16 April 2010
Open College Network Annual Report for 2008-2009 Academic Year
All centres should have received a hard copy version of OCNYHR’s Annual Report for 2008-2009, which was launched and presented to our Annual General Meeting on 29th January 2009.
The report features case studies of our work, with a particular emphasis this year on our work in the 14-19 phase, including our work with young people Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEETS).
The report also contains financial information and performance charts showing the types of learners who are using N/OCN accreditation. A special feature on our Access to HE provision shows which institutions have registered our 1,861 Access to HE Diploma learners.
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Access to HE Conference: Building on Success
The slides from the Access to HE conference have been published on QAA’s website at http://www.qaa.ac.uk/events/accessconf10/default.asp.
OCNYHR Awarded the Disability-Friendly ‘Two Ticks’ Symbol
In order to ensure that all posts at OCNYHR are fully accessible and promoted to disabled people, we have recently achieved Jobcentre Plus’s Disability-friendly accreditation. This means that we are committed to employing disabled people and will:
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Interview all applicants with a disability who meet the minimum criteria for a job vacancy and consider them on their abilities;
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Ensure there is a mechanism in place to discuss, at any time, but at least once a year, with disabled employees what can be done to make sure they can develop and use their abilities;
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Make every effort when employees become disabled to make sure they stay in employment;
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Take action to ensure that all employees develop the appropriate level of disability awareness needed to make these commitments work;
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Each year, review the five commitments and what has been achieved, plan ways to improve on them and let employees and Jobcentre Plus know about progress and future plans.
For more information on the Disability ‘Two-Ticks’ Symbol, go to:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/Employmentsupport/LookingForWork/DG_4000314
Access to Higher Education
Quality Assurance Agency Review – conducted in June 2009
The full review of Open College Network Yorkshire and Humber as an Access Validating Agency (AVA) for the Award of the Level 3 Access to HE Diploma is now available to download from the Quality Assurance Agency’s (QAA) website.
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/access/reports/RG546OCNYorkHumber.pdf
All six conditions have now been addressed and reported to the QAA and we have developed an Action Plan to address the suggested recommendations made in the report.
The OCNYHR Trustee Board has congratulated the whole company on the quality of the report received, especially the six commendations around our relationships with and support for providers; our strategic planning; support and documentation on programme validation; continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities; our close links with HEIs (Higher Education Institutions); and the processes we employ as an AVA to ensure cross-provider standardisation.
Access to HE Newsletter – Issue 4 – Spring 2010
The latest edition of the Access to HE Newsletter has been circulated to our contacts and is also available here to download:
Access to HE Newsletter Spring 2010.pdf
Qualification and Credit Update April 2010
OCNYHR has published its latest Qualifications and Credit Update and this has been sent out to all Curriculum Contacts at membership centres.
This Update details Qualification Extensions for the NQF (National Qualifications Framework) and QCF (Qualifications and Credit Framework) as well as a summary of the list of courses available for LSC (now Skills Funding Agency) funding for 2010 – 2011.
The Update also contains information on applying to MIAP for Unique Learner Numbers; the NOCN Entry Level Award, Certificate and Diploma in Personal Progress (Entry 1) (QCF) appropriate for your Foundation Learning offer; and updates on Functional Skills and Language Skills, with more in development.
The Update gives further information on the Level 1 Certificate and Diploma in Step-UP (Skills Towards Enabling Progression) and the Entry Level Certificate in Adult Literacy / Numeracy at Entry 3 only.
To download the Qualification and Credit Update April 2010 please click here.
Learning Society Essential for Recovery
In the run up to the General Election, NIACE, The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education, has published an agenda for lifelong learning, which reflects the range of challenges that the country and the new Government - of whatever political complexion - will face and calls for action to create a learning society.
The challenges - identified in NIACE's Agenda 2010 Lifelong Learning in Challenging Times are:
• financial - to ensure effective recovery from global recession;
• demographic - to prepare for half a million fewer young people entering the labour market in the coming decade, a rapidly growing older population and greater international labour market flexibility;
- technological - to match the pace of innovation and entrepreneurialism of our trading partners;
- environmental - to secure a low carbon economy and greater sustainability;
- social - to secure social justice, community cohesion, and to minimise the negative impacts of inequality; and
- democratic - to encourage active citizenship and strengthen trust in representative democracy locally and nationally.
- Alan Tuckett, Chief Executive of NIACE, said:
We believe that the failures in the banking sector must not be allowed to deflect the UK from investing in lifelong learning that will help avoid such problems in the future.
Alan Tuckett, Chief Executive of NIACE
"There's a serious risk that the short-term pressures on public finances will disguise the central importance of lifelong learning in securing community cohesion as well economic competitiveness. We believe that the failures in the banking sector must not be allowed to deflect the UK from investing in lifelong learning that will help avoid such problems in the future. As a result NIACE has prepared this agenda for the new Government to pave the way to a learning society."
NIACE recommends that the new Government should focus on the following key principles:
- Inclusivity - NIACE evaluates adult education and training by the extent to which they help those adults who have benefited least from their initial learning and who face particular barriers to study. NIACE believes special consideration must be given to educational opportunities for older people and believes that the new government should consider the introduction of an older learners' entitlement.
- Equitable contributions - Building a learning society will require increased investment by everyone - individuals, employers and government alike. Public money should not be used to displace existing private sector spending - and that it is the job of employers to train staff for their current and anticipated economic activities.
- Range of learning opportunities - The public benefits of education and training are not limited to particular subjects or levels of study. They can be measured through the behaviours and attitudes of adults who identify themselves as learners.
- Building adults' capabilities - NIACE believes that the new government should introduce a common curriculum framework which would represent the state's offer to its adult population. This would include measures to build:
We desperately need a society where there is widespread understanding and confidence that we can learn our way out of our current difficulties, and lay the foundations for a future that values the contributions every single citizen can make to the well-being and prosperity of the nation.
Alan Tuckett, Chief Executive of NIACE
- health capability;
- financial capability;
- civic capability; and
- digital capability.
- Family Learning - The capability of adults to be good parents, grandparents or carers is vital to the learning society. Families have more impact on the educational success of children than do schools. NIACE urges the new government to take an expansive approach to family policy in respect of learning by ensuring that the needs of adults are given parity with the learning needs of children.
Alan Tuckett, continued:
"We desperately need a society where there is widespread understanding and confidence that we can learn our way out of our current difficulties, and lay the foundations for a future that values the contributions every single citizen can make to the well-being and prosperity of the nation. These contributions, given the right support, can lead to vibrant and inclusive communities, entrepreneurial, innovative and successful businesses and public services, and to making the world a better place for our children."
NIACE (The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education, England and Wales). A company limited by guarantee registered no. 2603322 and registered charity no. 1002775, Registered address: 21, De Montfort Street, Leicester, LE1 7GE, UK www.niace.org.uk
Course and Provider Features
Careers Education and Preparation for Working Life – available at Level 1 and Level 2
This long-standing qualification currently sits on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) and OCNYHR is supporting NOCN in the process of transferring the qualification to the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF). There are six units in the qualification, three of which are mandatory. There are pre-written assessment tasks with the core units and for optional units, tutors can develop their own tasks.
The content of the courses which can be developed to achieve this qualification is very flexible and relevant to the lives of young people and their roles in society. Whilst employment-related, they also look at citizenship, personal finance, IT in the workplace, and career options. Learners can accredit their work experience, making this a very useful qualification for Year 10 and 11 learners.
One school which has used the qualification very successfully is Hatfield Visual Arts College, Doncaster. Mary Short, a teacher at the College said:
“We have moved from doing a half GCSE in Citizenship to the Careers Education Qualification from OCN. We have found that our students have a much more positive experience using this course as they can see the value of it for themselves. Students are more motivated and actively engaged in lessons which has led to students who are taking in much more of the content.
The course is relevant to students’ future lives and gives them skills needed to live in the modern day world. Comparing our behaviour records, we have about a quarter of the negative behaviour which we used to experience with the half GCSE. I feel this can be attributed to the relevance and structure of the OCN qualification.”
Mary Short
Hatfield Visual Arts College
http://www.hatfield.doncaster.sch.uk/
The Youth Association
(The following is an extract from the website of the News Distribution Service for Government and the Public Sector, a service of the Central Office for Information.)
A group of young people in Wakefield hit all the right notes when they swapped the city’s cathedral for the countryside in a bid to learn how to master musical composition.
The teenagers, who tended to gather in the precinct outside Wakefield Cathedral, instead tried their hand at composing, performing and recording in a special residential music project funded via the government’s Youth Sector Development Fund (YSDF).
Youth workers were so impressed by the efforts put in by the eight-strong group of 16-19-year-olds that they have put them forward for accreditation from the National Open College Network. This would give them credits that they could use for building towards nationally-recognised qualifications.
To read the full article, please go to:
http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/detail.aspx?NewsAreaId=2&ReleaseID=410636&SubjectId=6
Ofqual – Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation
The National Open College Network (NOCN) holds the licence with Ofqual, the new regulator, to deliver qualifications which sit on either the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) or the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF).
NOCN then licence Open College Network Yorkshire and Humber (OCNYHR) and eight over regional and one national network (Northern Ireland) to accredit qualifications. Agored Cymru (formerly the OCN for Wales) is now a separate entity, independent of the NOCN Network. Ascentis is the new name for OCNW, which is not part of the NOCN network.
The following comes from Ofqual’s website to explain their role:
“At Ofqual, we’re responsible for maintaining standards, improving confidence and distributing information about qualifications and examinations. We regulate general and vocational qualifications in England and Wales and vocational qualifications in Northern Ireland.
We give formal recognition to bodies and organisations that deliver qualifications and assessments. We also accredit their awards and monitor their activities (including their fees). We work closely with organisations like the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA), who create qualifications curricula and frameworks (in partnership with awarding organisations).
We oversee the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF). The QCF is the unified national qualifications system for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. We approve and distribute the criteria that qualifications must meet to be part of the QCF. We also check that qualifications and the bodies that award them meet these criteria. The QCF is agreed by the QCDA, awarding organisations and, where necessary, regulators and other third parties.”
Ofqual are at the moment playing great attention to the registration of learners, in particularly to learners who we deem to be registered late against our current service standards. Further information on this important issue has been communicated to centre contacts in recent communications, which also contain important information about the submission of Curriculum Plans for 2010 – 2011.
Newsletter for the Yorkshire and the Humber Skills, Employability and Education for the 2012 Games Virtual Network
To read the March 2010 edition of the Regional Newsletter promoting the learning and skills opportunities provided by the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, please go to:
http://www.skillslegacy.co.uk/newsletter/march2010.html
OCNYHR Fundraising for Haiti
Staff and visitors to OCN House, Wakefield have been raising money for victims of the earthquake in Haiti. Staff have made and sold jewellery, held a team quiz afternoon to raise funds and held a raffle of donated items. Thanks to everyone who has contributed and to Karen Lander at OCNYHR for coming up with the original idea and promoting it across the company.
Our longer-term aim is to consider how we might contribute to some developmental projects which have an educational theme and we will keep members posted as to how you might get involved.