Bulletin – June 2007

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Bulletin October 2009

Dear colleagues,

Welcome back after the summer break, I hope you all found a bit of time for rest and relaxation in what turned out to be a pretty busy few weeks.

I was intrigued by the VW adverts that were everywhere and thought they had a lot to say about the amount of information we have to deal with. I know you will say that it’s mostly my fault for filling your inboxes (I have just done a quick count for my appraisal meeting and discovered I have sent principals just over 200 emails this year – sorry!); all I can promise is that I do try to keep the info concise and relevant and there is a great deal more that comes in which I don’t send.

I’m afraid that as we move into a year of massive change and challenge, the amount of documentation is unlikely to reduce – Natspec will be following the passage of the ASCL Bill though parliament closely and we will soon have further detailed information about the commissioning framework as it will impact on learners with LDD. The hope is that there will be a seamless transition, at least as far as learners are concerned, but it will be a stressful time for colleges. My key message, which I make no apologies for repeating, is that you must make effective local links and partnerships, in particular with your LA. Keep knocking on that 14-19 partnership door until you beat it down! When you get in, ask them what they are doing about LLDD and Foundation Learning and if it’s not on their agenda yet, offer to take the lead.

LAs will want to have good data about your work, which is why completing the FfE and the ILR alongside other providers is important, both initiatives which are moving on this coming year. LAs will also want to know about the quality of your provision and those of you who attended the Ofsted event on September 14th will now have a good insight into the new framework.

So lots to think about as we begin the new term – I hope you and your learners all have a great year. And just in case you didn’t get the message: it’s all about quality!

Best wishes,

Alison

Chris W. Berry

Consultant: Having recently retired from the role of Principal at Homefield College after six enjoyable, successful and challenging years in post, Chris Berry is now available for consultancy work in colleges.

Experience: 28 years’ working in independent specialist colleges in teaching, training, advisory and managerial roles preceded by four years’ work with people recovering from mental ill health. Over seven years as Honorary Secretary and organiser for NATSPEC.

Additional Inspector (AI) for the last three years including nine months seconded to Ofsted and AI on pilot inspection for draft framework this year. Recruited as AI by Inspection Service Provider (ISP) and recently trained in new inspection framework.

Qualifications: Qualified teacher, qualified social worker, MSc in Systems Thinking linked to systemic managing of organisations

Please contact: h4tchriswberry@yahoo.co.uk or 07702 403106

Sixteen world-class further education and skills providers to share technology excellence

Sixteen outstanding further education and skills providers from across England have been appointed to lead phase 2 of the Technology Exemplar Network, designed to help colleges and learning providers use technology more effectively. This builds on the overwhelming success of the Network and, along with the latest research findings from Becta, signifies dramatic growth in the number of organisations striving to develop the best use of technology.

The exemplars announced today will receive funding to help develop their use of technology and share their successes with others. Eight of the providers have been awarded continued status from last year and eight new learning providers from across the FE and Skills sector have joined them.

Becta is calling on other FE and skills providers to join the network and work alongside current members to improve and develop technology across the sector to benefit learners and organisations. Becta is making this call at a time when the FE and skills sector is becoming increasingly confident in its use of technology.

Jane Williams, Becta’s Executive Director for Further Education, Skills and Regeneration said:

“Used effectively and creatively, technology makes a real difference to the lives of learners, their local communities and employers. This is why Becta is committed to putting technology at the heart of the learning experience. As the Technology Exemplar Network expands, it demonstrates that more organisations in the FE and skills sector are recognising the benefits ICT can bring, such as higher attainment and greater efficiency.

“The exemplar providers chosen this year are shining examples, and over the coming 12 months will share their expertise and help others follow in their footsteps. This will ensure the effective use of technology is embedded across the sector. Our latest research about technology in the FE and skills sector is very encouraging, but there are still too many colleges and providers that aren’t taking full advantage of technology. We are keen to grow the network in phase 2 to around 120 members and would like to hear from providers with the drive, knowledge and leadership to further their own use of technology to benefit their learners and to inspire others.”

Applications are open now for new members of the Technology Exemplar Network at .uk/feandskills/exemplarnetwork.

The exemplars

Alton College

BL Hairdressing Training

Brockenhurst College

City and Islington College

Derwen College

Gloucestershire College

Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education

Lincoln Academy T/A ISIS Training

Middlesbrough Council Community Learning Service

National Star College

North Warwickshire and Hinckley College

The Oldham College

Priestley College

South Devon College

The College of West Anglia

Xaverian 6th Form College

Healthy colleges

Healthy FE is funded by the Department of Health (DH) with support from the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). The Healthy FE programme recognises the vital role the FE sector plays in the life of their communities. Initially, the programme will focus on FE colleges, but the intention is to widen out so that a range of providers in the FE sector can benefit from the developing infrastructure and processes currently being put in place.

Keeping you informed:

As part of this national initiative to promote the health and well being of staff and students nine regional groups are being formed. Invitations for the second round of these meetings should be arriving shortly. Participation in these groups will help strengthen partnerships and improve practice amongst providers of health and education. It is also to be recognised as a main feature within the OFSTED framework.

Should you fail to receive an invitation to a regional meeting would you please contact either myself julia.lindley-baker@.uk or the event co-ordinator

- clair.mowbray@tribalgroup.co.uk.

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Further background information can be found on the LSIS Excellence Gateway Healthy Further Education Programme

 .

I have also found the following resources useful

1. wellatcollege  - worth trialing with students  

2. The Students Health Education Unit's unique monthly resource - freely available to you and your colleagues.

       Health Related Behaviour Research & News about 16+ year olds.

Please follow this link



Julia Lindley-Baker

Deputy Director of Education/Vice Principal (Curriculum Learning & Achievement)    

Linkage College   

Linkage Community Trust

Tel. 01790 755013(directline)

       01790 752499(reception)

julia.lindley-baker@.uk

Autism and banking

This is a bit of a niche market, but the Bankers Benevolent Fund and the National Autistic Society are working together to support people in the banking community whose lives are affected by autism. This is something you may wish to pass on to parents. Call 0207 903 3587, or go to: .uk/bbf .

Deaffest

The UK’s only deaf-led film and TV festival takes place in Wolverhampton on 27-29th November 2009. The festival celebrates the talents of deaf filmmakers and producers from all over the world. Visit deaffest.co.uk

The LSIS/Natspec Collaborative Improvement Project

The CIP held a mid project progress evaluation workshop at the LSIS offices in Coventry in September. The workshop was well attended with over half of those colleges taking part represented. This project is being funded and supported by several of the LSIS programmes. It is also being watched with interest by the departments and various key players in the FE world. The workshop was attended by the Improving Quality in FE Policy Advisor from BIS.

There are two key concepts that this project is designed to test. The first is that the best way of getting effective support to improve the quality of provision is to work with someone who has done just that in fairly similar circumstances; in this case the best support for ISCs will come from other ISCs. The project has paired up colleges that were graded 3 in their last inspection with colleges recently graded 1 or 2. So far the pairs of colleges have all met at least twice and much very positive sharing has taken place and specific areas for improvement have been identified.

The second central idea behind the project is that of brokerage, the bit about “I may not be able to do it but I know a (wo)man who can”. The task assigned to the grade 1 or 2 college is not to try to have all the answers or to tell their paired college what to do. Rather it is to work with them to identify the best possible source of advice or support for the specific issue they have identified for improvement. The project has produced the “Natspec Database of Great Practice” that all the participants can refer to. This identifies specific areas of practice (using a CIF framework) where colleges are willing to share their expertise.

This part of the project is just getting under way this term. During the next couple of month’s meetings, observation and opportunities for sharing ideas and practice will be taking place across the colleges taking part in the project. The final evaluation and report will be written towards the end of the year and I am pretty sure the report will be able to demonstrate that ISCs can work really well together to share practice and support improvement. I hope it will also be able to demonstrate an approach to quality improvement that can be scaled up and used in other areas of the FE system.

If you want to know more about the project or, if you are not already taking part and would like to take part in phase 2 (if we can find the funds), please get in contact with me.

John Gush

Project Manager for the LSIS/Natspec Collaborative Improvement Project

Email - mail@

Landline - 01453 543988

Mobile - 07795 070783

Diploma in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector (DTLLS) (Numeracy)

Do you have numeracy staff who do not have their full teaching certificate? Perhaps you have staff with only legacy qualifications such as City and Guilds 7407 Stage1 of 7307? If so, there are still places available on our Diploma in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector (DTLLS) (Numeracy) course starting on 21 October 2009.

This course is year 1 of a two year integrated programme designed specifically for numeracy practitioners. Some of the advantages of such integrated programmes are:

• trainees achieve their full teaching qualification over the two years in the context of numeracy so there is no need to take the Additional Diploma course

• all the teaching theory and practice is focussed on numeracy pedagogy so trainees will get ideas for resources and strategies which will be directly linked to their teaching

• trainees will be working with and getting peer support from other numeracy practitioners.  

You can find more information and an application form on our website:

Please pass on these details to your numeracy organiser or anyone who you may feel will benefit from this course.

Tom Horne

Project Administrator

Tel: +44 (0)20 7815 6272

Fax. +44 (0)20 7815 6280

Postal Address:

103 Borough Road, London SE1 0AA

Centre Address:

Pocock House, 235 Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1 6NP

Why not visit: lsbu.ac.uk/lluplus/

 

‘Our aim is to help organisations improve the quality of education and training, so that individuals with a wide range of language and learning needs can achieve success. We do this by pioneering and disseminating innovative approaches and good practice in teaching and learning.’

 If you would like to be added to the LLU+ mailing list to receive our free termly e-newsletter, and information about LLU+ events and training opportunities, please complete this form and return it to us by email or post.

Triple S Care are providing a revolutionary model of registered care specifically designed for those individuals with Learning Disabilities who have complex needs or display extremely challenging behaviours. Each of our service users is given their own luxury apartment complete with living room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom as well as access to a communal lounge, laundry and gardens. 3 of the apartments are fully wheelchair accessible. We are based in Edgbaston in Birmingham just off the Hagley Road and are ideally situated to access transport and services within the area. We provide individualised 1:1 care packages within the apartments which frees our service users from the restrictions of shared staffing. This allows us to offer, not only life-long homes for those who find it difficult to integrate into other services, but also capacity building placements for those in transition from college into supported living. This gives us the opportunity to provide further assistance to those in need of developing life skills before they are ready to move on. We welcome visits from interested parties so please phone us on 0121 454 8864 to book an appointment. (Tom Long – Registered Manager)

LSC ‘map’

Here is a link to a map prepared buy the LSC showing the funding support available for 14-19 year olds. I think you might need a degree to make sense of it, and I’m not sure it is terribly accessible, but some of you may find it useful!



e-Leadership in ISCs

The Leadership and e-learning team at LSIS has been delivering leadership development programmes for different groups within the FE system over the past 4 years. Staff members from quite a few ISCs have taken part in some of these programmes and gained valuable insights as well as useful capital grants, but they have been aware that the programmes have been written for the specific needs of other sectors, for example Work Based Learning or Adult and Community Learning. The team at LSIS has now secured funds to develop programmes specifically designed for ISCs and has recently joined forces with Natspec and TechDis to hold a focus group at the LSIS offices in Coventry. The purpose of the focus group was to engage directly with leaders in ISCs to make sure that the new programmes really meet the needs of the colleges and their learners and that they and avoid duplication with other initiatives. As well as Alison from Natspec and Alistair from TechDis there were 7 ISCs represented and colleagues included a principal, curriculum leaders and technology leaders.

The general consensus was that this was a really valuable initiative which could lead to a range of new developments. If you have taken part in any of the LSIS e-Leadership programmes and would like to offer your thoughts and insights into the development process for the new programmes please contact me. Thanks.

John Gush, Project Manager for the development of LSIS e-Leadership programmes for the ISC and OL sectors

Email - mail@

Landline - 01453 543988

Mobile - 07795 070783

No 10 Petition on Attendance Allowance

As you may be aware, the current Green Paper on Adult social Care contains a clear threat to Attendance Allowance.  Please therefore take a couple of minutes to have a look at this petition which is on the number 10 website and decide if you want to sign it.



LSIS event – e Leadership

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Managing influenza-like illness (ILI) in nursing and residential homes during the current influenza pandemic

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Lifelong Learning UK

You've probably heard about the changes in the further education sector. The changes include the requirement to gain the appropriate professional status for those who teach or train in colleges, training centres, the workplace or in the community.

Get your questions answered

We're contacting you today to let you know that we're here to help you understand these changes, so please don't hesitate to phone or email us with your queries or concerns. We can talk you through exactly what these changes may mean for you in your individual circumstances, and help you with any other questions about your career in the further education sector.

Phone our Information and Advice Service on 020 7936 5798 between 9.00am and 5.30pm, Monday to Friday or email advice@.

Why not forward this message on?

Help your colleagues get a better understanding of the changes too, by sending on this email.

You can see other professionals talking about their experiences of working in the further education sector and get even more information here: changes/.  

You can also download a pack which explains the changes in more detail.

Information and Advice Service

Lifelong Learning UK

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|Lifelong Learning UK Conference 2009 |

|The Power of Lifelong Learning: |

|Innovation During a Recession |

|Tuesday, 08 December, London, Kings Place, N1 |

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|Home   Agenda  Venue   Registration  Sponsorship   Exhibition  Forum   Downloads  FAQ   Contact |

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|Sign up Now! |

|Lifelong Learning UK is the only organisation responsible for the professional development of the more than one million people |

|that make up the lifelong learning workforce across the four nations of the UK. We are holding our annual conference this year on|

|the subject of innovation during a recession. |

|"Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for|

|tomorrow." William Pollard (The Soul of the Firm) |

|Confirmed speakers include: |

|Will Hutton, Executive Vice Chair, The Work Foundation |

|Lesley Riddoch, Journalist, Broadcaster and Chief Executive of Feisty Productions |

|Irene Knox, Chief Executive, Northern Ireland Library Authority |

|[pic]Why attend the Lifelong Learning UK Conference? |

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|Find out why the lifelong learning workforce is critical to surviving the recession and preparing for better times |

|Engage with more than 300 leaders and decision makers in the lifelong learning sector |

|Debate challenges and opportunities for workforce development and skills for the future |

|Celebrate innovation and share best practice.... |

|Find out the latest policy developments and economic predictions. |

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|Who should attend the event? |

|Leaders, decision makers, policy makers and influencers in career guidance, coaching and mentoring, community learning and |

|development, further education, higher education, libraries, archives and information services and work based learning. |

|Learn more: llukconference.co.uk |

LSIS/Natspec Partnerships for Quality Improvement Project

All ISC principals should have recently received a request for information about the partnerships their college is working with. Partnership working has always been central to the way that ISCs provide the best possible resources for their students and over recent years there have been a couple of pieces of research aimed at identifying effective processes and practice. The most recent of these was carried out by Alison before her life was completely taken over by Natspec and the report can be found on the Excellence Gateway (or directly from me if that’s easier). Alison’s research took into account the concept of co-location as well as a range of other partnerships and produced case studies and valuable recommendations.

The current piece of research is funded by LSIS and is designed to identify the elements of partnership working that are valuable for the students and that can be seen as improving the quality of provision in ISCs. The questionnaire will provide information for a thorough assessment of the way ISCs are using partnerships just now. This information, together with that gained from phone conversations, meetings and interviews will give us a solid evidence base and a platform for suggestions and recommendations.

So, two messages about the partnerships research project:

• There will be a conference to celebrate the effectiveness of partnership working and to disseminate the project’s recommendations. It will take place on Tuesday 2 Feb and will be held at RNC in Hereford

• Please take part in the project by completing the questionnaire – now!

John Gush

Project Manager for the LSIS/Natspec Partnerships for Quality Improvement Project

Email - mail@

Landline - 01453 543988

Mobile - 07795 070783

New Self-assessment and Improvement Planning guide

LSIS has launched a new online Self-assessment and Improvement Planning guide supporting provider s in building capacity to improve. Read more

Raising Horizons () offers young people with autism, or a learning disability, a series of interactive e-learning courseware that enhances their individual learning potential.

Our interactive learning courseware supports the developmental needs of young people and can be adapted to meet those challenges as they mature.

The courses can be personalised to the individual student, something that is totally unique in its offering. Users can have the CD personalised by having their own photographs, text, videos or sounds included in the courseware e.g. a photo of their car, family members and so on.

The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (“BECTA”) have approved our products to be used under the Citizenship and Personal, Social and Health Education section of the National Curriculum. 

 

For further information please contact Dr Paul Quantock on 01482 651 695 or e-mail paul@ .

MSc in Assistive Technology at Coventry University

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Natspec website

Please let us have any news, events or job vacancies that you want placing on the website.

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Important date for your diary

Natspec’s annual conference in 2010 will take place on May 18th and 19th in Birmingham. Evaluations suggest there is a large majority in favour of using the Aston Business School again. Further details about content to follow, but we think it is likely to be after a general election, so we hope to be hearing about the implications of that!

Natspec Directory

To request a Natspec directory please contact:

Queen Alexandra College

0121 428 5050 allformats@qac.ac.uk

Homefield College

01509 814827 enquiries@homefieldcollege.ac.uk

Derwen College

01691 661234 treasurer@.uk

Contacts

email Alison Boulton chiefexecutive@.uk

Bulletin info: andrew.harris@derwen.ac.uk

Andrew Harris October 2009

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