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Staffing, Learners and Learning Environments (SLALE) Working Group
Minutes of Meeting held at 1pm on 01 June 2006 at Reid Kerr College, Paisley
Attendees:
Marian Healy, EIS (Joint Chair)
Maureen Anderson, UNISON
Col Baird, ETLLD-FAED (Review of Scotland's Colleges Team)
Victoria Beattie, ETLLD-FAED (Review of Scotland's Colleges Team)
Peter Beaumont, ETLLD-FAED (Skills and Staffing Team)
Susan Bird, Stevenson College Edinburgh
John Bowditch, HMIE
Gordon Casey, AMICUS
Natalé Craig, Student President of Reid Kerr College (guest presenter)
Tom Craig, ETLLD-FAED (Skills and Staffing Team) (w/g Secretariat)
Gail Edwards, NUS Scotland
John Ireson, Skill Scotland
John McCann, SFEU
Stewart McKillop, South Lanarkshire College
Sheila Meikle, UNISON
Joe Mooney, Principal of Reid Kerr College (guest presenter, left after item 2)
Penny Neish, ASC
Melanie Ward, NUS Scotland (Joint Chair)
Apologies:
Claire Bell, Scottish Funding Council
Bill Harvey, Scottish Funding Council
Iain McCaskey, SSAScot
1. Chair's Introduction, Apologies etc.
· It was noted that Marian Healy had agreed to act as Chair in place of Melanie Ward. This was to allow Melanie to contribute more freely to the main agenda item (5) on student representation and the overall student experience.
· Apologies were recorded as noted above.
· The Chair welcomed Maureen Anderson to her first meeting of the group and noted that both she and Sheila Meikle were attending this meeting as a one-off arrangement. The Chair thanked Sheila for her contribution to the group as Maureen's substitute.
· The Chair further noted that this would be the last meeting for joint Chair Melanie Ward, who was leaving NUS Scotland at the end of the month to be replaced by her deputy James Alexander. She thanked Melanie for her contribution to the work of the group.
2. Joint Presentation by Principal and Student President of Reid Kerr Col lege
· Joe Mooney and Natalé Craig delivered a joint presentation on student participation within the management structure of a college. Following this, they answered questions from members on related issues.
· It was agreed that Natalé could remain for the entirety of the meeting given the intended focus of discussion.
3. Note of Meeting of 11 May 2006, incl. update on Action Points
· The minutes were agreed to be a fair and accurate record.
· An update on outstanding action points was provided as shown below:
Description of Action | Update |
The Executive to report back to a future meeting on whether its responsibilities under the 1993 regulations can be delegated to another body. | Peter Beaumont reported that his team had received a holding reply from SE Solicitors, who had promised to reply in full by 07 June. |
NUS and ASC to report back to the group on whether they think the joint audit idea would be worthwhile | Gail Edwards advised that the planned meeting with Tom Kelly of ASC was still to be held. |
In due course, Scottish Equalities Unit to be invited to make a presentation to the group | Peter Beaumont reported that a meeting had been held that morning with the director of Equality Forward, Chris Robinson. She was keen to be involved with the group and had agreed to deliver a presentation at a future meeting. |
Holistic discussion of student representation issues to take place at a later meeting of the group | Item 4 on agenda. |
John McCann to provide group with final Profiling of Staff report as soon as it becomes available. | John McCann suggested that a draft final report could be available by around August. |
As noted in minutes of research sub-group, FAED to prepare a list of common concerns/themes for discussion by the group at a future meeting. | Paper SLEWG-P11 circulated in advance. |
In due course, FAED to inform Scottish Equalities Unit about the work undertaken by ASD and the SLALE group in relation to the student experience. | Peter Beaumont said that this had been discussed that morning with Chris Robinson. She had advised that it was too early to say whether the unit would be practically able to undertake research which might relate to the student experience. |
Funding Council to provide further evidence of the link between estates improvement and retention rates with a view to informing the group's recommendations | Claire Bell was not in attendance. |
FAED to source central guidance, if available, on the format of Spending Review bids | Peter Beaumont said that he had made enquiries but that no such information was yet available. He undertook to inform the group should such guidance become available. |
SFC and SFEU to discuss ways of collaborating in support of the sustainability agenda | John McCann advised that he had entered into talks with Claire Bell. |
Amendment to be made to SFC discussion paper as suggested by Susan Bird | Claire Bell was not in attendance. |
FAED to investigate issue regarding developing role of SSCs and report back to the group on this | Peter Beaumont advised that he would be meeting with the SDDA's Jacqui Hepburn on 05 June and would raise the issue then. |
The Chair, noting that there had also been an issue at the last meeting regarding a central energy efficiency fund which the Funding Council was unable to access, wondered if anyone had anything to say about this. Susan Bird said that Robin Harper of the Green Party had been advised about this and had undertaken to investigate the matter.
4. Update on Review
· In a late addition to the agenda, Col Baird gave an update on the review as a whole to date.
· The Difference Colleges Make Group had produced a near final report which had been endorsed by the Core Group. The plan was to disseminate this shortly in its current form before publishing a glossy final document later in the year. Although this meant that the group had effectively accomplished its remit already, the Core Group had asked it to continue by looking at the difference colleges COULD make if they were given extra money.
· The Strategic Futures Group was still in its first, information-gathering, phase, which was due to end later that month. As part of this phase, two very successful 'Open Space' events had been held, from which a great deal of useful material had been gathered.
· The Accountability and Governance Group had stalled for a while but was now back on track with the agreement of the research specification. A tender invitation for the research exercise had gone out that week.
· The Core Group had made a plea to the working groups to try and complete individual sections of their remits in turn. This would make their task of endorsing working group outcomes more manageable.
ACTION
5. Discussion on Student Representation and the Overall Student Experience
· Melanie Ward noted that a number of papers and presentations relating to learners had now been seen and discussed by the group. She expressed her hope that the group could now produce some clear recommendations on how the relevant issues could be dealt with.
· Victoria Beattie spoke to paper SLEWG-P11 circulated in advance. Referring members to paragraph 8, she asked whether there were any specific areas for action that were not covered in the paper.
· At the Chair's suggestion, it was agreed to examine Annex A with a view to it forming a basis for the group's recommendations on learners. Members agreed to this approach and made various suggestions as to how the Annex could be improved. Victoria undertook to apply these changes so that the Annex would form a draft recommendations paper. This paper would be circulated to members with a view to it being signed off at the next meeting.
· As a part of the above discussion, it was agreed that the draft recommendations paper should be supplemented by a pair of best practice case studies from Adam Smith and Reid Kerr Colleges. Natalé Craig offered to liaise with her counterpart at Adam Smith College in this regard.
ACTION
- FAED to revise Annex A of Paper 11 and circulate to members in advance of the next (04 July) meeting
- Natalé Craig to liaise with Student Association at Adam Smith Col lege regarding production of case studies
6. Update on Professional Development Sub-group
· Peter Beaumont said that the main item for discussion at the last meeting had been the teacher training analysis. Most of the concerns raised by colleges had been in relation to the potential costs of the recommendations. Funding Council data collection had also featured strongly.
· In relation to costs, the fact that the recommendations would only apply to new staff was a mitigating factor. On the other hand, it was noted that there was a 'bulge' of staff due to retire. Regarding data collection, the Funding Council was commencing a review in this area.
· John McCann had spoken to a publication by the SFEU called 'Keeping Children Safe and Well'. It had been agreed that parts of this document could form a foundation for a voluntary Code of Practice. It had also been agreed that the SFEU would try to find out which colleges already had such a Code in place (Maureen Anderson later advised that Moray College was one) and that John would, in conjunction with John Bowditch, draft a generic Code for the Sub-group to consider.
· Bill Harvey had also given an update on the CPD pilot. He had reported that the Council hoped to issue a questionnaire to colleges around the end of May.
7. Any Other Business
· It was suggested that members should be aware of the consultation on proposals for funding students with additional support needs. At the least, members should look at the report when it was published.
· It was agreed to keep Sheila Meikle on the copy list for papers.
· The Chair and members wished Melanie Ward every success in the next stages of her career.
List of Action Points
- FAED to circulate link to 'Langlands Commission' document (as referred to by the Accountability and Governance group): http://www.opm.co.uk/ICGGPS/download_upload/Standard.pdf
- FAED to revise Annex A of Paper 11 and circulate to members in advance of the next (04 July) meeting
- Natalé Craig to liaise with Student Association at Adam Smith Col lege regarding production of case studies
Tom Craig
ETLLD -FAED
13 June 2006