AoC Beacon Awards 2009/10 Winning College Profiles

AoC Beacon Awards 2009/2010 Winning College Profiles

AQA Award for College/School Partnerships Portsmouth College Until about five years ago, Portsmouth College was a stable but slow-growing College located on the edge of the City - both geographically and in terms of its limited level of engagement with the city’s broader education landscape. On appointing a new Principal in 2005, the Governors set out their vision of a College which would place itself at the heart of the wider community: ‘to become the College that our City needs us to be’. Since that time, the Principal has led the College with great commitment in working with Portsmouth City Council and his headteacher colleagues at all of the City’s schools in an effort to raise aspirations and success rates for Portsmouth students. These high-level efforts have been complemented by an ongoing programme of curriculum, careers and enrichment links between staff at College and their colleagues in local schools. The programme also includes specialist revision skills and examination support work with students and joint curriculum and staff development programmes. Furthermore, the initiative exchanges ideas and expertise with schools and communities in Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Spain and Portugal. These efforts have contributed to consistently rising achievement levels in the City, higher student aspiration and lower numbers of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET). A welcome additional consequence has been a significant increase in students’ progression rates at 16, notably to Portsmouth College. AoC Beacon Award winners 2009/2010

AoC Award for Widening Participation Faculty of Foundation Education, City of Bristol College ‘Education Unlimited’ City of Bristol College’s innovative ‘Education Unlimited’ project gives disengaged young people the chance to overcome their barriers while developing personal, social and vocational skills. The project began in 2002 with the West of England LSC’s vision to inspire young people who were not in education, employment and training (NEET). The College was asked to manage the project to ensure its success and, as a result, has helped to significantly reduce the number of NEETs in Bristol. The College delivers Education Unlimited through its own staff and a range of local third sector organisations. This helps to reach non-traditional community sites and ensures wide accessibility and a diversity of provision. The project, which has been ESF-funded for several years, provides: • Non-classroom-based engagement activities • Opportunities to gain Skills for Life and ASDAN Employability qualifications • Intensive one-to-one support • Information, advice and guidance on progression opportunities • Support into mainstream further education, E2E programmes or employment Education Unlimited programmes are individual, flexible and measurable. ‘Buddies’ are used to identify the young person’s requirements, to create a learning plan and to deliver some of the courses, including creative arts, music technology, sports, young parenting, numeracy and literacy and job clubs. A budget is also available to commission short projects in response to learners’ needs, such as vocational taster courses. Since 2006, nearly 2,000 young people, including ex-offenders, young parents and substance abusers, have benefitted. Of these, 80% obtained qualifications and 60% progressed to work or further training. AoC Beacon Award winners 2009/2010

Becta Award for Excellence in the Use of Technology Directorate of Quality and Performance, Wakefield College Excellence @ IT Wakefield College has developed a reasoned ethos informing its attitude towards technology which produces effects it hasn’t seen anywhere else. A whole College approach to Information Technology is taken and even the College structure has been designed to ensure its success. ILT features in the strategic priorities and is the responsibility of the Senior Team, led by a member of the Principalship. It is promoted as a priority for all staff, not just teachers, and the College invests in key roles to support systems development. The College infrastructure means that ILT is ubiquitous and is a constant in quality improvement and problem solving. Key systems are e-systems and staff interact with these routinely. As a result of the whole organisation approach, staff and learners use reliable and accessible ILT confidently, staff and learner satisfaction is high, teaching and learning is good and success rates are improving. The newest campus, the skillsXchange at Glasshoughton, exemplifies the effects of these ideals through its physical form, state of the art facilities and the learning activity the staff create within it. But all of this has not happened by accident and the key to the success is in the College’s commitment to a corporate vision for ILT which the College continues to implement passionately. AoC Beacon Award winners 2009/2010

The British Council Award for International Student Support The Rhyl Campus, Coleg Llandrillo Achieving Excellence in International Operationsllence in International Operations In an area that does not traditionally have a strong international profile, Coleg Llandrillo has sustained international recruitment through the dedicated care and support given to students and through innovative marketing techniques including the development of sustainable overseas partnerships. The College offers international learners a range of unique advantages: outstanding quality, value for money, wide choice of courses at all levels and excellent care and support structures. The ‘family-centred’ approach of the international team ensures that students receive excellent support throughout the enquiry, application, arrival, induction and delivery stages. Students, parents and agents receive a responsive, first class service. Tutors and support staff work closely together to ensure students achieve their qualification aims and progression goals. Working closely with the College, local families welcome students to their homes and provide accommodation, friendship and support. The College arranges visits, parties and activities for students on a regular basis. The College has developed several institutional partnerships in the UK and overseas. Through these links sustainable progression routes for international learners have been developed. Students enjoy their learning experiences at Llandrillo and recommend it to others. The open, welcoming, and sharing culture of the College is a key to its success. AoC Beacon Award winners 2009/2010

CLA Award for Promoting the Value of Copyright Business and IT and Learner Services Team, Coleg Gwent Development and use of plagiarism/plagiarism awareness OCNs Coleg Gwent is Wales’ largest Further Education College and operates from five campuses and two outreach centres, with 35,000 learners, 1,600 staff, and a turnover exceeding £50 million. In support of its Core Values - Excellence, Trust, Honesty, and Opportunity & Shared Responsibility (ETHOS) - the Business and IT Team developed two Open College Network units on Plagiarism and Plagiarism Awareness. These were specifically developed to promote values of respect and honesty in relation to other people’s intellectual property, to achieve more universal commitment and compliance with the College’s Learner and Staff Malpractice Policy, and to develop an OCN curriculum unit for use in staff development and for use as part of learners’ tutorial enrichment programme. The two units have been used for staff development purposes, delivered as a pilot to all learners pursuing BTEC National Diploma in Business and IT programmes, and is part of the Tutorial Enrichment Programme being offered to 6,000 full time students. All materials are available on the College’s Learning Centre On-line website, and a printed leaflet is distributed to learners. RSC/JISC are utilising all resources developed in the Plagiarism Awareness and Copyright Infringement Course for use by Welsh schools and Colleges. AoC Beacon Award winners 2009/2010

CoLRiC Award for the Effective Integration of Learning Resources Centres in Curriculum Delivery Department for Information and Learning Services, Exeter College 24/7 Learning Resources for the Web 2.0 World The Department for Information and Learning Services was established in 2003 by combining Exeter College’s IT and Library services. Now comprising three operating units; ICT Services, Learning Centres and Learning Media Services, it has evolved to offer a fully integrated ICT and Learning Resources service which extends from its five physical Learning Centres to a whole-College, virtual environment which is the single point of access to information and resources for all College stakeholders – students, teaching and support staff and governors. Accessible anytime – anyplace, via the Internet, the Portal offers personalised access to teaching, learning and business resources. The Department provides support for the creation, capture and dissemination of generic and subject-specific resources including audio, video and web-based content and applications. This extended Learning Resources service plays a central role in the delivery of learning at the College. The Department has developed unique approaches to curriculum integration, the acquisition and dissemination of electronic resources, provision of Web 2.0 services and the promotion of ILT for directed, supported and independent study for the benefit of all students. Working closely with teachers and learners alike, the department plays a pivotal role in shaping the consistent high quality learning experience offered throughout the College. AoC Beacon Award winners 2009/2010

Churches’ Award for Sustainable College Partnerships that Recognise Diversity and Develop People and Communities Leicester College A Strategic Community Cohesion Action Plan In serving one of the most diverse communities in the country, Leicester College has worked hard over several years to bring together local communities and services to ensure that its provision is inclusive and meets the needs of all students. The College takes every opportunity to raise awareness of equalities issues, and to celebrate the diversity of its learners. A cross-College Community Cohesion Strategy and Action Plan has been developed which contains several complementary strands, which celebrate diversity and promote tolerance and understanding in the context of supporting local learners. These include: • Establishing a Multi-faith Chaplaincy with Faith Ambassadors. Volunteers from 10 different faith communities provide tutorials on faith related issues, participative faith celebrations, awareness events and pastoral support • Initiatives to encourage groups of learners and staff from different equalities groups to gain support and to contribute their views and ideas for improvements • A range of diverse enrichment activities stemming from community and learner demand, which bring learners from different backgrounds and abilities together to promote awareness and mutual respect • RESPECT Week, where there is a diversity fair, community based organisations and equalities groups are invited to lead tutorials and workshops on aspects of community cohesion, and activities are developed to enable students from different backgrounds to mix together and break down barriers • A programme to re-engage young people at risk of becoming “NEET” in mainstream learning • Collaborative work with local communities and innovative pathways into learning for non traditional learners AoC Beacon Award winners 2009/2010

City & Guilds Award for Staff Development in Further Education Burnley College The Excellence Initiative: By the Staff for the Staff The goal of the initiative was highly focused: to move the College from providing a good standard of education for all of the students to an excellent standard of education. The key to achieving this goal was through creating a winning staff culture: highly positive, participative and aspirational with excellent skills. Staff development and organisational development are regarded as wholly inter-locked with each being achieved through the other. The staff development model adopted was elegant yet simple. It is based on the belief that while the College should be actively open to best practice elsewhere, all of the essential expertise ultimately lies in the existing staff team. The key components are three inter-related strands: • Supporting Excellence (for support staff) • Skills for Excellence (for teaching staff) • Leading Excellence (for all managers) Key Features: • Planning and delivery teams are drawn from each of the groups of staff and changed annually • The content of the programmes are based on staff-identified priorities • Managed dissemination by staff to all of their colleagues • Direct sponsorship of each strand by senior managers • Direct linkage across all strands by the Staff Development Manager In May 2009, Burnley College was judged by OFSTED to be Outstanding across all measures and in every area. AoC Beacon Award winners 2009/2010

DCSF Award for the Successful Delivery of Level 3 Qualifications Loreto College Adding value in the inner city The Award recognises Loreto’s outstanding delivery of Level 3 qualifications to 16-19 year olds. Through advice, sustained support and careful monitoring of their progress, Loreto Sixth Form College has helped students to achieve higher grades than the national average in their A-levels. It also noted that 85% of Loreto students go on to higher education. The AoC Beacon Award judges commended Loreto and said its belief that every child matters, together with appropriate investment and hard work, has altered the lives of many young people and increased the opportunities open to them. Loreto has achieved: • Outstanding results in the recent OFSTED inspection • Strong results based on raw data at AS, A2 and vocational courses • High levels of value-added measured through ALIS, ALPS and the LAT • Highest rated sixth form in 2009 based on Contextualised Value-added • Robust levels of student satisfaction • Very good student progression Loreto achieves this through: • Detailed individual guidance on course choice • Wide ranging academic and general support • High quality teaching and learning • Close monitoring at student, teacher and department level • Pre- and post-College partnerships AoC Beacon Award winners 2009/2010

DCSF, BIS and LSC Award for Smarter Procurement Finance Department, West Nottinghamshire College Making money go further for the benefit of our learners Students at West Nottinghamshire College continue to enjoy some of the best educational facilities in the country, and much of this is due to the College’s strategic approach to procurement. West Nottinghamshire College’s journey to make procurement a priority coincided with the 2004 Gershon Efficiency Review, which proposed “procurement as the main source of efficiency savings in the public sector”. The College adopted a procurement vision, “to promote leading procurement practices, at the heart of value for money strategies, to reinvest and support our learners”, and a procurement strategy was written. Robust tendering processes and monitoring mechanisms were introduced to the College, along with an electronic procurement system to replace bureaucratic manual processes. Major contracts became subject to regular formal review, while procurement cards for low transactions have saved over £70,000 to date. The July 2008 Ofsted report stated, “The College provides outstanding value for money”. Through a consistent and strategic approach to procurement, the College has delivered real savings of £5million enabling it to reinvest in facilities for learners that have significantly transformed learning and raised local aspiration. Notable examples are a brand new Construction and Logistics Skills Academy, visited by Prince Charles; and the Ashfield Centre for teenagers who would otherwise not be in employment, education or training. The College plans to continue to promote leading procurement practices and to encourage collaboration with other Colleges. AoC Beacon Award winners 2009/2010

Edexcel Award for Lifelong Learning Department of Community and Lifelong Learning, Aberdeen College Firing up lifelong learning Aberdeen College’s Community and Lifelong Learning Team provides community-based training and education to the people of the North East of Scotland, at over 110 locations. Together with partners, Aberdeen College is committed to widening access and participation by providing courses that meet the needs of local people in local areas. During 2008/09, one notable achievement has been the establishment of a trail-blazing partnership with Grampian Fire and Rescue Service to deliver community courses in local rural fire stations. These stations provide suitable learning venues in targeted prime locations where there is a high demand for community-based courses. As a direct result of this initiative, over 450 people have participated in education and training, who otherwise may not have done so, and the employability of local people in rural communities has been enhanced. Through this, and other pioneering projects over academic year 2008/09, Aberdeen College’s Community and Lifelong Learning Team has seen a significant increase in the number of classes operating, the number of student enrolments, retention rates and student achievement rates. This ultimately benefits all learners in the North East of Scotland, who have access to a variety of high quality education opportunities in convenient locations. AoC Beacon Award winners 2009/2010

Edge Award for Practical Teaching and Practical Learning Vocational Academy of Hospitality and Catering, West Cheshire College Real learning for real work The excellence portrayed by West Cheshire College’s Vocational Academy of Hospitality and Catering (VAHC) lies in its interpretation and adoption of the College’s vision to provide access to opportunity for all. The College’s learners come from all walks of life and the College welcomes those with disabilities, difficulties and ex-offenders, supporting them in raising aspirations as they realise that employment is a real possibility. Catering students want to cook and serve, not sit, listen and write! The VAHC is a commercial venture which trains learners to professional standards and provides fine dining, bistro and refectory services to the public. Learners can see their food being sold and paid for within days of starting in College, for example, last year our new learners made a cake for 4,000 to celebrate 100 years of Girl Guiding in Cheshire. The College offers life experiences such as out of hours working, paid work experience and travelling abroad, giving learners an insight into employment opportunities across the industry to broaden their horizons and expand options. West Cheshire College’s response to learner needs has resulted in FE success rates of 87% overall, up from 40% three years ago with improved learner and customer feedback. VAHC learners are work ready and therefore able to progress into employment. AoC Beacon Award winners 2009/2010

FENC Award for the Creative Production, Adaptation and Delivery of Learning Resources ILT Support and Development Division, Kingston College KAPTIVATE (Kingston Access to Podcast Technology for Interactive Virtual Assessment and Teacher Education) Kingston College’s success in winning the FENC Award was based on a College-wide initiative to harness the benefits of podcast resources and mobile technology. The College’s activity in this area was based on the KAPTIVATE Project which formed part of the Learning and Skills Network’s Mobile Learning Network (MoLeNET) programme during 2008/09. The intiative involved the roll-out of some 600 iPod Touch devices to students in 15 curriculum areas. The project was conceived in order to support and enhance learning, assessment and teacher training through the use of handheld wireless multimedia devices integrated with pedagogically-focused multimedia learning materials created, adapted and presented within a range of curriculum programmes. A key focus of the initiative was a drive to engage learners in the processes of producing, delivering and accessing podcast resources. Materials generated by learners, along with their tutors, were extensively and effectively used for personalised learning, reflective practice and formative assessment. By concentrating on the interactive and learner-driven dimension of media resource creation the project built on and extended the considerable previ- ous experience that had been gained by Kingston College in mobile technology for learning. AoC Beacon Award winners 2009/2010

Jardine Lloyd Thompson Benefit Solutions Award for Health and Community Care Business Skills Academy, South Leicestershire College NGH/SLC/Skillspoint partnership programme Withdrawal of Health Workforce Deanery funding in 2007 jeopardised the work of the NVQ centre at Northampton General Hospital (NGH) who had to source new funding to maintain their delivery programme to 150 learners and to avoid staff redundancies. Engage, the workforce training and skills team at South Leicestershire College, implemented an innovative project that stabilised the situation, extended the range of development opportunities for hospital staff and secured a future for the delivery team. In conjunction with Skillspoint, a skills brokerage organisation, NGH entered into a partnership with South Leicestershire College in the form of a secondment agreement where NVQ assessor staff costs were paid by the College whilst management and administrative costs remained with the hospital. By 2009, recruitment had grown to 400 learners and the success of the programme led to further work to meet the skills development requirements of all non-clinical staff, including basic skills provision to achieve Skills Pledge targets. Six members of the NVQ delivery team are now directly employed by the College, benefitting from improved job security and the wider training and development opportunities on offer. The partnership, now in its third year, has extended into work with PCTs in Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire. AoC Beacon Award winners 2009/2010

Learning and Skills Council Award for 14-19 Collaboration Senior Leadership Team, Barnfield College Great things happen when the right things come together Barnfield College in Luton - Beacon College, graded Outstanding by Ofsted, an Investor in People (IiP) Champion; recognised as being a dynamic and innovative organisation. In October 2005, the College approached the DCSF (formerly DfES) with a view to sponsoring two underperforming 11-16 secondary schools. In January 2006, a ground breaking decision was made by the Secretary of State for Education to support this. The schools opened as Academies in September 2007, as part of a federation; Barnfield College was the first in the country to initiate and achieve this objective. These two schools had failed the students for many years and were listed amongst the worst in the country. Both were in areas of high disadvantage and both were in special measures with a high turnover of head teachers and were housed in old buildings. Approximately 30% of school leavers became NEET each year, students/parents had low aspirations, staff morale was rock bottom and GCSE results were the worst in the town. When joining the Barnfield Federation, GCSE results (incl English & Maths) stood at only 16% and 17%. The College, led by the Principal/Chief Executive, believed it could transfer the College’s DNA into the schools and make them successful. This also fitted with Barnfield’s vision/mission/values and corporate social responsibility thinking. Before becoming Barnfield Academies (2006/07), GCSE results in the predecessor schools were as follows: School (a) Halyard 16% (5 A*- C; incl English & Maths) School (b) South Luton 17% (5 A*- C; incl English & Maths) By the end of 2008/09, GCSE results as follows: School (a), now Barnfield-West Academy 55% (5 A*-C incl English & Maths) 100% (5 A*-C excl English and Maths) The figures show results more than tripled and were the best ever in the school School (b), now Barnfield-South Academy 40% (5 A*-C incl English & Maths) 56% (5% A*-C excl English and Maths) These figures show results more than doubled and were the best results for 20 years. Spring term 2009, Ofsted/HMI graded both academies as making “outstanding progress”. Barnfield West was named as the fastest improving school in the country in 2007/08 and Barnfield South in top five most improved. AoC Beacon Award winners 2009/2010

Learning and Skills Council Award for College Engagement with Employers North Lindsey College Employer Engagement Employer Engagement is central to the North Lindsey College offer and is embedded in the strategic plans, mission and vision. The Employer Engagement strategy delivers accessible support, development and training to businesses. The objective of the offer is to ensure maximum benefit with minimum disruption, addressing the operational imperatives of the engaged business. The Employer Engagement strategy is led by Kingsway Consulting, North Lindsey College’s wholly owned business engagement unit. Offering a business to business approach and supported by colleagues in every area of the College, the business unit provides a consultative approach utilising organisational needs analysis to identify and deliver comprehensive support and training. This bespoke methodology ensures businesses develop capacity to address challenges presented by the recessed market and prepare for future growth. The initiative focuses on engaging hard to reach employers and employees, delivering positive business impact through training and learning in the workplace that encourages non-traditional learners to participate. Achieving latent potential of individual employees is given equal status to the achievement of business objectives including, growing capacity, increasing return and adding value to the economy by increasing skills in the labour pool. AoC Beacon Award winners 2009/2010

Learning and Skills Council Award for Equality and Diversity The Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education Improving and providing an inclusive environment to the achievement of everyone The Grimsby Institute’s mission is to be a world class, customer focussed and dynamic provider of education and skills. The Institute is very serious about its place at the heart of the community in North East Lincolnshire. Progress in working with the local LGBT community led the Institute to establish North East Lincolnshire’s first Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans Forum (LGBT). This has enabled a range of activities including celebratory events, web development, training opportunities and research projects. The Institute also plays a key role in coordinating the local Employers’ Diversity Breakfast Forum and is currently developing an Employers’ Group to look at equality issues, with the first strand in the cycle being LGBT. Engagement continues to grow. Working with the LGBT community adapts the model the Institute has followed for several years where it has hosted a number of cultural events including Holocaust Memorial, Eid-al-Fitr, Vaisakhi, Diwali and Chinese New Year. Representatives from the community work with staff and learners to make these events a growing success. In summary the Institute has, with a number of partners (such as Humberside Police, Fire Service, NHS, private firms), adopted a collaborative and multi-faceted approach to aid and engage the community. AoC Beacon Award winners 2009/2010

LSIS Award for the Leadership of Innovation in Curriculum Development School of Entry and Foundation Pathways, New College Nottingham Keeping Warm New College Nottingham’s unique Keeping Warm initiative has increased the College’s application-to-enrolment conversion rates for young learners. 16 to 18 year-olds who had been offered a full-time place were invited to take part in a two-day programme of teambuilding exercises and fun activities in July with College transition and curriculum staff; alongside completing the NCFE Level 1 Award in Exploring Enterprise Capabilities. Current students were specially trained as ‘buddies’ to meet and greet the learners, provide support and encouragement and help to build their confidence. Keeping Warm participant, James Halford, said: “After attending the sessions I felt a lot more confident about coming to College and I have decided to train as a buddy this year to help new students settle in.” As a transition programme, Keeping Warm is unsurpassed. In 2008/09, 86% of students who took part subsequently enrolled on a full-time programme, compared with 53% of those who had not participated. Attendees reported that they had enjoyed meeting fellow learners and tutors, that the scheme was a fantastic way to achieve a qualification before they had even started College and they would recommend it to their peers. Consequently, they were motivated, focussed and more confident upon starting their full-time courses in September. AoC Beacon Award winners 2009/2010

Make Your Mark Award for Enterprise Enterprise Development Team, The Sheffield College Creating an Enterprise Culture The Sheffield College is highly committed to the enterprise agenda. There is a clear strategic plan led by the Executive Team, who has taken responsibility for this whole organisational drive. Over a period of two years, the team has made significant progress towards its strategic vision. It is proud of its achievements and has gained local, regional and national recognition for innovation in the area of developing a culture that embraces the enterprise agenda. As a National Enterprise Academy, the College will soon be providing qualifications in Entrepreneurship as well. The College’s strategic vision is to • Make a significant contribution to the economic prosperity of Sheffield by increasing the number of successful new business start-ups • Have enterprise at the heart of what the College offers (the ‘signature curriculum’) thereby helping to promote the College as the post-16 provider of choice • Impact on learners’ chances of success - by increasing retention and achievement as a result of increased engagement on a course - by improving chances of high quality, sustainable employment or self employment after College • Be an enterprising College – flexible, adaptive and highly successful The College has appointed Enterprise Development managers, who have facilitated the embedding of enterprise across the curriculum, promoted enterprise as a career choice, worked in partnership with other enterprise organisations and education providers in Sheffield, provided extra curricular activities on enterprise, trained and involved staff in enterprise activities. With the business start-up support available in College, a number of students have successfully launched their own business. AoC Beacon Award winners 2009/2010

Mercers’ Company Award for Science and Mathematics Forensic Science Department, Bridgend College Turning Students onto Science In recent years, enrolments across the breadth of A level subjects offered within the schools in Bridgend, has been in decline. Education providers were keen to encourage more young people to pursue a career in science and the College responded well to bridging the skills gap by developing a vocational alternative to A level science subjects. Initial research identified a skills shortage in the forensic science area and excellent partnerships have been forged within Wales and South West England with scenes of crime officers, road traffic accident investigators, forensic fire investigators, forensic laboratories and most significantly, with the new Scientific Support Unit at the nearby South Wales Police Headquarters in Bridgend. The College has invested significant funding developing innovative teaching resources, which include the development of a ‘scene of crime’ suite and workshop areas, which allow the College’s external partners to deliver their areas of expertise direct to the students – presenting real life scenarios, challenging their thinking and effectively turning them on to science! The results have been outstanding, with completion rates 32% above National Comparators and over 60% of students progressing onto higher education to undertake forensic science or related degrees. The College’s collaborative provision, now offers a BTEC National Award to all local schools - pupils can select this course as part of their A level options. The Forensic Course Team is also sharing ‘best practice’, by assisting with the development of similar courses, within three English Colleges. AoC Beacon Award winners 2009/2010

OCR Award for Functional Skills Skills for Life Team, Bradford College Developing Functional Skills for Bradford Bradford College adopted an innovative approach to developing and embedding Functional Skills in the curriculum in order to respond effectively to the 14-19 Reform agenda. The College developed a number of key aims and objectives: • To develop Functional Skills alongside the introduction of Diploma and Foundation Learning • To give a lead to schools across Bradford • To work collaboratively and share experience • To develop an effective staff training programme • To ensure successful Functional Skills achievement for learners • To create an innovative curriculum for Functional Skills The College worked with a consortium of schools on the development of Functional Skills as part of the Creative and Media Diploma and also focused on staff training and development for staff in College and in schools across Bradford. The College also developed Functional Skills as part of Foundation Learning. Learners on both the Diploma and on Foundation Learning benefitted from the development of an embedded Functional Skills curriculum. They were enthusiastic about their learning and many achieved Functional Skills qualifications. The College is now further developing its Functional Skills curriculum with a wider range of learners and is also developing a Moodle site for Functional Skills. The College is seeking opportunities to disseminate its experiences to other schools and Colleges locally, regionally and nationally. AoC Beacon Award winners 2009/2010

RNIB/Mencap Award for Students with Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities Learner Support Employability Team, Lambeth College Creative Partnerships to Support Progression to Employment Since 2007, the College has brought together differing strands of work to form a cohesive employability strategy for learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities (LDD). The key to the employability strategy has been partnership work, enabling the College to use the expertise and skill of other agencies. The aim has been to enable the maximum number of learners with LDD to progress to employment. To achieve this, a range of strategies were implemented: • Create a flexible personalised programme to meet individual learner need through improving their indpendence skills and employment skills. This was facilitated by a partnership with two specialist residential Colleges offering 4-6 week blocks where learners could practice their independent living skills whilst on a work placement • Set up real work environments within the College with two social enterprises ‘Student Accessories Shop’, ‘Healthy Gourmet Café’ and a receptionist opportunity for our Health & Fitness Centre to offer real work opportunities for learners to practice and develop employment skills • Set up partnerships with supported employment agencies – in particular, Camden Society on a project ‘ProWork’, and improve partnership with Lambeth Adult Services to ensure successful transition out of College into employment The outcomes have been that many learners have successfully progressed to employment during the last two years AoC Beacon Award winners 2009/2010

Welsh Assembly Government Award for College Engagement with Employers Innovation Team, Gorseinon College The Knowledge Transfer Partnership programme This award was achieved by Gorseinon College for its work with businesses throughout South Wales via the KTP - Knowledge Transfer Partnership programme. KTP is a national knowledge transfer programme sponsored by the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) in partnership with 17 other funding organisations including the Welsh Assembly Government. During a KTP project, a College employed graduate (Associate) works within a company and is responsible for achieving project objectives whilst undertaking an extensive personal development programme. A College academic provides support for the project and facilitates the knowledge transfer process. The KTP projects have benefitted companies through increased profits (average of £100k per company), the development of new products and the implementation of improved internal management processes. Gorseinon College has been very successful in delivering KTP projects to the extent that it has been the largest further education provider of KTP (UK wide) for many years. In fact the number of projects delivered has exceeded those from many higher education organisations. To date, over 70 KTP projects have been approved and 36 projects successfully completed, with 2 recently completed projects achieving an ‘outstanding’ grade from the TSB. AoC Beacon Award winners 2009/2010

AoC Beacon Awards National Presentation Ceremony 2009-2010 Wednesday 10 February 2010 PROGRAMME 12.00 – 12.30 Arrival of Guests Reception in the Great Hall 12.30 Presentation of 2009-2010 AoC Beacon Awards in the Telford Theatre Welcome and Introduction Dame Pat Morgan-Webb Chair, AoC Beacon Awards Presentation of Parchments The Rt. Hon. Kevin Brennan MP – Minister of State for Further Education Presentation of the Sixth Annual President’s Award Dame Pat Morgan-Webb on behalf of Giles Long MBE – President of AoC Charitable Trust Vote of Thanks Pat Bacon – President, Association of Colleges 13.30 Buffet Lunch in the Great Hall 14.30 Departure Onwards AoC Beacon Award winners 2009/2010

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AoC Beacon Awards 2009/10 Winning College Profiles

by Association of Colleges on Feb 16, 2010

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AoC Beacon Awards 2009/10 Winning College Profiles Document Transcript