Issue 12 October 2006
On 31st October, the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, Alan Johnson announced the launch of the first three National Skills Academies. To mark the launch, Alan Johnson and Skills Minister Phil Hope hosted a business breakfast to congratulate the founders and to encourage other sectors to follow suit.
The launch marks the start of an employer-led, world-class National Skills Academy network to provide vocational education and training for school leavers and adults, tailor made to meet the specific needs of industry sectors and those who work in them. The aim is to have up to 12 academies operational by 2008 and the Government is investing £90 million in the programme which will be delivered through the Learning and Skills Council working with employers and their Sector Skills Councils.
The first three academies to be approved and shortly become operational are in the Financial Services, Construction, and Manufacturing sectors. A fourth, representing the Food and Drink sector, is close to being approved.
Bids from the nuclear industry; the chemical industry; the hospitality sector; and the creative and cultural industries have been accepted by the Government and will now be invited to work up business plans ready for the next stage of the process.
Prime Minister Tony Blair said the start of the National Skills Academy programme marked a turning point in skills training that would ensure British industry remained competitive in the long term and able to respond rapidly to changing needs and demands.
Alan Johnson said: 'Raising skills is essential to wealth creation and creating a society of opportunity for all. The National Skills Academy programme will improve our capacity for learning by driving up standards and specialisation with the learning sector. This will be good for individuals and employers alike and give all parties a real chance to address the skills gap and close it.'
14-19 Regional Conferences
A series of 14-19 Regional Conferences took place in October in the nine Government Office regions and focused on supporting providers locally to implement the 14-19 reform programme. At the conferences local providers were given the opportunity to share information about the reforms and discuss the implications for their area. The conferences also helped to explore issues critical to success locally. In particular they helped to address some concerns about the Gateway process.
The Government Office Director for Children and Learners as well as the LSC Regional Director for each region placed the reforms within a local context. DfES, QCA, and the Diploma Development Partnerships provided information on the overall 14-19 reform programme, Diploma Gateway, curriculum reforms, and the vision for the Diplomas respectively. Delegates, who included, Local Authority 14-19 coordinators, LSCs, Headteachers, and Further Education 14-19 coordinators also took part in seminar discussions which focused on the detail of the first five Diploma lines: Construction and the Built Environment; Society, Health and Development; IT; Engineering; and Creative and Media. In the afternoon the delegates were given the opportunity to discuss three key issues: local delivery; the workforce; and employer engagement.
The conferences generated a number of issues that will need to be addressed at both a local and national level, and work will continue over the forthcoming months to resolve these. A series of Guidance notes addressing three main concerns from the programme covering: transport, capital and SEN, will be available within the next few months.
Feedback suggests that the conferences have proved to be a valuable experience for both local providers and partners.
Hot on the heels of the content for the first five Diplomas is the publication of the subject criteria. These set out the shape and scope of the 2008 Diplomas and will be used by awarding bodies to develop the actual qualifications. The criteria appears on the QCA website at: http://www.qca.org.uk/17406.html
The Diploma Gateway Guidance was published on 2 October 2006. The Guidance provides information for organisations wishing to offer one or more of the first five Diploma lines in September 2008. Copies of the Guidance can be obtained from Prolog, telephone 0845 60 222 60 and quote ref: 03903-206DOM-EN or downloaded from:
http://www.dfes.gov.uk.14-19/documents/GatewayGuidance06.pdf
September 2006 saw a small-scale trial of the draft functional skills and the approaches to their assessment. The recent regional conferences also provided a valuable opportunity to explain how functional skills will work in the context of the Diplomas.
For more information on the 14-19 progress please contact sarah.kaya@dfes.gsi.gov.uk
You may have expertise to share or you might want to work with colleagues to improve your existing provision - whatever your starting point the Development Programme has something to offer you.
Train to Gain offers exciting new opportunities for training providers to deliver learning to businesses. It also means developing a more flexible and responsive approach to meet the ever-changing needs of employers.
The Development Programme for Train to Gain, funded by the Quality Improvement Agency (QIA), will provide opportunities to develop provider capacity for Train to Gain delivery. The Programme is being delivered by the Learning and Skills Network (LSN), in partnership with the Centre for Excellence in Leadership (Ashridge), Sales Insight and BDP Learning.
To find out more about the upcoming Development Programme events:
Email traintogaindevelopment@LSNeducation.org.uk call 020 7297 9009 or visit the website www.traintogaindevelopment.org.uk
Free Development Programme events in Nov/Dec 2006
Gaining and retaining employers as customers - a sales introductory session
These events will help you understand what selling really is and combat the poor image you might have of sales. You will also understand what selling means in the context of Train to Gain and your other employer work. These events will happen regionally in November.
Developing responsive people and organisations workshops for strategic development
These workshops will provide insight into what leadership and management skills and strategies your organisation needs to become more employer responsive. These workshops will start in November.
Developing responsive people and organisations workshops for operational development
These workshops will provide insight into what leadership and management skills and strategies your organisation needs to become more employer responsive. These workshops will start in November.
Developing flexible delivery workshops
The workshops are designed to suit providers with different levels of expertise and experience in work-based learning, and will relate to different roles working within your organisation. They will also focus on regional and sectoral Train to Gain priorities. These workshops will start in November.
Developing flexible delivery peer referencing groups
The Development Programme for Train to Gain encourages you to find ways to implement flexible delivery by talking to people in similar roles in other organisations. Get involved in a peer referencing group to look at specific aspects of workplace provision. These workshops will start in November
The programme is being launched under the leadership of SkillsActive on behalf of the whole network; it builds on previous work by the network's Management and Leadership and Business Skills Boards but adds new features.
It's focused on getting the long-term strategy right. The programme will use the aggregate output of our Sector Skills Agreements to ensure our work in rooted firmly in the skills needs of our employers. It will take on board the work of the Leadership and Management Advisory Panel and their submission to the Leitch Review.
The first part of the programme is strategic and seeks to change long-term attitudes amongst managers. The second part is tactical and involves discovering and promoting solutions that can help real managers with real problems today. Here's an example of such a programme.
Action Learning for Leaders - a practical programme available now
At the heart of the process is the 'action learning set'. This is where a group of six to nine managers meet at regular intervals for each member to explore a real, challenging open-ended problem. Every member in turn works on their task and the others provide support and challenge. The aim is to help each manager both to tackle the task and to learn from the process.
Positive results from pilot programmes
Significant business benefits were reported during the pilot programme, including:
Individual participants have described personal improvements in many areas, including a better work-life balance, improved time management, greater confidence to change the company, improved delegation, increased personal motivation and instigating new initiatives to improve staff motivation.
For more information about the programme, click here . To view the Management and Leadership model, click here .
Entry is now open to the 2007 Adult Learners' Week Awards and the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) is encouraging anyone who works in the broad field of adult education to nominate their outstanding adult learners for the awards.
Adult Learners' Week, the UK's largest festival of learning runs from 19-25 May 2007. As part of Adult Learners' Week, individuals, families, groups and projects and their inspirational stories are used to motivate others to explore the benefits of adult learning.
If you know a learner, or an employee, that you'd like to nominate or if you would like to nominate your learning project for the awards all you have to do is request or download a nomination form using the information below.
Telephone: 0116 2044 200
Website: www.alw.org.uk
The closing date for the awards is noon on the 19 January 2007.
e-skills UK Celebrates Milestones in Impact on Skills
e-skills UK has released details of achievements it has made since its Sector Skills Agreement (SSA) was launched a year ago.
The employer-led Sector Skills Council for IT and Telecoms has published "Real People, Real Successes", an update on progress it has made in delivering the three year SSA action plan. This includes:
Karen Price, CEO of e-skills UK commented: "e-skills UK brings employers together with government, education and others to address the skills challenges that none of us can fix on our own. In July 2005, we published the Sector Skills Agreement for IT and Telecoms, an employer-led strategic agenda for change. Today's report highlights the considerable progress made in delivering on our vision. We are proud to be making a very real contribution to businesses and to people's lives.
"The journey has only just begun. With the rise of the global economy, offshoring, outsourcing, re-skilling and the ever accelerating pace of technological change, this is an exciting and critical time for technology skills development."
The e-skills UK Sector Skills Agreement for IT and Telecoms represents a ten year vision supported by a three year action plan. The SSA aims to ensure that the UK has a world-class IT and Telecoms professional skills pool; that all organisations in every sector are able to fully realise the potential of IT to support their business goals; and that all individuals have - and continue to develop - the IT user skills to fully participate in the e-economy.
To view the "Real People, Real Successes" publication, visit www.e-skills.com/ssa. For your complimentary hard copy, go to www.e-skills.com/register.
In the East of England, the East of England Skills and Competitiveness Partnership (EESCP) has recently sponsored the National Training Awards along with City and Guilds. This year they celebrated 20 years of the awards and this special evening saw the region show casing excellence in training and people development with 14 finalists being recognised.
The National Training Awards are the UK's number one accolade for businesses, organisations and individuals who have achieved lasting excellence and success through training and learning. Effective training enables individuals to achieve their potential, organisations to achieve their aims and objectives, and the UK workforce to compete in global markets. The aim is to recognise and celebrate the people and the organisations who create success through training and personal development. The National Training Awards are universally recognised as being the number one in their field and this year saw a strong group of applications and the judges had a difficult time in coming to their final decisions.
Our winners demonstrated achievements across a vast spectrum of activity, based in the workplace and in the community. The quality common to all winners of a National Training Award is that they demonstrate significant benefits from exceptionally effective learning and skills development. Winners show, not only good people development, but also the outstanding results gained by putting what has been learned into practice. In the East of England we had 14 finalists from the public and private sector and of those 5 gained a national award and have been invited to a further event in December to collect their award.
Those gaining a national award in the East of England were:
Once again this shows the commitment within the business community in the East of England to training and development and they are a true inspiration to others.
Major initiatives aimed at helping to reduce worklessness in London were endorsed by the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, at a reception in Downing Street on 17 October.
The event was used to launch the London Employment and Skills Taskforce for 2012 (LEST) Action Plan and two of its proposals, the Pre-Volunteer Programme and the London Employer Accord.
The Taskforce was Chaired by London Development Agency (LDA) Board member Jeremy Long and included key public, private and voluntary sector representatives.
The Pre-Volunteer Programme will use the hook of the Games to engage those who are most disconnected from the labour market and help them to gain a range of skills and experience through volunteering, thereby improving their employment prospects.
Through the London Employer Accord public sector agencies and employers will commit to a range of measures including tailoring employment and training programmes and offering interviews to job ready candidates. The Accord was signed by the Mayor of London, Government Ministers, the LDA , Jobcentre Plus, the Learning & Skills Council, London 2012, the London Business Board and a number of employers. The plan can be downloaded from the LDA website http://www.lda.gov.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.1646
The 2005 Skills White Paper set out new areas of activity for Regional Skills Partnerships, which included improving Higher Education (HE) links. To take this work forward in the South East, the Regional Skills for Productivity Alliance (RSPA) set up a HE Task Group. The Group has started to make some significant strides in this key area.
The Task Group, composed of key partners including the Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE) and Higher Education South East (HESE), has begun to engage with the Skills for Business Network, Sector Skills Councils and other key bodies and has drawn up a Work Plan of activities including developing effective employer engagement with HE and supporting progression routes into HE.
Graham Grover has been appointed as Higher Skills Development Manager within the South East of England Development Agency (SEEDA). Graham will support the Group's activities. His post is co-funded by strategic partners Foundation Degree Forward, SEEDA and the Government Office for the South East.
For further information, contact Graham on Mobile 07909 603792 or by email grahamgrover@seeda.co.uk .
More colleges in the South East are achieving Action for Business Status; a quality standard that demonstrates a college can provide quality services to meet employers skills needs.
The standard was developed three years ago by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and the South East Regional Development Agency (SEEDA), in response to the Governments Skills Strategy White Paper requesting post 16 provision become more responsive to employer needs and demands.
Twenty-one colleges have successfully gone through a robust development programme to achieve accreditation. The process is intensive and requires colleges to review their ways of working by incorporating best practice and becoming more responsive to employers needs. The Action for Business framework sets out how to assess college management systems, strategic planning, delivery and plans for continuous improvement.
Highbury College was the first college in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight area to attain the Action for Business status. The college has been working with employers for over forty years offering a breadth of vocational provision that puts them in the centre of skills and employability training.
Dee John, Executive Director of the Corporate College at Highbury explains how the framework worked for them: 'The Action for Business standard provided a superb framework for the college to align and increase the focus on delivering skills development and training that really matches local employer's needs to operate and compete in a challenging economy. The process provided the college with an invaluable development tool which allowed us to look in depth at all aspects of the employer journey, from the strategic planning of services to businesses to how well we feed delegates on short courses'
As part of the accreditation process, colleges undergo a number of assessments. These include mystery shopping, interviews with employers and interviews to a panel, made up of employers, LSC and SEEDA personnel.
Commenting on the experience of going through an assessment process Dee said: 'The methods used through the accreditation process such as mystery shopping and interviews with employers gave a great deal of credibility to the staff, partners and most importantly the employers'
Action for Business is more than just a quality mark to a college there are huge benefits in attaining accreditation and going through the process. Dee highlights just some of the benefits to the college: 'Going through the process means the college is able to take a more holistic approach in meeting employer's skills needs. We have more informed understanding of the needs of employers and more innovative solutions to removing perceived barriers to training and skills development'
So what does Action for Business mean to an employer and how did Highbury College deal with an employer enquiry? Spinnaker Tower is Portsmouth's newest attraction standing 170 metres into the sky above the historic harbour of Portsmouth. Visitor Services Manager, Nigel Hosier, approached the college regarding training requirements for their new service staff. As the Tower was still under construction at the time, the staff had never met each other, so the training days were to be the first time they all came together.
Nigel said: 'Highbury College came up with a two day induction training package for us, one day of which was Customer Service training that we were looking for. They customised another days training to satisfy needs in terms of Health & Safety, Food Hygiene and Customer Service. Some of the lecturers visited the tower to research that beforehand. What was great was that this was the first 2 days employment for our staff. So it was a real team building and bonding session and it meant that off site, all our staff were up to speed in a very short space of time.
After the success of that induction training we've been using Highbury College for further training and more specific and in depth training. Highbury has always been very eager and very quick to respond to our needs. We've got a lot out of Highbury in the last 6 months and I'm sure that relationship is going to continue.'
It is anticipated there will be a network of thirty accredited Action for Business training organisations by March 2007.
For further information please contact Action for Business Network Managers Adam Vernon on avernon@tiscali.co.uk or Catherine Hilton Catherine.hilton@lsc.gov.uk
The South West Regional Skills Partnership (SW RSP) recently held a conference in association with the Skills and Learning Intelligence Module (SLIM), bringing together businesses and training providers in the South West with the purpose of highlighting research into Employability Skills, focussing on the 16-21 age group. Other important factors to emerge were that employers have indicated a widespread lack of confidence in the long term unemployed.
Around 100 people attended the day long event at Dillington House, Illminster. They heard from s peakers from CDELL (Centre for Developing and Evaluating Lifelong Learning) , Asset Skills and QCA (Qualifications and Curriculum Authority) who focused on policy in the morning session and, following lunch, practice was discussed by Deloitte, MANCAT and St John's School and Community College.
There was much discussion in the following question and answer sessions, highlighting the importance of, and interest in, such a hot topic. Issues that were raised included:
The research by CDELL was commissioned by SLIM for the Employability Project earlier this year to look at basic employability skills and how they are viewed in South West England.
Professor Greatbatch of CDELL reported on the interim findings during the conference, and said that, significantly, small and medium sized companies had identified some 30 different personal attributes deemed relevant to 'employability'. However, it was also clear that organisations defined similar skills in different ways.
He said that smaller organisations appeared cynical about 'key skills' as understood by learning providers. Instead they focused on the ability to turn up on time and work hard, honesty, integrity and commitment. The research indicates they feel other skills can be developed through subsequent training.
However it wasn't all bad news for young people, Chris James of the Sector Skills Development Agency demonstrated how employers are increasingly seeking to engage young recruits earlier as there are not enough suitable 'older' applicants. Whereas at one time they might have targeted their recruitment effort at first year Degree students, they are now increasingly seeking to influence those in the 14-19 range, even before they are ready to move into employment. Carl Emery from MANCAT/GQAL (Manchester College of Arts & Technology/Gender Quality Action Learning) went on to explain that employability skills are vital whether you are 6 or 68.
The Employability Review was set up by members of the SW RSP who wanted to focus on ensuring the young people of the region are equipped with the skills and personal attributes needed for a successful working life.
John Routledge of the SW RSP said: 'We want to raise awareness of the issue of employability skills and how important they are for young people. This is a big concern for employers - they need their new recruits to understand, without being told, that there are certain standards which need to be upheld.
'It is just simple things like being reliable and confident, and showing some enthusiasm for the work you are doing.'
For more information on the project, contact Mike Farrington at MFarrington@golleyslater.co.uk
East Midlands Sarah Bentley |
South East Barbara Smith |
East of England Julia Nix |
South West Jim Neilson |
London Paul Gallagher Day to day correspondence to: Rebecca Rhoades |
West Midlands Pat Jackson |
North East Sue Hannan |
Yorkshire and Humber Sue Hydes |
North West Phil Lowthian Phil.Lowthian@nwda.co.uk |
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