered by colleges.

An association report said that there was “patchy” engagement between the two, with a lack of college representation on partnership boards and a lack of understanding of the role that FE played in economic growth.

“We very much agree that growth needs to be at the forefront of government activity, but we do not want to see added layers of bureaucracy brought in that could actually hinder college responsiveness,” Martin Doel, AoC’s chief executive, said.

“Suggestions that money should be handed directly to local authorities who would then distribute it would add extra complication to an already intricate funding system. Any disassembly of the SFA could lead to more labyrinthine structures. This would be yet more change for the sake of it.”

He said that much of the association’s research suggested that, “with a few notable exceptions”, partnerships almost completely ignored education and training in their area, which would hamper the growth agenda.

“We will wait and see what action is taken by government in light of this report and stand ready to contribute to the debate on the way ahead.”

Mark Ravenhall, the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education’s director of policy and impact, said: “No one feels skills’ mismatches more heavily than the thousands of people unable to access adult learning due to narrow funding rules.

“But despite some salient weaknesses, there is much to be commended in the current system, particularly more recently with some flexing of funding rules. We hope this continues, with learning providers given more freedom to plan and show accountability to their communities.

“This was the vision put forward by Lady Sharp last year.”

Lord Heseltine’s 228-page report, launched on October 31, sets out a comprehensive economic plan aimed at improving the UK’s ability to create wealth.

It makes the case for a major rebalancing of responsibilities for economic development between central and local government, and between government and the private sector.

“For the UK to face up to the challenge of increasing international competition, we must reverse the long trend to centralism. Every place is unique. Local leaders are best placed to understand the opportunities and obstacles to growth in their own communities,” Lord Heseltine said in the report.