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SLALE Sub-group on the Professional Development of Staff
Minutes of Meeting held at 3pm on 11 May 2006 at the Scottish Funding Council Headquarters, Edinburgh
Attendees:
Marian Healey, EIS (Chair)
James Alexander, NUS Scotland
Victoria Beattie, Scottish Executive
Peter Beaumont, Scottish Executive
Susan Bird, Stevenson College Edinburgh
John Bowditch, HMIE
Heather Dunk, West Lothian College (substitute for Stewart McKillop)
Bill Harvey, Scottish Funding Council
Gordon McBride, Scottish Funding Council (left after agenda item 3)
John McCann, Scottish Further Education Unit (SFEU)*
*Associate Member
Apologies
Douglas Black, UNISON
Stewart McKillop, South Lanarkshire College
1. Chair's Introduction, Apologies etc.
· Members welcomed John McCann, Heather Dunk and Gordon McBride to the meeting.
2. Note of Meeting of 23 March 2006, incl. update on Action Points
· The minutes were agreed to be accurate.
· Members agreed that the minutes should be sent to the main Working Group.
· An update of the action points was provided as shown below:
Description of Action | Person(s) to provide update |
Executive to inform colleges who have not responded to Aileen McKechnie's letter of the extension to the deadline for responses. | Peter Beaumont advised that an e-mail had been issued to the Principals who had not responded to the letter and that the ASC were also asked to chase up those who had not responded. Unfortunately this only resulted in a few additional returns. |
Executive to produce a full analytical analysis of responses to paper SLEWG -SG- P04, for the May meeting. | Peter Beaumont advised this has been completed and would be discussed under Item 3 of the agenda. |
HMIE and SFEU to prepare a paper on guidance using existing copies of guidance material, for the May meeting. | John McCann provided members with a copy of the SEFU's Child Protection Code of Practice and this would be discussed under Item 4 of the agenda. |
The Funding Council to provide further information about the Professional Updating' Programme at a future meeting. | Bill Harvey advised that he would provide an update at a future meeting. |
Executive to formally ask the Funding Council to collect evidence of CPD activity in Scotland's colleges. | Peter Beaumont advised that the letter had now been issued. |
Funding Council should take forward the task of collecting evidence on CPD and should report the initial findings back to the sub group at the next meeting. | Bill Harvey advised that he would update members under agenda Item 5. |
3. Teacher Training - Numbers Trained.
· Peter Beaumont informed members that 25 colleges had responded to Aileen McKechnie's letter. Members noted their disappointment at the number of responses received. Heather Dunk stated that she thought West Lothian College had provided a response and agreed to investigate what had happened to their response.
· It was suggested that it might be useful to compare the colleges who responded with the data contained in Paper 04.
· Members were advised that the analysis of responses had been grouped under headings and that the paper tried to provide a flavour of common points raised as well as individual college responses. The main highlights contained in the paper were that most colleges were in support of the recommendations contained in the paper; that there were some concerns in relation to the costs, problems associated with headcount and contracts, and how to deal with staff who work in more than one college.
· The Coatbridge College example was cited as possibly being an example of best practice. Some members thought that this model was already being used by a number of colleges.
· Members were reminded that the recommendations about staff gaining their TQ(FE) within a certain time frame would only apply to new starts and would not be retrospective, albeit Colleges should not be discouraged from assisting current staff to gain TQ(FE) where appropriate.
· There was some agreement that it tended to be the same colleges who consistently comply with initiatives.
· It was brought to member's attention that some colleges have more staff approaching retirement than others and that even within some individual colleges there were some departments who have a number of staff coming up for the retirement age. There would therefore be cost and remission implications for colleges who would have a large intake of new staff over the next few years.
· There was a suggestion that it would be more appropriate to introduce a cycle of training.
· A concern was voiced that there might possibly be an age discrimination issue for staff who are currently waiting to undertake a training course if their place in the queue was 'jumped' by a new member of staff. Such a situation may occur if it was financially conducive for the college to put a new member of staff through the course rather than the longer serving member of staff. The Executive confirmed that any recommendations/proposals would be cleared by the Executive's solicitors.
· There was some in depth discussion regarding costings and models for funding the recommendations. Points raised during this discussion included:
o the suggestion that any new money should be for new starts and that existing funding should be for existing staff;
o that when building the case for additional funding there is possibly a need to introduce a grant for all staff training which would then be distributed to colleges;
o that the cost of £3,000 for the TQ[FE] and related support (ie remission and mentoring) per member of staff is possibly an underestimate; and .
o that, according to very rough calculations, the approximate cost for putting staff through training would be £4m for TQ[FE] and £4m for PDAs.
· Members were informed that the Funding Council intends to look into previous comments received about the collection of staffing returns and the comments received by this Group from colleges to Paper 04. It was made clear that the Council are at the early stages of looking into revised methods of collecting this data. Members were assured that the sector would be consulted on this matter. It was also noted that while there is need to revise the staffing returns the new methods should not micro manage colleges as they are autonomous bodies.
· On the whole, members were positive about the pre-employment TQ(FE) available at Stirling University. However members noted a point of caution that this course should not discourage students going out to obtain job experience before applying to become a lecturer, and that the practicalities of arranging placements may act as a barrier to growth in numbers undertaking the course . It was noted that people from a social science background were more likely to apply to undertake the pre-employment TQ(FE) than those from a craft background. There was a suggestion that the use of financial incentives for certain subjects could help to resolve any recruitment issues.
ACTION POINTS
Ø Heather Dunk to confirm whether or not West Lothian Col lege have submitted their response to Paper 04.
Ø Executive to provide a comparison between the colleges who responded with the data contained in Paper 04.
Ø The Executive to ensure that any recommendations/proposals will be approved by the Executive's solicitors, with a view to ensuring compliance with relevant employment legislation.
4. Code of Conduct
· John McCann spoke about the SFEU handbook on Keeping Children and Young People Safe and Well. In particular he drew attention to the language used in Appendices 4 and 5. It was thought that this document could provide a foundation for forming a generic code of practice for all staff.
· It was noted that feedback from colleges so far was that the handbook had been helpful to colleges.
· There was a suggestion that the generic code of practice should use the similar language to the professional standards and that the code could be built into the new materials for the PDAs.
· Members were informed that West Lothian College already has a code of practice and that this would be made available to members.
· It was agreed that John McCann and John Bowditch would check whether any other Scottish Colleges have such a code, and would then draft an initial generic code of practice for the next sub group meeting.
ACTION POINTS
Ø Heather Dunk to provide members with copy West Lothian Col lege 's Code of Practice.
Ø John Bowditch and John McCann to check whether any other Scottish Col leges have a code of practice for staff, and draft an initial generic code of practice for the next sub group meeting.
5. Update on CPD
· Bill Harvey provided members with a brief verbal update about the CPD pilot.
· Members were informed that the Funding Council have met with the Human Resource Communities of Practice group who have reassured the Council that the draft questionnaire is not a repeat of previous questionnaires. It is hoped that the final draft of the questionnaire will be ready by 24th May and will then be issued to colleges with a response deadline date in July. Members were assured that the survey will include all staff.
· It is hoped that once the results have been collated the sub group will be able to discuss the issue of CPD at the September meeting.
ACTION POINTS
Ø Scottish Funding Council to provide an update on CPD for the September meeting.
6. AOB
· There was a suggestion that it might be useful for members to look at the NHS framework.
· Agreed that there would be no need for sub group meeting to be held in June.
List of Action Points
Ø Heather Dunk to confirm whether or not West Lothian Col lege have submitted their response to Paper 04.
Ø Executive to provide a comparison between the colleges who responded with the data contained in Paper 04.
Ø The Executive to ensure that any recommendations/proposals will be approved by the Executive's solicitors to ensure that there has been no breach in employment legislation.
Ø Heather Dunk to provide members with copy West Lothian Col lege 's Code of Practice.
Ø John Bowditch and John McCann to draft an initial generic code of practice for the next sub group meeting.
Ø Scottish Funding Council to provide an update on CPD for the September meeting.
Review Team
Scotland 's Colleges
17 May 2006