Anger over campus closure after £6 million refurb

A college’s controversial decision to close a campus that had only recently been refurbished – at a cost of £6 million – has put it on collision course with its local council.

South Staffordshire College made the decision to shut its Cannock campus after merger plans with Walsall College, which were recommended by two separate area reviews, fell through.

The work was completed in 2013, but provision is expected to cease in July, after which learners will be “relocated to the nearby sites operated by the college”.

The move has dismayed local councillors who claim it will leave the entire Cannock Chase Council district without an FE base.

A formal merger is not the best solution at the current time

Jamie Smith, the college’s director of strategy and infrastructure, told FE Week that it continued “to own the building” and was “discussing multiple options with partners in the region, which could include partial use in future”.

He added: “We will – as always – explore all options to mitigate against job losses. This is why we are focusing on relocating and redeploying.”

The planned closure is also not the first for the struggling college, which wound up its Progress Centre, also in Cannock, in 2016. Learners from the unit, which is currently being sold off, were relocated to one of the college’s other campuses in nearby Rodbaston.

Tony McGovern, the managing director of Cannock Chase District Council, was one of a number of angry councillors. He complained that the decision “will leave Cannock Chase as the only district out of eight in Staffordshire with no FE facility at all, in the area of highest need in the county.

“The district council is obviously disappointed that the college has made this decision on financial grounds, and considers that the implications of closure of the Cannock site are likely to be negative for young people and their families who want to access locally provided FE courses in the future,” he said.

Mr McGovern said the council was “made aware of the college’s financial situation” on March 21, after the decision not to pursue a merger was made, and had subsequently tried to provide “potential solutions over the last four weeks”.

The University and College Union’s regional official, Anne O’Sullivan, told FE Week that the decision to close the Cannock campus was “a blow for local students and staff”.

The decision to close the Cannock campus was a blow for local students and staff

She added: “Our priority must be to protect jobs and ensure that courses are not cut as a result of the campus closure, so we will approach talks with management with that agenda.”

The merger between South Staffordshire College and Walsall College was first suggested in the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire area review in November 2016.

The final report said that “collaborative working” would “enable opportunities to deliver savings”, “support the expansion of apprenticeships” and “develop progression routes to higher education to meet local skill needs”.

It claimed the merger “would create a college with a £59 million turnover” and “the financial strength of Walsall College would impact positively on South Staffordshire College”.

This proposal was then repeated in the final report of the Black Country area review in January.

However, South Staffordshire College told FE Week on May 3: “The cost of the merger outweighed the benefits to the learners and the wider communities we serve.”

The governing bodies of both colleges issued a joint statement, saying: “Following extensive discussions and comprehensive due diligence, both colleges have concluded that a formal merger is not the best solution at the current time.

“Both organisations will continue to collaborate and work together outside of the complexity of a formal merger.”

Catering lecturer hosts Tour-de-France themed dinner to fight cancer

A catering lecturer with a cycling obsession is raising money to help young people fighting cancer regain their physical fitness with a Tour-de-France themed dinner.

Dave Saul (pictured right), a lecturer at Stratford-upon-Avon College, has teamed up with Cyclists Fighting Cancer, a local charity, to host the event, which will take place at the college’s Academy restaurant.

The six-course dinner – which catering students at the college will help prepare – will reflect the route of the famous cycling contest, with courses influenced by dishes from Germany, Belgium and France.

Money raised at the event will go to oncology units throughout the UK, and pay for rehabilitation equipment – including bikes and tricycles – to help rebuild the strength and confidence of young cancer sufferers.

“I can’t think of a more worthwhile cause than helping children recover from cancer,” said Mr Saul. “The dinner will boost CFC funds even further – as well as providing us with what is certain to be a thoroughly enjoyable evening.”

The event, which takes place on June 15 is open to all. Tickets can be purchased here

 

A further education manifesto for 2017

As political parties scramble to write their manifestos, carefully crafting their words to minimise the number of broken promises if they get into power, Graham Taylor sets out some suggestions for further education policies.

Preserve FE funding

If politicians believe their own rhetoric, that education and skills are the future of our country’s economic success, then at least preserve funding in real terms. Pay for this by decoupling the triple lock that increases pensions at a faster rate than workers’ pay – admittedly not a vote-winner, but fair.

Promising to replace European funding for education when we Brexit would be a bonus.

Invest in adult learning

Now that the EFA and SFA have at long last merged, scrap the funding divide between 16-18 and adults. Too many providers are chasing too few 16-18 learners as school leaver numbers fall, so let us use any funding shortfall here to reskill or upskill adults. We could vire funds in the past so why not now?

There are millions fewer adult learners today because of draconian funding cuts. Has every party given up on lifelong learning and the benefits of learning for its own sake? If the UK is a knowledge-based economy, are we supposed to gain knowledge by osmosis?

The parties are strangely silent on this. Tried and tested professional and technical qualifications, which learners and businesses want, seem to be treated as second class.

If the UK is a knowledge-based economy, are we supposed to gain knowledge by osmosis?

Let the customer decide

Give employers paying the apprenticeship levy, a payroll tax which threatens jobs, freedom to spend it how they wish.

Apprenticeships may not always be the best solution for workforce training needs. Don’t pick favourites; this only distorts the market.

Streamline training budgets

Switch training budgets from other government departments such as the Department for Work and Pensions to the Education and Skills Funding Agency, to reduce duplication and waste.

Reduce hypothecated funding

This leads to underspend or rushed work and is costly in time and money, reinventing lots of wheels, usually with different names and ministers attached.

Publish success rates

Success rates should appear on provider websites, in the form of a percentage retention rate multiplied by their percentage achievement rate. This is a simple and understandable quality indicator, unlike the present (16-18 only) performance tables.

Make English and Maths accessible

Allow applied options as alternatives to the GCSEs. Alternatives are permitted at level three, when students can take English language or literature or a combined English A-level, just as they can take core maths or standard maths, so why not at level two?

Stop sixth-form waste

Close all school sixth forms with under 100 learners – on grounds of both quality and value for money. The next round of area reviews should include small-school sixth forms in the mix.

Welcome international students

Exclude international and EU students from the net migration count. They are a real asset, particularly for HE. One in 10 world leaders was educated here. Most have fond memories and are pleased to trade with us. Isn’t this what we want?

Stop changing things all the time!

The sector needs some stability. Every government, however well intentioned, loves to meddle. Please don’t tinker with curriculum content, grading systems, quality measures, systems or methodologies. Unrelenting change doesn’t help anyone. Like-for-like data and quality comparisons are lost over time.

If you must change, don’t change everything at once. The new apprenticeship regime will create all sorts of unintended problems.

As Ronald Reagan advised politicians: “Don’t just do something, stand there!” In a similar vein, I say this: assign the budget, set quality standards, then let us get on with it.

Support the further education sector

Parties always make the right noises. They preach the value of learning and encourage it, but do they really like FE?

That’s for the politicians. As for everyone else – vote! We get the politicians we deserve…

 

 

Graham Taylor is principal and chief executive of New College Swindon

Daughter of beauty student inspires winning design in college fashion competition

A budding beautician has taken the first prize in a college fashion competition with her fairy-inspired creation.

The College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London hosted a competition for beauty therapy students to create a look based on the themes of history, fantasy or special occasions.

Entrants were required to do the make-up, style hair and choose the clothing themselves to complete their creations.

Kasturi Tandel, 34, (pictured third from right) who is taking a level two diploma in beauty therapy, used her 10-year-old daughter’s obsession with fairies as the inspiration for her entry and took the top spot – winning a selection of hair and make-up products donated by Redken.

Second place in the competition was awarded to Valbona Bajrami, 31, and in third was Tudey McKoy, 22, who both opted to create special occasion looks.

Speaking of her creation, Ms Tandel said “I wanted to do something creative and imaginative and so decided on a fantasy fairy look. My daughter is 10 and into fairies, which was part of the inspiration behind it.”

On hand to model the look – which took a total of three hours to put together – was Tandel’s sister-in-law, Malvica Damania, who said: “I wish I could keep this look all day, but I’ve got to go to work later and don’t think I could turn up like this!”

Construction trainees battle it out for a place in national SkillBuild competition

Construction trainees from across the south-west of England gathered at South Devon College to compete for a place in the national SkillBuild 2017 competition.

A total of 58 competitors from nine colleges took part in the regional heat, with trades such as cabinet making, decorating, brickwork and plastering all represented.

Gold winner Glen Bullock with Chris and Jules

Competitors went head to head for a place in the national finals, which will be held at the Skills Show, taking place in Birmingham in November this year.

There were 12 winners, five of whom are construction students from the college’s Paignton and Newton Abbot campuses, who took gold in bricklaying, joinery, painting and decorating, and plastering.

Also in attendance were Chris Frediani and Jules Perryman from the BBC’s DIY SOS, who were on hand to spill construction tips and tricks to students.

“If we can do a bit to encourage people to get into construction, they might choose to study it and make a good career out of it,” they said.

“That’s why it is so important to inspire them at a younger age. We need to back the colleges, we need to push on with apprenticeships and I am taking several on next year. It is the construction industry that will keep Great Britain great.”

In addition, construction-themed taster sessions – including lessons in how to patch plaster – were given to more than 300 pupils from local primary and secondary schools.

Public services students complete 24-hour rowing challenge for fallen police officers

A group of public services students have raised more than £600 for the families of fallen police officers with a 24-hour rowathon.

Eleven students from London South East Colleges each took turns on a rowing machine to raise money for Care of Police Survivors (COPS), which supports families of police officers killed while on duty.

Each student did 17 10-minute sessions in a rowing relay, with the challenge commencing at four in the morning.

The students covered a distance of 213km on the machine in 24-hours, for which they received cash pledges from across the college.

Toby Hartcombe, 17, who took part in the fundraiser, said: “The money raised from this rowathon is just a small gesture of our appreciation towards all public servants who spend their lives protecting the public. COPS was the first charity to be suggested and we voted unanimously to support it.”

Public services tutor Robert Burr added: “The students showed willingness, cooperation, teamwork and organisational skills; all of which are the qualities they will need if they are to work within the public and emergency services.”

College principal goes undercover as a campus security guard

The principal of Bradford College has gone undercover as a member of the on-site security team to find out what goes on behind the scenes at the college. Samantha King reports

David Harwood started his job as principal 18 months ago, and in that time has initiated an undercover boss project, where he takes on a new role within the college each term to see what’s working well and what isn’t.

So far, Mr Harwood has been a receptionist, a member of the estates cleaning team and, his personal favourite, a student.

The principal’s office

“The estates team had me picking up litter, and as a student I was in an art and design class so they had me doing drawings,” he said. “I can’t draw for toffee really, and all the students were laughing at my efforts, but again it just demonstrated for me the skill set our young people have.”

However, his most recent exploit was as a member of the college’s new security team, in an effort to find out how they were settling in, and how they interacted with the campus’s 4,000 students.

“I thought I would spend time with this new team to see particularly how they interact with our students. The main thing I want our staff to do – including the security people – is to inspire and motivate our students by engaging with them, and having conversations about how they’re doing on their course and what’s next for them.

“It was really funny because when you walked past dressed as a security person, staff had to look twice. You could see them thinking, is that who I think it is?”

Staff had to look twice. You could see them thinking, is that who I think it is?

During his day as a security guard, he donned the uniform and a radio and patrolled the corridors, moving smokers away from non-smoking areas and dealing with student disputes.

Following his undercover exploits, the principal ensures he gives a feedback session to the team with which he has been involved.

“The staff really value when you recognise their expertise and skills, and the challenges they face in their jobs. I will share my feedback with the team and say ‘thank you for letting me join you in your job, these are some of the things I’ve discovered’.

“It certainly helps me, because when we’re talking about things such as the college’s IT systems I can say, well, that doesn’t work on the ground because I’ve done it.”

Mr Harwood is already planning to go undercover for a second time as a student, and will oversee two students taking his seat as principal for a day in a job-swap twist.

“Going undercover makes me step out of my comfort zone,” he said. “The exec team make decisions all the time that impact on staff and it’s really nice to go and experience the jobs that other staff do. Not only that, but you can get to know them and hear their personal stories about why they work in FE.

“It’s really interesting to see the challenges of their work and what they do in the college.”

Movers and Shakers: Edition 207

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

Roger Dawe has been named the new chairman of the Career Colleges Trust.

The Trust, founded by Lord Baker, works with employers and education providers to set up career colleges, of which there are currently 12 open across the country, rising to 18 by the end of 2017.

Career colleges specialise in industries facing a skills shortage, including engineering, construction and digital.

Mr Dawe served as private secretary to Harold Wilson between 1966 and 1970, and held a range of posts in the Departments for Employment and Education up until 2000.

Since leaving the department, he has been deputy chair of the Open University, has worked for KPMG as a senior education advisor and, until March this year, was chair of the Corporation of Bromley College of Further and Higher Education (now London South East Colleges).

“High-quality technical and vocational education is crucial for our economic future and for people to make the most of their talents,” he said.

“I strongly believe that the career college concept, which focuses on employer-led education, is key to addressing the skills shortages that many industries are facing.”

He will chair his first board meeting later this month.

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The managing director of YMCA Awards, Rob May, has been appointed CEO of ABE, a not-for-profit awarding body.

ABE provides qualifications in the areas of entrepreneurship, business start-up, business management, marketing, human resources and travel, tourism and hospitality management.

Mr May will begin his new job this week, leaving the YMCA Awards, which he has led for two years.

During his tenure, YMCA was the first organisation to win the FAB award for innovation two years in a row.

He will hold the new position alongside his existing role as non-executive director of the Federation of Awarding Bodies, which he has held since October 2016.

He said he was “very excited” to lead the organisation at a time when “there are so many opportunities and challenges in the global education market.

“Our aim is to build an organisation which is leaning into the future, recognising the many changing ways that people teach and learn, but also showing respect to our own traditions and those of the study centres and partners we work with around the world,” he added.

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Charlotte Bosworth has meanwhile joined awarding body Innovate Awarding as managing director.

Ms Bosworth was previously director of skills and employment at OCR Examinations/Cambridge Assessment, where she was responsible for the vocational side of OCR’s business; her career in education began in 1996 at RSA Examinations Board.

She is joining Innovate Awarding to help build end-point assessments for the new Apprenticeship standards, and hopes to bring her experience in curriculum delivery and qualifications development to the role.

She replaces John McNamara, who is leaving to join the board as a non-executive director.

 

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

Devastating impact of non-levy allocations ‘horror show’

The allocations horror show has claimed its first victim, as a subcontractor with 18 years’ experience has announced it will be forced to close within months after it was dropped by its lead provider.

Other subcontractors are meanwhile warning of “chaos” and mass redundancies due to the massive cuts the government has made in its non-levy apprenticeship funding.

The government has rejected the Association of Employment and Learning Provider’s last-ditch plea to increase funding for providers delivering apprenticeships to small employers, after its boss Mark Dawe last week made dire prognostications that the sector could see “closures and redundancies” almost at once.

Lead providers learned in April that their allocations for May to December amounted to a fraction of the costs of their current delivery.

Mr Dawe said he feared the impact would most keenly be felt by subcontractors, who were already “being contacted by their primes, often with great regret, and told that there isn’t enough money to support them from May 1”. 

Mark Dawe

Now, it seems his predictions are coming true.

The director of one provider, who has asked to remain anonymous, told FE Week that without additional cash, her business would close in August as she “could see no way forward”.

Having failed to win a place on the register of apprenticeship training providers, the final nail in the firm’s coffin was when its “only remaining prime” announced it had been given “such a small allocation they cannot afford to subcontract anymore”.

“We will try and honour our remaining learners, but frankly, we feel like walking away,” she said.

Other providers have spoken of “frustration” and being left “vulnerable” by the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s hard line.

Carla Hales, the managing director of Debut Training Academy, which has subcontracted for South Essex College for the past six years, said she was preparing to cut staff after the college told her it would not receive any funding whatsoever for new starts during the next eight months.

According to ESFA figures, the Essex-based provider held a subcontract with the college worth £390,640 for 2016/17.

Her firm had been accepted onto the RoATP and was expecting to be given its own allocation for non-levy employers.

However, she admitted that this “unsettling latest turn of events” had “put us in an exceptionally vulnerable position”.

Jane Dale, the managing director of Meat Skills Training School, said she had “never before experienced such chaos in the training forum” in the 30 years she had been in the business.

This Ipswich-based provider held a subcontract with Colchester Institute worth £356,888 in 2016/17, according to the ESFA list.

But it was told by the college that “we do not have any places at all for 19+ level two and three” between May and December, although its 16-18 allocation had not been cut, she said.

“The impact on our company will be severe; we will be unable to continue training young people, therefore we will go out of business,” she said.

Anthony McGarel, deputy principal and chief executive of South Essex College, said the college had been allocated just 25 per cent of its previous eight-month allocation for 16-18 apprenticeships, and a mere 13 per cent for 19+ apprentices.

“Work is still ongoing to analyse the number of starts the allocation could cover for non-levy-paying employers,” he said. “It may be possible to subcontract some starts but we are not able to confirm this just yet.”

A spokesperson for Colchester Institute said the college had not yet cancelled its subcontracting arrangements.

“We are working proactively with our supply chain to honour existing contract commitments where possible,” the spokesperson said.

“Senior management continues to review the reduced funding allocations provided from May and the impact this may have for service delivery to its customers.”

The plight of many providers prompted Mr Dawe to write to education secretary Justine Greening urging her to “ask the ESFA to reissue larger non-levy allocations to providers as soon as possible”.

But the response he received, from ESFA boss Peter Lauener, made no mention of increasing this funding – and instead indicated that levy-paying employers – which make up 2 per cent of all companies in the UK – were the department’s priority. 

“These allocations have been made in a fair and transparent way that reflects the shift towards the levy, and our forecasts of demand for new starts over the eight-month period from May to December,” he wrote.

He also promised to publish a list of provider contract values “once a full and final list is available”.

In a letter sent to providers last month, the ESFA said it had “worked out your allocation by calculating your share of provider earnings to non-levy-paying employers” and detailed the methodology it had used.

“Within the available budget, we have cushioned your allocation in recognition of the fact that we have had to approximate your delivery to non-levy-paying employers,” it added.

The letter also confirmed that “the current approach to subcontracting” would be maintained for new starts to non-levy-paying employers until the end of December.

A spokesperson for the Department for Education would not comment on why the list of allocations was yet to be published, and directed FE Week back to Mr Lauener’s letter.

They said: “As per normal practice, once providers have signed their contracts and we have a full and final list of contract values, the ESFA will publish it.”

Damaging for SME apprentices

We are a small, not-for-profit training provider specialising in IT training and have been successfully running government-funded programmes since 1984.

We primarily support SMEs, and have approximately 100 employers with apprentices at the moment.

Our success rates are well above the national average and have been 85 per cent-plus for the past three years or so.

We were forced 12 years ago into consortium by what was then the Learning and Skills Council (the SFA’s predecessor) and lost our direct contract through no fault of our own.

Subsequently we have had to subcontract from two primes: South Essex College and Colchester Institute.

Both of these are telling us that they have not been given sufficient allocation to cover their own programmes, let alone those of subcontractors.

Needless to say, this will affect our business greatly.

We are unable to start any current SMEs who want to employ apprentices as our primes have insufficient allocations.

I am at a loss to know what to tell them, how to support them, or even convince them to continue to believe in apprenticeships.

The damage this is doing to SME apprenticeships is very high and will get worse over the summer months.

I am convinced that once they get used to not employing apprentices, they will not return to the programme.

The other issue is the apprentices. We have 22 young people who have successfully applied for our IT apprenticeships when they leave school or college next month – what are we supposed to tell them?

We are unable to engage with SME employers for them and there is not enough levy-paying employers in this area to recruit them all.

The worst thing about all this though is that at ESFA and government level, no one seems to care about us and the fact we may go out of business within the next 12 months.