Standards Committee Minutes 19 April 2010

AT A MEETING of the STANDARDS COMMITTEE held in the College on MONDAY 19 APRIL 2010 at 6.00 pm.

Present B Guthrie A Isherwood J Heads B Ollerenshaw and A Townsend.

Also in attendance L Oliver (Clerk) N Brewster and N Davison (Directorate) and G Dent (Head of Faculty for Young People).

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Declarations of Interest There were no Declarations of Interest made prior to the commencement of business.

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Appointment of Chair Resolved That A Townsend be appointed Chair of the Committee for the ensuing year.

A TOWNSEND in the Chair

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Appointment of Vice-Chair Resolved That B Guthrie be appointed Vice-Chair of the Committee for the ensuing year.

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Minutes The Minutes of the meeting held on 9 November 2009 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

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Teaching and Learning a) KPI Performance 2008/9 and Targets for 2010/11 The Committee considered a report providing an overview for the report on the Key Performance Indicators attached as Appendix 1 and particularly the poor success rate performance in some areas.

With regard to Success rates for 16-18 the overview report identified that these rates for long courses at levels 2 and 3 had declined on the previous year.

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Level 2 rates were accounted for by students enrolling on additional courses which were not then completed whilst poor performance at Level 3 were largely about retention after year 1 of the course.

Adults 19+ success rates on long courses had improved by 3 percentage points to 68% but were still 7 percentage points below benchmark.

So far as targets for 2010/11 were concerned the Committee was of the view that targets should only be approved that were achievable and that account needed to be taken of the Quality Improvement Plan recommendations.

Another factor to be examined when assessing KPIs was Teaching and Learning grades as insufficient focus was placed on learning achievement.

It was also noted that the Quality Assurance process needed to be enhanced.

Resolved 1 2

That the report be noted and the Key Performance Indicators for 2010/11 approved.

That the key issues in the Quality Improvement Plan be reported to the next meeting of the Committee.

b) Teaching and Learning Policy The Committee considered a report regarding the development of a new Teaching and Learning Policy which was aimed at – Raising levels of attainment and achievement across all areas and levels Ensuring consistency and improve quality in teaching and learning A copy of the draft Policy was attached to the report at Appendix 1 together with a copy of the current Student Experience Policy at Appendix 2 which was also to be updated.

The final versions were to be presented to the next meeting of the Academic Board for endorsement and once agreed supporting guidelines will then be developed.

Resolved That the report be noted and the finalised policies reported to the next meeting of the Committee together with proposed supporting guidlines.

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c) Teaching and Learning Development The Committee noted a report providing an update to the Academic Board on the activities concerned with the development of teaching and learning during the academic year.

Attached to the report were appendices relating to lesson observation statistics and Standards Reviews of ICT provision and Catering.

With regard to the ICT report the Committee was informed that there had been a long term vacancy for an ICT Manager and that the College was having difficulty in sustaining investment in equipment.

The report informed that Curriculum Area Action Plans had been drawn up from analysis of strengths/areas for development from observation records which will result in the development of targets and action plans to improve priority areas.

The Committee recognised that whilst staff were very good at lesson observation resulting in improved grades this was not reflected in improved success rates.

The report also indicated that the use of Learning Champions and Subject Mentoring Coaches was under review because the current provision had not greatly impacted on success rates.

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Young People a) 16-18 Provision: Progress to target 2009/10 & Curriculum Plan 2010/11 The Committee considered a report informing on – Progress toward funding and learner number targets for 16-18 year olds 2009/10 Funding allocation and learner numbers for 16-18 year olds for 2010/11 Curriculum planning for 16-18 year olds for 2010/11 Learner number targets for 2009/10 had already been met with an expected further increase before the end of the year.

Funding and learner numbers for 2010/11 had both increased from the previous year.

Curriculum planning for 2010/11 has already commenced and plans are ready to be implemented to increase part time learner numbers.

Resolved That the report be noted and the approach to planning for 2010/11 be endorsed.

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b) Mid Year Review The Committee considered a report on projected success rates by curriculum for 1618 year olds and emerging issues arising from the mid year review carried out in February.

The report detailed the following themes that were emerging from the review – Retention and attendance required strengthening through rigorous monitoring Success rates required improvement where not up to benchmark Equality and Diversity required further work to ensure it was firmly embedded across all curriculum areas Improvement was required from student representatives at meetings to ensure their voice was heard Further work was required on interventions to improve learner satisfaction The Committee was assured that the data used regarding success rates was robust.

Resolved That the report be welcomed and that the College should consider the implications of increased recruitment to course policies. c) Diploma Developments The Committee received a report providing an update on the progress of Diplomas County-wide and in the College.

A County Diploma prospectus has been released outlining the delivery partners in each area, location of provision and general information.

The weekly timetable for delivery for 2010/11 however has been revised limiting the movement of 14-16 year old learners to just one day per week.

There had however been a very low take up in South West Durham and it was difficult to see how take up could be improved.

There was also the possibility that major changes to 14-19 provision could occur after the General Election. d) Schools Collaboration The Committee noted a report on progress of the College’s involvement with locals schools in the context of the new Trust arrangements and the Building Schools for the Future programme.

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The College had accepted a place on the Trust for the new Aycliffe and Shildon Schools Educational Trust and bidding will commence shortly for the management of the new Spennymoor LearningTrust.

The Bishop Auckland Learning Trust is now established and it is anticipated that the new build work is unlikely to start before 2013/14.

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Adult Learner Responsiveness The Committee considered a report on progress to target of Adult Learner responsive provision for 2009/10 and the curriculum plan for 20010/11.

The report showed that whilst funding for 2009/10 was still ÂŁ142k short of target planned Distance Learning and Community Learning will bring the College to ÂŁ200k over target.

All targets will therefore be met with the exception of learner numbers for Skills for Life and Foundation Learning.

As these latter two areas are priority areas for the LSC the College will look at strategies to lower underachievement.

With regard to the Curriculum Plan for 2010/11 work has been undertaken to remodel the curriculum for next year and the draft plan for 2010/11 was attached at Appendix 1 to the report.

The plan is built on priority areas and although numbers are expected to increase by 63 it is hoped to recruit more if possible.

The plan for learners with difficulties and/or disabilities needs to be agreed with Durham County Council who continue to have responsibility for those under 25 years of age.

The remaining elements are concerned with Skills for Life and Foundation learning where it is envisaged that there will be significant growth in the year.

Resolved That the report be noted and the approach to planning for 2010/11 endorsed.

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HE Matters The Committee noted a report on developments in Higher Education.

For 2009/10 the College has received payment for all funded learners for 2008/9 with the same outcome anticipated for 2009/10.

Working as a consortium with all Durham Colleges has resulted in securing £500k worth of ONE Progression Challenge funding with Bishop Auckland College’s share being £90k over the life of the project.

The Higher Education allocation for 2010/11 was based on recruitment performance for the previous year resulting in Sunderland University providing 168 places.

The IQER inspection in May 2010 is well advanced with all preparatory work completed.

Indications from the Inspector are that he does not foresee any difficulties.

Under Agenda item 10.1, the Committee received a tabled paper which was intended to meet the resolution of the previous minutes that a “further report on the Terms of Reference of the Higher Education Standards Committee be submitted to the next meeting of the Standards Committee”. There were questions both over the title of this Committee and the relative roles of the College and Sunderland University in HE Courses. The questions were referred back to the meeting of the HE Committee for its meeting of 7 May.

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