The Corporation of New College Durham Corporation Meeting 15
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The Corporation of New College Durham Corporation Meeting 15 December 2010 Report from Deputy Principal and Chief Executive Curriculum and Quality Quality Ofsted Survey Inspection Programme The College has received notice from Ofsted of a one day visit to consider Best Practice in Value for Money in Colleges. This visit will be conducted by Paula Heaney (HMI - Her Majesties Inspectorate) on 30 November 2010 and will consider the „strategies and processes that the College employs to use our available resources efficiently and effectively to achieve best value for money‟. The visit will take a cross-College view of value for money and will involve meetings with Senior Leaders, College Managers and Learners to establish our best practice and inform a publication of best practice to be shared across the sector. Post-visit, the College will receive a brief letter summarising the points made in feedback and discussion at the end of the visit. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Framework for Excellence (FfE) Outcomes The following changes have been made to FfE over the past academic year most notably the decision not to publish the 2009/2010 Performance Indictor grades (please see below). Outcomes and comparisons for 2009/2010 are expected to be made available by the Skills Funding Agency in December 2010. Summary of changes to Framework for Excellence . The removal of grades for the four published Performance Indicators (PI): Success Rates, Learner Destinations, Learner Views and Employer Views. They will now be shown as ungraded scores. Scores for each provider will be published alongside the range of scores obtained for each PI for comparison purposes. As a minimum, the comparative data will show the lowest score obtained, the median (middle score) and the highest score. In the case of Success Rates the range will consist of the median (middle score) and the 5th and the 95th percentile; the Success Rate indicator has been split into seven sub- categories: FE long qualifications (excluding A,AS,A2) FE very short qualifications (<5 weeks) TL/MO z/GovRpt/2009-10/GovRpt070710 Page 1 of 43 FE short qualifications (5-24 weeks) A, AS, A2 qualifications Apprenticeships (framework completions, overall success rates) Advanced Apprenticeships (framework completions, overall success rates) Train to Gain (Full Level 2, Full Level 3 qualifications); . The reporting of Learner Views, Learner Destinations and Employer Views has been amended: where survey results have failed to meet the quality thresholds, no score will be given; . There has been a change in the scale for scoring Learner Views and Employer Views for consistency and ease of comparison: these are now both scored on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 lowest, 10 highest) Update to Inspection Arrangements As the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) impacts on the public sector, it has been necessary for Ofsted to shift their focus away from all Colleges to those providers that are Grade 4 or Grade 3 and not improving. It was announced that Colleges graded as Outstanding in the last Inspection, e.g. New College Durham, will be exempt from future Inspections as long as high standards are maintained and as long as current legislation remains. As a result, a future Full Inspection is unlikely at the College unless one of the following triggers factors is activated: Notice to Improve received for Finance or Sector Subject Areas Success rates (long course) below national average for similar Colleges (including A Levels, employer training) Below average scores on progress measures (LAT/CVA) Merger with other (non-outstanding) College Serious concerns expressed by key stakeholders, e.g. funding agencies, partners, learners, regarding for example, changes in Senior Management/Principal. Concerns over the quality and integrity of our data. NB - as a high performing College we are likely to receive a minimum of one or two Survey Inspection visits per year and may still be subject to a Risk Assessment monitoring visit at the mid-point of the Inspection Cycle, e.g. 3 years after our last Inspection. Marketing We continue working with the region‟s comprehensive schools, attending careers events, parent‟s evenings, assembly talks, classroom activities and onsite visits and taster sessions. During October and November we have delivered 68 sessions in schools and onsite with year groups 9, 10 and 11. We also continue to support Durham Enterprise Business Partnership (DEBP) Ambassador Programme for enterprise and transition activities. As part of ongoing development, we have reviewed our schools liaison programme and have introduced a new range of interactive activities and delivered a range of bespoke programmes for schools. TL/MO z/GovRpt/2009-10/GovRpt070710 Page 2 of 43 Our information and advice events during the first two months of the academic year were very successful, with a year on year increase in footfall. Competitions took place for JLS and Metro Radio Live tickets as part of our In Demand sponsorship with Metro Radio. In conjunction with the Directors of Curriculum and Quality, a new enquiry form was introduced, as part of ongoing data capture and student tracking. This will assist in identifying the number of enquiries per curriculum area and the ongoing process to application, then enrolment. As part of this process we have revised the admissions procedure with regards to contacting students who fail to turn up for interviews. As a result we have created reminder postcards with an automatic second interview date. The Marketing and Events team attended the North East Skills Event at Metro Radio Arena in November, accompanied by curriculum staff and students from Catering, Sport and Hair and Beauty. The two day careers event was attended by over 3,000 students from across County Durham and Tyne and Wear. The November Graduation will take place on Saturday 27 November 2010 with over 190 graduates in attendance. Progression week has been confirmed with the curriculum for week commencing 14 February 2011. The initial stages are being agreed with the Directors of Curriculum and Quality and the Heads of School, to introduce a series of progression talks, to be delivered by Marketing and ASC during timetabled lessons. 14 – 19 Curriculum 14-19 Curriculum Developments The entitlement for all young people to study one of the new Diploma qualifications from 2013 has now been removed. This change will have a significant impact on the future of the fourteen lines of learning available. It is anticipated that some of the lines will not survive leaving those which are deemed to be a credible alternative to other existing, well established qualifications. Working in collaboration with three school partners, the College is currently involved in the delivery of one line of learning, Engineering at Level 2 for Key Stage 4 students. The College is able to offer Diploma courses to future post 16 learners in areas where there is a clear need. Students who wish to progress to college after studying a Diploma at school will have a number of options, including the Diploma route, dependant on there being a sufficient level of interest. At level 1 and below the College has developed two modes of Foundation Learning delivery for young people. One is a full time route which is an extension of the well established vocational offer with the addition of functional skills and personal and social development. The other is a shorter programme, Steps for Success (S4S), which has replaced E2E. In addition to a general S4S programme the College is piloting curriculum specific routes in Hairdressing, Beauty Therapy and Art and Design during the autumn term. Early indicators suggest these are progressing well with a total of 46 students enrolled. The College continues to work in partnership with twelve County Durham schools providing the opportunity for KS4 learners to access vocational qualifications within the Foundation Learning framework. Awarding bodies have recently developed a new suite of qualifications at Level 1 and this has enabled curriculum teams to review their offer. The most significant, exciting change has been the introduction of the BTEC Diploma in Construction which can be organised to allow learners to experience four trades during their two year course. The College also continues to support the Young Apprenticeships in Engineering Level 2 programme for learners from mid Durham schools. This is a very popular course and an application for the funding of an additional Year 10 group has been successful. TL/MO z/GovRpt/2009-10/GovRpt070710 Page 3 of 43 The College is preparing to respond to a range of Department for Education Policy initiatives. These include a possible reform of A-Levels, the development of an English Baccalaureate and in particular the Wolf review of vocational education for 14-19 year olds. The review will investigate how to improve the organisation of vocational education for 14 to 19 year olds, including funding and accountability and how to improve progression rates to employment and further and higher education. The College has submitted a response, via the local authority, which promotes the role of further education in providing high quality vocational education and training. Professor Alison Wolf will report in the Spring of 2011 with an interim report due by the end of 2010. HE Developments Foundation Degree Awarding Powers (FDAP) A visit of a sub-panel of the Advisory Committee for Degree Awarding Powers (ACDAP) took place at the end of September. This was a full day visit, during which the panel met during a series of meetings the Principal, Corporation members, senior managers, Heads of School, students, and academic and support staff. The sub-panel included the Chair of the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) and two Vice Chancellors. The visit was considered by those participating to have been successful, with the lines of questioning followed by the panel having been anticipated and prepared for.