SSC committee
26 November 2009
Minutes
The Henley College Corporation
MINUTES of the Strategy, Students and Curriculum Committee meeting
Held on Thursday 26 November 2009 at 5.30pm
Members present:
Steve Matthews (Chair/Member)
Louise Adams (Member)
Tom Espley (Principal/Member)
Susan Norton (Member)
Priya Pankhania (Student/Member)
James Porter (Member)
Tony Sanderson (Member)
In attendance:
Peter Allen (Assistant Principal/Student Services)
Simon Cuthbert (Assistant Principal/Curriculum and Quality)
Catherine Comiskey (Corporation Secretary)
Agenda
item
1.1 09/10
Minute
Action by:
Opening of meeting
The meeting opened at 5.37pm.
The Chair informed the meeting that there would be two
items under “Any other business”, namely the appointment
of a new chair for this committee and setting a date for
detailed review of the Self Assessment Report (“SAR”).
1.2 09/10
Apologies for absence
Apologies for absence had been received from Catharine
Darnton and were accepted. A message had been passed
to Priya Pankhania that the other student governor, Jelani
Howell, would not be attending but no apologies for
absence had been received by the Corporation Secretary.
1.3 09/10
Declaration of interests
No members or officers had any interests to declare in
agenda items.
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1.4 09/10
Minutes
Minutes of the meeting of 10 June 2009
The committee agreed the minutes of the meeting of 10
June 2009, which were signed by the Chair.
1.5 09/10
Matters arising
It was noted that most matters arising would be covered
under the agenda.
At item 3.4/2.8 of 08/09 it was reported that the
Corporation
Secretary
had
overlooked
making
arrangements for a Programme Leader to attend this
meeting. It was agreed that a Programme Leader should Corporation
be invited to the spring term meeting of the committee to Secretary
discuss the Programme Leader’s role in the SAR.
Item 3.5 of 08/09: A presentation on Pathways and Social
Enterprise is to be given to the Corporation meeting on 9
December 2009.
The actions identified at 3.6, 3.9 and 3.10 had been carried
out and there was to be an item including the “learner
voice” (3.11) at agenda item 1.11 of 09/10.
1.6 09/10
6.42pm
Student applications, enrolments and funding against
plan
The Principal reported that there had been a good
enrolment season. The College is working on the first
Individualised Learner Record (“ILR”) this year and is
confident that enrolment will be at least 40 above the
target. It was reported that the College had not logged all
enquiries for places but had turned away about 100
applicants because places on those courses had been
filled.
Susan Norton arrived.
In response to a question about whether there was a
specific cut off number, it was reported that the limits were
reached on some courses but on other courses it was
possible to add some more students to classes. The
Principal reported that the SLT did not want so many
students that the College became overcrowded. Although
it was now necessary to use the meetings room at
Deanfield for lessons, the College was not overcrowded. It
was reported that those who apply late are often prone to
leave early: as the College had not been able to take so
many late applicants this year, the start to term had been
smoother.
It was reported that recruitment was particularly strong for
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A level and BTEC national diploma courses and for level 1
courses. There had also been strong recruitment to the
Early Years course as the equivalent at TVU in Reading
had closed at short notice. Recruitment to the IB had been
lower than last year, which was disappointing. The number
of 2nd year students was higher than last year, but down on
the number expected as at May 2009.
The only census date was now 1 November. It was
thought that at that point the College was over 40 students
ahead of target and that growth should be consolidated
next year.
It was queried whether there was an overall maximum
number of students the College could have, and whether
any such maximum was derived from the SLT’s judgement
or from external factors. The Principal reported that the
fact that the extra students would not be funded for the first
year meant that the College would be unlikely to appoint
any additional staff unless it could be sure they would be of
good quality. Also, the College was now full in that even
the meetings room was now being used for lessons. In
deciding how many students to admit, the SLT had been
aware that growth of about 40 over target should probably
be consolidated in funding for next year but any
significantly greater recruitment might not be. It was
further reported that the College had planned for the extra
sets needed. The admissions team had followed up
enquiries well, so it had been clear how many students
were expected and for which courses. It was reported that
this year’s information evening had been very well
attended, so it was expected that recruitment next year
should also be good.
In response to a question about whether the growth had
been planned, it was reported that it had been. The only
surprise had been in health and social care where the
equivalent provision in Reading had been closed at short
notice. This was the first time the College had run 2 level 2
groups in this field.
In response to a question about the implications for
resources of the growth, the Principal reported that the
staffing budget had not been exceeded. The average
class size is 18, which is about the same as last year. It
was noted that some classes seem full whilst others are a
reasonable size. It was commented also that the library
feels full. The student governor commented that the
College feels more full now, in her 3rd year, than it did in
her 1st year, but students new to the College may not
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notice how full and busy it feels as they will expect College
to feel bigger than their secondary schools.
It was noted that there had been a decline in the number of
students enrolled for the IB, but an increase in those
undertaking BTEC courses and it was queried whether
there was any change in the character of the intake. It was
reported that some students had chosen to do A levels
rather than the IB and it was noted that more private
schools are now offering the IB. It was further noted that
as there is a lower take up of GCSE modern languages at
state secondary schools, there may be fewer students able
to do the IB as this has a language element to it.
The committee received the report on student applications,
enrolments and funding.
1.7 09/10
Annual report on student achievement and value
added – including report on retention and comparison
with other educational institutions
The Assistant Principal/C&Q presented the annual report
on student achievement.
The success rate at A2 had increased 1% to 93%. It would
be hard to increase the success rate much more. It was
pointed out that there is a deemed failure if a student does
not take the exam, e.g. because they have left the College.
Average points per entry have increased marginally but the
actual grade profile for students is about the same as in
previous years. There was an increase in A-C grades and
in A-E grades but a fall in the percentage of A grades.
The success rate at AS level had fallen to the 2006/7 level
(76%). It was suggested that this was because students
generally take 4 AS levels but are aware that they will drop
a subject before A2 level and therefore tend to lose interest
in their 4th subject. The SLT is clear that the College needs
to do better at AS level and part of that involves convincing
the students that all the AS subjects are important. The
grades achieved at AS are on the UCAS forms, so the
choice of universities will be affected by these grades. The
College also wants to improve the grades at AS level. It
was noted that although there were a higher percentage of
A grades and of A-C grades, the overall success rates had
fallen. This was largely due to poor performance in a few
curriculum areas. The results generally are better at A2.
In response to a question about whether the student body
is the same as in previous years, it was reported that there
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has been no major shift. The statistics on intake show that
19% of the College’s students are in the ALIS band A
(average GCSE score above 6.4) whereas nationally about
25% of students are in this band (where the calculations
include students from the independent and selective
schools). The College tends to have more students in
bands B and C. It is not possible to predict accurately what
the prior achievements of an intake will be. It was noted,
for example, that the results at Gillotts have been much
better recently but this is not reflected in the College entry
figures as the College recruits so widely. IB students will
generally be in band A.
The IB had a success rate of 87% in 2008/9. It was noted
that this qualification is taken over 2 years. The success
rate has increased from 81% in 2006/7. The success rate
is lower than the average for Sixth Form Colleges (“SFC”),
but not many SFCs offer it. Most of those classed as
failing the IB are international students who attend College
for one year then leave. There are about 50 students per
year on the IB course, so it is a much smaller number than
those taking A levels.
It was reported that there has been a great improvement in
the level 2 success rates on full-time vocational courses,
from 64% last year to 83% in 2008/9. Although success
rates on the level 3 courses fell slightly (78% to 76%) it
was noted that some courses have a greater than 90%
success rate and there are more courses which have a
greater than 70% success rate. 63% of the level 3 BTECs
were awarded merits or distinctions (up from 54% last
year) and it was noted that students achieving those
results can get into universities. In response to a question
about the drop in success rates at level 2 in 2007/8 it was
reported that there had been poor results in 2 subjects –
engineering and child care. Those areas had been
addressed and the results this year were better, with early
years courses using a better syllabus.
The only GCSEs offered are maths, English and Spanish.
Most of the A* grades had been achieved in Spanish. The
English and maths courses are generally taken by those
who did not get a grade C or above at GCSE at school and
are taking the examinations again. Success rates were
high, but still a substantial number of students do not
achieve a grade C or above.
The analysis of results by gender shows are narrowing gap
in the performance of males and females, whilst the gap
nationally remains wide. It was noted that at GCSE, the
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performance of girls nationally is 12 years ahead of that of
boys, i.e. boys now are achieving at the level girls had
reached 12 years ago. It was noted that at College, the
achievement of girls had fallen 2% from 2007/8. The gap
between male and female performance at the College was
less than the gap at GCSE. However, girls continue to outperform boys at the higher grades.
An analysis of success rates for students identifying health
or other needs was presented. It was noted that diversity
is a major issue for Ofsted. Some of the health issues
noted by students relate directly to educational needs
whereas others may have a less direct relationship e.g.
asthma. The way the figures are compiled for official
records does not identify the type of health issue or need.
It was noted that for 2007/8 there had been a 6% gap in
success rates between those identifying a health need and
those who did not but this year there was only a 1% gap. It
was reported that the learning support leader, Charlie
Eckton, does a good job in identifying what additional
support a learner may need and then allocating the
necessary support. Funding for this additional support
does not keep pace with the additional learning support
provision at the College. This creates a difficulty in that
parents are aware they can demand support, which must
be provided even though it is not funded.
There has been great success with the Bridge/ FEDEX
courses which are level 1 qualifications which deal with
basic life skills such as literacy and numeracy. Similarly,
the success rate at Pathways, for students with profound
and multiple learning difficulties, are very good. Most of
the qualifications taken by Pathways students are at entry
level after following individualised learning programmes.
Credit should be given to Sallie Paul and her team for the
work they do, which is appreciated by parents.
Work Based Learning (“WBL”) courses were reported to be
one of the most successful areas of the College when its
results are compared to those of other colleges. The
national average success rate tends to be 55-65%, which
the College exceeded in most categories and it was
generally in the top 2 colleges in the region. The Train to
Gain programmes are aimed at upskilling those over 25. It
was noted that the success rate for this appears lower
when “timely success” is measured.
An analysis of success rates by length of course was
considered. It was noted that most of the College’s
courses are long courses. Although included in the figures,
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“very short courses” involved very few learners and
included, for example, 1 day First Aid courses. The
statistics for this category were therefore of little
significance. Overall, there has been an increase in
success rates over the last 3 years. One cause for
concern noted had been the drop from 81% to 67% in the
success rates for under -19 long level 1 courses. This fall
had been due entirely to the sports coaching courses,
particularly in netball and rowing. All the students on those
courses were deemed to have failed because the awarding
body did not attend. It was not yet clear whether the
College would offer the netball coaching qualification
again, as the national body had been poorly organised,
with insufficient coaches to carry out the assessments and
whether the rowing course would be offered again was still
being considered. It was noted that but for these 2
courses, overall success rates on that measure would have
been over 80%. It was noted that it was frustrating for the
FEDEX and Bridge staff as it looked like their areas had
done badly when they had not. The coaching courses had
to be included in the statistics as they were part-funded.
The over-19 long level 3 courses had a poor success rate
(71%) due to a poor outcome in psychology. A number of
adult learners had enrolled to do a 1 year course with a
view to taking AS level psychology in January and the A2
on June. However, the cohort had decided instead to do
the AS level in June, so all were recorded as failures as
they had not achieved the qualification for which they
enrolled. From this year, such courses will be “full cost”
courses and so will not show in the statistics.
The measure of Value Added (“VA”) was explained. This
is a measure of whether students achieve better than the
grades predicted on the basis of their GCSE results,
applying a recognised methodology. In most subjects,
there is a 50-70% correlation between the average GCSE
score and the A level results. Some GCSEs are not taken
into account in the calculations but all of the others are
given equal weight This could throw up some apparent
anomalies. The example was given of a student achieving
A* grades in science GCSEs who was predicted Bs in A
level science because the student also got some grade Cs
in other subjects. However, it was suggested that the
measure used gave overall a better reflection of the
students’ abilities. Although the GCSEs were not weighted
on this measure, the A levels were in that, for example, a
student with average GCSE points of 6 might be predicted
a B in A level Film Studies but a D in A level Chemistry.
The biggest challenge for the College was that its results
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show slightly negative VA. This is due to the AS levels
rather than A2s as, without the AS results the College’s VA
for all other level 3 courses would be neutral.
There was consideration of the VA in each subject area. It
was noted that in most subjects, the confidence limits cross
the “0” line so the results were not too far from the neutral
position. It was reported that the Philosophy results in the
government statistics are wrong, as the exam board
provided incorrect figures. With the correct figures, there
would have been positive VA. The problem occurred
because 46 students disencashed, then encashed again
their results so the data shows these students all failed
when all passed. The College is trying to get the figures
rectified but there is no guarantee this will happen. At AS
level there was one subject in which the confidence limits
did not cross the neutral line (D&T product design). To
become an outstanding college, the College will have to
improve VA which means improving AS results.
Some of the issues shown in the figures for each subject
were considered. It was noted that there had been a poor
result in A level Dance and it was noted that there had
been a new teacher in that subject. However, only 6
students had taken the course. In Drama, there had been
30 students and the results should have been better.
Students often take Drama and English and the results for
the same students in that subject were much better. The
results in Electronics were described as “awful” and it was
reported that that subject is no longer offered.
The major areas of concern were IT, DT and Maths. The
results in Further Maths were very good but Maths with
Statistics tended to under-perform. In response to a
question about why this was the case, it was reported that
those who achieved a grade A or A* at GCSE tended to do
quite well but those with a grade B did not do so well. It
was suggested that this was because the GCSE course
does not include enough algebra. However, it was clear
that maths teaching needs to improve and 1 of the
Advanced Practitioners is working with the maths teachers
on making lessons more interesting and effective. It was
commented, from one personal experience, that maths
teachers had not been as approachable as those in other
subjects, had not pushed students hard enough and had
not made lessons as good as those in other subjects.
Improving teaching was a slow process.
It was reported that the VA results on the BND course in
childcare were very good but were not good in engineering.
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The emphasis was on pushing students to try to get merits
and distinctions. Although some improvement in this could
be seen, there was a mentality amongst some of the
students, particularly boys who had failed GCSEs, that a
pass was good enough.
It was noted that the most significant VA scores at AS level
tended to be the negative ones, with few subjects
significantly above the neutral line.
It was noted that according to government data, the
College’s scores were the best for 3 years, but the
improvement in the last 2 years had been marginal. On VA
measures, the College’s results were now through the “0”
axis. In the past, key skills results had tended to be poor.
These had now improved.
On the issue of ethnicity, it was noted that the local
population of those described as Black and Minority Ethnic
(“BME”) is 2.9% but the College has 7% of students from
BME groups. Some students are from Reading or High
Wycombe.
The figures suggest that the College is
inclusive and open to all. It was noted that the success
rate of those describing themselves as of mixed ethnic
group had been poorer than other groups, at 73%. It was
noted that this group had had 145 “starts”, so it was
thought that this represented about 40 students. It was
unclear why their results had been worse than those of
other groups.
It was noted that all the results for all subjects were set out
in the report, together with information to show a
comparison with general FE (“GFE”) colleges and with
SFCs. It was reported that there were some discrepancies
in the GFE benchmark figures, caused by a change in
course codes, so the figures were not necessarily accurate
and some appeared too high. It was thought that the SFC
figures were accurate.
The Principal reported that the major issues were results at
AS level and the number of high grades as A2. It would be
useful for the committee to understand what the
Programme Leaders are doing to improve the results. It
was commented that the results for English Literature and
Photography, for example, were very good which suggests
that something is working well. The quality of teaching in
the English department was mentioned and it was reported
that the photography teachers work as a team, with online
marking and a good support system.
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As it had been reported that some students do not
concentrate on their “4th” AS level subject, it was queried
whether more time should be spent on helping students to
make appropriate decisions about what subjects to study.
It was suggested that the key issue was to get students to
understand that all of their AS results were important as
universities consider actual results, not just teacher
predictions in considering applications. It was commented
that when students first arrive at College, they enjoy the
freedom this brings and may not apply themselves properly
at first. In response to a question about ensuring parents
receive feedback about progress, it was reported that the
system has been changed this term. Letters are now sent
out commenting on whether homework has not been done
or was not adequate.
It was commented that the results showed that the College
had maintained a strong performance over the years, as it
had grown. It was reported that the LSC has not produced
a report on “distance travelled” by learners for several
years. It was noted that VA needs to be improved and that
it is a target for the Programme Leaders to do this.
The committee received the report on student
achievement, value added, retention and comparison with
other educational institutions.
1.8 09/10
Review of operational plan 2008/9
The Assistant Principal/Curriculum and Quality presented
the progress report on the operational plan for 2008/9. The
scoring system in the report was explained. It was noted
that some plans are ongoing and so may never be
completed.
The first strategic area and operational objectives (1.1)
relate to the quality of teaching and learning. Advanced
Practitioners (“AP”) are being used to assist with this. The
holders of these promoted posts have demonstrated
excellent teaching and have been given time to work with
other staff. It was noted that results in Biology had
improved significantly in the last 5 years and this was put
down to an improvement in the quality of teaching. There
was still work to be done throughout the College. In
response to a question about the definition of “high grades”
at A level, it was reported that these are grades A and B.
Area 1.2 relates to success rates in comparison with other
institutions. It was noted that in some subjects the target
had been met whilst in others, such as AS Law, it had not
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been due, in that case, to employment of a new,
inexperienced teacher. Maths was another subject in
which the results had not been good. In other subjects,
such as DT, it was noted that the results were poor but
there were few students on the course. It was noted that
the figures in this section of the report related to the 2008
results and the figures to be given to the March committee
meeting will show some improvement. It was also noted
that some of the headings in the operational plan may
change after the Corporation’s 3 December meeting, when
the College’s strategy will be discussed.
It was noted that the results for Key Skills (area 1.2) had
been very good, but this was to be dropped from official
statistics after this year: it was suggested that this is
because most schools are not getting good results in this.
The objective relating to the Every Child Matters (“ECM”)
agenda is being tackled by setting targets for tutors,
producing new material for them to use. Parents are now
being informed if students do not do their homework.
Under item 2.2 relating to developing curriculum areas, it
was reported that there had been some growth in the offer.
The new Diplomas were “in limbo”. The College offers one
course but it is not clear if the Diplomas will last in the long
term as the Conservative Party is not keen on them and it
is thought there could be a change of government following
an election in 2010. Offering Higher Education courses will
not be possible as funding will be even tighter for
universities than for colleges and they will not want to run
courses in collaboration with the College. However, the
College offers a PGCE course, which is successful.
Objective 2.3 (“Improve employer engagement”) mostly
concerns the Henley Training Company (“HTC”) which has
about 700 students on various programmes.
HTC
contributed a £200,000 surplus to the College last year.
Under objective 3.1 it was reported that both internal and
external quality reviews are used to improve the quality of
teaching.
Other items in the progress report related to financial,
accommodation, personnel and risk management issues.
It was noted that the report related to 2008/9 and the
treatment of risk management would be different now.
The committee received the progress report on the
operational plan 2008/9.
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The committee thanked the Assistant Principal/C&Q for the
report.
1.9 09/10
Safeguarding learners and Ofsted
The Principal presented a report on safeguarding learners.
Under the new Ofsted inspection criteria, safeguarding and
equality/diversity will be inspected and the grades given for
those areas of the College’s work will be limiting grades.
The Principal was aware of one college which had recently
been inspected in which the Chair had been interviewed
about that college’s safeguarding policies and practices.
The Principal reported that College students generally feel
safe but the College needs to be able to demonstrate that it
is doing the right things. A number of actions have been
identified, such as CRB checks for Corporation members.
There will be Corporation member training in February
2010 on safeguarding, equality and diversity.
This
committee and the Employment Policy committee should
have safeguarding as standing agenda items. Relevant
policies would be reviewed to ensure they are all up to
date.
In discussion, it was established that students know to
whom they can talk if there is a problem. It was reported
that a log is kept of any incidents. In response to a
question about how the College can distinguish between
the normal conflicts between students and those which
might involve bullying, it was reported that all such issues
would need to be dealt with or resolved in some way.
There were bound to be incidents from time to time, but
there was no problem with bullying and the central record
shows very little. The student satisfaction survey had
shown that students felt safer at College than in school.
The responsibilities of governors were noted. It was
reported that there is a designated Safeguarding governor
(Nathalie Wespieser) who is to undertake some training
and who will report to governors from time to time on any
issues.
The committee received the report on Safeguarding and
Ofsted and noted the actions to be taken in the course of
this year.
1.10 09/10
Annual report on marketing strategy
The Assistant Principal/Student Services presented a
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report on marketing.
It was reported that marketing activity in 2008/9 went well
and the recent information evening had also gone well,
with possibly 500 people attending. 10,000 copies of the
prospectus had been printed and most distributed in
response to enquiries. There had been some focus on the
private school market, with some “glossy” advertising being
taken. It was suggested that this had been a worthwhile
investment. In response to a question about how that
judgement had been reached, it was reported that an extra
30 students from private schools had joined the College
this year. It could not be confirmed if this was due to the
advertising or was an effect of the recession. That sort of
advertising would not be repeated this year. It was
reported that the best form of marketing is from word of
mouth recommendations.
It was reported that there had been a campaign to raise
funds to pay for a new minibus for Pathways, which would
be large enough for 4 wheelchairs. Invitations had been
sent to companies but none had attended the fundraising
events and no company sponsorship had been attracted.
There had, however, been donations from the Henley
Educational Charity, a governor and a lady who had
undertaken a fundraising run, dressed as a gorilla. The
minibus has been paid for by the College, at a cost of
around £40,000, and about £7,000 has been received in
donations. Further contributions would be welcomed.
The committee received the annual report on marketing.
1.11 09/10
Student satisfaction survey/learner voice
The Assistant Principal/Student Services presented a
report on student satisfaction and the learner voice.
It was noted that several years ago, the student surveys
had shown a higher level of dissatisfaction than the current
survey.
Students are asked to complete a “How’s it going so far?”
survey shortly after starting at College. As a result of
discussions of last year’s survey, some changes had been
made.
In particular, a new question (“My transport
arrangements are satisfactory”) had been added. The
survey had generated lots of data, which was summarised
in the documents circulated.
The student satisfaction survey conducted in May had
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shown that students like their teachers but were less happy
with the variety of teaching and learning. The Principal
commented that this was a major concern, and the use of
ILT should be better. However, it was noted that ILT was
not essential if the teaching itself was good.
The College had taken part for the first time in a national
learner voice survey. Overall, on this questionnaire, the
College was only rated “satisfactory”. It will be repeated in
January/February 2010 and it may be that this year the
students will carry it out under supervision, in common with
most colleges. It was commented that the questionnaire
was poor in that it could not cope with the situation where a
student does more than one course, as the student could
have a good experience on one course and poor on
another. The system of scoring was also thought to be odd
and it was suggested that this questionnaire was a poor
way of working out student satisfaction. The survey is part
of the Framework for Excellence but Ofsted tend to
disregard the survey findings.
It was commented that in previous surveys, careers advice
had been identified as an area of weakness. The Principal
reported that this had been improved, in particular since
Sue Spinks had taken on that role. The student member
commented that she had seen careers advisers but had
not found this helpful and the questionnaire used had
produced results which did not fit with the student’s profile.
It was not clear if this was through the in-house or
Connexions service. It was suggested that weak careers
advice might be a national problem, and that advice tends
to be better about universities and courses than about
careers. It was recommended that next time a survey is
done there should be a question about careers advice.
Assistant
Principal/
Student
Services
It was noted that about one-fifth of First Diploma students
had said on the “How’s it going so far?” questionnaire that
they were on the wrong course. It was reported that some
students had applied to do the National Diplomas but did
not get onto the courses as they did not have the right
qualifications and so felt unhappy to be on the other
course.
The committee received the report on student satisfaction
surveys and learner voice.
1.12 09/10
Overview of educational and strategic issues relevant
to the College, including College status
The Principal presented an overview report on educational
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issues relevant to the College.
There is to be a presentation to the Corporation meeting on
9 December on Social Enterprise development.
The members need to be aware of a 6% cut in the funding
for 19+ students although this is a small proportion of the
College’s students.
The main issue for consideration is whether the College
should apply for SFC status. There are about 30 tertiary
colleges, including the College, which are all considering
the issue of status and what this would mean. The Skills
Funding Agency (“SFA”) will be responsible for funding 19+
provision and will be part of DBIS. Therefore, without
changing status the College would be run by a government
department with no interest in 16-18 education, which is
the College’s core business.
At the tertiary college
conference in Birmingham last week, the Principal had
discussed these issues with other principals. It was noted
that colleges could apply for SFC status from February
2010.
The Principal suggested that there was a marketing
advantage in moving to SFC status, as this carries some
cachet with parents, including those in the independent
sector. There was little understanding what a “tertiary
college” is. There will be a renewed college provision in
Reading in a year or two and being a SFC would set the
College apart. It was further suggested that being part of
the Local Authority (“LA”) remit would assist the College in
that it would be less likely that Gillotts or other schools
would start their own 6th forms. Overall, A level results in
Oxfordshire LA are not good but if the College’s results
were included in their figures, the LA’s results would
appear to improve.
It was noted that at the moment, the College’s results can
be compared to the GFE sector: if it became a SFC, it
would have to “raise its game” in order to match the
average results in that sector. The Principal reported that
changing status would not affect the curriculum offer, which
would still include WBL etc. There was no reason the
College should not do as well in its results as SFCs.
In response to a question about whether SFC status might
attract better staff, it was reported that the staff terms and
conditions would not be changed but potential teachers
had a better understanding of the nature of SFCs.
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In response to a question about funding, it was reported
that the LA would be only a post-box for funding. In
response to a question about whether the situation might
change after the General Election and whether, therefore,
it would be worth delaying a decision it was commented
that this issue was unlikely to be a high priority for any new
government. The Conservative Party had indicated that it
favours a FE funding agency. It was not thought that
making a decision soon would disadvantage the College in
any way.
It was requested and agreed that the Principal will produce
a paper on this issue, including the risks as well as Principal
benefits, to be considered at the December Corporation
meeting.
It was further requested and agreed that the Principal will
produce a paper to set out what the possible implications Principal
and risks are for the College of a change in government,
taking into account any relevant policy statements or other Corporation
information.
This paper will be considered by this Secretary
committee at its March meeting.
1.13 09/10
Any other business
The committee chair indicated that although he would still
be keen to attend meetings of this committee, he would like
to step down as its chair now that he had been appointed
Corporation chair. The election of his successor is to be Corporation
Secretary
an agenda item for the next meeting.
The College’s SAR should be completed by early January
2010. It had been agreed by the Principal and Corporation
Chair that:
a) The SAR would be sent out to all Corporation
members, in hard copy, early in January 2010.
b) Corporation members should contact their linked
Programme Leaders to discuss the SAR relating to
those curriculum areas.
c) There would be a meeting, to be held on Thursday
25 February 2010 specifically to review and discuss
the SAR. Corporation members would be expected
to be able to speak about their linked areas as part
of that review.
Corporation
Secretary
All
Corporation
members
The committee noted and generally agreed with the
arrangements noted above.
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1.14 09/10
Minutes
Date and time of next meeting
Monday 1 March 2010 at 5.30pm
1.15 09/10
Meeting closure
The meeting closed at 7.30pm.
MINUTES of the meeting held on 26 November 2009 were agreed and accepted as
a true and accurate record and signed by the Chair
……………………………………………..
on ………………………………………….
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