The Scottish Government

REVIEW OF SCOTLAND 'S COLLEGES

RoSCo e-Bulletin Issue 7 -October 2006

(You can download a pdf version of this document by clicking here)

In this issue:

Welcome

Minutes of Meetings and Associated Papers

Core Group

Working Groups

Unlocking Opportunity Conference

Information about other work of Further & Adult Education Division

Feedback

Contacts

Welcome to the seventh edition of the Review of Scotland's Colleges (RoSCo) e-bulletin, which provides an update on progress of the Review.

We would be grateful if you could draw attention to the RoSCo e-Bulletin through your own internal and external newsletters and websites. We are also keen to ensure that the e-bulletin is circulated more widely by building up a more comprehensive distribution list. If you would like to be added to the mailing list please let us know by e-mailing rosco@scotland.gsi.gov.uk .

Information about the Review can be found on the Executive's revised website address at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education/UniversitiesColleges/17135/RSC/Intro

Minutes and papers of the working groups and Core Group are available on the website.

The Core Group held its fourth meeting on 25 August.

The main item of discussion was the draft report from the Staffing, Learners and Learning Environments Working Group (SLALE) on the overall college experience for learners (and in particular, issues relating to student representation). The Group generally endorsed the report, making a number of suggestions on how the report could be improved. These suggested amendments have been taken back to SLALE for its consideration.

Members were also updated on:

• the progress of each of the four workstreams;
• the formal launch of 'Unlocking Opportunity'; and
• the main Lifelong Learning Strategies.

The Core Group will next meet on 15 December at Meridian Court, Glasgow.

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Difference Colleges Make

The Working Group held its eighth meeting on 15 September in Meridian Court, Glasgow.

The Group was updated on plans for the conference to launch its 'Unlocking Opportunity' report.

Having completed the first phase of its work (examining the difference colleges make), the Group is now considering the difference colleges could make if additional funding were allocated as a result of the next Spending Review.

The Group discussed background papers on the following issues:

• pensions;
• skills;
• partnership working;
• tailoring support for learners in Scotland's colleges;
• European funding;
• new demands/growing expectations on colleges;
• and volunteering.

The Group will next meet on 31 October at Meridian Court, Glasgow.

Accountability and Governance

The Group's ninth meeting was held at Langside College on 6 October (following a review of the work plan for the workstream, the Group's September meeting was cancelled). At the meeting:

• staff representatives (academic and support) from Langside College discussed their experience as members of the college's board of management.
• John McClelland, Chair of the Scottish Funding Council, discussed how arrangements and accountability and governance could be enhanced.
• the Group was advised that four recommendations of the Audit Committee will be considered as part of RoSCo. These are:

o the designation of college accountable officers;

o interventions to assist colleges in severe difficulty;

o the mix of board member skills and experience; and

o board member national training.

• the Group discussed the designation of college accountable officers and board member national training.
• the Group were advised that the Office of the Scottish Charities Regulator will review colleges between June 2007 and March 2009. This will enable the Regulator to clarify whether colleges are sufficiently independent of Ministers to meet the charity test.

The next meeting of the Group will take place 8 November at Glasgow College of Nautical Studies.

Staffing, Learners and Learning Environment

The Working Group held its tenth meeting on 14 September in St. Andrew's House in Edinburgh.

There were three main items discussed at this meeting: estates; modernisation of learning and teaching methods; and the profile of college students.

The Scottish Funding Council presented a paper on college estates. The paper explained that there is a need to gather evidence in three main areas:

• known and likely capital funding commitments for the next spending review period.
• establishing an evidence base to move towards an ongoing and sustainable capital funding stream in the medium term (consultants have been commissioned to examine funding levels required to move the sector to a 'steady state').
• qualitative evidence of benefits to staff, students and wider communities from investment in college estates (the Funding Council will co-ordinate a paper from Stewart McKillop, Principal of South Lanarkshire College on this).

The Group broadly welcomed the paper on the modernisation and improvement of learning and teaching methods across the college sector. The paper will be slightly redrafted to reflect the group's discussions.

The Group noted the information contained in the Profile of College Students paper.

The Professional Development of Staff Sub Group held its sixth meeting after the Working Group meeting on 14 September.

At the Sub Group meeting:

• members discussed a statistical paper on the profile of college staff - this paper is intended to sit alongside the 'Profile of College Staff' project being undertaken by SFEU.
• SFEU presented an interim paper on the principles for a code of practice for all staff. It was recognised that there was no common ground and that it would be neither desirable nor feasible to impose a code of practice on the sector. However it was agreed that a guidance statement should be drafted in case a college wished to develop its own code of practice. The draft guidance should outline some of the things a code should encompass and it will be presented to the main Working Group for further discussion.
• The Funding Council updated members on the Continuous Professional Development pilot.

The Working Group held its eleventh meeting on 12 October in Europa Building in Glasgow.

At this meeting the group heard presentations from:

• Chris Robinson (Equality Forward) - Equality Forward
• Alan Smith (Cardonald College) - Focus on Learning II - Steps to Employability
• Martin Kirkwood (Scottish Funding Council) - College Estates.

There was a question and answer session following each presentation.

The Group received a brief introduction to the 'Profile of Staff' report. Further discussion on this will take place at the Group's next meeting.

The Group agreed to establish a small group to consider the shape of the Working Group's final report.

The next meeting of the Working Group and Sub Group will take place on 20 November in St. Andrew's House in Edinburgh.

Colleges' Long Term Strategic Future

The Long Term Strategic Futures Working Group met in workshop mode on 28 September at the Western General Hospital's Management Centre in Edinburgh.

Syndicate groups considered:

• what would be a favourable outcome for Scotland's colleges by 2020.
• what would be an unfavourable outcome for the colleges by 2020.
• the internal culture and current activities of the sector and asked what needs to change and how might these changes occur over a 15 to 20 year timeframe.

Syndicate groups then considered characteristics of a Scotland which has:

• more choice/individual responses to learning opportunities and has a sustainable, high growth knowledge economy;
• less choice/individual responses to learning opportunities and has a sustainable, high growth knowledge economy;
• more choice/individual responses to learning opportunities and has a low growth, low added value economy; and
• less choice/individual responses to learning opportunities and has a low growth, low added value economy.

The Working Group will next meet on 24 October in Dundee to discuss narratives describing four 'plausible Scotlands' around 2020 that have been developed and to consider their implications for the college sector. These narratives are not predictions of the future. They are being used to stimulate debate about how colleges can plan.

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The report 'Unlocking Opportunity - the Difference Scotland's Colleges Make to Learners, the Economy and Wider Society' was launched by Nicol Stephen, the Deputy First Minister, at a conference in Glasgow on 3 October.

Over 100 people participated in the event, chaired by John Burt, principal of Angus College and chair of the Difference Colleges Make Working Group.

The conference heard speeches from:

• the Deputy First Minister about the difference colleges make;
• Aileen McKechnie, Head of Further and Adult Education Division in the Scottish Executive, about the Review; and
• Colin MacBean, Economic Adviser in the Scottish Executive, about the economic value of colleges.

There was a presentation from Coatbridge College about employability and engaging with individuals not in education, employment or training. A particular highlight of the day was hearing from Liam Lambie, a student from the College, about the difference college has made to him.

There were six syndicates in the morning and in the afternoon about different aspects of college activity. They were:

1. Serving Learners - IT Skills for the Older Population (Cumbernauld College) and English for Speakers of Other Languages (Langside College)

2. Serving the Economy - Creative Industries (Cardonald College) and Biotechnology (Forth Valley College)

3. Serving Communities - Community Regeneration (John Wheatley College) and Support for Rural Development (Oatridge College)

4. Working in Partnership - School and College Partnership (Angus College) and Partnership with Community Learning and Development (Motherwell College)

5. Meeting Learner Need - Supporting Learners with Additional Support Needs (Stevenson College) and Helping Learners with Literacy/Numeracy Difficulties (Banff and Buchan College)

6. Delivering Higher Education - Higher National Modernisation Project (Anniesland College) and Progressing from College to University in Nursing (The Adam Smith College).

Delegates also discussed the difference colleges could make in the future.

A copy of the 'Unlocking Opportunity' report can be found on the Scottish Executive's website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/10/02110410/0 . A copy of the summary report is at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/09/29093131/0

The Executive would like to extend its thanks to the speakers, chairs and other participants who attended the event.

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We have been involved in organising a range of college visits for Ministers over the summer, perhaps most notably the opening by the First Minister of Edinburgh's Telford College's new campus in September.

Ministers have been giving close consideration to the report on Inverness College published in July by the Parliament's Audit Committee. Ministers have now accepted all the Committee's recommendations.

We have continued to work closely with Ministers in responding to correspondence, representations and Parliamentary Questions on a number of college-related issues. Subjects have ranged from staffing issues at James Watt College and the future of West Lothian College's PFI contract.

We have now completed the process of appointing two new members to the board of the Scottish Funding Council. The new members are Dr Lindsay Burley and Mr Alexander Watson. Dr Burley is Chair of the National Waiting Times Centre Board for Scotland, and is a partner in Eskhill & Co, providing coaching and mediation services. Mr Watson is Chair of the Board of Management of Angus College, a member of the board of the Association of Scotland's Colleges, and a member of the Review's Accountability and Governance Working Group. The appointments are for a four year term effective from 16 October.

We are close to finalising policy work on an Adult ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) Strategy for Scotland, a draft of which is with Cabinet for consideration.

We, along with Learning Connections Communities Scotland, have invited bids for grant funding for projects which will engage employers and employees in workplace literacies learning. The closing date for applications is 27 October.

We are developing an International Further and Higher Education Strategy and have held informal discussions with members of the college sector on a draft outline. A full draft of the Strategy will be discussed at a roundtable meeting with the Deputy First Minister on 9 November, and has been circulated to those invited for comments. We are aiming to publish the final version later this year.

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We would welcome ongoing feedback on any aspect of the Review. Please send your comments to rosco@scotland.gsi.gov.uk.

RoSCo Project Leader - Col Baird

Tel 0141 242 0237

Email colin.baird@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

RoSCo Secretariat - Victoria Beattie

Tel 0141 242 0239

Email victoria.beattie@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Address Further and Adult Education Division

Europa Building

450 Argyle Street

Glasgow

G2 8LG