Linking London Sixth Annual Conference
2nd July 2012
Sue BettsDirector
‘Reflections on Linking London 2011 – 12’
2011 – 12 has been a transitional year into sustainability – from a HEFCE funded Lifelong Learning Network to one based on partners’ subscription, and other funding sources
It has seen the expansion of the network from a solely HE/FE partnership to one with a variety of partners
It has been a productive year – with most objectives in the Business Plan achieved
Evaluation of our staff development work is good to excellentWe are a collaborative partnership of six years which works
by building on trust and co-operation
Linking London 2011 - 12
We have 8 types of members to support currently:Universities - Further Education Colleges - 6th Form College - Adult focused smaller colleges (SDIs and residential) –School, with 6th Form - Awarding Bodies - Professional bodies -unionlearn -
Linking London now!
Working in partnership to create opportunities
Linking London
Main work strands of Linking London 2011 - 12 and 12 - 13
Business Plan (11-12) concentrated on 6 main areas: 1. Access Agreements, now including student engagement
and success (retention) and data 2. HE in FE3. IAG4. Employer Engagement5. Apprenticeships 6. Staff Development and support
We have organised 21 events (Business Plan promised 10)for partners – involving 400 staff over the year – five of those events have been practitioner groups dedicated specifically to two priorities of the network – IAG and HE in FE
We have held individual consultations with 23 of our 27 partners during the year
We have published 10 new publications*We have responded to numerous consultations on behalf of
partners and lobbied government and policy bodies on behalf of members’ interests
Some achievements 2011 - 12
One highlight after the last conference was discovering in July
that we had been successful in gaining 400K Euros, under the Eramus Programme for our GLAS project, investigating areas of APL, WBL, Social Mobility, Civic Engagement, CPD – all through the lens of gender and class
Successful EU funding for the GLAS project
GLAS partners with Baroness Perry at the House of Lords
We have delivered bespoke sessions to staff in our partner institutions on IAG, and progression to HE
We have supported partners in their collaborative work by brokering new Progression Agreements and supporting existing relationships*
We have increasingly become involved in internal members’ partner meetings, IAG delivery, FDAP etc
There has been a subtle shift in our work with partners as we all anticipate the new fee structure
Some achievements 2011 - 12
In the spring of 2012 another highlight was the successful gaining of £78,000 of funding to run a Credit Accumulation and Transfer (CATs) project in the area of leadership and management
We now have eleven partners involved in this project – 2 universities, three colleges and three awarding/professional bodies, plus some new recruits
The first Steering Group meets on the 9th July
The CATs project - funding from BIS/SFA and AoC
We have supported institutions in their Access Agreements through providing up to date templates of engagement for the year, held an event with OFFA policy advisers, who are keen to support partners
We have liaised on partners’ behalf with numerous organisations, both London wide and nationally
We have shared our expertise speaking at regional and national conferences*
We have developed MA modules for partners to use for APL and Admissions Staff – to show their competency
We have developed an Employer Engagement toolkit to support partners’ work in this area
Some achievements 2011 - 12
Through the Link – our monthly newsletter, HE in FE our monthly bulletin and the website we provide an information and updating service for the partners
We run a Helpline and Advice and Support line – 0207 380 3226 for our partners
We link with national experts in their field – SPA, UCAS, QAAWe have explored data in progression work and are in the
process of brokering a Pan London data service for partners
Some achievements 2011 - 12
We believe 2011 – 23 has been a good year for the partnership, albeit in difficult circumstances
We know there are considerable challenges ahead as we approach the ‘new era’ of HE, and in time FE, but we do believe that collaboratively in partnership we can do more
In summary 2011 - 12
A ‘new era’ characterised by:
Uncertainty
The ‘new era’ characterised by:
the new fees regime, admissions targets and accuracy, unlimited AAB students off
quota, and quotacore and marginal numbers (some FE providers new to HE
being directly funded), progression FE to HE, and within FEspotlight on level 3 to 4, particularly for mature learners need for emphasis on teaching and learning, and
information for students, re-looking both in FE and HE at staff qualifications.
the use of evidence (data)for planning purposes
Reflections
Sustainability Awareness of the longer term – collaborative targetsInstitutions taking much greater responsibility for planning
their own destinyThe cost of failure is high At the same time therefore we might see the learner journey
as something much more carefully defined and supportedCould mean a re-emergence or a re-look at more flexible and
alternative ways of providing education
Thank you for listening.Sue Betts [email protected]