AoC: ‘It might help’ if colleges given access to DfE free meal vouchers

“It might help” colleges if they were allowed to access the government’s new free school meal vouchers scheme, their membership organisation has said.

From today, schools can provide every eligible child with a weekly shopping voucher worth £15 to spend at supermarkets while they’re closed due to coronavirus.

Parents will receive the voucher through their child’s school, which can then be redeemed online via a code, or sent to their house as a gift card and used at stores such as Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Waitrose and M&S.

But the scheme is not open to colleges – a decision which one FE leader has labelled as “extremely disappointing” and shows the government has “deemed post-16 students as less in need of financial support to eat at this time”.

The average college has “hundreds” of 16 to 18-year-olds who would normally receive free meals, according to the Association of Colleges.

The Department for Education told FE Week that FE institutions are already themselves supporting many students who are entitled to free meals, and it will provide further guidance for them on this in the coming days.

It is not clear whether any financial support, like what is being made available to schools, will be open to college students.

AoC’s chief executive, David Hughes, said: “Just like schools, the shutdown of colleges has left hundreds of 16 to 18-year-olds in every college who would normally receive free meals at risk of going hungry.

“Colleges have been making their own arrangements to ensure their students access to regular meals – generally by making payments direct to student bank accounts.

“This may not be not sustainable and it might help if Department for Education extended the national voucher scheme on an opt-in basis for colleges.”

A student services lead at a general FE college, who did not wish to be named, was outraged with the DfE’s decision.

“This is a gross misunderstanding of the part young people in FE learning play within their community and family,” they told FE Week.

“Many are independent livers, carers for parents, grandparents and younger siblings, currently we need a whole family approach to financial support. Any delay to this approach puts families at risk.”

They added: “Our college has used a system that enables us to ensure we can bridge the Easter holiday gap, however there will be a variety of systems in place and those who cannot do that will be frustrated by this move.”

As reported by this newspaper last week, FE providers have already taken matters into their own hands in the absence of the universal voucher system.

For example, Boston College and MidKent College both opted for direct payments to students or their parents or carers.

Coronavirus: DfE suspends £9m College Collaboration Fund

The Department for Education has suspended its new College Collaboration Fund to “help colleges focus on their staff and students’ welfare” during the coronavirus pandemic.

Planned pilots for a governor recruitment scheme and board performance audits have also been paused.

The £9 million collaboration fund was first unveiled last month and will allow bids of up to £500,000 to be submitted by groups of colleges to “share good practice and expertise”.

The 12-month programme is supposed to run during the 2020-21 financial year, with the deadline for the first round of applications set for 8 April 2020.

But announcing a suspension of the process today, the DfE said: “We will be adjusting the timescales for the governance pilots and the college collaboration fund (CCF) to help colleges focus on their staff and students’ welfare.

“We are exploring flexibilities within CCF to support colleges in developing good practice on maintaining delivery.”

The Association of Colleges has also said applications to the grant scheme have been suspended until further notice, as providers mobilise against the Covid-19 outbreak.

The DfE is yet to say when applications will resume.

The pilots being paused are worth over £200,000 combined.

One, the ‘FE Colleges Governor Recruitment Services Pilot’, will include at least 30 “effective leaders” being recruited as chairs, deputy chairs, and finance and audit chairs for colleges in “the greatest need of help”.

The other pilot is for around 30 board “capability reviews”, which would also be run at struggling colleges referred to the supplier by the FE Commissioner or the ESFA.

Ofsted extends post-inspection and complaints consultation

An Ofsted consultation that includes plans to withhold inspection reports until complaints are resolved has been extended by four weeks.

The ‘changes to Ofsted’s post-inspection processes and complaints handling: proposed improvements’ call for evidence was launched on 3 March and had a deadline of 31 March.

But due to the coronavirus pandemic, the watchdog announced this morning that schools, colleges, training providers and other stakeholders will now have until 30 April.

Earlier this month, Ofsted suspended routine inspections and the publication of inspection reports until further notice.

In an FE Week webinar last week, the inspectorate’s deputy director for FE and skills Paul Joyce said this was because they are “well aware providers have enough to deal with”.

He added that Ofsted will have “do the right thing” as its mantra going forward.

Included in this consultation are plans to withhold publication of inspection reports until the inspectorate has resolved complaints about them.

It proposes that formal complaints raised by providers within two working days of receiving their final report will effectively delay publication of the report until the complaint is dealt with.

Under the current system, providers have to submit formal complaints within 10 days of an issue of concern, but Ofsted does not normally withhold publication of reports while it considers complaints.

The watchdog’s consultation admits the current approach has led to it having to take action after it has published a report “when a complaint investigation highlights an error in the inspection process”.

The consultation also proposes that providers will receive five working days to review their draft report and submit concerns about issues of “factual accuracy and the inspection process”. At the moment, they only receive one, but some other types of provider get longer.

Ofsted also wants to introduce “greater consistency” in post-inspection arrangements.

A new timeline will mean that all providers “should expect to see their draft report within 18 working days of the end of their inspection”, and Ofsted will aim to issue all final reports to providers “within 30 working days of the end of the inspection”.

The current system of internal reviews, which are the last step for those not satisfied with the way their complaint has been handled, will be retained.

Ofqual seeks apprenticeship director to lead new ‘field team’

Ofqual is hiring a director to lead a new apprenticeships team that will be “operating in the field” as it steps up its regulatory work in the end-point assessment market.

This “critical new function” will include a team of nine who work remotely to find out if assessments are being delivered “appropriately and consistently”.

Led by the ‘associate director for vocational and technical qualifications assessment delivery’, a job advert for whom is currently live with an annual salary offer of up to £71,050, the team will be “deployed to monitor, evaluate and report on” end-point assessment organisations (EPAOs).

They will “secure evidence and insight” that can be used to “address risks that EPAs do not deliver a sufficiently valid and reliable measure of occupational competence”.

The recruitment drive comes a month after a consultation on plans for Ofqual to become the external quality assurer (EQA) for all but integrated degree apprenticeships within the next two years was launched.

Currently there are 20 EQA organisations, a mix of professional bodies, employers and quangos, which monitor the near-300 EPAOs that run examinations for apprentices.

The consultation states that all EPAOs will need to become registered with Ofqual over time.

The exams regulator’s job advert states that its work in apprenticeships has increased over recent years, and will be “growing again over the next two years as more end-point assessments become regulated”.

The new director and field team’s work will range between “very broad thematic activities looking across or within apprenticeships standards, industry sectors or assessment methodologies to highly specific activity looking at aspects of single provider, niche provision”.

Activity will “routinely include working alongside Professional Body and Employer representatives and the Associate Director will need to work with the wider VTQ leadership team and external organisations including the Institute for Apprenticeships to draw on and maximise the impact of sector expertise”.

Field operations could include “supporting EPAO fora to discuss and resolve identified inconsistencies in EPA delivery or to secure greater comparability in the level of demand of assessments between different EPAOs delivering against the same apprenticeship standard”.

“The field team may give targeted advice to individual EPAOs, produce thematic reports on cross cutting issues and gather intelligence or evidence that will inform subsequent compliance activity,” the job advert added.

“Field work approaches must be designed to be both adaptable and targeted and could range between very broad thematic activities looking across or within apprenticeship standards, industry sector or assessment methodologies to highly specific activity looking at aspects of single provider, niche provision.”

The deadline for applications to the director role is 19 April. Interview dates are scheduled for May 2020, but they’re subject to change in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

Free meals: are vouchers what colleges need to cater for the vulnerable?

In the absence of the government’s promised universal voucher system, colleges and ITPs have already taken matters into their own hands, finds JL Dutaut

Campaigning from school leaders last week resulted in DfE announcements promising a relaxation of rules for the disbursement of free meals funds and the creation of a universal voucher system. However, it is unclear whether any college benefits from the former or has any appetite for the latter.

This week, my conversations with leaders for the five case studies below revealed a settled situation in terms of free meals, as well as potential pitfalls ahead. Chief among those is the roll-out of the universal voucher system itself, and second, the system’s capacity to do much more than sustain its current load.

 

The coastal colleges

East Coast College principal Stuart Rimmer and his team seem to have stolen a march on the government and most other colleges by signing up all of their free-meal-eligible students to Edenred’s “Ticket Restaurant Plus” card. Each student is issued with a contactless card redeemable in a number of food outlets and all major supermarkets.

The college is pre-loading the cards with enough money to last until the end of the Easter break, topping up the allowance to cover the holiday period and sending out advice on how best to spend the money.

“If we’d had 24 hours’ notice, we weren’t going to be in a position to hand out meal vouchers,” says deputy principal Nikki Lane, “and we’d have been putting more people at risk through contact.”

We started calling all our eligible students – around 700 families

The college contacted eligible students before signing them up to the GDPR-compliant scheme. “We’ve got all the management behind it, so we can see who is using it and how, so we can prioritise where we need to be for support.”

The sign-up process has allowed the college to audit their contact details for all of these students, bolstering their ability to deal with safeguarding concerns. Uptake is high, but over 15 per cent of the college’s 16-to-18 roll are eligible for free meals. Plans are in place for the safeguarding team to reach out to those who don’t respond, and the college could end up with two concurrent systems to meet needs.

Just two weeks ago, I met MidKent College principal Simon Cook in a Gillingham campus atrium buzzing with a careers fair. This week, Cook is sitting in that atrium, one of a handful of staff caring for only 27 of the college’s most vulnerable students.

From last Thursday, Cook’s team has worked to identify all their vulnerable students. MidKent operates a system of discretionary bursaries for those whose household income is below £28,000, topped up for those also eligible for free meals. In normal times, money is added to their student ID cards, which can be swiped on college premises to pay for food.

“We started calling all our eligible students on Thursday and Friday – around 700 families. Where we were able to get bank details, we paid money straight into their accounts. By Friday, we’d processed payments for about 550.”

Unlike East Coast College, MidKent is not paying through the Easter and May breaks, but will top up according to need. In some instances, students don’t have bank accounts and money has had to be paid to parents or carers. Cook acknowledges this carries the risk of money not being used for its intended purpose. MidKent’s safeguarding team is following up to “do what we can to ensure parents don’t keep that money from students.”

For Cook, the voucher scheme would have pre-empted some of those concerns. MidKent processes payments on a weekly or monthly basis according to need, and Cook is looking at transferring to monthly during the closure. “We try not to spook or scare, but we know we’re more than likely to be paying that through to the end of the academic year.”

 

The rural college

“To be honest, safety is more important than finance,” says Boston College principal Jo Maher. How to disperse the funds is another matter and Boston, like MidKent, has opted for direct payments to students or their parents or carers. In part, that decision was driven by the reality of access to food retailers in what is a dispersed, rural catchment. In part, it was a question of timing.

“We looked at every single option. We looked to get a voucher scheme out quickly, but the companies said their risk plans were challenging, should we go into lockdown.”

To be honest, safety is more important than finance

Boston College contacted the same company that is providing East Coast College with the contactless cards, but the firm couldn’t guarantee the service would be put in place in the event of a sudden lockdown. It was the difference between 48 hours and 72 hours. In the end, it wasn’t a risk worth taking for Maher and her team. “What I can’t be doing is mobilising non-essential administration staff next week when my finance department can be managing that from home.”

Maher is also concerned about the roll-out of the proposed universal voucher scheme in the middle of a lockdown. “If it can be done remotely and electronically, brilliant. If it requires an admin burden and can’t, then I don’t want to risk my staff.”

The urban college

Trafford College has opted for a mixed-methods approach.

“On top of our normal bursary, we’ve given eligible students a monthly top-up of £50,” says vice principal James Scott. “That’s already set up for April, May and June. For students for whom that isn’t enough, we’ve set up an online system where they can apply for further assistance, and that would be in the form of vouchers.”

At this early stage, there hasn’t yet been any uptake on vouchers. The extra payments are designed to see students through their holiday periods, so Trafford’s options are still open. Under consideration is buying vouchers for a specific supermarket (something that’s possible in well-served south Manchester) but the college is open to a more universal system, should one become available.

Trafford’s concerns are longer-term and broader. “Hardship is only going to get more challenging,” says Scott, but the solution as he sees it is to make the most of the college’s place in the community through initiatives like food banks.

With regards to the universal voucher system, other than the concern he shares with Maher of an additional admin burden, Scott is also worried about “driving a coach and horses through what colleges have already spent a lot of hard work setting up”.

 

The ITP

For Mark Pike, CEO of Develop, which works mainly with highly vulnerable students, free meals are fundamentally not a concern. All students are set up to receive payments already, and Develop will simply continue to make these. To mitigate the risk of mis-spending the allowance, Develop has a random audit process in place. Students are expected to keep hold of receipts to prove their expenditures.

Technically, disengagement from learning for three weeks could lead to disallowance of the free-meals money. In such cases, Develop’s safeguarding team always intervene before action is taken that could harm students financially. Pike expects those safeguarding interventions to increase.

Hardship is only going to get more challenging

While audits and processes may appear unnecessary at this time, the independent training provider is chiefly concerned with keeping as much of a sense of normality as possible for his students, who often suffer high anxiety levels and for whom the current crisis only heightens those vulnerabilities. An expectation that students will continue to engage in learning through regular online tutor sessions means that Develop’s students have the consistency they need, and a continuity to their education few providers can boast of in the current circumstances.

When it comes to universal vouchers, and somewhat counter to at least some colleges, Pike is concerned that a government offer that bypasses Develop to deliver straight to students would heighten risks for his learners by severing the vital relationships they have built up in order to steady these young people’s lives.

 

As James Scott says, “I don’t envy the government.” And the situation won’t get any easier for them or anyone else. Pike’s students could soon be everyone’s.

“We’ve already started taking applications from families who are now workless due to the virus,” says East Coast’s Nikki Lane, who is expecting a rise in demand from families with self-employed parents and those whose ability to work will be impaired by factors such as mental health and loss of childcare.

All the colleges I spoke to were keen to tell me about the work they’re doing, not just for their vulnerable students but for their vulnerable communities at large. That’s a subject for a further feature. By the time it is written, FE may have a universal voucher system few colleges need, but will they have the clarity they want about equipping them to deal with that increasing vulnerability?

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: EDITION 312

Your weekly guide to who’s new and who’s leaving.

Rebecca Conroy, Acting chief executive, East Sussex College Group

Start date: March 2020

Concurrent job: Principal, East Sussex College Eastbourne

Interesting fact: She is a trained harpist.

Mark Byerley, Director of career pathways in technology, Activate Learning

Start date: May 2020

Previous job: Head of faculty for technology, Abingdon and Witney College

Interesting fact: He previously served for 23 years in the British Army.

Donna-Marie Janson, Principal, Varndean College

Start date: September 2020

Previous job: Vice principal, Varndean College

Interesting fact: While she was teaching in Australia, she taught some of the cast of Neighbours and climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Applications open for WorldSkills Centre of Excellence

Colleges from across the UK are now being invited to take part in the first wave of the WorldSkills UK Centre of Excellence programme.

Twenty slots are up for grabs for general further education colleges that have over 1,000 learners aged 16 to 18 and a “broad” curriculum offering which want to take part in the three-year pilot programme.

WorldSkills UK’s head of education and skills competitions Parisa Shirazi, who is leading the programme, called this a “milestone moment” with a “unique chance for colleges to join us on the dawn of a skills revolution”.

The centre, which is being sponsored with £1.5 million from awarding organisation NCFE, was first announced last month and will involve five training managers, who train the UK’s competitors for the WorldSkills and EuroSkills events, employed as “high performance coaches” to work with lecturers in a professional development capacity.

In addition to face-to-face learning, digital masterclasses will be on offer, featuring sessions with training managers from other countries. Shirazi said WorldSkills UK will look at “matching colleges with coaches based on both skills specialism and geographical location”, and what they will be passing onto tutors is transferable between subjects. Performance coaches will also work with NCFE to help shape and inform its assessment, qualifications and awards as part of the centre.

Meanwhile, conversations are ongoing with the Department for Education and the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, which are said to be “very supportive” of the centre, about how this work can influence training standards across FE.

With the programme due to be rolled out from September, and ten more providers to be picked for next year and the year after, WorldSkills UK and NCFE hope the centre will impact more than 120 educational institutions and around 1,000 educators.

While the first wave of applications will only be open to colleges, WorldSkills UK has said it will look to include private training providers in year two of the programme.

However, the launch takes place in the shadow of the Covid-19 outbreak, which has already forced colleges to close campuses to most students and move to online learning until further notice.

Shirazi said they “fully appreciate and understand the challenges colleges are facing” with the outbreak, but decided to continue with the launch of the application process with NCFE due to the “high level” of interest received about the centre.

She said they would work with the appointed colleges to agree an appropriate time for when they can begin working with staff.

“We want to support and celebrate the sector during this difficult time,” she added, and said if current circumstances prevent some colleges from engaging in the process, they can take part through the online masterclasses.

NCFE chief executive David Gallagher said he was “actively encouraging” colleges to take part in this “pioneering” project, as “the role educators play to teach, encourage and inspire their learners to be the very best they can be” is central to skills development.

Applications will close on 2 June. Anyone interested in applying should visit https://www.worldskillsuk.org/centreofexcellence.

Reflections on ‘isolation’ and support networks

Being alone successfully is a strategy that can be learned. Just a few behavioural techniques will make working home alone bearable – and even productive, writes Jo Maher

As working at home becomes the new norm, I’ve seen countless social media comments and blogs on how people in various professions such as the armed forces have coped with extended periods alone or away from civilisation. Strange as it may seem, my education career has also been marked by periods of isolation.

It turns out good isolation practice is also learned. From being quarantined with colleagues in Zambia during the swine flu outbreak, to having to work at home as a result of various joint surgeries, I’ve learned a few coping strategies worth sharing, in the hope of saving readers the steep learning curve involved.

First and foremost, structure is essential. For me, it’s not about writing a timetable (though it may be for you, especially if you have children). I am not naturally someone who likes rigid structure if I can avoid it. I find physical cues are most helpful to help my mind switch between tasks. I wear smart/casual clothes as a cue that it is “work time”, and, as funny as it sounds, it helps my dog as well. She genuinely knows the difference between outfits. A pair of jeans means “walk time”. I suspect the same is true for any company you might keep while working from home.

One golden rule I have set up with my friends and family – another cue – is that a phone call is to discuss serious topics and concerns, while a social media call is exactly that, a social catch-up to focus on positives. If you haven’t yet downloaded the Houseparty app, or another like it, on your phone, do. It’s a great way to bring people together. (Wine is preferable throughout.)

Next, managing the small things gives you a sense of psychological control and promotes mental wellbeing. I set my workstation up in the same place each day and I mirror my work times, even down to sticking to the diet that I would have at work, in order to avoid unnecessary snacking.

I’ve also found it helpful to add in things I would not have time to do at work, such as five-minute rehabilitation breaks every hour, to breathe, relax, stand up, move around. I avoid the living room until at least 8pm every day, because in my mind this is an evening relaxation space. Walking the dog also helps to change the scenery.

My experience of surgical recovery has been one where my wife and family have supported me for the first week or so, but as you become more able to do things for yourself, people migrate back to their other commitments, and rightly so. The same is likely to be true in our current circumstances even if other commitments get thin on the ground. Contacting friends is hugely beneficial for you and them alike. Don’t wait for others to contact you. You get out what you put in! Adapt to others’ patterns, and let them know how to adapt to yours. It made a huge difference to me. 

“Contacting friends is hugely beneficial – don’t wait for others to contact you”

In the coming weeks and possibly months, many will be isolating with families and children in the house. In this case, it is vital to find ways to adapt for them as well as to them. Checking in with people in a similar position to yourself to share tips can really help too. Colleagues both close and distant can provide great support, and it’s worth remembering that talking to someone who isn’t as emotionally involved in your situation can provide much-needed objectivity when the going is tough.

Looking out for other people can be challenging if you are not looking after yourself. Keeping yourself physically and mentally well is essential. Access your support networks through your colleagues, family and friends and do not be afraid to ask for help, even on the small things. I have lost count of how many staff put my suit jacket on for me when I had my arm in brace!

It’s together that we’ll get through this. Stay safe.

Trust your judgement in doing what’s best for your learners

Government must find sustainable solutions for learners and staff alike – and follow its own rules, writes Mark Dawe

Last weekend I took part in an unprecedented FE Week webinar with AELP and AoC on a Saturday, to discuss the response to the coronavirus pandemic. With Lsect managing director Shane Mann ably marshalling proceedings as the webcam calls came in from a back corridor in Heathrow’s T4 and a House of Colour studio, we were also joined by Dr Sue Pember of Holex, FE Commissioner Richard Atkins and Paul Joyce from Ofsted, fresh from helping farming neighbours with the lambing season.

Let’s start with the positives, and it is always refreshing to hear from Paul on how flexible Ofsted are being. We now know that no inspections will take place unless a serious case of alleged failure in safeguarding is flagged and confirmation came in the webinar that no new reports will be published until the crisis is over. Richard was equally supportive in confirming that his team of commissioners will make themselves available to colleges to offer informal advice without prejudice on how they might be judged in the future.

The day before, colleges had received the welcome news from the DfE that payments for the grant-funded element of their income will be guaranteed for the remainder of 2019-20. This was encouraging when senior leadership teams are having to grapple with the challenges of the partial closing of the college estate and the cancellation of the summer exam season.

During the webinar, Sue made the point as a former senior DfE civil servant that it would have perhaps been better if the department had sent out three letters at the same time in respect of mainstream FE provision, work-based learning and adult and community learning. But then when we saw the DfE letter on apprenticeships on Monday evening, the temptation to compare and contrast was irresistibly strong.

It’s important to recognise that the absence of guaranteed funding for contracted apprenticeship providers and assessment organisations impacts on all types of provider as well as independent training providers. As mentioned in the webinar, the AoC has a member college with 37 per cent of its income being ‘commercial’ and other colleges are major suppliers in the apprenticeship market too. Yet the stark fact remains that with many employers stopping all new starts and programme completions being delayed, income is drying up fast for ITPs as businesses and so hundreds of good-quality providers face the real prospect of collapse unless ministers rethink the stance they adopted at the beginning of the week. The Chancellor’s package of general support measures for businesses was helpful but it is not enough to save companies with little or no cash coming in.

Providers are now furloughing staff and having to put many on notice. Sadly, the initial indications from an AELP survey launched this week are that the numbers are going to be very high. ITPs feel understandably angry that clear Cabinet Office Covid-19 guidelines for contract payments by all government departments and public authorities are seemingly being ignored by the DfE. The short-term solution which we are both pressing for is to guarantee contracted apprenticeship provision for March and April to all colleges and providers while we sort out a longer-term solution.

I want to emphasise that sustainable solutions also need to be found for programmes such as study programmes and traineeships while the interests of vulnerable learners are protected as well. Both AoC and AELP have their Covid-19 response checklists, including some common asks, which seek clarifications from the DfE and the various agencies on issues – interpretation of the furlough rules features strongly – and hard-working officials are doing their best to answer them as quickly as possible.

But in the midst of this crisis, AELP’s topline message to leaders of colleges, training providers, EPAOs and other sector organisations is to trust your judgement in doing what’s best for your learners. As Paul and Richard said in the webinar, no one is going to act as judge and jury for now. Our thoughts are also with those doing the best for their staff.