Minutes:
Mr David Warnes, Vice Principal – Innovation & Enterprise (London South East Colleges) gave a presentation on the work of London South East Colleges.
As of August 2016, London South East Colleges (LSEC) incorporated Bromley College of Further and Higher Education; Bexley College; Greenwich Community College; London South East Apprenticeship Company; London South East Academies Trust, which currently consisted of five schools and continued to grow; and London Skills for Growth, which had been the latest acquisition in summer 2017.
The group had a turnover of circa £60m and employed around 1,300 staff. Approximately 13,000 learners were enrolled, attending its five schools, three training provider and seven college campuses. There were a small number of 14-16 year olds, but the majority of learners were aged 16-18, or adults attending the Greenwich Campus which delivered the Adult and Community Learning contract for the Royal Borough of Greenwich. More than 75% of students lived in the London Boroughs of Greenwich, Bromley, Bexley and Lewisham.
London South East Colleges’ achievement rates were above the national average, increasing year on year, and in spring 2017 they received the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) ‘confidence’ rating. Following the amalgamation, the mission of LSEC had remained the same, to deliver real skills and knowledge for the real world. LSEC had a number of ambitions for 2020, which included to be a strong dynamic and responsive College to employers, communities, learners and staff; and to have outstanding partnerships and relationships with schools, colleges, universities, Local Authorities and employers.
LSEC had a number of boards which helped to ensure the creation of a robust evidence base for skills, and informed and shaped their curriculum offer for each industry. At the centre of the structure was the Employment and Skills Board, which provided a platform from which key partners could have a real voice in shaping the skills provision. It ensured that young people were appropriately qualified for the current and future job markets, and would equally support longer term economic growth and productivity. There were a further eleven curriculum specific ‘Industry Advisory Boards’, whose memberships included employer partners, industry stakeholders and Local Authority representatives. These scrutinised that what was being offered was fit for purpose, and that the strategic direction was aligned to what employers were saying, and fed into the Employment and Skills Board.
LSEC had a five year curriculum strategy in place to provide a new provision to meet economic and job needs locally and regionally, and focus on local strategic priorities. Areas of industry sector specialisms would include STEM aerospace and construction, business, hospitality and catering, education, digital and ICT. New delivery models would be driven by employers to meet their needs; develop sector specific skills and competencies to ensure that leaners from London South East Colleges were first in line for employment; and allow entry into Degree Level provisions. Emerging new curriculum developments in South East London included hospitality, food and enterprise for which a degree level programme was due to launch shortly; and motor vehicle and engineering which would link with the Aeronautical Institute of Technology to be based on the site of London Biggin Hill Airport. With regards to apprenticeships, the London South East Apprenticeship Company, and partners Skills for Growth, were working to engage levy and non-levy paying employers. New standards were being rolled out over eighteen months, from June 2017, moving away from frameworks, and towards an employer-driven set of standards for apprenticeships.
In response to a question, Mr Warnes acknowledged that there was a huge skills gap when it came to employing electronic engineers. There was currently an issue to recruit trainers, which made it difficult to provide programmes for students. Work was being undertaken with employers who had the technical knowledge, but not the teaching experience, to train them up as examiners or to deliver in the classroom.