celebrating colleges

Celebrating CollegesWinning capabilities:

research into AoC Beacon Award winners

Pat Hood, April 2008

AoC Charitable Trust2-5 Stedham Place

London WC1A 1HU

Telephone: 020 7034 9900Fax: 020 7034 9950

email: [email protected]: www.aoc.co.uk

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1Celebrating Colleges - Winning Capabilities: research into AoC Beacon Award Winners

Fifteen years after the launch of the AoC BeaconAwards, we are delighted to be able to presentthe outcomes of research aimed at identifyingkey indicators of success in the Colleges thatwere successful in winning Beacon Awards.

Since their inception in 1994, the AoC Beacon Awardshave a deserved reputation for being a respected means ofreflecting excellence and innovation in Colleges. Thisexcellence and innovation has been critical in enabling theColleges to adapt to changing social, economic andpolitical landscapes by ensuring support for the localcommunities that they serve and in the process helpingmillions of individuals realise their potential.

As well as recognising the achievements of Colleges, wehope that “Celebrating Colleges” will also serve as asource of data for researchers interested in thedevelopment of Colleges in a period of possiblyunparalleled change and development; whether it be tomap the way in which new technologies have beenembraced and harnessed by Colleges or to demonstratethe relationship between the AoC Beacon Awards andQIA Beacon status or Ofsted grades, for example.

The Association of Colleges is committed to ensuring that“Celebrating Colleges” reaches the widest possibleaudience and that the capabilities of Colleges arerecognised as an absolutely critical element in theeconomic and social well-being of the United Kingdom.

Finally, we should like to acknowledge the excellent andthorough work carried out by the research consultant, PatHood, and thank her for bringing together this report onbehalf of the AoC Charitable Trust.

Martin DoelChief Executive, AoC

John BinghamChair, AoC

John BinghamMartin Doelby Martin Doel and John Bingham

Foreword

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Celebrating Colleges - Winning Capabilities: research into AoC Beacon Award Winners

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ContentsExecutive summary 3

Introduction 4

The research 5

Winning capabilities 6

Celebrating colleges 8

Mapping the future: challenges facing colleges for the next five years and beyond 54

What do winning colleges demonstrate in their Beacon Awards applications? 56

Acknowledgements 57

Sponsors 58


Collegesing


Celebrating Colleges is the report of the firstresearch into the Association of Colleges’ BeaconAward colleges. The aim was to celebratecolleges’ achievements, and to ask what it wasthat colleges had done in the past, and weredoing now, that would serve them well for asuccessful self-regulatory future.The research, undertaken by Pat Hood, involved: • analysis of the nearly 900 winning, and highly

commended applications and assessors’ reports produced since 1994 when the Awards began

• seminar discussions at AoC’s 2007 Annual Conference• working meeting with sponsors• interviews with principals and other leading sector

figures

Research findingsThe research found that winning colleges shared sixcapabilities which fit them to lead a self-improving,innovative sector, instrumental in forging its future duringa period of transformational change. The capabilities are:• visionary leadership• innovative and creative• responsive• collaborative• delivers personalised, inclusive learning• challenges and changes expectations

The capabilities represent the essential attributes ofsuccessful colleges – those things which distinguish themfrom other providers.

Celebrating Colleges illustrates the six capabilities withcommentaries, analysis, and thirty six profiles ofinnovative work in Beacon Award colleges.

The research and profiles provide evidence that creativecolleges:• contribute significantly to local and regional

economic regeneration• help build and sustain prosperous, harmonious

communities• contribute to social justice through their

inclusiveness and promotion of equality and diversity

• excel in working in complex partnerships• reshape themselves in order to respond to new

demands• deliver personalised, inclusive learning• blaze the trail in finding new ways of doing things• share their expertise and learn from each other

By doing all these things, colleges provide value for

money for learners and for tax-payers, and make aconsiderable contribution to the country’s prosperity andwell-being.

The futures mapThe research identified eight features of a futures map –the challenges which winning colleges expect to tackle inthe next five years and beyond. The features are:• keeping the focus on teaching and learning• continuing to be creative• sustaining a genuine culture of self-improvement• addressing the new localism• contributing to social justice• positioning to maximise opportunities• achieving sustainability• meeting the challenges of globalisation

Research conclusionThe research concludes that colleges have the capabilitiesthey need to tackle the future with flair and success.Colleges are confident that their past and currentachievements fit them for their futures as active players ina self-regulatory sector. The evidence of their Award-winning work provides sure ground for their optimism.

Benefits of the AoC Beacon AwardsThe research demonstrated the considerable benefits tothe sector of the AoC Beacon Awards. Colleges said thebenefits included:• national recognition for excellence and innovation in

teaching and learning• acknowledgement for the talents of staff at all levels

in a college• encouragement for winners to further develop their

innovative work• sharing of best practice between colleges• opportunities for pioneering colleges to benchmark

their work nationally• development of a ‘critical mass’ of excellence which

acts as a catalyst for change and innovation within the sector

The Beacon Award winners are examples of what can beachieved; they inspire other colleges to emulate theirsuccesses.

Other research outcomesAs well as the report “Celebrating Colleges”, the researchproduced some four hundred analytical profiles ofwinning colleges. These will be made available on-line bythe Association of Colleges, for use by colleges and otherorganisations.

Executive Summary



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IntroductionColleges in the UK lead the world in theinnovative breadth and inclusiveness of theirprovision, their deep commitment to theircommunities, and their creative response to theindividual learner. Their achievements deserveto be celebrated.

The Association of Colleges wanted to do just that when,in 1994, it established the Beacon Awards in order torecognise the very best innovation in the sector, and toprovide inspirational benchmarks for colleges. Collegessay there is nothing else like the Awards. Winning one iscause for delight, pride, and tears of joy, as anyone whohas attended the annual Award ceremony will testify.Colleges consider the Awards to represent honour andpeer-recognition at the highest level. They value thembecause they are hard to achieve.

The credibility of the Awards resides in the core valueswhich guide the assessment and selection process:integrity, transparency, consistency, and fairness. Collegesrecognise the credentials and expertise of the assessors,and respect the rigour of the process.

Sponsors’ contributions are vital to the esteem in whichthe Awards are held. Sixty-seven sponsors have broughtto the Awards their external perceptions and expectationsfrom the worlds of business, voluntary organisations, andnational agencies and government departments. Nearlyall sponsors take an active part in the selection process,eager to find out what colleges are doing, and to givesomething back.

AoC Beacon Awards

• 351 Awards given since 1994• 225 Highly commended colleges• 3,661 applications• 87% of colleges in England, Scotland, Wales and

Northern Ireland have applied• 67 sponsors have supported the Awards

A list of sponsors is given at the end of the report

Celebrating Colleges‘Celebrating Colleges’ is the outcome of the first researchinto the winning colleges. It describes the six essentialcapabilities demonstrated by these colleges, and illustratestheir creativity and innovation in 36 analytical profilesdrawn from the winning and highly commended entriesof the last two or three years. Of course, innovation did

not spring into being in colleges just in the last few years,so there are references and short descriptions of the workof earlier winners whose achievements often sowed theseed for more growth. Not everyone is here, though thefour hundred short analytical reports also producedduring the research, and to be made available on-line,provide a comprehensive survey of the sector’s creativeexcellence since the Awards began.

The hope is that all colleges will recognise aspects of theirown creativity and innovation in ‘Celebrating Colleges’.

Research findingsThe research found that winning, innovative collegesshare six capabilities which fit them to lead a self-improving, creative sector, instrumental in forging itsown future during a period of transformational change.The capabilities enable colleges to:• contribute significantly to local and regional

economic regeneration• help build and sustain prosperous, harmonious

communities• contribute to social justice through their

inclusiveness and promotion of equality and diversity

• excel in working in complex partnerships• reshape themselves in order to respond to new

demands• deliver personalised, inclusive learning• blaze the trail in finding new ways of doing things• share and learn from each other

The research identified the main features of a futures mapenvisaged by winning colleges, and concludes that thesector’s past and current winning achievements fit it for asuccessful future.

The reportThe report includes:• brief description of the research• outline of six winning capabilities and some

indicators• six sections of comment, analysis, and college

profiles grouped under each of the capabilities• the futures map as envisaged by principals• ten things that winning colleges do in their

Beacon Awards applications

The next section describes the research.


Collegesing


The researchIn summer 2007, the AoC Charitable Trustcommissioned Pat Hood to undertake researchinto Beacon Award-winning colleges. Theintention was to produce a report whichcelebrated colleges’ achievements anddemonstrated their capacity to map their ownfutures.

The AoC Beacon Award Award archives are a richresource for the sector, with nearly 900 Awardapplications, supporting testimonials from learners,employers and other partners, assessment visit reports,and summary profiles of winning colleges. The materialscapture what is best about colleges by illustrating greatteaching and learning, inspiring vision and leadership,and vigorous capabilities for innovation and creativity.

The research activities included detailed analysis of all thearchive materials, a seminar with principals as guestspeakers at AoC’s annual conference, a working meetingwith sponsors, and inspirational interviews withprincipals and other sector leaders.

As well as this report, the research produced a database ofsome 400 short analytical profiles of selected winning andhighly commended and commended entries, to be madeavailable on-line by AoC for use by colleges and otherorganisations.


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Celebrating Colleges - Winning Capabilities: research into AoC Beacon Award Winners6

Three ideas acted as starting points for theresearch:

• the futures map• capacity• capabilities

The futures mapSelf-regulation and self-improvement are the expectedprominent features on the futures map, alongsidesustainability, demand-led skills, localisation, fundingchanges and transfer of departmental responsibilities andother well-recognised shifts in the landscape. Winningcolleges saw other local and regional features when theylooked ahead, as well as internal challenges such asrevolutions in approaches to teaching and learning.During the research, they identified other themes whichcombined to make the ‘mood music’ for their strategicplanning and positioning.

CapacityWinning colleges do not just read the futures map, theyhave the capacity to forge their own. They are able toabsorb and analyse what the future tells them, and thento use that understanding to construct their uniqueresponse. The best go a step further, and work pro-actively to design parts of the map themselves.

Winning capabilitiesAs well as helping create their own futures, innovativecolleges have the capacity for action and faculties capableof development which make up the six winningcapabilities identified through the research.

Time and again, colleges exemplified these capabilities intheir Award submissions, assessors recognised andvalued them during visits, and external bodies such asOfsted identified them at the heart of outstandingprovision. The capabilities were integrated within thecollege, part and parcel of its identity, able to be deployedover time and vitally, able to be refined, extended, andapplied in new and different settings. These are thewinning things that colleges do now, have done in thepast, and will continue to do. They are the faculties thatcolleges will use to tackle the next set of challenges.

Of course, government policy and initiatives, funding,planning, and inspection outcomes shape and informwhat colleges do, but as one principal said, ‘they don’ttell us how to do it – we decide that’. It is the ‘how to do

it’ supremely well that the capabilities attempt to capture.The capabilities are listed next, and then amplifiedthrough indicators which go some way to describing thesigns, spirit, and culture of innovative colleges. Theindicators are drawn directly from the research.

Six winning capabilities1. Visionary leadership

2. Innovative and creative

3. Responsive

4. Collaborative

5. Delivers personalised, inclusive learning

6. Challenges and changes expectations

The six capabilities and their indicatorsVisionary leadershipSome indicators:• shapes and articulates a shared vision which has a

moral purpose: ‘this is what we stand for’• passionate about learning and learners• believes in and values teachers, and ensures all staff

can make a contribution• sets a culture for sustained innovation and

excellence• nurtures ‘quality with depth’• experiments, expects risk-taking, and takes risks• seeks out, recognises, and rewards innovation and

creativity• understands the connection between innovation and

excellence• takes the lead on equality and diversity• filters new policies, funding, initiatives, to take what

the college really needs

Winning capabilities


ing CollegesInnovative and creativeSome indicators:• blazes a trail, leads the way, the first to do

something• believes ‘there is always a better way of doing

this’• intellectually curious; reflects and learns• open, no pre-conceived ideas• holds high expectations of self, others, college• tries out ‘experiments with nascent agenda’ – the

seeds of change• mainstreams innovation and creativity;

‘how we do things’• ‘structured to enable’ – no barriers to innovation• makes the case with articulacy and passion• ‘can do’ philosophy• improves continuously, not just complies• celebrates innovation and creativity as a vital part

of reputation

ResponsiveSome indicators:• instrumental in economic regeneration; alert and

responsive to employers’ changing needs• analyses, understands and acts on the social

cohesion agenda• deeply committed to local communities; there for

the long haul• serves with heart – takes into account the spiritual,

emotional and domestic lives of the learners • outward looking, open, accessible• flexible and supple; reads the runes and re-thinks

itself• identifies, draws in, and meets the needs of new

learners

CollaborativeSome indicators:• excels in working with others: universities, schools,

private and voluntary training providers, employers and other stakeholders

• forges and sustains the right relationships• respects partners; understands and values their

contributions• held in high esteem by partners; reciprocal

relationships• willing and able to develop shared strategies in the

best interests of learners• works with partners to deliver flexible learning

opportunities

• takes pride in being an excellent college in an excellent network; takes shared responsibility for scope and quality of local and regional provision

• values bench-marking and peer review opportunities within partnerships

• understands and acts on the new localism• internationally active: ambassador for UK

Delivers personalised, inclusive learningSome indicators:• matches learning to the individual learner• fosters instrumentality by helping learners to

manage their own learning• values every level of learning equally• thinks in terms of personalised learning and

support opportunities – not courses• creates new pedagogy to meet changing needs• harnesses technology as a medium and aide for

learning, but choosy, knows what it wants from it • transforms into a ‘college without walls’; uses

technology to reach learners• celebrates outstanding teaching

Challenges and changes expectationsSome indicators:• challenges and changes society’s expectations of

learners• confronts and transforms learners’ assumptions

about their capacities• changes staff’s expectations of themselves• ambitious for learners, staff, college• honest and open about its stage of development• enjoys challenge; benchmarks against the very best • contributes to social justice by celebrating and

deploying the diverse gifts and talents of all its learners, staff, and managers

• builds its reputation on the achievements of learners

• travels beyond what is expected



Celebrating


This report celebrates the excellence of colleges,and this section is devoted to descriptions ofwhat they do so well. The Beacon Awardwinners exemplify the powerful contributionsmade by colleges to the economicwell-being and social cohesion of Great Britain.They demonstrate that colleges have thecapabilities they require to take on theindividual, collaborative, and sector-wideresponsibilities proposed in the Single Voicenational improvement strategy. 1

The work of a selection of Award-winning colleges isdescribed next in order to illustrate the six capabilities.There is a short explanation of each capability, togetherwith some indication of the influences experienced bycolleges, followed by profiles which exemplify particularaspects. Included are references to earlier work wherecolleges have led the way. The section begins withVisionary Leadership, from which all the othercapabilities flow.

Celebrating colleges

1Briefing paper: Provider performance management within a self-regulating FE sector, P. Cox, Self regulation project, Single Voice, February 2008


ting Colleges


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Celebrating Visionary LeadershipVisionary leaders know how to develop and extend thecapabilities at the heart of innovative, self-improvingcolleges. As an essential part of the research, interviewswere conducted with seventeen leaders in the collegesector. This part of the report is based on thoseconversations, and attempts to offer some insights intohow these leaders nurture excellence.

Setting the culture – this is what westand forPrincipals of winning colleges declare proudly, ‘this iswhat we stand for – this is what we do’. They are open,confident, and secure enough to welcome the challengeof outside scrutiny which they value as an opportunityto sharpen and focus their thinking. They believepassionately in learning: ‘once you unleash a person’scapacity for learning – then you are always movingforward’. They give powerful messages about theircolleges’ values, leading by example through directinvolvement and support for innovation in relation tovulnerable learners, and racial, gender and sexualequality. They recognise learners and staff as roundedhuman beings, taking account of their domestic,emotional and spiritual selves. They expect theircolleges to be moral forces for good in theircommunities, leading and engaging in partnerships toachieve social justice. They are concerned witheconomic regeneration, the skills agenda, andemployability, but as one principal commented, ‘we aremore than that’. They have long-standing, deepcommitment to their local and regional communities,and want their colleges to transform individual lives.

Distinct expectationsClarity about their colleges’ values and missiontranslates into distinct expectations of staff, students,and themselves. These leaders see it as their job to ‘givepeople opportunities to do wonderful things’. Theygive thought and energy to communicating with staff,and to building routine opportunities for staff to listenand contribute. It was important to help staffunderstand, ‘this is how we do things’, and to work outwhat that means for their practice. One principaldescribed how he met job applicants, taking time toexplain what the college was about, so that people couldreflect on whether this was the right place for them.Teachers are expected to be intellectually curious,engaged with the ideas behind teaching and learning.Principals spoke of how they fostered a ‘think tank’environment where ideas such as emotional intelligence

or personalisation were explored in staff seminars orother discussion groups and best practice teams. Theirown involvement in external innovation was both astimulus personally and a model of intellectualengagement for staff. They ‘walked the talk’ in otherways, by innovating themselves, taking professionalrisks, experimenting, and welcoming challenge.

Staff were expected to be expert leaders in their ownright, taking collegiate, shared responsibility for theorganisation’s success. They were expected to takerisks, and supported in learning from mistakes – withina ‘no blame’ culture. Principals wanted innovation towork, but did not mind when it didn’t – as long as thelessons were learned. Willingness to take risks rested onmutual trust; one comment was that, ‘you have to trustthe people you’re working with’, and another principalsaid, ‘I try not to micro-manage … and try not to havepre-conceived ideas as to how something should bedone’. Another spoke of, ‘liberating the people – givingthem latitude to fail’.

The innovative stanceWinning colleges have as their starting point, ‘there arebetter ways of doing what we do’. One principaldescribed her college as ‘development ready’, withorganisational and individual mind-sets which areexploratory, reflective, and constantly moving forward.These principals believe in opportunities, not barriers;they are quick to see potential. One described how adeveloper talked of buying waterfront land – ‘the firstthing I see is a marine academy’. Teachers in thesecolleges are experts in learning, ‘owning’ thecurriculum, with a strong sense of instrumentality – ‘wecan change things’, as well as pride in what they do.

The innovative college is generous with its expertise,sometimes taking lead responsibility with partners forthe quality of local and regional provision. It is eager tolearn from others; and is ‘always able to identifystrengths in other provision’. It believes that explaininghow it does things helps it refine and sharpen its ideas.Its stance is humble, ‘we still have a lot to learn’. It hasgone beyond compliance to an internalised culture ofinnovation and continuous improvement. It believes ‘ifteachers are experimenting, learners are benefiting’.

Shaping the futureBecause winning colleges are thinking, analyticalorganisations, with clout and credibility, they identifyand influence levers for change. They do not wait to betold, but are out there helping shape the futures map forthe sector. Principals in Northern Ireland, Scotland and

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Collegesing Wales described the scope for instrumentality inrelatively small, close communities of colleges workingin active partnerships with policy-makers. However, allthe interviewed principals considered their colleges tobe instrumental in their own futures; they were not‘being done to’, but equal contributors in the evolutionof the sector.

During the interviews, principals shared theirperceptions of future challenges. These are described inthe Mapping the Future section of the report.

Practical strategiesPrincipals emphasised that innovation took place withina strategic framework: ‘we innovate around ourstrategic plan’, and was steered by a single unifying ideafor the college. Winning colleges have a whole-collegeapproach to innovation, making strong links betweeninnovation and self-assessment and quality. Individualexamples of innovation did not flourish in isolation, butwere harnessed to other creative practice so the collegecould maximise the benefits, and use them as a driverfor wholesale improvement. One college has a researchand development steering group to bring together all itsinnovative projects. The group provides an internalchallenge by asking, ‘what outcomes will we secure?’from each project. One principal described howsuccessful innovation was exploited to its maximum: ‘ifsomething works, we flog it to death; we always askwhere it can go next’.

Principals were passionate about teams, investing ingetting the right people into working relationships, andgiving them time and resources to deliver. Oneconsidered teams to be the building blocks of thecollege’s success, describing non-hierarchicaloverlapping teams as being the preferred structure.

Winning principals raised the bar for teams by usingexternal expert consultants, visits to other providers,overseas visits, peer review, best practice groups, andother strategies to help staff extend their thinking andreach for new definitions of excellence.

Principals made sure creativity was recognised andcelebrated, sometimes tangibly as in the cash prizesawarded in one college’s staff achievements ceremony,sometimes through internal ‘Beacon’ Awards, or otherforms of public and peer recognition for innovative staff.The creative contributions of all staff were recognised,not just those of teachers; one principal stressed herbelief in the innovative powers of all the staff in hercollege.

These experienced principals understood the power oftechnology to serve as an accelerator for change, buttheir practical strategies for its deployment rested on a‘what do we want from it?’ approach, rather than a ‘seewhat it can do’ one.

Leaders at every levelColleges need leaders at every level. Curriculum leadersshare some of the attributes of innovative principals,along with others more directly related to teaching andlearning. Most importantly, they understand learningand curriculum development. They know how todesign a new curriculum framework, and translate itinto exciting, motivating learning activities. They gobeyond the requirements of awarding bodies in theircreativity and responsiveness to learners’ needs, andexcel in designing new curricula to match changingemployer requirements.

Catalysts for changeWinning curriculum leaders are the yeast in theircolleges – helping whole organisations to rise. Theyhave a vision of what can be achieved, and thecredibility and skills to take their team with them. Theyare lateral thinkers, with a ‘professional appetite’ forinnovation.

Professional confidenceWinning teams and their leaders know when they haveproduced something exceptional, and have theconfidence to make their case and seek recognition.They present what they do so effectively that othersreadily acknowledge its excellence. Like visionaryprincipals, they are eager to be challenged and bench-marked against the very best.

Embody best practiceWinning curriculum leaders represent what is best aboutteachers. They think critically about their own practice,and help their teams engage in a comparable process.They are respected for their vocational or academicknowledge, and have been, and often still are,outstanding teachers, sometimes working as AdvancedPractitioners. Frequently contributing to nationaldevelopments or leading local or regional professionalnetworks, they keep themselves up-to-date, ofteninitiating approaches which are adopted by othercolleges.



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Sharing expertiseThese leaders and their teams share their expertise,contributing to the colleges’ success. They areoutwardlooking, eager to learn from colleagues, andgenerous in disseminating their ideas in conferences,workshops and visits.

Project management skillsInnovation does not ‘just happen’, it has to be planned,resourced, managed, implemented, and evaluated. Thebest curriculum leaders have excellent project skills,designing systematic plans for innovation andimprovement, putting in place rigorous systems formonitoring and evaluating activities, and methods forevidencing the impact of their work. They are able to‘make the daunting do-able’ by setting specificobjectives, breaking down an initiative into realistictasks, and allocating clear responsibilities, whilstsecuring shared ownership amongst team members.Data is used intelligently to identify needs, monitorprogress, and to measure impact, in particular thebenefits to learners. Costings are accurate, based on asolid business case, so that managers can allocateresources with confidence. Whilst innovative leadersdeploy their exceptional project skills, they keep theirprimary focus on the quality of teaching and learning.

Ahead of the gameLike their principals, curriculum leaders are ahead ofthe game in designing learning opportunities that fit thefuture. Often, they lead in the development of nationalpolicies, for example in early provision based onsustainability principles, work with vulnerable learners,or pioneering use of technology. They help to create thefuture of learning.

Selected examples of visionary leadership follow next,drawn from the Beacon Award winning colleges.


Collegesing


Profile 1South Devon College: visionary leadership at every level achievestransformational change

In 2002, South Devon College was threatened with closure following an Ofsted grading of“unsatisfactory”. Since then, it has remade itself under the dynamic leadership of a newprincipal, working in partnership with her innovative curriculum leaders and teachers, andsupported by her governing body. The college has won four Awards, and been highlycommended for another two.

These leaders have:• engaged with the challenge of transformational change• established a new senior management and total restructure• secured £32 million capital investment, partly from the LSC, to create a world-class campus• involved all stakeholders in its design• used the new environment to change approaches to teaching and learning, and showcase best practice• achieved e-maturity; used technology to improve teaching and learners’ experiences• demonstrated inspirational curriculum development; contributed to Ofsted good practice surveys• designed learning for the future• shared facilities with the community• planned more innovation, including a University of Plymouth faculty on the college site

The principal says:‘There are always better ways of doing things’‘We are ambitious for ourselves, our students, and the community we serve’

The college has transformed itself through the visionary leadership of the principal and staff.



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Profile 2Telford College of A&T: setting the culture for sustained innovation

Telford College’s principal believes in liberating the talents and creativity of all staff as part ofa culture of sustained innovation. He sees one of his main tasks as ‘shielding staff fromexternal nonsense’ so that they can be creative in their primary work of teaching andsupporting learning.

The college has won eleven Awards, the first in 1994, and been highly commended for seven. The spread of itsAwards indicates that ‘innovation is the norm’.

The innovation culture is built on:• belief in teachers and their creative capacity• trust and confidence in staff which allows them to innovate• investing in staff, paying them well, and developing their careers• choosing and keeping the right people• ‘growing our own’ – building the stars of the future• asking ‘what can we learn?’ if things go wrong• integrating innovation into development plans• using successes as springboards for new developments, for example, building on ‘Rolls Royce’ working

relationships to develop new kinds of discussions with Local Authorities

The sustained innovation culture means the college:• is ‘light on its feet’, ready to take advantage of policy changes• has the organisational capacity to make rapid new responses to changing needs• builds continually on its curriculum excellence• benefits from early successes in areas which are now at the forefront of policy, for example, employer

partnerships

The college uses the Awards to gain recognition for staff, and as external incentives to keep up the momentum forchange. They are also part of its strategy for reputation management.

The principal says:‘Trust in staff is always paid back in spades’‘We have put in place structures to enable innovation’


Collegesing


Profile 3Lewisham College: an experimental college

The principal of Lewisham College describes its Award entries as ‘edgy stuff – our experimentsthat have a nascent agenda’. The college takes pride in doing what hasn’t been done before,and values the opportunity the Awards present to ‘rehearse for the future’.

The college’s successful experiments include:• developing a Virtual Personnel Department to assist learners into employment• using ‘body mapping’ to raise health and safety awareness amongst construction workers whose first

language is not English• pioneering early employment opportunities for learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities taking

on all roles in the college’s restaurant and café• designing Skills for Life training for officers at HMP Belmarsh• delivering computer and other skills opportunities for the casual construction workforce building the new

Canary Wharf• securing public sector involvement in raising employment aspirations for 14-16 year olds• forging a partnership with Jamie Oliver and his London ‘Fifteen’ restaurant

The college’s empirical culture, and its willingness to take a risk and try something out rests on the vision, self-confidence, and professional skills of its ‘fabulous’ teachers, and the charismatic leadership of its principalwho is particularly skilled at communicating her vision in phrases which resonate, such as ‘More than a college,more than a qualification’.

Profile 4Bridgwater College: sustaining excellence

Bridgwater College is a high-achieving college, which has won nine Awards, and been highlycommended for four more. It does not rest on its laurels but, led by its clear-thinking principal,uses Award-winning innovatory projects to sustain excellence.

Approaches to sustaining excellence include:• incorporating a ‘harmonisation agenda’ into its ‘model’ 2004 merger with Cannington College so that the new

organisation built on the best of both colleges• using the stimulus from good inspection reports to identify areas for improvement, setting targets for

programmes, using reviews and external observers from other colleges and a new focus on professional development to drive up quality

• assessing the real benefits to learners of any innovation, for example evaluating early college/school partnerships through the experiences of learners, views of parents, testimonials from schools

• using creative projects to address development needs identified through honest self-assessment, for example, designing a new forensic science programme in response to falling recruitment in sciences

• sustaining excellence by investing significantly in professional development; using a gap analysis model to identify training needs

• skilled and determined use of Award assessors’ feedback to improve an already good application, going on toachieve an Award for outstanding work with international students

The principal’s clarity of purpose means that everyone understands that standing still is not an option. Mostimportantly, her expectation of excellence is accompanied by strong support for staff.



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Profile 5Pendleton Sixth Form College: leading for equality and diversity

Committed leadership from the principal and senior management team imbue Pendleton SixthForm College’s outstanding work with different groups of learners. Working in a recognisedarea of deprivation, the college aims to unlock the potential of all its learners.The college has won three Awards, and been highly commended once.

Leadership for equality and diversity has resulted in strong, co-ordinated policies to tackle all aspects of equalityand diversity• significant part of the strategic plan being dedicated to these issues• well-led task group which analyses data, sets priorities, designs action plans, and co-ordinates activities• marketing the college as a multi-faith community• innovative multi-faith chaplaincy which offers a model for other colleges• dedicated Community Liaison Officer• contributions to the local Jewish Community Centre and Kurdish Supplementary School• activities which generate understanding and respect for other cultures, including a project where learners

research the countries from which their families originated• extensive Level 1 and Level 2 vocational programmes• improved access for learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities• early interventions for ‘at risk’ learners

Strong leadership for equality and diversity means that the college is highly respected and valued in itscommunity. It is able to demonstrate the value of its activities, for example, in the improved achievements ofmale learners. There is a well-understood relationship between achieving equality and celebrating diversity, andsecuring excellent outcomes for learners.

Profile 6Aberdeen College: forging the technological future

The principal of Aberdeen College is leading his staff in forging a technological future forNorth East Scotland. He understands that technology is changing the way that people learn.Teachers will no longer be ‘guardians of knowledge’, but guides and inspiration to learnerswho are ‘digital natives’.The technological future includes:• rethinking how the college uses technology• understanding that many learners want to learn through technology, not through relationships• shifting the balance in learners from support to independence so they become autonomous users of

technology• reshaping the roles and skills of teachers who will become technological guides and inspirers of learning• using technology to break down the ‘parochial locus’ of the college; new technology-based centres are

planned across North East Scotland, building on one hundred existing community centres• designing a dynamic strategy for technology, encompassing:

– use of ILT in learning– use of ICT hardware/software to equip learners for the employment environments of the future– digital inclusiveness, to maximise access to digital services, and to develop digital training packages

The college has already achieved e-maturity, and is now engaged in forging its technological future for the nextfive years. It was a finalist three years running in the National Business Awards for Scotland for e-enablement.


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Profile 7 Pembrokeshire College: depth of quality

The spread of Awards achieved by Pembrokeshire College demonstrates the depth of qualitysecured by a principal and staff leading a community which is a good place to be for learnersand staff.The college has won seven Awards, and been highly recommended for one.Depth of quality is demonstrated by:• winning Awards for seven different aspects of its work over seven years• reaching out to learners; Estyn1 comments on the college’s ‘extensive opportunities for supporting learners in

the community who would not otherwise access further education’• outstanding international activity, with high standards of academic and pastoral work with overseas students• wide-ranging, high quality support for learners who need it• intellectual curiosity, for example, whole-college involvement in Pembrokeshire’s Darwin Science Festival• tackling the personalisation agenda, for example, use of PDAs to enable hard-to-reach vulnerable young

people to participate in individualised learning• using technology to provide a better experience for learners and staff• valuing and supporting staff, for example, early work to cascade new FENTO standard, substantial

investment in professional development, nominated for Best Workplace in Wales• glowing testimonials from learners who are confident they are receiving the very best experience• developing a culture of pride and enjoyment in learning

This kind of quality is built over time by leaders who get the fundamentals right: investing in staff, and makingsure learners feel welcomed and are able to achieve.1

Office of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales

Profile 8Armagh College: ‘this is what we stand for’

Visionary moral leadership from the principal of Armagh College empowered the college toserve as a beacon for good in a community with a long history of sectarian conflict. Peopleunderstood and respected what the college stood for.The college led outstanding work to bring communities together, including:• Good Relations programme, funded by Northern Ireland Community Relations Peace Council 2, with

contributions from Armagh City and District Council• acting as a focus for statutory, voluntary and community organisations, education services, church-based and

business sectors to address community relations• hosting the first Northern Ireland college conference on community relations in 2006• making good relations part of the curriculum with projects such as, ‘Challenging Prejudice and

Discrimination’ compulsory for all full-time students, and Level 2 accredited ‘Good Relations in the Workplace’ programme

• Life Long Learning Manager receiving Home Office Local Heroes Award for her ‘innovative approach to community capacity building and outreach’

• providing a model for emulation by overseas communities

Moral courage and leadership enabled the college to make a significant contribution to a shared pluralist society inNorthern Ireland. The Community Relations Council said, ‘Armagh College has taken the lead and set thestandard for other NI colleges to follow’.

Armagh College merged with two other colleges in 2007 to become Southern Regional College.



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Innovative and creative



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Innovative and creativeInnovative and creativeFor the very best teachers and managers, finding newways of doing things is a way of life. Originality andpassion have been constant themes in the Awards, asearlier winners demonstrate. Sometimes love of theirsubject and intellectual curiosity about our place in theworld stimulate the kind of inspirational teachingenjoyed in 1998 by learners at King George V College.These learners used the techniques of professionalastronomers and computer simulations in order toestimate the age of the universe. Other passionatescience teachers at Plymouth College linked learners tothe Nobel Prize winner, Sir Harry Kroto, so that theyexperienced the thrill of scientific discovery as heworked on the Bucky Ball carbon experiments. Thissame excitement about learning is evident in the morerecent Keighley College profile.

Joint creativityLearners bring their own experiences of the world withthem to college, and they can stimulate joint creativitybetween staff and students. Richmond-Upon-ThamesCollege teachers found this when highly skilled, recentlyredundant British Aerospace technicians arrived forretraining. Their shared concerns about the environmentled to the development of a suite of courses based on theprinciples of ecological sustainability – ahead of its time.

Changing livesThe most creative staff have the confidence and vision topush their work further. Teachers and managers at CityCollege, Manchester, did just that in their unique workin 2000, designing rehabilitation and vocational trainingprogrammes for offenders in Russian prisons. Theychose the most challenging setting in which to act ascatalysts for change, but they knew what they had tooffer would improve lives thousands of miles away.

The innovative environmentThese teams challenged themselves to be original withinsupportive colleges where creativity and innovationwere expected and encouraged. As well as theseinternal facilitators, staff acknowledge and value theexternal initiatives and influences which validate, orsometimes trigger, their innovation. The early Award-winners described here cite influences such astheir involvement in the national drive to get morelearners into science, the developing green agenda,Ofsted feedback, and government encouragement forcolleges to think and act globally, as stimuli for theirwork.

More recent Award-winners indicate influences such asthe Skills for Life initiative which served, amongst otherthings, to give status and confidence to basic skillsteachers, Ofsted feedback which recognises strengthsand helps to set new challenges, commercialdevelopments and government funding for newtechnology, the need to energise and engage learners,and the employability agenda. All serve to help createthe environment in which innovation takes place. Ofcourse, there is always room for the unexpected, and the‘Fifteen’ project at Lewisham College exemplifies this inthe chain-reaction which occurred when a high-achieving, experimental college met a catalytic, highlytalented outsider called Jamie Oliver.

Pride and passionAlthough the focus for their creativity is different, allthese Award-winners, and others like them, share ‘prideand passion’ in what they do, an eager willingness totake a risk, and the confidence to say, ‘let’s do itdifferently and better!’.

Selected examples of innovation and creativity follownext, drawn from the AoC Beacon Award winning andhighly commended colleges.


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Profile 9Tower Hamlets College: innovation in basic skills – ‘a better way of doingthings’

Staff at Tower Hamlets College were amongst the first to integrate ESOL teaching intovocational programmes.

The team:• understood that adult learners from ethnic minority groups would learn English more effectively if it were

integral to vocational learning• developed an innovative new approach based on thorough research and analysis of enrolment and

progression data• tackled the technical curriculum challenges involved in designing learning activities, materials, and

assessment and recording processes which could be integrated into vocational programmes• created new ways of teaching and learning in order to put the new approach into practice• made good use of Ofsted best practice advice, guidance from the Skills for Life Unit, and involvement in

NIACE projects

As a result of the team’s innovation, more people from ethnic minority groups progressed to vocationalprogrammes, learnt new skills and improved their employability.

Basic Skills Award for Innovation, 2005

Profile 10 Eccles Sixth Form College: innovation in the application of technology –mainstreaming innovation – ‘how we do things’

Eccles College has achieved e-maturity through its top-to-toe innovative application oftechnology.

The college:• understood what it wanted technology to do, and had the creative skills to use it• designed and implemented an innovative top-to-toe organisational use of technology• worked systematically, focusing first on using WebAction software to co-ordinate strategic and

development plans, and to improve planning, use of resources, and quality assurance• moved next to track and measure learners’ achievements by using Panacea, developing the software

in-house• pushed developments further by using Worktrack to enable learners to manage more of their own learning,

and to understand better what was expected of them, by producing assignments based on coursework, provision of on-line feedback and assistance from teachers, and developing a consistent approach to milestones and deadlines

• improved learner retention and achievement, and improved inspection grades• shared the benefits of its innovation with colleges in the Manchester region, with LSC support, and now

with colleges across England

The college exemplifies what e-maturity can achieve when staff mainstream innovation is part of how things aredone.

BECTA Award for effective use of ICT to enhance and support organisational development, 2005BECTA Award for e-enabling organisational development, 2006



Celebrating Profile 11Keighley College: creative science teaching – intellectual curiosity

Science teachers at Keighley College used the excitement and wonder of space to motivatelearners to take science subjects. Teachers:• built on their own intellectual curiosity and passion for science to create the ‘To the Stars’ project using

the Science, Technology and Aeronautics Regional Centre and world-wide resources• designed learning zones which stimulated learners’ curiosity, including Radio Communication, Mission

Control, and a Mars Landscape• demonstrated science was exciting by enabling learners to communicate with satellites orbiting the earth,

and to link with the European Space Agency, Space City in Moscow, NASA Space Camps, and the National Space Centre

• made learning fun through activities such as a competition to design a Mars lander capable of placing a raw egg on the planet’s surface – winners went to the Kennedy Space Centre, Florida, to undertake astronaut training

The stimulation and success of the project led to an increased take-up of science subjects.

FENC Award for Successful Use of Learning Resources, 2006

Keighley College merged with Park Lane College in 2007 to become Park Lane Keighley College.

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ing Profile 12Bridgwater College: first BTEC National Certificate in Forensic Science –‘blazing a trail’

Teachers at Bridgwater College blazed a trail when they created the first-ever BTEC NationalCertificate in Forensic Science.

The team:• responded creatively to the need for a science programme which enabled learners to develop vocational

skills• recognised how TV dramas such as Silent Witness, Waking the Dead, and CSI, demonstrated the application

of science in ‘real life’• pooled their specialist expertise to design a Forensic Science programme as a showcase for practical science• designed dramatic learning opportunities related to real-life forensic practice: learners worked on Scene of

Crime investigations in two dedicated suites, used specialist equipment to work with real DNA sources, analysed fibres, tissues and insects found at the crime scene with specialist microscopes, and wore specially imported Forensic Protective clothing

• increased recruitment into science

The learners say it all:‘I’ve really liked Forensic Science since I watched murder mysteries as a child … I decided to try it at Bridgwater’.‘I wanted to do Science, and this really appealed to me’.‘I enjoy the practical side … particularly where we solve a given crime scene’.‘I feel this course has prepared me for university’.

Staff have not stood still. New developments include a Foundation Degree in Forensic Science with ForensicArchaeology, validated by Bournemouth University, opening up a new progression route for learners. The teamhas also shared its expertise with local schools.

The Mercers Company Award for Science or Mathematics, 2007President’s Award, 2007



Celebrating Profile 13Omagh College and Camphill Community: Clana Renewables Farm – nopreconceived ideas

Staff at Omagh College and in the Camphill Community shared a commitment to alternativenew technologies and were open-minded about working together, despite their apparentlydifferent educational philosophies.

The project:• began as a community project to develop and use new sustainable energy technologies for Camphill

residents, then as a model for local small farms• used solar panels, a biomass boiler, photovoltaics to provide electricity for lighting, underground heating to

lengthen the growing season in polytunnels and wind turbines – all transferable to rural and urban communities

• enabled some 200 trainee plumbers and electricians to take modules in renewable energies• hosted visits from 1,000 local farmers

Through the open-minds, creativity, and technical skills of the team, the project won the Action Renewables 2004Award for the best community project in Northern Ireland, for the ‘new hope it gave to an agricultural area’.

Churches Award for sustainable community development, 2005

Omagh College merged with two other colleges in 2007 to become South West College.

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Responsive



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ResponsiveResponsiveWinning colleges pro-actively seek and articulate local,regional and national requirements often ahead ofothers, as well as responding dynamically togovernment initiatives. They hold themselvesaccountable to their communities, employers and theskills agenda, and to individual learners.

‘Here for the long haul’Colleges, with their strong sense of local and regionalresponsibility, are vital to the evolution of prosperousand cohesive communities. One principal commented,‘we have been here for a long time – we’re in it for thelong haul’. Colleges understand their communities. Forexample, although the Skills for Life initiative providedextra resources and recognition for its endeavours,Liverpool Community College’s city-wide basic skillsprovision arose from its intimate understanding of whatthe community needed. Similarly, Hull College’s familyliteracy programme drew on its earlier work withschools and other partners, and was shaped by itsknowledge of its city’s learners. The investment,support, and recognition that arrived along with thegovernment’s renewed focus on industry and businessneeds, and on the skills agenda, enabled colleges toexpand their historic role in economic regeneration.But, long before the term ‘employer engagement’ wascoined, colleges were skilling and re-skilling workers,either in large-scale programmes or in small, locallysignificant schemes. So, whether it was BarnsleyCollege re-skilling 2,000 redundant pit workers duringthe closure programmes of the early ‘90s, DeesideCollege with its Corus Training Centre working with thefall-out from one of the biggest redundancies in Europe,or Lowestoft College training local tugboatmen in itsMaritime and Offshore Centre so that their employercould meet new legislative requirements, colleges havealways been responsive to employers’ needs and to theskills agenda.

Re-shaping for new challengesThe innovators maximise the government investment bycontinuing to think about how this is best done, re-shaping themselves, working with new partners in newways, and seeking out the harder to reach small andmedium businesses. Chichester College is an exampleof the inspirational colleges making best use of policyand new resources, with its three Centres of VocationalExcellence, ambitious employer engagement targets, andinvolvement with nearly 350 employers, includingmany small firms that have done little training in thepast. Newcastle College has transformed itself into the

North East Business of the Year, maximising the benefitsof its vigorous employer engagement strategy.

Transforming life chancesEvery educator believes that learning transforms lifechances. New kinds of learners elicit imaginativeresponses from the Beacon Award winning colleges. Forexample, Yeovil College was an early pioneer in its workwith people with mental health difficulties. An earlyresponse to the seminal 1996 report, ‘Inclusive Learning’was made by Oaklands College which became one ofthe first general further education colleges to developprovision for learners with very complex disabilities.Loreto College’s faith in the individual translated intotailor-made provision for disaffected learners, designedand delivered in partnership with local parishes. Teamsat Newcastle College had the imagination to see howpoorly-skilled call-centre staff could benefit from thatfirst step on the training and qualifications ladder.Often, national initiatives serve as vehicles to changeindividual lives. The FEFC’s widening participationinitiative of the late ‘90s gave confidence andrecognition to work that had often gone on quietly,sometimes unsung.

One of the most moving stories in the Beacon Awardarchives is the description of the sensitive work of staffat Burnley College as they persuaded and encouragedleaders of the local Pathan community to allow theiryoung women to take part in further education.Because of the teachers’ skill and patience, the trustinvested in them, and the courage and vitality of thelearners, these girls became the pride of theircommunity as they achieved qualifications throughcarefully designed women-only programmes, and thenprogressed into jobs. Lives were really transformed,and the aspirations of a small community changedforever.

Selected examples of responsiveness follow next, drawnfrom the AoC Beacon Award winning and highlycommended colleges.


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Profile 14Highlands College, Jersey: helping economic migrants integrate into thehost society – serving with heart

Highlands College and its church partners shared a common vision of responsive service whichincluded taking into account the spiritual, emotional and employability needs of new migrantsto the small Jersey community. New arrivals included some 4,000 young Polish workers whojoined some 8,000 Portuguese nationals already living on the island.

The college:• worked in close partnership with St Thomas’s Roman Catholic Church to develop a sustainable programme

to promote community cohesion and economic growth• recognised the importance of faith to the newcomers, and that the church would be the first port of call for

many• designed a flexible ESOL programme for over two thousand learners within the environment of a faith

community• delivered the programme alongside support for housing and social needs provided by the church and other

agencies, using a centre next to the church• went the extra mile in providing support for families, thereby encouraging other members into learning • engaged support from local employers

The learners provided an insight into what this holistic approach meant to them:

‘By learning English I have managed to do my Levels 2 and 3 in Childcare and Education … it has helped me to do a joblooking after children … through this, I belong to the Jersey community’.‘I spoke no English when I arrived, I can now speak to customers in the hotel’.‘After two years, I can now manage projects in an IT company’.‘Lessons help me in my job’.

Through the whole-hearted commitment and understanding of the College’s leadership and the Canon and clergy,the response to newcomers took account of more than just their need to develop employability and languageskills. Because people were valued and supported as individuals, they were better able to contribute to their newcommunity.

Churches’ Award for sustainable partnerships that recognise diversity and develop people and communities, 2007



Celebrating Profile 15Grimsby Institute: working with ethnic and faith communities in NE Lincs – understanding and acting on the social cohesion agenda

Through its wide range of partnerships and activities to celebrate diversity and increasemutual understanding, Grimsby Institute made a significant contribution to social cohesion inits area.

The college:• is led by a dynamic principal who believes, ‘we have a role to play in contributing to make this world a

better place’• understood it needed to work with a wide mix of partners in order to tackle social cohesion and economic

disadvantage• with its partners, shared a vision of reaching out, listening, and being open to new ideas• worked with representatives of Jewish, Sikh, Muslim and other faith communities, Communities Together

for Equality and Racial Justice, Humberside Chinese Association, Standing Advisory Committee of ReligiousEducation, police community officers, Lincolnshire Chaplaincy Services, businesses, local authorities, and others

• celebrated diversity and encouraged mutual understanding throughout its activities, including a ‘One Big World’ painting competition in its nursery; leadership of the Starfish Project which provides self-sufficiency materials for widows affected by the 2004 tsunami in South India; production of a DfES-supported DVD ‘Cultural Diversity’ which is used by local schools

• brought together partners in workshop series to explore diversity issues at a strategic level, involving Primary Care Trust, NHS Trust, Humberside Police, NE Lincs Council

Partners said about the college:‘Their commitment is unquestionable, in seeking to build local equality and diversity … they provide dialogue and respect’.‘They are always forward-thinking, looking for ways in which we can work together’.‘Here, they do it’.

About a programme of community visits, a staff member said:‘They open the eyes of people; they reinforce the bond between learners and communities’.

Churches’ Award for sustainable partnerships that recognise diversity and develop people and communities, 2007

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Profile 16Newcastle College: the college as a business – rethinking itself

Newcastle College has reshaped itself to play a powerful part in the economic regeneration ofits region, and in order to maximise the benefits of employer engagement.

The college:• reorganised to respond to the skills agenda so that the whole college is geared to delivering skills, and to

working as a business environment• established a new Directorate for Business, and a Contact Centre which markets its programmes• achieved a high level of responsiveness to employers’ training requirements• continued to evolve with a new Director of Business Engagement, and new contracting and quality unit• shares its approaches as part of its Beacon College responsibilities

The college was selected as ‘NE Company of the Year’ in 2006, and exemplifies how colleges can rethinkthemselves in order to respond to local and regional needs.

Learning and Skills Council Award for College Engagement with Employers, 2006

Profile 17Coleg Menai: Menai Innovation Centre – instrumental in economicregeneration

The establishment in 2005 of Coleg Menai’s Innovation Centre arose from the college’spowerful vision of its contribution to the economic and social prosperity of North Wales.

The college:• secured £1.5 million ELWA and European funding, and support from Sector Skills Council• established state-of-the-art facilities for computerised development systems, including 3D modelling,

prototype manufacture, testing systems, laser technology• linked the centre to CAM centre at Bangor and new motor-vehicle facilities at Llangefri• worked closely with employer groups, including Plumber Group and Automotive Group• promoted the sector by disseminating information on all providers to employers in North Wales • achieved £100 million turnover• listened and responded to employers

An employer said:‘This is state-of-the-art technology, supported by staff who are expert in its application; this powerful combination ensures areliable, high-quality design and prototyping service that is innovative and responsive to our needs’.

Welsh Assembly Government Award for College Engagement with Employers in Wales, 2007



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Profile 18New College, Swindon: Basic Skills in the Barracks – transforming individual lives

As jobs within the army become more technical, the demand on soldiers’ basic skills increase.Staff at New College understand that army personnel face particular challenges if they wish tostudy.

The college:• began the programme in 2002 with the support of the Ministry of Defence• built on the Skills for Life initiative to develop a flexible programme which enables serving soldiers to build

up qualifications which equip them to do their current jobs more effectively, can aid promotion, and will serve them well when they leave the forces

• employed former army staff who understood the army culture and the rigours of active service• developed distance learning materials and a Virtual Learning Environment so that soldiers can continue to

study when they are in combat zones• reorganised staffing to take account of fluctuating numbers when soldiers are abroad

The opportunity to carry on with their studies can be a lifeline for soldiers away from home by providingcontinuity, and support for their future aspirations.

OCR Award for Partnerships in Basic Skills, 2006


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Collaborative



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CollaborativeCollaborativeWinning colleges excel in working with others. Theylead the way in forging and sustaining the rightrelationships to deliver a shared vision of flexibility,participation, internationalism, and self-improvement.

Well-established partnershipsColleges have always worked with schools, localauthorities, employers, health and social services, andvoluntary and community groups. It was alwaysimpossible to meet the needs of some learners withoutthe right partnerships in place, and staff working withpeople with mental health difficulties, with learners withcomplex disabilities, with the long-term unemployed, orwith disaffected young people, have long operatedwithin a network of referral and support agencies,statutory bodies, and partner providers. SuccessfulSkills for Life provision has relied also on strong localpartnerships, often led by a college with strategiccommitment to collaboration. New strategic heart hasbeen given to local and regional collaboration which hasa curriculum or learner focus through the 14-19 agenda,LSC’s planning priorities, the new Diplomas, andsharper attention to young people not in education,employment or training (NEETs). The best colleges areable to reap the benefits of earlier good relationships asthey tackle the ‘new localism’ agenda. For example,North Warwickshire and Hinckley College was one ofmany colleges with well-established partnerships withlocal schools. In 1999, it was already working with 14-16year olds from 33 local schools; by 2005, some 1,200pupils were taking part in 28 tailor-made vocationalprogrammes. Bedford College was working with 30local schools in 2001, whilst Calderdale College wasexploiting the potential of Curriculum 2000 with itspartner schools.

More recently, Lewisham College built on a successfultradition of community partnership in its project to openup employment opportunities in the public sector.Partners included the local authority, Lewisham Council,the fire service, Connexions, local hospital and primarycare trust, the LSC, and the Lewisham 14-19 strategygroup. Winning colleges contribute to thesecollaborative partnerships clear vision, strategicleadership, dedicated facilities, and new approaches topersonalised learning.

Internationally activeAs well as leading the way in flexibility andparticipation, collaborative colleges forge thriving

international links. These may take the form ofprofessional partnerships between teachers such as thosein 2001 between staff at Preston College and teachers inthe exiled Tibetan communities, or the City of BathCollege’s curriculum collaboration with a BulgarianHigh School. Or, they may take the form of TelfordCollege’s extensive links with employers in Japan,highly valued not just because of the business they bringto the college, but also because of the genuine spirit oflearning and working together which shapes theirmutual respect. Back home, international collaborationis thriving through the actions of colleges such asChichester, with its 1,000 foreign students.

Shared responsibility for quality andself improvementAs well as taking a lead in the joint development offlexible local and regional provision, and benefiting frominternational links, winning colleges take sharedresponsibility for the quality of local and regionalprovision, and make their contribution to the sector’sself-improvement. The North West Consortium ofColleges took such responsibility when they designedand delivered a joint tailor-made professionaldevelopment programme for their senior managers, inorder to fill a gap they had identified themselves.Award-winners play their part too, by disseminatingtheir Award-winning work, holding seminars,presenting at conferences, circulating materials andideas, and hosting visits so that other colleges can learnfrom what they do. Winners are valued by the sector asvital benchmarks against which the best can measurethemselves. Most recently, winners are playing an activepart in the sector’s peer review activities as an importantcollaborative approach to sharing practice.

Best collaborationIn the best collaboration, everybody gains, mostimportantly, the learners. This can be through theprovision of flexible, personalised learning whichmatches the learner’s needs, internationalism whichbrings new ways of doing things, new funds, or the richcontributions of new learners, or through the sector-wide improvements secured by honest, rigorous, andsupportive sharing between colleagues.

Selected examples of collaboration follow next, drawnfrom the AoC Beacon Award winning and highlycommended colleges.


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Profile 19Knowsley Community College: 14-19 Knowsley Collegiate – willing and ableto develop shared strategies in the best interests of learners

Knowsley Community College has been a key stakeholder in the Knowsley Collegiatepartnership which is making a real impact on achievement and progression for young peoplein Merseyside.

The college:• shared a vision to raise achievement and increase participation amongst young people in Greater Merseyside• made a vital contribution to the partnership which includes NHS, borough council, employers, secondary

and special schools, Connexions, local Work-Based Learning Provider Network, Liverpool Archdiocese, Edgehill University, and LSC

• reshaped its structure, curriculum and procedures to become a ‘14+ college’• played an active part in the strategic leadership of the Collegiate through its membership of the Governance

Forum, 14-19 Executive and Strategic Programme Team• provided flexible vocational programmes and work-based learning activities to motivate young learners• invested in staff through a tailor-made professional development programme led by the University, which

focuses on pedagogy and classroom management• shared its expertise through a technical training programme focused on assessment and functional skills• deployed its new Vocational Skills Centre as one of the showcases for the Collegiate, with visits from

representatives of 35 organisations in 2006/07• on behalf of the Collegiate, secured £768K to refurbish a campus as a teacher training and resource centre for

new Diplomas• developed collaborative, detailed plans for the next stage of the Collegiate

The impact of the Collegiate’s activities include:• 87% of Year 11 learners continue into education, employment or training (EET)• increased access for some 800 young people aged 14-16, with 90% achieving units or full qualifications at

Entry, Level 1 and Level 2• 74% of ‘hardest to reach’ cohort of KS4 pupils progress into EET• increased participation in vocational learning by pupils with special educational needs• excellent Ofsted report

The college contributed to a dramatic remodelling of 14-19 education in Knowsley, and through its willingness totake joint responsibility for the flexibility and scope of local provision, and its ability to develop shared strategies,it has acted in the best interests of learners.

Learning and Skills Council Award for 14-19 Collaboration, 2007



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Profile 20North Lindsey College: John White Skills Centre – delivering flexiblepersonalised learning opportunities

North Lindsey College has worked with its partners to deliver the kind of flexibility that singleproviders cannot offer. Individualised KS4 learning programmes are designed for youngpeople attending the Centre.

The college and its partners:• shared a vision for 14-19 education and training• understood the learning and support needs of young people, including disaffected and excluded youngsters• secured some £475K from LSC, the college, and local employer Corus• established the Centre in 2004• guaranteed access to a flexible, personalised vocational learning programme for all KS4 pupils in North

Lincolnshire• provided specialist training for college and school staff, and contributed to the development of a new PGCE

teaching qualification at the University of Huddersfield• put in place rigorous processes and procedures for tracking learners, and for assessing, measuring and

recording their progress and achievements• worked with the schools to design quality assurance processes, including a programme of teaching

observations• over 700 pupils participate in some 30 subjects each year, ranging from Entry Level to Level 2 Diplomas• learners at risk of becoming ‘NEETs’ take part in short programmes before being supported back into school• retention is over 96%, and over half the pupils progress onto other college courses

Learners say:‘The environment is one where you can feel right at home with everyone and they treat you like an adult not a child … I amnow studying towards my NVQ2 in Hairdressing’.‘Having the opportunity to take the motor vehicle course has given me the chance to develop new skills’.

In 2007, Ofsted described the provision as exemplary, adding that it ‘transforms the lives and prospects of manyyoung people it inspires some of the most disengaged and disenfranchised young people to re-engage withlearning’.

AQA Award for College/School Partnerships, 2007


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Profile 21Pershore Group of Colleges: Pound Farm Organics – forging and sustainingthe right relationships

Pershore Colleges built on its long-standing partnerships with local day centres and residentialhomes to develop new employment opportunities for people with learning difficulties.

The colleges:• shared a new vision with their partners about the potential of people with learning difficulties• worked with social services, day centres, and some ten other community organisations in order to secure the

opportunities and support learners would need for work experience and land-based employment• involved parents as part of the project• established Pound Farm Organics as an ‘oh so gradual’ step toward independence through employment• developed Pound Farm Organics as a financially sustainable, community resource• encouraged other farmers, entrepreneurs, community groups to set up similar enterprises to supply care

homes, schools, and local shops, whilst employing staff with learning disabilities• designed with partners carefully staged transition plans for learners moving into work experience and

employment

As more learners have moved to the Organics Project, fewer remain solely in day centre provision. This kind ofsuccess can be achieved only through good relationships between partners and learners and their parents/carers,and effective co-ordinated support for each learner.

Mencap and RNIB Inclusive Learning Award for Students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, 2006

Profile 22Cornwall College: WILD Scheme – respecting and valuing partners’contributions

The partnership between Cornwall College and the voluntary organisation Women’s Initiativefor Learning and Development (WILD) exemplifies what can be achieved when partnersrespect and value each other’s contributions.

The partnership:• formed part of the Cornwall Learning Partnership which includes members from the community and

voluntary sector, private sector, colleges, adult and community learning, health and social services• thrived through the respect and recognition of each other’s strengths and expertise, and strong teamwork

between the college and WILD • focused on providing Skills for Life to mothers who experienced social exclusion, and with low expectations

of themselves and their children – most are referred by health visitors or social workers• the college provided a supportive infrastructure whilst enabling WILD to retain its own identity as a

voluntary organisation.

OCR Award for Partnerships in Basic Skills, 2007



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Profile 23Boston College, Lincs: programme for overseas students – internationallyactive

Boston College has developed valuable long-term relationships with its overseas partnersduring its eighteen years of successful international recruitment.

The college:• worked with overseas partners to provide new learning opportunities for foreign students• built up extensive partnership networks in order to recruit from 22 countries, including China, Asia, Africa,

Vietnam, South Korea and Europe• provided very effective support, included dedicated youth worker and careers adviser• achieved ‘total quality’ in its international activities• flew the flag for Great Britain through the international reputation achieved through its work

British Council Award for International Student Support, 2006

Profile 24Bridgwater College: United Arab Emirates Technical Training Project –ambassador for UK

Through the comprehensiveness and high quality of its international partnership activities,Bridgwater College acted as an ambassador for UK further education.

The college:• won a major contract with United Arab Emirates Technical Training Project• worked closely with its partners to identify the training and support needs of its international students• changed its mission statement to take account of the new needs of its international students• invested in a new international centre, new posts and infrastructure• gave great attention to preparing and supporting learners• extended its international activities by pursuing links with India

British Council Award for International Student Support, 2007


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Profile 25West Notts College: League for Learning – taking shared responsibility forthe quality of regional provision

Inspiring leadership at West Notts College contributed to the development of the innovativepeer review approach now adopted by the sector as part of its self-improvement strategies.

The college:• led the development of a League for Learning with six other colleges• shared its understanding of being a learning organisation where everyone, including the Principal, is a

learner• disseminated best practice from its three Centres of Vocational Excellence• concentrated on the essentials of teaching and learning, and leadership• pioneered the peer review approach now recognised as a key characteristic of a self-improving sector

RM Award for Leadership in Learning, 2005



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Delivers personalised, inclusive learning



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Delivers personalised, inclusive learningDelivers personalised, inclusivelearningColleges which deliver personalised, inclusive learningare experts in finding out how learners learn best andthen devising individual learning programmes, supportand other processes shaped around each learner. Theygive equal value to all learners, and to every level oflearning. Recently, Eccles College exemplified the ethosof an inclusive learning college, with the principalgiving a powerful message about its values by takingpersonal, active responsibility for Entry Level provision.

Inclusive learningThe inclusive learning approach arose from the work in1996 of the Further Education Funding Council’sTomlinson Committee. Many colleges contributed tothe approach’s development, and continue to cite it as akey influence in their thinking. As well as getting thepedagogy right, the inclusive learning college providesthe right levels of programmes, progression routes,transition arrangements, and support tailor-made foreach learner. Early pioneers such as Oaklands College,Wigan and Leigh College, Bridgwater College, CityCollege Manchester, and Lewisham College used theapproach with learners with learning difficulties and/ordisabilities, but its applicability to all learners and to thewhole organisation was grasped quickly by these andother innovative colleges. For example, SolihullCollege’s early modularisation of History A Level had atits heart the idea that learning should be tailored to theindividual learner. Telford College’s pioneering ‘RubberBand’ sex education peer-mentoring programme in 1998used as its starting point the understanding thatadolescents learn some things best from other youngpeople. Loreto College’s understanding and valuing ofits learners was behind its development of personalisedprogrammes for marginalised members of itscommunity. In 1994, Reading College was designingindividual programmes for its engineering students. Inwinning colleges such as these, learners make choicesand take responsibility as active partners in theirlearning.

Personalised learningPersonalised learning is an evolutionary step on fromthis earlier practice, and represents the educationsector’s contribution to the government’scomprehensive personalisation of public services.Choice and control are at the heart of the agenda. In thelearning and skills context, the personalisation processbegins with thorough assessment of an individual’slearning, training, and support requirements, and

careful listening to their aspirations and interests.Colleges which understand the process are movingaway from ‘courses’ to individually tailored packages oflearning opportunities, work experience, preparation fortransition, guidance, and so on, often delivered by avariety of providers. The learner is able to make achoice from a ‘menu’ of opportunities and services inorder to put together the right mix of learning and skillsopportunities. The best colleges are putting in place theguidance and support ‘brokers’ who will help learnersget what they need.

FlexibilityColleges already have the capability to work in thisflexible dynamic way. For example, Aberdeen College’swork with Foyer clients in 2004 exemplifiespersonalised, inclusive learning. Learners could choosefrom a ‘menu’ of five learning programmes, includingthe Prince’s Trust Volunteer Programme, Gateway toWork (New Deal), Lifeshaper aimed at substanceabusers, and Build and Train with JobCentre Plus. Eachlearner took part in an assessment interview, guidancesession, developed an education plan, and careers actionplan, and took from the college the support required tomanage their own programme and review their ownprogress.

E-learning as part of teachingTechnology is a powerful medium for personalisedinclusive learning, especially with young people forwhom it is integral to their lives. Aberdeen College’sprincipal described young learners as ‘digital natives’,whose skills and familiarity are making colleges rethinkhow they use technology. Winning colleges are choosyabout what they want from technology, and putlearning, not hardware, at the heart of the e-learningprocess. For example, in 2006, Newham Sixth FormCollege linked its e-learning champions project to itsAdvanced Teaching Practitioners project as it developeda college-wide virtual learning environment throughMoodle. In this way, the overall aim of improvingpractice stayed at the forefront of the changes. Thecollege says, ‘E-learning is essentially part of teaching,and fusing the use of e-learning tools with teaching andlearning is part of advanced teaching practice … ouraim is to merge e-learning into teaching and learningdevelopment, and not to treat it as a separate strand’.


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ingNew buildings and new teaching andlearningRecent Beacon Award winning colleges have usedcapital investment to design learning environmentswhich change approaches to teaching and learning. Forexample, the principal of South Devon College describesthe glass walls, innovative use of space, work areas andtechnology, which help display best practice, and fosterindependent learning and self-management amongstlearners at the new campus.

The best colleges deploy all their resources, includingnew buildings and technology, to match learning to theindividual learner, and to provide the choice andinstrumentality which embodies personalised inclusivelearning.

Selected examples of personalised, inclusive learningfollow next, drawn from the AoC Beacon Awardwinning and highly commended colleges.



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Profile 26Cambridge Regional College: Improving Choice – delivering personalisedinclusive learning for learners with complex disabilities

Cambridge Regional College has been one of the leaders in designing and deliveringpersonalised learning packages with learners with complex disabilities.

The college:• worked with partners in Cambridgeshire Children’s Services, Mencap, health and social services, advocacy

groups, schools, community and voluntary groups, Connexions to produce a shared vision• received extensive support from LSC• built on existing good links with the local Transition Planning and Provision Partnership Group• established an Overview Group chaired by Cambridgeshire Children’s Services Additional Support Needs

Manager• involved parents as partners for change• established the new role of Services Broker or Learning Manager to contact agencies and commission

provision• designed individual learning packages for delivery by a variety of providers

Individual learners’ packages included:Ryan –• one-to-one support at all times• support from a local community organisation specialising in support for people with visual disabilities• work experience in a local café• on-the-job trainingMark – • work experience with nearby social training organisation• sessions with Speaking Up community involvement projects• flexible learning times in college to take account of his disabilities

Importantly, the LSC invited an independent advocacy organisation to monitor the project. The College’spathfinder work provides one approach for other colleges working with learners with complex needs.

RNIB and Mencap Inclusive Learning Award for Students with learning difficulties and or disabilities Award, 2007


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Profile 27West Notts College: using additional learning support to drive inclusivelearning

The learning support team at West Notts College used additional support to help learnersbecome as independent as possible, and to open up progression opportunities.

The team:• based their work firmly on the principles of inclusive learning• supported nearly 300 learners through 80 staff working in specialist teams• helped learners develop advocacy skills so they can be active partners in their own support• promoted inclusion and progression by working as ‘internal consultants’ to subject teams, ensuring they

understood what learners required• managed transitions to/from college, liaison with parents, referrals to other agencies• designed and delivered individual support programmes

The team leads the local 14+ Transition Networking Group so it is well-placed to support learners into college byplanning ahead for resources and support. The college used its additional learning support to promoteinstrumentality and choice for learners.

Mencap and RNIB Inclusive Learning Award for Students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, 2006

Profile 28Pembrokeshire College: engaging learners through personal technology – fostering instrumentality

Pembrokeshire College adopted a technological ‘Martini’ approach – ‘any time any place,anywhere’ – to engaging vulnerable learners.

The college tutors:• used personalised technology as part of a network of support• used PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) and Smartphones to keep in touch with very vulnerable learners,

including young mothers, travellers, and others who cannot attend college easily• provided support as and when it was needed• designed individual learning plans around the use of e-learning, so learners access the internet and other

familiar technology for research, to phone employers, to practice driving licence questions, or update their CVs

This is a three-year project with funding from the Wales European Funding Office, and LSDA support. The collegeis working in partnership with the Youth Offending Team and the Prince of Wales Trust. The ‘Martini’ approachworks well because learners feel in control, their familiarity with technology is channelled for learning, and tutorsprovide individualised opportunities which fit learners’ needs.

FENC Award for the Successful Use of Learning Resources, 2006



Celebrating Profile 29 Blackpool and The Fylde College: Virtual Learning Environment to teachbeauty therapy – harnessing technology to encourage independent learning

Staff at Blackpool and The Fylde College encouraged independent learning skills by usingtechnology which is familiar to learners.

With this approach:• the beauty therapy team used an interactive virtual learning environment with their BTEC National Diploma

students• learners managed their own work, shared ideas, submitted assignments, and monitored their own progress

using the VLE• VLE ‘democratised’ relationships between staff and learners, with easier communications, rapid informal

feedback, and effective interventions when learners needed assistance• learners felt VLE was ‘their’ environment • learners gained Level 2 ICT alongside their beauty therapy qualifications – an added bonus for employers

The personalised learning environment created through the use of technology meant that learners took moreresponsibility for their learning and perceived themselves as partners with staff in a joint venture.

City & Guilds Award for teaching and assessment of beauty therapy, 2006

Profile 30Edinburgh’s Telford College: a new FE college for Scotland – creating newpedagogy to meet changing needs

Edinburgh’s Telford College has used the opportunities presented by £75 million capitalinvestment in a new campus to design personalised learning opportunities for the future.

The college:• developed a vision of how learners would learn in the future• worked with architects to design a new campus which enabled different approaches to teaching and

learning• provided ‘learning streets’, social hubs, and learning hubs in a learning environment where learners work

independently, find their own information, work in teams, and problem-solve in groups – as they would in industry or business

• deployed wireless technology to encourage flexible teaching and learning• trained and supported staff in making the most effective use of the new resources

The new campus makes a strong statement about the importance of learning, and staff are creating new pedagogyfor the twenty-first century.

Eversheds Award for effective use of capital development, 2007

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Challenges and changes expectations



Celebrating Challenges and changes expectationsDynamic colleges are ambitious for the wholeenterprise, challenging their learners and themselves,and continually raising their shared aspirations. Theylisten to learners who remind them ‘what the business isabout’, and trust and invest in their staff. They helpchange society’s expectations of groups of people, andindividuals’ assumptions about their own capabilities.

In early days, winning colleges often worked withgroups new to further education, such as Yeovil College– one of the pioneers in provision for people withmental health difficulties. Others, such as National StarCollege in its community-based arts project, helpedchange the image of disability. The message was thatthese people belonged in further education, and had acontribution to make to society.

Changing learners’ self-perceptionsAs well as helping change wider perceptions, winningcolleges transformed learners’ views of themselves.They did this through a combination of a passionatebelief in learning, professional skills, and a deepunderstanding of learners’ lives. South East DerbyshireCollege’s early community-based provision forhomeless people, lone parents, jobless persons,substance abusers, and people with mental healthdifficulties exemplifies what happens when learningworks; as a teacher said about a student on theprogramme, ‘From illiterate to university in two years!’.

Colleges challenging themselvesColleges say that new groups of learners or newcurricula change an organisation’s expectations of itself,its staff, and its learners. The Skills for Life initiative,revitalised 14-19 agenda, and Entry to Employment(E2E) are cited amongst recent influences by furthereducation colleges, whilst some sixth form collegesdescribe changes such as new mathematics and sciencecurricula, and reshaped A and A2 Levels as influential.Good colleges respond proactively to these externalcatalysts, but they also go much further. Staff seek newneeds in order to meet them, or choose to design newcurricula or pedagogy. In other words, they challengethemselves. To do this, teachers require professionalconfidence, belief, and trust. The Principal of the SixthForm College, Farnborough, exemplifies this confidence,and his trust in his staff, when he says, ‘We have greaterconfidence in making judgements about students andtheir potential; we know them better than awardingbodies do’. The Principal of Telford College describeshis faith in teachers when he says, ‘Trust is always paidback in spades … the best teachers are very creative

people’. The self-challenging college has the confidenceto redefine excellence, pushing itself to go further. ThePrincipal of Coleg Llandrillo described how a recentlyachieved grade 1 for the college’s work-based provisionhas led to raising the bar even further. Staff are to visitthe best of European provision so that they can setthemselves a new benchmark. Saying ‘We’ve done it’ isnot an option.

Challenge and support staffColleges which revel in challenge and change expect agreat deal from their staff. They do difficult things, andstaff require professional support to meet the challengesof continuous evolution and improvement. OldhamCollege’s 2003 programme of sensitive mentoring forunder-performing or new staff, led by an AdvancedPractitioner, is an example of the care colleges take toensure everyone is well-equipped to meet thechallenges. Other colleges have used new professionalstandards to support staff. Pembrokeshire College’swork to cascade the then new FENTO standards waslauded by Estyn as a ‘substantial investment in staffdevelopment, and a pro-active approach to humanresource development’, both characteristics of self-challenging colleges.

Redefining excellence in equality anddiversityA college with a mission to challenge and changeexpectations understands that diversity is a dimensionof excellence, as well as a key to social justice. Pioneersresponding to the recommendations of the Commissioninto Black Staff in Further Education are redefiningexcellence in diversity, going beyond the early focus onlearners to the need for more black staff and seniormanagers. They recognise that, with some 20% ofcollege learners from black or minority ethnicbackgrounds, staff and senior managers are needed, notjust for their own significant contributions, but to showlearners that colleges are indeed places where theybelong. They understand too, that if Britain wishes tocompete successfully in the global market, then a world-class workforce means a diverse workforce. Thegoverning bodies of pioneering colleges challenge theirold assumptions about who could or should be a newprincipal or senior manager. They value the perspectivesand experiences of persons from black or minorityethnic groups, and seek to attract the very best talentfrom all our communities. Under the leadership of itsAsian Principal, the Grimsby Institute is one suchcollege, challenging itself to be an attractive employer toall black and ethnic groups, with an inclusive approachto promoting racial equality through its policies,

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recruitment, publicity, curriculum, and learningmaterials. Even though Royal Forest of Dean College islocated in an area with a very small number of peoplewith black or minority ethnic backgrounds, it hasunderstood and acted on the social justice and businesscases for diversity, and with its links to Uganda andKenya, student involvement in a global awarenessproject, and engagement with the Black LeadershipInitiative, aims to embed awareness of diversity issues inall its activities.

Colleges which are developing employability skills withlearners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities arealso helping tackle society’s prejudices about whatdisabled people can do, as well as changing learners’perceptions of themselves. They are redefiningexcellence by reshaping provision in order to designnew programmes and pedagogy which deliver theemployability agenda. One of the early champions wasColeg Sir Gâr working with the National BotanicGardens of Wales in order to deliver real-life workprogrammes for learners with learning difficulties

and/or disabilities. Chichester College, with its earlydesign of Level 1 programmes in Art and Designincorporating literacy and numeracy, and its partnershipwith Shaw Trust employment services, played a part inchallenging assumptions about learners’ futures.

The very best colleges help move our society on byusing their capabilities to challenge and changeindividuals’ perceptions of themselves, theircommitment to social justice, and their willingness tochallenge their own assumptions and practices.

Selected examples of challenging and changingexpectations follow next, drawn from the AoC BeaconAward winning and highly commended colleges.



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Profile 31Kingston Maurward College: Matchmaker project – changing society’sperceptions of learners

Kingston Maurward College challenged society’s perceptions of gypsies and travellers when itdeveloped new ways of meeting their education and training needs.

The college:• used evidence provided by Dorset Race Equality Committee to identify that gypsies’ and travellers’ poor

representation in education and training contributed to society’s perceptions of them, and to their social exclusion

• listened carefully to the travelling community’s representatives about the kind of learning opportunities thatits members wanted

• used ESF funding to design and deliver personalised programmes, including LGV driving, chainsaw operation, food & nutrition, landscaping, and flexible support

• encouraged word-of-mouth recruitment, with 51 learners taking part in programmes• led a conference at which members of the travelling community spoke alongside college staff; contributed

to national events to disseminate their good practice

Through its willingness to engage with marginalised people, listen carefully, then use its professional skills todesign motivating programmes, and to disseminate its practice, the college helped change perceptions oftravellers and gypsies.

AoC Beacon Award for Widening Participation, 2007


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Profile 32Bolton Community College: Community Learning Ambassadors –challenging and changing learners’ expectations of themselves

Bolton Community College used learners to encourage potentially socially excludedpeople into learning, thereby changing the self-expectations of two groups of people.

The college:• began recruiting and training local people as Community Learning Ambassadors (CLAs) in 2002,

using ESF funding • now has some 80 CLAs based in its Regeneration and Community Learning Department• engaged CLAs who are ‘non traditional’ learners themselves, and who understand possible barriers to

learning• helped CLAs grow in confidence and self-esteem, take OCN awards, and progress to other

qualifications• engaged CLAs in recruiting, mentoring and supporting learners across further and community

education, work-based learning, and higher education• sees learners recruited and supported by CLAs experience the benefits of learning, changing their own

views of what they can achieve• scheme increased recruitment in five deprived wards• planned to extend the scheme into diversity projects

This self-generating model of provision depends on the enthusiasm and skills of people whose own liveshave been transformed by learning.

One CLA said: ‘I am passionate about motivating people … and supporting them in their quest to return to education’.

A learner said:‘I feel much more part of the world … my competencies are better; I feel much more able to go for the goals I setmyself’.

AoC Beacon Award for Widening Participation, 2007



Celebrating Profile 33 New College, Swindon: 24/7 Parenting programme – transforming learners’assumptions about their capacities

New College identified a local need amongst parents of potential or already young offenders,and set about transforming their assumptions about their parenting.

The college team:• recognised that some local parents needed help to look after their young people who were at risk of

offending, or who had already offended• created a funding package with Lloyds TSB and social services because the programme did not meet

LSC funding criteria• designed personalised programmes to meet the specific needs of parents wanting to change their

parenting by communicating more effectively with their children and minimising their risk of offending or re-offending

• used OCN accreditation to motivate parents, and to encourage progression to other programmes• received positive feedback from parents who felt they could handle their youngsters more effectively• contributed to fewer calls on social services

Because the college was able to identify the very real need, and knew how to respond, it was able to help parentsbecome better parents, and in changing their behaviour, changed the behaviour of their children.

Jardine Lloyd Thompson Healthcare Award, 2006

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ing Profile 34Gateshead College: Coaching in Action – challenging the self-expectations of staff

Gateshead College introduced a supportive coaching model of staff development whichenabled teachers to reflect on their practice and to improve their performance.

The college:• made good use of research outcomes on coaching as an approach to improving practice• designed an innovative project with real appeal to staff who could readily see its applicability and

usefulness• produced a tailor-made MA module on coaching with Newcastle University• integrated coaching into initial teacher training programmes• made coaching available to any staff who needed it or would like it, including part-time staff• deployed a team of Advanced Lecturer Learning Coaches to implement the programme• used low key video observations of teaching sessions to help teachers review their practice• used teachers’ self-assessments as an integral part of the approach, alongside coaching sessions, and

more formal performance reviews• demonstrated the success of the project through performance data on teaching and learning outcomes,

and formal evaluation by Sunderland University

A teacher commented –‘When you are faced with that video, and you analyse it yourself – there’s no getting away from it – it does show youthings you weren’t even aware of. I’m now trying to incorporate all I learned into all my areas of practice’.

Through its supportive approach, the college proved that challenge can be beneficial, and that teachers aremore than ready to rethink their professional expectations of themselves.

City & Guilds Award for Staff Development in Further Education, 2007



Celebrating Profile 35Bolton Sixth Form College: challenging racism

In an area of potential racial tension, Bolton Sixth Form College acted as a force for good bychallenging racism.

The college:• took an active lead in the local community by making clear its stance on racism• implemented rigorous policies and strategies to tackle racism• used data on learner profiles and achievement rates to measure the impact of its strategies for black and

minority ethnic learners• actively recruited staff from minority ethnic communities, with a sharp rise in the number of applicants• mentored new black and minority ethnic staff• ensured all programmes included content about equality and diversity• succeeded in making an impact for the better in the community, including a low incidence of young Asian

men in the NEETs cohort

Through its capacity to exemplify a diverse and harmonious society, the College challenged racism and provideda model for its local community.

Network for Black Professionals and Centre for Excellence in Leadership Award for Promoting RacialEquality, 2006

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ing Profile 36West Thames College: Access All Areas – redefining excellence in diversity

West Thames College used its Access All Areas initiative to pull together aspects of its equalityand diversity strategies, with a particular focus on the recruitment and career progression ofblack and minority ethnic staff.

The college:• benefited from strong leadership from the Principal and senior management team• reviewed its equality action plan, and identified as one of three priorities increasing the number of BME

teachers and managers• established targets, monitoring procedures, and action plans based on its annual equality report, annual

personnel report, staff and student surveys, and other information• designed a job application pack emphasising the valued contribution to be made by BME staff• drew on the challenge and advice of its Community Advisory Group and its Black Staff Group• provided senior managers as mentors for the national Black Leadership Initiative• supported BME staff taking part in West London College’s career development programme for BME staff• identified and provided support for overseas teachers not accustomed to 16-18 culture in UK• linked its work on staffing to outcomes of BME learners

The college’s recruitment leaflet says – ‘We need more black and ethnic minority teachers and managers to give our students the inspiration they need to success’.

By redefining excellence in diversity to extend beyond students to staff, the college has increased the number ofprofessionals from black and minority ethnic groups at every level. In doing so, it has also increased theachievements of its black and minority ethnic learners.

Learning and Skills Council Award for Equality and Diversity, 2007



Celebrating recruiting, training, supporting and retaining world-classteachers; not being diverted from the core business oflearning by funding/planning changes; in NI and Wales– not losing expertise during merger programmes;maximising the benefits of technology; rethinking theteacher’s role as technology changes the way peoplelearn; using capital investment to showcase andtransform teaching and learning; delivering thepersonalisation agenda through individualisedprogrammes not courses; demonstrating the benefits oflearning.

innovating; remaining open to new ideas; finding betterways of doing things; taking risks; adopting ‘can do’attitude; trusting and empowering staff; listening tolearners and to teachers; investing in staff; providingprofessional development opportunities which fit stafffor new ways of teaching and learning; integratinginnovation into development plans as ‘this is how we dothings’.

understanding connectivity between innovation andexcellence; ‘no blame’ culture; excellence notcompliance; open to challenge; sharing expertise andresponsibility for sector’s quality; learning from otherproviders, as part of an effective self-improving, self-regulating sector; assessing the benefits to learners ofany innovation.

developing right skills to manage complex new relationswith funders, planners, providers; working smarter inlocal and regional partnerships; working through andwith the voluntary sector; setting and delivering sharedstrategic objectives with other providers and partners.

sustaining breadth and inclusiveness of provision;maintaining commitment to socially excluded groups;extending definitions of excellence for equality anddiversity; building more staff and management teams

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Mapping the futureMapping the future: challenges facing colleges for the next five years and beyondThe aim in the report so far has been to demonstrate how colleges deploy the six capabilities identified through theresearch to make their significant contributions to the individual, their communities, and to the country. Sector leaderswere confident that what colleges did well now would fit them for successful futures. In this last part of the report,principals and other leaders reflect on the chief challenges they will face in the next five years and beyond. The list isnot exhaustive, and readers may wish to add to the challenges from their own experience.

There was consensus on eight challenges:

1. Keeping the focus on teaching and learning:

2. Continuing to be creative:

3. Sustaining a genuine culture of self-improvement:

4. Addressing the new localism:

5. Contributing to social justice:


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that represent all the talents, including black and multi-ethnic people, and people with disabilities;meeting the learning needs of an ageing population;contributing to understanding between different faiths.

staying flexible, light on feet; deploying sophisticatedfinancial skills for flexibility; exploiting capitalinvestment opportunities; designing specific responsesto 14-19 agenda, employers and employees, people whoare economically inactive; being instrumental – forgingthe college’s future.

continuing to contribute to local and regionalregeneration; extending links with local communities;tackling the implications of environmental change, egglobal warming; designing and managing the ‘greencollege’; using the principles of ecological sustainabilityto design and deliver curricula which prepare learnersfor a greener future, eg in the use of renewable energies;designing and building sustainable learningenvironments; ‘rehearsing for the future’.

understanding the challenges of globalisation andmaking strategic decisions about how the college willrespond; preparing a workforce for the global future;widening the horizons of learners and staff;benchmarking against overseas colleges and businessesin order to keep evolving and to competeinternationally; reaching out to new internationalpartners; managing the quality challenges of dispersedlearning, and validation and accreditation ‘at a distance’.

6. Positioning to maximise opportunities:

7. Achieving sustainability:

8. Meeting the challenges of globalisation:

As well as celebrating colleges’ achievements, the research aimed to demonstrate their capacity to map their ownfutures within a self-regulating, self-improving sector. The descriptions and profiles in this report, supported by thebroader analysis of Award materials, provide evidence of the six essential capabilities required by colleges to tackletheir futures with flair and success. The research shows that the past and current achievements of colleges fit them wellfor their futures.



Celebrating What do winning colleges demonstrate in their Beacon Awards applications?Colleges ask, ‘what do winning colleges demonstrate in their applications?’ The research analysis identified tenthings that winning colleges do:

Recognise when they have outstanding provision, because staff know what excellence looks like, and are confident enough to say, ‘we have something exceptional’.

Take obvious pride in what they do.

Present their work in ways that make clear how and why it is exceptional.

Design visits for assessors which say ‘excellence’ from the foyer to the farewell.

Realise learners are their best advocates.

Involve partners and stakeholders in making the case.

Spotlight the different creative contributions of the team, individual staff, and managers.

Use statistical and other evidence to demonstrate the difference they have made.

Explain how the whole college will learn from the innovative project.

Show how they will share their expertise with other colleges, and how they intend to keep learning and innovating.

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Winning Colleges Applications

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ing AcknowledgementsThanks are due to the following generous contributors to the research:Pat Morgan WebbSue DuttonEddie BrittainAlice ThiagarajTrustees, Steering Group and sponsors of the AoC Beacon Awards

Rae AngusDoug BoyntonBrenig DaviesHuw EvansJohn GuyAsha KhemkaRobin LandmanHeather MaxwellWilbert McKeeMichael OsbaldestonHelen SextonRuth SilverJohn Taylor

Special thanks to all the learners and winning colleges represented in “Celebrating Colleges”.

Pat Hood was the Research Consultant



Celebrating Business organisations National agencies / departments Voluntary organisations

Allied Irish Bank Awarding Body Consortium Catholic Education ServiceAon AQA Church of EnglandBAE Systems AoC Duke of Edinburgh’s AwardBBC Becta EdgeBT Basic Skills Agency Free Churches GroupBoots BTI MencapChartered Institute of Marketing British Council Methodist ChurchCrossgate Press Centre for Excellence in Leadership Partnership TrustEsso CITB Construction Skills Paul Hamlyn FoundationEversheds City & Guilds RNIBThe Guardian CoLRiC RNIDInstitute of Financial Accountants Commission for Black Staff in FEJardine Lloyd Thompson Copyright Licensing AgencyKPMG Department for Employment & LearningKidsons Impey EdexcelMarks & Spencer EMTAMercers’ Company FENCPeugeot Land Based Colleges National ConsortiumPost Office Learning & Skills CouncilProtocol Professional LSDARM NACETTSodexho NCFETES NEBOSHTrident Feeds Network for Black ProfessionalsUnited Biscuits NIACEWhitbread NILTA

OCRScottish Funding CouncilUfi/LearnDirectWelsh Assembly Government

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AoC Beacon Awards sponsors 1994 – 2008


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ing Notes



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Notes


celebrating colleges

Education

capabilities of colleges

successful colleges

achievements of colleges

beacon award colleges

colleges thateconomic

pioneering colleges

levelscelebrating colleges

winning beacon awards