Candidate Pack / January 2021

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CANDIDATE PACK / JANUARY 2021

Morley College London Centre Principal, North Kensington

Candidate Pack – January 2021

Executive Summary Established in 1889, and with its roots stretching back some years before that, Morley College London is one of the country's oldest and largest specialist providers of adult education. Whether studying for personal development and well-being, to gain essential skills (ESOL, English, Maths, IT), to access higher education, or for career development or change, the continued vision at Morley is for its students' ambitions to be inspired and achieved through learning. In February 2020, Morley merged with Kensington and Chelsea College (KCC), and now serves over 10,000 students from across London and beyond over three campus centres: North Kensington, Chelsea, and Waterloo.

Following successful appointments last year to the Centre Principal positions at both the Waterloo and Chelsea campuses, Morley College London is now seeking a Centre Principal to provide inspiration, vision and effective day to day management of the centre in North Kensington, ensuring that the College’s core offer – learning and teaching - is continually responsive to the needs of the students, communities and employers the College Centre serves. The appointed candidate will be an experienced educational leader with a passion for community engagement and a fundamental belief in the transformative power of education. This will suit an individual with strengths in curriculum development who is looking for a challenging role with significant scope for impact in service of a richly diverse community.

The deadline for receipt of applications is midday (GMT) on Friday, 26 February 2021.

Applications should consist of a CV, accompanied by a brief covering letter (no more than two sides of A4) addressing the criteria in the Person Specification. To upload these documents via Society’s website, click here.

Morley College London seeks to champion equality, celebrate diversity, and create an inclusive learning and working environment. Key to its core values are the principals of FREDIE. These are: Fairness, Respect, Equality, Diversity, Inclusion, and Engagement. The College aims to have a workforce that is as reflective of the diverse population that it serves and particularly encourages applications from women, ethnic minorities and disabled people who are currently under-represented within the College at this level.

Morley College London Morley College London was established in 1889 and is one of the UK’s largest providers of adult education.

Morley’s Mission is to inspire Founded by artist, social reformer and suffragette Emma Cons, Morley aimed to address the learning needs of individuals and strengthen Waterloo and Lambeth - an area of great poverty at the communities through the time. It was funded by, and is named after, Samuel Morley transformative impact of lifelong MP, abolitionist and philanthropist. As the Morley learning. Memorial College for Working Men and Women, it was founded to provide lifelong educational opportunities for diverse communities in London and was the first institution of its kind to admit both men and women on an equal footing. This sense of mission and spirit of inclusion towards the most disadvantaged in society has been maintained throughout Morley's history and its original philanthropic, charitable foundation continues to be a distinguishing feature of the College to present day.

In 2020, through a merger with Kensington and Chelsea College (KCC), the College grew to serve the communities of North Kensington and Chelsea, including young people aged 16-18. By joining together as Morley College London, this partnership has created London’s largest Institute of Adult Learning, delivering high quality adult learning in South and West London within three main Centres in North Kensington, Chelsea and Waterloo.

Curriculum and Course Offering As an Institute of Adult Learning with Specialist Designated Institution (SDI) funding status, Morley delivers an extensive range of adult learning in a highly responsive, accessible and flexible way. The College has the freedom to design and deliver thousands of short, unaccredited courses in a diverse range of subject areas, from Acting to Art, Business to Dance, English to Fashion, Health to Languages, Maths to Media, Music to Science, and Sociology to Textiles. Morley defines its areas of curricular specialism as ‘Arts, Culture, and Social and Applied Sciences’. Learning opportunities are available at each level, from informal taster courses all the way through to Higher Education, with flexible pathways of study designed within the curriculum to encourage student progression.

Along with the establishment of Higher Education as a whole-College, long-term development, Morley’s extensive experience of adult learning has four specific components:

• Community Learning – delivered flexibly in response to local need, with a focus on basic skills and building confidence to progress into further qualifications and work; • Unaccredited Learning – short, flexible courses for personal development, reskilling and in- work progression, with a rich range of learning opportunities available in subject areas including Art and Design, Business and Enterprise, Dance, Digital Media, Fashion, Health, Humanities, Languages, Music, Science and Textiles, as well as specially designed learning experiences in Acting, Art, Dance and Music for adults with complex learning difficulties; • Accredited Learning – entry level to level 2 including ESOL, English, Maths, IT and preparation for work and study; • Access to Higher Education and Advanced Learning (Level 3) – focusing on raising aspirations and supporting progression to Higher Education and/or career progression in sectors including Business and Enterprise, Education, Health and Human Sciences and the Creative Industries.

North Kensington The Centre in North Kensington provides The Mayor’s Skills for Londoners Strategy (2018) education that brings benefit to students and the provides the London-wide policy context for the wider community. It provides courses for 16–18- environment in which the newly merged College will year-olds with progression options through to advanced and higher-level study, as well as a be operating. Strategic themes of inclusion, progressive, flexible and creative adult education collaboration and ambition set the scene for delivery of curriculum portfolio, comprising daytime, evening the Mayor’s vision that “London becomes a city where and weekend delivery of courses. However, at this all residents benefit from the capital’s opportunities stage of its renewal, there is considerable scope for and success, and where London’s employers and curriculum development at the Centre. businesses can access the skills they need to succeed Following the Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017 and and compete, nationally and internationally”. extensive and tireless work by the North Kensington community, considerable awareness has been raised regarding the ongoing community needs in the North Kensington area. Lack of social mobility and a high number of NEETs (young people not in education, employment or training) are key community issues which Morley College London’s North Kensington Centre is expected to play a vital role in transforming over the coming years. The Grenfell tragedy was a watershed moment in drawing local and national government response to the socio-economic needs of the North Kensington community. Therefore, the redevelopment of the North Kensington Centre and strengthening of its curriculum offer (particularly in leading to employment) for its students are regarded as a legacy project of the tragedy.

Centre Renovation Funding of up to £32.3 million has been secured from the Government to enable a long- term, sustainable College-based provision across North Kensington, Chelsea and Waterloo. The funding will provide significant capital investment for the full renovation of the North Kensington Centre, which is currently ongoing.

A significant proportion of this funding has been dedicated to renovations at Wornington Road in North Kensington, a vital community hub and asset, with a complete renovation of the Centre shortly to commence and due for completion in July 2022. A café, crèche, community hall, library and College community radio studio will create reasons for residents to drop in, as will their advice and guidance service, available for school-age children and adults alike, to gain advice on their best next steps in learning. In addition to an extension of the existing building to meet the growing needs of the community, including learning spaces for 16–18 provision, and a dedicated space to support local people to start a business, this major renovation project will enable an expanded curriculum offering for the whole community.

Whilst courses continue to run during this time – albeit online during the COVID-19 pandemic – this is a period of change at the Centre, with the North Kensington Centre Principal expected, as a member of the SLT, to lead the development planning for the relaunch of the Centre and to ensure plans for growth in student recruitment are implemented successfully. ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGES OF THE NORTH KENSINGTON CENTRE RENOVATION

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGES OF THE NORTH KENSINGTON CENTRE RENOVATION

Courses to meet learning needs at North Kensington The North Kensington Centre Principal will bring energy and expertise to curriculum development. Through coherent, student-centred planning of the provision delivered at the North Kensington Centre, the vision for the strengthened curriculum offer includes:

• a significant expansion of learning opportunities at North Kensington, notably in five sector subject areas: o health, public services and care; o business, enterprise, administration, finance and law; o leisure, travel and tourism (including customer service and retail); o social sciences; o IT and computing. • demand-led foundation programmes as progression routes to Higher Education and employment, available for 16-18-year olds at both the North Kensington and Chelsea Centres; • close alignment to both local skills priorities and the Skills for Londoners priorities, increasing participation, promoting productivity, enhancing quality and ensuring relevance, with specialisation in the creative industries and wide coverage of digital skills; • integrated approaches to address barriers to participation that tap into motivations for study, increase confidence in ability, celebrate success, and enable learning to be undertaken flexibly so students can balance life and work, including caring responsibilities; • opportunities for progression, digital inclusion and the development of employability skills woven into the student experience and related learning opportunities; • parallel provision offered locally at each Centre in essential skills (ESOL, English, Maths, IT, digital skills and employability) to meet the needs of students who want, and need, to study close to home; • learning opportunities for students with special educational needs and disabilities; • A consolidation of Access to Higher Education programmes in these sector areas as well as an associated range of unaccredited courses will complement current successful provision at the North Kensington Centre in the visual arts, music and media.

Role Description A single Senior Leadership Team works across the three Centres that now comprise Morley College London. The Centre Principal, North Kensington will report directly to Morley’s Principal and Chief Executive and work closely with the Deputy Principal and Deputy Chief Executive. They will work collaboratively with fellow Centre Principals at Chelsea and Waterloo to ensure the consistent application of Morley’s mission, vision and values, while keeping a laser focus on the specific needs of the North Kensington community.

Principal & CEO

Deputy Chief Principal & Chief Chief Digital Chief Poeple Marketing & Deputy CEO Financial & Information Officer Engagement Centre Centre Centre Officer Officer Principal North Principal Principal Office Kensington Chelsea Waterloo

Director of Marketing

As well as being responsible for curriculum development and delivering year-on-year growth in student recruitment from North Kensington and beyond, the Centre Principal will also be responsible for ensuring the Centre plays its full part in serving the local community. Working with sensitivity and commitment, and in full collaboration with local residents and community leaders, the Centre Principal will ensure that through the learning and services it provides the Centre supports ongoing community recovery following the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire.

Leadership of the College Centre • working collaboratively with the CEO and College SLT, playing an active role and proactive leadership role in business planning and curriculum design process to support the College’s business and income growth plans; • realising the College’s Vision for the Centre as an exemplar of community engagement and education; • leading and enthusing the College Centre management team to ensure they deliver outstanding results for learners; • developing a coherent plan that will ensure outstanding success rates across the College Centre provision through a relentless focus on the very best learning and teaching. Curriculum and Quality • ensuring development and delivery of a responsive, imaginative and flexible curriculum aligned to the College’s Curriculum Strategy that anticipates, stimulates and meets demand; • overseeing curriculum development which ensures equality for all learners; • developing a portfolio of courses and qualifications to reflect and raise learner aspirations, meet funding requirements, employer and business needs, and the needs of a diverse North Kensington community;

• being a champion of excellence in learning and teaching, challenging any practices which may be failing to support learners, and ensuring high standards are set and achieved for all programmes; • enabling and ensuring effective quality assurance arrangements are in place and monitoring performance to drive quality for students; • ensuring the College Centre meets quality standards and operates within the Morley College London Quality Enhancement Framework; • ensuring that students operate in a highly supportive environment and that their views are routinely heard and responded to. Student Experience • ensuring appropriate resources and staffing are effectively and efficiently procured and utilised to deliver the College Centre’s curriculum offer, ensuring that excellent value for money is achieved by efficient timetabling, effective control of class sizes, and rigorous control of staff workloads; • implementing and delivering agreed strategies for sustained improvement of student punctuality and attendance, retention, achievement, progression and destinations, in line with the College Centre’s KPIs and strategic priorities; • contributing towards the achievement of a continuously improving, student-Centred and customer-facing ethos throughout the College Centre, leading to an outstanding reputation for responsiveness, innovation, creativity and enterprise; • enhancing and maintaining systems for effective tracking of student progress to meet student, parent, tutor, employer and external organisation requirements and expectations; • managing the important role of ‘student voice’ in the curriculum for the College Centre, including monitoring and responding to student feedback and complaints; • ensuring delivery of effective learner services including learning resource Centre/ library, advice and guidance and additional learning support; • leading and managing the development and robust validation of the Centre’s self – assessment, ensuring that this supports continuous quality improvement and meets the requirements of external bodies; • overseeing the College’s student disciplinary procedure within the Centre. Finance • working with the College Finance Team to ensure that there is efficient and effective financial planning and financial management of the College Centre; • ensuring curriculum is planned to respond to local needs in a financially sustainable way; • reporting to the College SLT on the Centre’s financial performance; • working with the Chief Financial Officer to prepare an annual budget and monitor financial performance against budget throughout the year; • ensuring compliance with funding sources and contract rules to optimise income. External Relationships • working with a recovery strategy for a traumatised community post the Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017; • representing the College Centre, maintaining and developing effective links with the local community, borough council, local schools and Colleges, business and industry, employer forums, local politicians, faith groups and the local community;

• co-ordinating the Centre Stakeholder Advisory Group, which reports to the College’s Governing Body and which includes local representatives from the community, council(s), business and education; • making a significant contribution to local key partnerships and groups of which the College Centre is an active member. Safeguarding • holding accountability for full implementation of the College’s Safeguarding and Prevent Policy as relevant to the Centre, demonstrating good understanding and knowledge of the Safeguarding procedures as applicable to the role; • embedding sound Safeguarding practices throughout the College Centre; • taking appropriate responsibility to ensure the health and safety of self and others, with oversight of the health and safety of the North Kensington Centre, and responsibility for the health and safety committee, as well as estates management. Leading People and Managing Change • providing focused leadership to staff across the College Centre, ensuring the highest levels of standards and service are delivered; • ensuring change is effectively communicated to staff and managed in a purposeful manner; • embedding a leadership culture based on responsibility and accountability where all colleagues play an active role in achieving the College Centre’s objectives as well as their own; • being visible to staff, maintaining a culture of open communication, whilst ensuring colleagues deliver outstanding practice and performance; • working with senior colleagues to build a culture where people operate with resilience and face change and challenge positively; • all staff are required to ensure that Equality and Diversity are core to the mission, values and strategic aims of Morley College London.

The lists above are not intended to be exhaustive and the post holder will be required to undertake any duties commensurate with the role of Centre Principal. The post holder will take part in an annual cycle of appraisal which will be conducted by the Chief Executive.

Person Specification The successful candidate will be expected to demonstrate evidence of the following skills, capabilities and experience:

• a degree level qualification; • evidence of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) with a leadership focus; • a relevant teaching and/or professional qualification; • a successful track record, at a senior level, in an education or community setting; • experience of leading on curriculum development and quality standards; • experience of leading community consultation and collaboration; • experience of working in an outstanding work environment; • a broad understanding of the policy context for education, with a firm grasp of such issues as community engagement, employer engagement, the student learning experience and education funding (FE, adult education and HE); • understanding of curriculum, performance management, business development and of continuously raising standards; • experience of leading and managing staff and securing commitment to, and achievement of, organisational aims and objectives; • experience and awareness of regulatory and inspection frameworks, accreditation and validation establishment and processes; • experience of establishing, motivating, developing and managing the performance of effective, multi-disciplinary teams, with a ready ability to build staff morale; • a demonstrable track record of effective stakeholder engagement at a strategic level with local and regional authorities, employers, businesses and academic institutions; • experience of effective budget and resource management, including budget formulation, financial planning and monitoring and control; • experience of leading study programmes for 16-18-year-old students (desirable); • a demonstrable track record of operating as the representative and public face of an organisation, undertaking a number of diverse external communication requirements (desirable). Skills, Style and Behaviour • a commitment to reflect and uphold Morley College London’s core values, which include respect for diversity and the promotion of equality; • first class communication and interpersonal skills, with the presence and credibility to influence, persuade and motivate; • a high level of critical reasoning skills with meticulous attention to detail; • a commitment to quality and an aspiration to deliver excellence; • drive, resilience and tenacity, and a ‘can do’ attitude; • sound judgement, flexible and adaptable, bringing a focus on key deadlines; • a strong commercial acumen, able to recognise and seize opportunities, with a demonstrable track record of diversifying and increasing income streams in the public or private sector (desirable).

Appointment Details and How to Apply Morley College London is being assisted in this appointment process by the executive search firm Society.

Applications should consist of:

1 a concise covering letter (ideally no longer than two pages), addressing the criteria in the Person Specification; 2 an up-to-date curriculum vitae; 3 names and contact details of three referees (although referees will only be approached at the final stage of the process, and only with your express permission).

General advice on how to write a strong CV and a strong covering letter can be found on our website.

To upload your documents via Society’s website, click here.

The deadline for receipt of applications is midday (GMT) on Friday, 26 February 2021.

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to interview on Wednesday, 10 March and Thursday, 11 March 2021.

An appointment will be made subject to satisfactory pre-employment checks, including references, health clearance, and an enhanced DBS and Children’s Barred List check. The appointed candidate will be offered a salary that is commensurate with their experience and the seniority of their new role.