Hull College Group backs embattled chief executive in bitter redundancy row

UPDATE: UCU members at the Hull College Group will walk out on strike tomorrow (May 9) over plans to slash jobs.

Hull College Group has “absolute confidence” in its under-fire chief executive and will not bow to staff and union pressure to fire her, it has announced.

Staff who are members of the University and College Union, representing nearly 400 of HCG’s 1,200 workers, are up in arms over plans to balance the college’s books, by cutting up to 231 full-time jobs.

The group’s leader, Michelle Swithenbank, has come under intense criticism over the proposal, but the group released a statement this morning which reaffirmed its backing for her ability to lead it through its current financial difficulties.

Of the college’s 378 UCU members, 214 submitted a vote in a ballot on April 18 in which 170 opted to strike before unanimously backing a vote of no-confidence in their boss the next day.

Union leaders announced today that members will walk out for an initial three days on May 9, 17, and 18. The strikes to hit all three sites at Hull, Harrogate and Goole.

The UCU has insisted that Ms Swithenbank’s position is untenable after her failure to defend jobs at the college and a “bizarre” 24 hours which saw the management team allegedly attempt to “bully and then bribe” staff first with legal action and then ice-creams to deter them from a protest on April 18.

READ MORE: Hull College staff want their CEO sacked after ice-cream ‘bribe’

Hitting back at the resignation calls, the corporation of HCG said today: “The corporation has absolute confidence in Michelle and the leadership team to deliver this plan to build a strong, viable, effective college for the future to offer the best outcomes for students who choose to study at the college.”

Ms Swithenbank was appointed chief executive of Hull College Group less than a year ago to lead the recovery of the college following a period of significant financial and operational issues.

She has been tasked with delivering an agreed five-year “fresh start” plan, which includes severe job losses.

“The corporation recognises that the level and depth of change proposed through our restructure and recovery plans will be something that the college and its staff and students have not experienced before,” today’s statement said.

“As a corporation, we understand the emerging effects of our current plans, and want to assure all people affected, that no decision has been taken lightly and that we are committed to working with Michelle and the leadership team to secure the future of Hull College Group.”

The tactics allegedly employed by Ms Swithenbank to deter staff from a protest on April 18 started with an email to all staff claiming saying that anyone who joined the rally risked doing so illegally.

The college’s employment solicitors “identified participating in an unofficial protest during staffing hours (11am) could result in a breach of contract”, a spokesperson said last week.

The UCU claimed this was “clearly was not the case” and asked whether the college had been “deliberately misinforming staff or did not understand employment law”. 

HCG soon tried a different approach, inviting staff to purchase discounted ice-creams at a venue at the opposite end of the college to the protest.

The corporation has absolute confidence in Michelle

The college is understood to have hired the ice cream van from 11am to 1pm, coinciding with the protest.

“Staff have made it quite clear that they have no confidence in Michelle Swithenbank’s leadership and want her to resign immediately,” said UCU’s regional official, Julie Kelley, last week. “To go from bullying to bribery in less than 24 hours highlights the chaotic shambles at the heart of Hull College leadership.”

UCU is expected to announce strike dates imminently.

HCG has been under severe financial pressure for the past few years.

The FE commissioner reported in February last year that its finances remained precarious after the then-Skills Funding Agency had issued a notice of concern in November 2016.

Richard Atkins warned that HCG’s “operating performance, as measured by surplus/deficit after interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation costs has amounted to a cumulative deficit of around £10 million over the past four years”, while “a further deficit in excess of £1 million is forecast for the current year”.

Isle of Wight studio school on the brink of closure

Another studio school that has severely struggled with recruitment has agreed to close “in principle”.

Plans to shut the Isle of Wight Studio School in August 2019 were announced today, but the final decision will be subject to a four-week consultation.

The school said in a statement that the decision has come about because “too few students choosing to study at the studio school in years 12 and 13, which has meant that the school has not developed in the way originally planned”.

As it is no longer financially viable, ministers at the Department of Education have agreed its termination in principle and once this listening period concludes, they will decide to close it in conjunction with the Inspire Academy Trust which operates the school.

Studio schools are an alternative to mainstream education for 14- to 19-year-olds, taking on cohorts of up to 300 pupils.

They provide a work-related curriculum with pupils receiving vocational and academic qualifications, as well as work experience, and like the similarly troubled university technical colleges, are seen by many in FE as unwelcome competition.

Unfortunately the school has not been able to recruit sufficient students

The Isle of Wight Studio School only opened in September 2014 and is yet to have a visit from Ofsted. Latest data on the school shows it only had 146 students on roll against a capacity of 300.

If it does shut, it will become the 19th studio school to close since the project began.

“The IoW Studio School has provided an excellent learning experience for many children on the Island, however unfortunately the school has not been able to recruit sufficient students to its sixth-form, and it is a sad reality that such a small school cannot continue long-term,” said the finance officer of the Inspire Academy Trust, Richard Bryant.

“Student recruitment is a problem which has affected many studio schools across the country.”

If it does close, students intending to start in September 2018 will be able to continue at their existing school or explore a transfer to another school.

“We are very focused on honouring our commitment to pupils who are currently studying at the school, and the department’s decision to keep the school open until summer 2019 ensures that the 120 pupils currently in year 10 and year 11 will all be able to complete their GCSEs here as planned,” Mr Bryant said.

A Department for Education spokesperson added: “We have agreed, in principle, to the closure of Isle of Wight Studio School following a request from the Inspire Academy Trust.  A number of options have been explored but ministers have decided that the school, which is operating at 40-per-cent capacity, should close in August 2019.”

Richard White, the school’s head said it was with “great regret” that the school finds itself in this position.

“Despite all the efforts of its governing body and dedicated staff, who have all done an excellent job, the school’s sixth-form has never been fully utilised,” he added.

“This is because our students have progressed at 16 to further study or apprenticeships elsewhere – and our view has always been to support the decision which is in the best interests of our pupils.”

During the listening period, which starts today and runs until 5pm on May 22, interested persons should submit their comments to the DfE through this email address: DFE.IOWSS@education.gov.uk.

Principal departs cash-strapped Barnfield College

The principal of a cash-strapped college recently forced to seek government bailouts has stepped down just a month after it was placed in administered status.

Tim Eyton-Jones is understood to have left his position at grade three Barnfield College after three years in charge.

An official statement from the college confirming the news is expected on Wednesday.

The college was visited by the FE commissioner earlier this year after it received a financial notice to improve from the Education and Skills Funding Agency in January.

Richard Atkins’ report, published earlier this month, found that finances were a “major cause for concern” with “significant” operating losses over the past two years, which were likely to be repeated in 2017/18.

His report, which recommended the college be placed in administered status, was heavily critical of Mr Eyton-Jones, who “should have been aware” of the college’s financial problems, and “should have” done more to address weaknesses in its apprenticeship provision.

The college had recently applied for exceptional financial support, which resulted in the financial notice.

Administered status means that a member of the ESFA’s local team will observe all of the college’s board meetings, and that the college will be required to consult the agency about any significant changes to its operations or finances.

“We accept and acknowledge the findings of the FE commissioner’s report,” said a spokesperson for the college at the time.

“We are working closely with the FE commissioner’s office and the ESFA to ensure we move forward swiftly and continue to provide the learners and communities of Luton with a high-quality learning provision.”

The college was forced to stop recruiting apprentices in March, after an Ofsted report branded it ‘inadequate’ for this provision.

That report, which graded the college ‘requires improvement overall’, found that “leaders have not done enough to secure good provision and good achievement”. 

“Leaders do not effectively monitor learners’ progress, particularly those on study programmes,” the report said.

The college’s leadership was criticised for failing to properly address two problem areas that had been identified in the previous inspection: weaknesses in teaching and low attendance.

The overall grade for the inspection was three, including a ‘requires improvement’ rating for the effectiveness of leadership and management.  

“Leaders have not done enough to secure good provision and good achievement,” it said. “Although improvements have been made, teaching is not good across all areas of the college.”

Barnfield has had turbulent time under Mr Eyton-Jones’ leadership.

He took up the reins in March 2015, shortly after the college had been rated grade four across the board with no key strengths in January 2015.

The college was already in FE commissioner intervention at the time, having been assessed as ‘inadequate’ for financial control by the SFA the year before.

That process ended in October 2015, when Mr Atkins’ predecessor David Collins wrote to the college to say it had addressed all of his recommendations.

Ofsted inspectors were back at the college the following March, and their report, published the following month, rated it ‘requires improvement’ across the board. The college retained this rating in March this year.

At the time Mr Eyton-Jones vowed to FE Week that the college would be ‘outstanding’ within two years.

UPDATE April 25 2018: The college has appointed Martin Sim as interim principal and chief executive. Mr Sim was most recently interim principal at Gateway College, and prior to that was principal and chief executive of Salford City College.

“I am delighted to join the college and look forward to working with the dedicated and skilled teams at Barnfield College,” he said.

 

Leo Shapiro steps down as OCR chief executive

Leo Shapiro, the chief executive of major awarding organisation OCR, has stepped down after less than two years in post.

FE Week understands that he left the post on Friday, but will continue to work for the Cambridge Assessment Group, OCR’s parent company.

The exam board said Mr Shapiro’s move is “part of a planned change to support the new Cambridge Assessment Group CEO, in a role which is more compatible with his family responsibilities”.

Appointed in August 2016, Shapiro has now been replaced by an interim chief executive, Janet Morris, who has worked for Cambridge International, another division of Cambridge Assessment.

A spokesperson said Morris brings with her a “wealth of experience of senior management at a major exam board”.

“We plan to advertise for a permanent chief executive in due course,” she added.

Mr Shapiro’s departure comes at a time of significant change for Cambridge Assessment, which has announced leadership changes in three of its exam boards and in its own head office in recent months.

Last month, it was announced that Saul Nassé would take over as chief executive of Cambridge Assessment after the previous choice, Bill Anderson, backed out less than two weeks before he was supposed to take over.

Mr Nassé was the chief executive of Cambridge English until April 16, and his own replacement is yet to be announced.

Michael O’Sullivan, the chief executive of Cambridge International, is due to leave in the summer.

Maritime lecturers hailed as heroes after saving family in crisis

A group of maritime teachers put their lifesaving skills to the test when a standard survival exercise was interrupted by an emergency.

The group, including one student, from Blackpool and the Fylde College’s Fleetwood nautical campus rushed to the rescue of a family whose daughter and five-month-old baby, still in its pram, fell into a seafront boating lake, followed by their mum who was attempting to pull them out.

The drama unfolded while the group were undertaking sea-survival training with students nearby.

“When you work in this area you have the skills and training to provide assistance in rescue situations. We’re just pleased we were able to help and the family were all ok,” said John Bradbury, a lecturer who has worked at the campus for 49 years. “Our student Phil was also able to use his expertise in paediatric care to help look after the baby.”

Following the incident, the kids’ father, who was at work at the time of the incident, returned to the scene to thank the team, and give a £50 donation to a charity chosen by them.

Should a college principal have multiple jobs?

Dr Sue Pember, director of policy and external relations at Holex, answers your questions on college governance, backed by her experience as principal of Canterbury College and in senior civil service posts in education and skills.

Question One: Exceptions to exceptional support

I keep hearing about failing colleges that merged in the area reviews and got large sums of money. Why is the government rewarding failure in this way?

Answer: This is a difficult question to answer, as when you put it like that it seems hard to justify. I agree that it does seem unfair but the students must always come first. It is not the learners’ fault that they have had to attend a poorly run establishment, and future learners must not be subjected to the same experience. So the government has made the decision to prioritise those areas and get provision of good quality in place, but doing that comes at a cost. I am hoping that once these areas are settled, we will return to a fair and more equitable distribution of support funds.

Question Two: Should our principal have three jobs?

I am a staff governor and recently I realised my principal seems to be doing three jobs. Is that normal?

Answer: This is not normal, but not unusual. There is a trend at the moment to grow empires. For example, a principal might run a college as their main role, be chief executive of a trading company where the college is the largest shareholder, and chief executive of a multi-academy trust. 

The college structure will probably have grown organically without the board recognising the complexity and extent of its growth. As a board, you might need to start thinking about whether there should be a group structure, and consider whether it is reasonable to ask one person do all three jobs.

Also, the board should look at accountability and what might happen if things go wrong. If one of the boards of these three entities is dissatisfied with the service and attention they are getting, who makes the changes?

There are also questions of remuneration and assessment of performance, and who pays whom?

There are many possible models but, the bottom line is that this needs to be transparent, well documented and be an effective use of public funds. 

Question Three: Cracking all these codes of practice

The minister’s letter to governors talked about the Charity Commission code, but we already have the code of good governance for English colleges and the UK’s main corporate code. Why do we need yet another code?

Answer: A college’s legal status is that of an exempt charity and therefore there are elements of charity law and behaviours that are relevant to a college board. 

This new code has a greater emphasis on openness and accountability than the previous version. However, the Charity Commission’s code has been drawn up to cover both large and small charities and is very generic.

When the code of good governance for English colleges was developed, the work did consider best practice in the commercial world and charities, and was tailored to represent the best in college practice, which is why it received BIS and ministerial endorsement. However, as it is now three years old, it is high time for a refresh in my opinion.

Movers and Shakers: Edition 241

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

Mike Lee, Training development manager, BSRIA

Start date: March 2018
Previous job: Regional operations manager, Carillion Training Services
Interesting fact: Mike is a member of fundraising group Lions Club International, and this year will help run the biggest fireworks event in Berkshire, with over 8,000 spectators.

____________________________________________

Ian Clinton OBE, Principal, Northumberland College

Start date: April 2018
Previous job: Principal, North Shropshire College
Interesting fact: Ian was once tipped out of a wooden canoe by an angry hippo in Botswana, and the next day was chased up a tree by a buffalo.

____________________________________________

Peter Lauener, Chair, Construction Industry Training Board

Start date: May 2018
Previous job: Interim chief executive, Student Loans Company (ongoing)
Interesting fact: Peter makes his own marmalade.

____________________________________________

Neil Carberry, Chief executive, the Recruitment & Employment Confederation

Start date: June 2018
Previous job: Managing director, Confederation of British Industry
Interesting fact: Neil is a lifelong Heart of Midlothian fan, enjoys playing rugby and coaches his son’s team.

____________________________________________

Gerald Davies, Acting principal, Moulton College

Start date: April 2018
Previous job: Deputy principal, Moulton College
Interesting fact: Gerald holds a degree in agricultural engineering.

 

If you want to let us know of any new faces at the top of your college, training provider or awarding organisation please let us know by emailing news@feweek.co.uk

KPMG sends its apprentices back to school

Professional services giant KPMG has been sending its apprentices back to school in a scheme to boost their professional development, reports Samantha King.

Apprentices at KPMG are encouraged to go back to their former schools and talk about their career journey so far through the firm’s Back to Schools programme, developed after its first-ever cohort of apprentices in October 2015 asked how they could share their experiences of the world of work with their old teachers and schoolmates.

The scheme has had a revamp this year, and apprentices can use six allotted volunteering days to visit schools and deliver a presentation on their apprenticeship.

“We have a specific learning curriculum, aside from the professional qualification, to help them bridge that gap from college to corporate life,” explained Kevin Matthews, KPMG’s apprenticeships assistant manager.

“The programme helps apprentices looking to build their confidence with presentation skills and networking ability.”

Six of the company’s apprentices have been appointed apprentice champions in locations across the country to help run the programme, field questions from their peers and assist with facilitating school visits.

“We encourage the apprentices to make that initial contact with schools,” said Elizabeth Morris, assistant manager for student recruitment at KPMG. “We have copy that we provide them with and they’re able to tweak that, just to say hello, I came to this school or college, and I’m really interested in coming back and talking about my experience – is there an opportunity for me to do so?”

Before the Back to Schools programme was in place, the firm found that on outreach visits to schools, pupils were more interested in hearing the experiences of newer recruits than those in more established positions in the firm.

“Those apprentices are ultimately our best sales people. They’re enjoying themselves, they’re living the values of our firm and they can go out there and talk to those people in a much more meaningful and authentic way,” added Mr Matthews.

Sports students teach 4,000 Cheshire schoolkids how to play rugby

Sports students from Warrington and Vale Royal College have been teaching over 4,000 primary school children how to play rugby.

The team of 12 level three students teamed up with the Warrington Wolves Community Trust to deliver rugby league sessions to pupils across Cheshire over the course of a week.

Each student took on a different role during the sessions, from coordinating events to officiating during individual sessions.

The week of events were arranged as part of the college’s work with Warrington Wolves, the local professional rugby league club, and its charitable foundations.

“Being able to take part in such an event gives our students the opportunity to get first-hand experience of coaching young children – something that many of them will go on to do as they embark on a career in the industry,” said Ryan McNeely, sport lecturer at the college. “It also gives our learners fantastic experience of leading a large-scale event, with multiple activities running at the same time.”