West Midlands Centre for Excellence in Teacher Training
Management Meeting
Tuesday, 9 December, 2014, University House, University of Warwick
Attendees:
1.
Helena Baxter
Ellen Buttler
Julie Chamberlain
Anna Hraboweckyj
Vron Leslie
Fergus McKay
Apologies
None.
Helena Baxter had joined the committee to represent WBL and take over from Mike Smith. FM
welcomed her and everyone introduced themselves. HB explained that the Herefordshire,
Worcestershire and Shropshire Training Providers Association (HWSTPA) had split itself to align with
LEP boundaries, and she was chair of the Worcestershire Training Providers Association (CIC).
2.
Minutes of Management Meeting, 1 July, 2014
These were accepted as a true record.
3.
Matters arising
Points would be picked up through updates in the meeting.
4.
Chair’s update (FM)
FM detailed two project bids which WMCETT and CLL had put in to the Education and Training
Foundation, which had not been successful, but he said lessons had been learned from the
experience. AH said alliance tendering was becoming more common but was hard to do without an
infrastructure. HB said bids seemed to go to big organisations. She represented 50 small
organisations, and people had no idea what a rural provider faced. AH said HB needed to articulate
the access she had to the WBL providers and networks. FM said collaboration was the way forward.
It is the 50 year celebration of the university in 2015 and 30 years of Lifelong Learning. FM had
established an annual conference, the first of which was being held in 2015 from 29 June – 1 July, to
bring together different dimensions of lifelong learning. He hoped it would be provocative rather
than sedate. He wanted there to be people who would talk about their lives in relation to lifelong
learning, and he wanted there to be an interface between age, gender and power.
Action point: FM to send out details of the call for papers and the cost of attending the conference.
FM has been talking to a contact from near Dortmund about the possibility of an exchange through
Erasmus to look at the German and British systems for training and development. He asked if any
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committee members would be interested in this. People would be needed to meet German visitors
and talk about their facet of education. His contact was thinking of involving a third nation state too.
AH said she would be interested in telling them about the non-statutory system. HB said she was
doing a lot of work with Worcestershire LEP and she thought they would be interested.
The Further Education Learning Technology Advisory Group (FELTAG) initiative has created a target
of 10 per cent of all learning modules and resources being put on line. EB said there were a lot of
issues about putting things on line, not least the skill sets of the tutors and pupils. Jisc were coming in
to CLL to talk about the 10 per cent initiative and what it would look like to the teacher educator
team. She wasn’t sure if it meant removing contact time and delivering on line, or if colleges
understood what it means. On line delivery was not a cheap alternative and could be more
expensive. There were questions about whether college systems would be technologically advanced
enough to provide a good learning environment with interactivity, Skype etc.
VL said Moocs were being highly promoted, but she had done one which was dire, with boring
presentations, and on line multiple choice assessment. EB questioned how on line learning would be
quality assured or managed, and said a lot of colleges just used on line space as a repository and
expected staff to download things but there was little thought about how to use them in a positive
way. FM said colleges were worried about it because they could not just put everything on line.
HB said Jisc had attended one of the WTPA network meetings and been very helpful and also had
very good online resources.
AH said a lot of providers were being wiped out of courses like food hygiene because they were now
done on line. But she warned there was a danger of being too over-Luddite about it and a lot of
people liked on line learning because it was cheaper to access and they could do it in their own time.
5.
Project manager’s update (JC)
JC reported on the completion of the first year of the Workforce Development Programme which
WMCETT had been commissioned to work on by ACETT on behalf of the Education and Training
Foundation.
GCSE Maths Enhancement Programme: Set task of recruiting 222 people to 15 courses, recruited 302
to 19 courses. Out of those 265 successfully completed all six days and did a Personal Development
Plan. Of the 37 non-completers some were down to illness or not completing the PDP, and others
missed days. Feedback was extremely positive and a lot of people said they wanted more.
Maths Fest!2014 conferences: One at University of Warwick, one at Staffordshire University with
workshops at both with titles such as Stimulating Starts, Maths with Meaning, Level 3 Core Maths,
Functional Maths and ESOL learners, and Maths for Vocational Tutors and Assessors. Nearly 70
people paid to attend.
MEP Follow up days: Funding provided nationally to pay for these, held four in autumn term at
University of Warwick, Birmingham Adult Education Service, Walsall Adult & Community College, and
Stoke on Trent College. A total of 68 people registered to attend though not all turned up. The days
aimed to help participants explore the needs of learners retaking GCSE and implications for
curriculum design, and shared good practice and resources. Excellent feedback.
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Maths Hub: The strategic level maths group last met in October with participants looking at training
and development taking place or hoped for in 2014-15, and how we could link in with the schools
hub.
JC said WMCETT’s current and future planned work included two more subsidised GCSE Maths
Enhancement Programmes, one of which has started with 20 people and the other is still recruiting
with so far 14 recruits. A subsidised English Enhancement Programme, with six training pathways to
choose from, is being run nationally and WMCETT had appointed a Regional English Specialist,
Catriona Mowat, to co-ordinate enquiries and carry out other English related CPD.
The ETF, through ACETT, are funding maths, English and SEND regional specialist roles up until July,
but as yet full job descriptions have not come through. Steve Pardoe will continue his maths role and
Catriona Mowat will have the English and SEND roles.
HB said she was a SEND governor and had been on courses and workshops about the new SEND 0-25
agenda. Schools were ready for it but everyone else was panicking and parents were up in arms.
Every area had to have a local offer with a website so parents could see what was available. Colleges
had specialists in place but in private providers it would probably be an area manager who was also
in charge of safeguarding.
Action point: JC to send HB contact information for Catriona Mowat.
6.
General updates (All)
EB: CLL’s maths and English specialist teaching courses had recruited successfully, but SEND had not
because this year there were no bursaries available to pay for it. The Certificate in Education and
Training course had doubled its numbers from 20 last year to 40, and the 10 credit programme had
recruited very well. There was a lot of interest in a course for learning support professionals who do
not teach, and in a 10 credit course in teaching learners with difficulties and disabilities. There is a
new Level 3 programme for people just coming in to teaching who want to dip their toe in the water.
The ETF was taking over the Excellence Gateway and the IfL QTS process.
CLL was also developing a Strategic Employer Partnership Group. EB said there was a lot of debate
about whether teacher education in its current form was meeting the needs of employers. GCSE
knowledge may have to be included in functional skills.
HB: The SFA and EFA now had one director, and the National Apprenticeship Service had been
incorporated into it so there were not individual people to talk to in each organisation. HB talked
about Trailblazers and the new plans for apprenticeships, where funding will go to employers, but
will not be released until the employer makes a cash contribution. For every £2, the employer has to
pay £1.
EB asked how smaller training providers were going to manage, and HB said they would be pushed
into consortiums. English and maths requirements were also a huge concern for providers.
AH: She was struck by the similarities between the WBL and third sector in terms of reduced money
available, and the need to get a consortium together to go for funding. One large charity was
delivering training in Birmingham which was causing difficulties for other organisations delivering
training to offenders or people with multiple problems. They had access to knowledge of what was
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needed locally. AB said she is supervising some State of the Sector research in Birmingham and she
would bring some information on this to the next meeting.
Action point: AH to report to next meeting on this.
AH said it was hard to get people to attend meetings these days, unless they were provider networks
or contract meetings, but meetings were a way of discovering information. She had concerns about
the awarding of major contracts which went to organisations which could deliver at low cost because
they got volunteers to do a lot of the work.
VL: She had recently put the November WMCOP bulletin on the website. Under the new education
secretary Nicky Morgan she felt everything had to be of value to an employer, but staff did not seem
to be valued.
7.
AOB
There was none.
8.
Next meeting
Dates were discussed and it was later agreed the next meeting would be on Tuesday, May 19.
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