"The Heart of Yorkshire Education Group is passionate about transforming our students’ lives by providing an exceptional experience that improves their confidence and develops their skills. We want every one of them to fulfil their potential in society and achieve their aspirations."
"Whilst we are ambitious and constantly striving for excellence in all that we do, we believe that our real strength is our passion for inclusion and a very real commitment to our core values in the way we behave – with kindness and compassion."
Introduction and Welcome
Welcome to the Heart of Yorkshire Education Group’s Strategic Plan for 2025-30.
Having merged two organisations in 2022 to create three amazing colleges – Castleford College, Selby College and Wakefield College – the Heart of Yorkshire Education Group is on a journey to become a truly exceptional organisation. We have made superb progress in delivering the objectives outlined in our first Group Strategic Plan 2022-25, and we are now excited to develop further and to deliver our ambitions over the next five years.
Underpinning our strategy is our Vision, our Mission and our Values, all of which we developed in conjunction with our staff and stakeholders at the point of merger. As part of our strategic planning process, we have reviewed them, and we believe they are still absolutely right to take us into a new era and demonstrate the passion we have within our organisation.
As this plan outlines, we have determined four new Strategic Goals that we are committed to delivering and each of them has rigorous objectives that will ensure impact, with clear outcomes and key performance indicators behind them that we will monitor and achieve.
Furthermore, we have detailed underpinning strategies and plans that will ensure that we are able to deliver on all of our ambitions. These are regularly reviewed and updated and the latest versions will be accessible through the Corporate Documents section of our website, where our Annual Reports and our Financial Statements will also be available.
The Heart of Yorkshire Education Group is passionate about transforming our students’ lives by providing an exceptional experience that improves their confidence and develops their skills. We want every one of them to fulfil their potential in society and achieve their aspirations. We are an anchor institution, here to serve our communities and all of our stakeholders. Our desire is to support economic prosperity, develop community cohesion and enable our students and apprentices to not only develop their skills and knowledge whilst they are with us, but to be able to effectively contribute more widely within society. To do this, we listen to and engage with our employer partners to understand the skills and attitudes they really need within their organisations.
Whilst we are ambitious for growth and constantly striving for excellence in all that we do, we believe that our real strength is our passion for inclusion and a very real commitment to our core values in the way we behave –with kindness and compassion. Our approach and ethos are evident wherever you go in any one of our Colleges and whoever you talk to – there is a place for everyone, and we want all to feel a true sense of belonging.
We are excited for the future of the Heart of Yorkshire Education Group, and would like to thank our Governors, Executive Team and our colleagues for their input and support in the development of this Strategic Plan. We are very proud of our fantastic team and, with their continued commitment, we are confident in achieving our goals.
Many thanks and best wishes.
Andrew McConnell OBE Chair of Governors
Sam Wright Principal & Chief Executive
Our Vision, Mission and Values
When Selby and Wakefield Colleges merged in March 2022 to form the Heart of Yorkshire Education Group, we worked hard with colleagues to develop our vision, our mission and our values. Three years on, we have reviewed them and believe that they still continue to be absolutely right to carry us into our next strategic plan period until 2030.
Our Vision
Quite simply, our vision outlines what we are aiming for in the future, in terms of our long term goals:-
“To be an inspiring, first-choice education group, passionately serving all of our communities.”
Our Mission
Our Mission describes why we are here, our purpose and what we do, which is:-
“We positively transform our students’ lives and the communities we serve by putting them at the heart of everything we do.”
Our Values
Our values act as the moral compass for our organisation. They encapsulate the way we do things, how we behave and how we make our decisions.
Collaboration Ambition Inclusion Respect
Our People are central to all we do.
Our Goals: 2025 ›30
Developing skills and knowledge for the future Strategic Goal 2 Delivering transformative outcomes
Goal 3
Nurturing inclusion and belonging
Being future-focused, resilient and sustainable
Strategic Goal 1
Developing skills and knowledge for the future
We want our Group and our Colleges to be anchor institutions, having a positive impact within our local areas and regions in providing our residents with the right skills and knowledge to fill jobs, engaging effectively with employers and, ultimately, having a positive impact on the economy. We want to be highly responsive, innovative and at the cutting edge of skills development in priority sectors. In order to do this, we have several supporting objectives that we will achieve:
We want to be highly responsive, innovative and at the cutting edge of skills development in priority sectors.”
Supporting Objectives
1.1 Our strategy is informed by research and LMI and is aligned to skills policy
1.2 We further develop, innovate and grow our curriculum specialisms where there is evidence of demand from our learners, employers and stakeholders.
1.3 Employer and stakeholders are involved in the development and delivery of our curriculum.
Why we want to do this
To ensure we are meeting national, regional and local skills priorities and the needs of employers, and support local economic prosperity by addressing skills gaps.
To further address the workforce needs of priority sectors in our regions and innovate our curriculum to meet developing demands.
Being employer-led in our curriculum development and delivery will ensure it is fit for purpose, aligned with industry trends and will enable our learners to be ready and equipped for the workplace through industry experience.
1.4 We deliver accurate and inspiring CEIAG (Careers Education, Information, Advice & Guidance).
1.5 We provide climate education and develop green and sustainability skills for staff, students and employers.
To ensure our learners have a clear overview of the opportunities open to them, based on research and to support them to progress.
The development of green and sustainable skills is a cross-cutting theme within all of our regional strategies and is prioritised within our Sustainability Strategy to ensure that we, as an anchor institution, are playing our part in equipping our communities to deliver a more sustainable future.
1.6 We will equip our staff, students and stakeholders with the digital skills they need for the future.
1.7 Alongside their academic, vocational and technical qualifications, we ensure our learners develop essential skills and behaviours to prepare to live well in the future.
The development of digital skills is a cross-cutting theme within all of our regional strategies. We need to provide our stakeholders with the digital skills to work effectively and efficiently.
We have received clear feedback from our employers and stakeholders that this is a key requirement.
Students with limited skills in these essential skills have a barrier to accessing learning and meaningful employment and achieving potential in their future lives and careers.
Strategic Goal 2
Delivering transformative outcomes
We want excellence in all that we do – always improving our students’ lives and stakeholder experiences for the better through excellent outcomes. At the start of this Strategic Plan, we are in a ‘good’ place, and we are ready to become a truly exceptional institution, to build on our track record further and gain external recognition. We will do this by achieving the following objectives:
We are ready to be an exceptional institutiondelivering excellence in all that we do.”
Supporting Objectives
2.1 We achieve Ofsted’s highest grades for our Colleges and provision.
2.2 We achieve a minimum of TEF Silver.
Why we want to do this
To be the best we possibly can be for our students and to be recognised for our performance and successes.
In recognition of our performance on our journey to grow and further improve the quality of our HE provision.
2.3 Ensuring transformative outcomes, positive progression and student destinations for all learners.
2.4 The provision of personal development through wider opportunities is suitable to prepare students and meet their needs, and they are equipped to live well in the future.
2.5 Highly effective teaching and learning that is informed by research.
2.6 Ensuring our staff are committed, engaged and effective.
To ensure we are developing and delivering high quality programmes for all learners, and learner outcomes are as positive as they can be.
To have a consistent student experience offer that engages students to build their talents, social skills, confidence in their own abilities and independence in life.
Every student deserves the highest quality teaching and learning experience in order to achieve their potential.
We need our staff to be effective and 100% behind us in our ongoing journey to be the best we possibly can be – to ensure our students succeed and we respond well to employer needs.
Strategic Goal 3
Nurturing inclusion and belonging
Inclusion is one of our core values and we believe it is what we are about as a Group. It is what sets us apart from other organisations and that is why we think it should be one of our strategic goals as well. We mean several things by ‘inclusion’ –being inclusive as an organisation to our staff, to our students and also the wider community. Alongside this, we want everyone to feel a sense of ‘belonging’ within the Group. The table opposite shows the supporting objectives that we will deliver in order to achieve this goal:
Inclusion is at the core of everything we do. Alongside this, we want everyone to have a sense of 'belonging' within the Group.“
Supporting Objectives
3.1 Develop and implement a whole organisational approach to Equality, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging (Staff and Students).
3.2 Focus on improving health and wellbeing of all staff and students.
Why we want to do this
To provide a highly inclusive environment where staff and students can celebrate difference and diversity and everyone feels they belong.
We want our workforce and our student population to be healthy, well, safe and supported and will put in place a programme of initiatives and interventions to facilitate this.
3.3 Enabling and supporting our staff to be fully inclusive to all of our student population.
3.4 An ambitious strategy for Inclusive Learning & Belonging of our Students
With constant changes to social and demographic contexts, we want our staff to be at the cutting edge in terms of providing support and understanding for all of our students and we are committed to providing relevant and appropriate training to enable this.
To ensure there is a place for all learners within our Group and everyone feels they belong, including EHCP and High Needs learners through further development of our SEND provision.
3.5 High aspirations for our SEND students in terms of their attendance, achievements, progression and destinations.
3.6 We play our part in reducing NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training) young people in our local areas.
3.7 We provide clear progression pathways from entry level to higher education.
Although we have high aspirations for all of our students, as outlined under ‘Strategic Goal 2 – Transformative Outcomes’, we will separately monitor and scrutinise the performance of our SEND students to minimise differentials in student outcomes with our entire student body.
To support other agencies in our locales and work collaboratively to reduce the number of NEETs and to maximise participation in post-16 education and training.
We aim to ensure we are able to offer a place for all students and promote a sense of belonging – so that everyone is able to join us at a level that is right for them, and then progress on.
Strategic Goal 4
'Being future-focused, resilient and sustainable
Our final strategic goal will enable us to deliver the other three, and it’s about ensuring we are safe in the future, fleet of foot and flexible – able to respond effectively to external changes to ensure the sustainability and longevity of our Group. We think these are the supporting objectives that will ensure this:
To ensure all of our learners benefit from high quality teaching and learning environments wherever they study."
Supporting Objectives
4.1 Effective governance and leadership.
4.2 Strong financial management to enable investment and sustainability.
Why we want to do this
In order to steer our organisation effectively and ensure our goals and objectives are achieved.
To ensure we are financially sustainable in the future, able to continue with delivering our vision and mission and to invest in our estate, facilities and our student experience.
4.3 Growth of our provision
4.4 Flexible and industry-standard estate and facilities, that effectively deliver and can adapt.
4.5 Strong digital infrastructure and embracing of technology – networks, equipment, cyber protection.
4.6 Colleagues posses the right skills, knowledge and behaviours and undertake high quality professional development to maintain them.
To be financially strong and safeguard our future, we need to be a sizeable organisation within the sector and aim to grow further.
We want to ensure the sustainability and longevity of our Group, with the ability to respond effectively to external changes, and accommodate the needs of the communities we serve where there is demographic growth.
We need to have adaptable and future focused space and facilities that are able to support the delivery of skills needed by employers.
To support innovation and development of the curriculum and ensure we deliver our educational objectives by providing high quality, digitally enabled teaching and learning environments.
We need to ensure all staff are supported to carry out their roles effectively, their skills remain current and that teaching staff are equipped to provide learners with the essential industry skills, knowledge, and behaviours they need to thrive and achieve their full potential.
4.7 Deliver on decarbonisation and sustainable practices.
4.8 Ensuring we have a excellent reputation and gain external recognition for our successes.
As an anchor institution, we have a clear role in supporting climate action to respond to the climate emergency.
Having a positive reputation with all of our stakeholders is key to our future success.
Underpinning Strategies
To support the delivery of our new Strategic Plan, we will continue to ensure that our underpinning strategies remain current. Please see below some of our key strategies:
