The  agenda and papers for NFEC's 2009 AGM will appear shortly  in the MEMBERS AREA.  

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You are probably now aware of NFEC's policy shift -  to reduce its (and your) dependence on paper.   It is the right move in itself, as it reduces impact on the planet, but it also (crucially) allows us to direct more of our Members' resources into solving the issues that confront them.   Hence, we will be communicating all details of Regional (and indeed National) Events using email.   

The technology is there and engineers are the right people to use it!   

So help us to get to you by making sure that we have the email addresses of yourself and all of your compatriots who should get direct mailing from us.   We will arrange it so that you can also respond electronically - so you will save time as well as paper!

Details of programmes and venues will be found on the My Region page of the site - click on the link on the left of the navigation bar at the top of our website Home Page - or use the link at the foot of this article.  Then put it in your Favourites!  

Notes of the meeting discussions will also be available from the My Region page, in due course.

Each Regional meeting is arranged, organised and led by the group of Members in the Region.  So it is for NFEC Members, and member organisations can send as many delegates as they wish - all they have to do is let NFEC (and hence the venue) know, by registering, so that room size and catering can be appropriate.  

Non-members may attend - if they pay a fee (of £40) per delegate.  If your organisation is not a Member of NFEC, do the arithmetic!   Three meetings per year, so for just one delegate to each you would pay £120.  It quickly becomes apparent that paying the membership fee is a good idea, so you can send two or three delegates to each event.  You recover your membership subscription very quickly, and of course there are still other benefits for Members.

On the rationale, role and function of the regional groups - it is the sort of supportive environment in which you can determine whether a problem or issue you have is simply about your centre, or if it is regional or national.  Whichever it is, you can get help by tapping into the thoughts and ideas of like-minded colleagues.  If the issue affects all of you then it is very likely that it is country-wide.  It will be taken to national level by the Regional Group leader and NFEC will pursue the matter for the benefit of Members in general.

So - the way forward is to become involved and help us to help you! 

Get dates, programmes, venue details and register for the meetings by going to the My Region page of the NFEC site - click here to go there now!

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The concept of the QCF is great in principle, but issues continue to emerge in terms of some of the practical aspects of its implementation.  Concerns are growing in relation to whether transition to the new qualifications will be seamless - will the current NQF versions continue to be funded beyond the deadline, if there is slippage in the new versions becoming available?  

Another issue (and very likely an even greater one) is how will delivery of units and qualifications be funded.  Each unit is described as a number credits and also as a number of hours of learning time.  Current thinking suggests that funding methodology will will not be tightly linked to credit value but rather to taught hours.  This approach would be very disappointing as it would severely disadvantage not only the competence-based on-the-job learning, but also a wide range of qualifications where learning time is rather greater than the time learners spend in formal contact with teachers.

Far too often we have been asked to deliver the dream, but have only been funded to deliver the nightmare!

The concerns are well discussed in a recent EC(UK) paper, entitled

 Challenges arising from the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) and Specification of Apprenticeship Standards for England and Wales (SASE/W).

(This briefing paper also outlines some issues surrounding the new SASE Apprenticeships, which are also linked to inplementation of the QCF.) 

There is a measure of comfort available - as the LSC Funding fact Sheet says clearly that while funded qualifications will change, the methodology will not, until 2012 at the earliest.  

LSC says (and they are speaking for the new Skills Funding Agency (SFA) which takes over the role in April next year):  'A robust funding methodology is critical to provider stability and we will not rush into making changes until the QCF is completely populated and operational. Only then do we feel we will be in a position to introduce a credit-based funding methodology; this will probably be in 2012/13.  Between now and 2013 we can test approaches to make sure the changes will work for every part of skills delivery.  We want to fully understand the consequences of introducing an output measure such as credit into our funding approach, which has always been based on input (guided learning hours/activity).

That is great, but it doesn't leave us any room for complacency!  We must all work together to ensure that the SFA policy that emerges will be based on a sensible rationale - so that it provides the resources that are appropriate to what needs to be delivered.

This topic will be addressed by the LSC at the NFEC Autumn Conference on 26 and 27 November, in Coventry - details at the top of this Newsletter.  Come and join us and help to secure your future!  Click here to book or simply email your intention to conferences@nfec.org.uk.

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In recent days we have seen and heard considerable comment on the likely effectiveness of the Diplomas - and it has been largely positive.  But will they do 'what it says on the tin'? 

If the Diplomas are to offer an alternative first choice development path, they must satisfy a number of criteria, which we can list as follows.  They must:

• provide the broad educational development experience that all our young people deserve;
  

• be sufficiently flexible to allow integration with the traditional learning pathways
  

• allow a choice of vocational pathways for those who view the experience as a precursor to getting a job when or if they leave full-time education at 19;
  

• enable progression for those who see the diploma as a valid path to higher education, in the same or a different line of learning.

The Diplomas, as designed, could satisfy all of these criteria, and provide a very rewarding and even exciting alternative to the traditional GCSE/'A' Level route.  Doesn't matter, however, what the marketing says, if customers don't buy it!

 If you have not already explored what the product offers you can do so by visiting here - and then choose a subject area, say Engineering.

There will eventually be ten vocational areas from which the learner may choose, with opportunity of progression from 14 to 19, through Diploma, Higher Diploma and Advanced Diploma.  The same vocational themes can be chosen at each level, but both rigor and difficulty increase as the learner progresses.  In Engineering this is through increasingly testing applications of science and mathematics in analytical methods.

So, in principle, the Diplomas could do the job - but what of the risks?  

We could list the hazards as follows:

• HE 'gatekeepers' may not accept them as a satisfactory preparation for study at degree level;
  

• Parents may consider Diplomas as a second class option; 
  

• Employers may view the new qualifications with suspicion;
  

• Diplomas may not be offered to the brighter pupils in the schools;

You may say immediately that all of these are linked - and of course they are, but are they all equally significant?  We believe not!

The greatest 'driver' in our system for development of our young people is the likelihood of their progressing to Higher Education.  It is what parents and schools use as the 'yard stick' of success.  So, if learners can perform, and often even if they cannot, they are directed towards learning pathways that may gain them the entrance qualifications that universities accept.  

Thus, the key (and really the only) question is 'What will the universities do about the Diplomas'?  That will determine how schools react to them.  If the best universities accept Diplomas then schools will feel confident in offering their best and brightest the Diplomas as a viable alternative to the 'A' Level 'gold standard' pathway.  If they do not, then the Diplomas will be seen by schools, parents and learners as a default path that will be taken by the second quartile.

There is, however, a key factor that is likely to win the day for the Diplomas.   It is what is known as ASL - Additional and Specialist Learning.  At Advanced Level it is an additional 360 hours of learning that can allow the learner to choose from a wide range of subjects.   It offers the opportunity to study a particular topic in more depth, or to study something different that widens the learning experience - perhaps another language.  It could be an 'A' Level appropriate to the learner's chosen career path.

So, is there evidence from the market place that this time the new qualifications will 'sell', and achieve significant 'market share'?  We believe that there is - and we can point to a recent publication from the IET, entitled  Transforming Engineering Education.  It has much information on the outcomes of the first year of the Diplomas - but what is most interesting, in the context of this discussion, is the comments from two universities - York and Loughborough.  The comments come from Admissions Tutors and both say that they will accept good performance in the Diploma as satisfaction of the Entrance Requirement - but both quickly point to what they will require as ASL study.   Not surprisingly, they each specify performance in an appropriate 'A' Level, to deal with their specific course requirements.

You can confirm these comments by visiting their websites.

We can, however, go even further.   Director of Undergraduate Admissions for Cambridge University,  Dr Geoff Parks says: 'The Engineering Diploma is certainly viewed as being acceptable for admission to read Engineering at Cambridge, subject to the student being sufficiently bright and doing the right ASL options. The official position is set out on

http://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/admissions/guide/requirements.html

towards the bottom of that page'.

Clearly, therefore, the schools can be entirely confident that the Diploma pathway will not constrain even their brightest pupils   We believe that even though the hazards are there, the risks are negligible!

NFEC's view is that Engineering Centres should get positively involved in partnerships with schools, industry and the universities, to provide the sort of  exciting and non-constraining learning delivery of the Diplomas that all stakeholders deserve.

Do you have comments?  If so, let us know!

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Many of you will know of LJ Create (previously LJ Technical Systems), and the emphasis we have placed on marketing our resources to those schools and colleges involved with teaching the diploma.  What many of you may not know is the underlying passion for engineering within the Company that drives this commitment.

As a UK based educational supplier, it is fair to say we have been waiting for the Diplomas initiative throughout our 30 established years.

As a company that employs staff from a variety of technical engineering backgrounds, we understand, like most other engineering companies, what is required out there in the world of work in terms of skills, abilities and attitudes.

For some time we have noticed that for Colleges, it has been a continuous struggle to attract the appropriate caliber of students onto their programmes.  With the advent of the Diplomas, and specifically the Engineering Diploma, we now see an opportunity to remedy this.  

Here is a qualification that is soon to be compulsory as an option for every 14 year old in England . Just think about it for a moment, if every student taking their options is receiving effective advice and guidance towards engineering, then the quantity and quality of students interested in engineering must increase.  This will pay dividends to all stakeholders; not least the engineering and manufacturing sectors within the British economy.

In March 2009 some 2542 students were registered on the Engineering Diploma. Take a conservative estimate that at least 50% of these would probably not have embarked upon an existing engineering option, by virtue of the fact, that in some areas, there simply weren’t any.  This number can only increase dramatically as we ramp up towards the 2013 entitlement.  Imagine 10,000 students each year taking up Engineering at the age of 14!

Admittedly, the competition for post-14 options is soon to be as intense as it probably ever will be, with potentially 17 lines of learning across the Diploma.  We believe, as engineers, it is not hard to sell the prospects and futures on offer to our young learners in Engineering, if only it continues to be carried out with enthusiasm.  This is why, as a Company, we have spent a great deal of time and effort in supporting our customers that deliver the Diploma.

In the past, like most companies, we have supplied general engineering resources, but the Diploma is something different.  We are committed to supporting the collaborative effort. We strongly believe that for the Diploma to work, the collaboration has to work, particularly in Engineering.

We have, over the past two years, embarked upon a programme that has seen us compile example assessment materials, example schemes of work, additional teaching materials, IAG event support, Diploma training workshops and networking forums.  In return, we ask our customers to get the most out of resources as possible, and continue to give students the experience of Engineering they deserve.

You can get more information about LJ Create's Diploma materials, and/or  request a copy of their new Engineering Diploma CD, by going to their website at: www.ljcreate.com/engineeringdiploma  

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The new CIF requires OFSTED to look closely at how Providers are satisfying the legal requirements for Equality and Diversity.   No doubt all are taking care of it to some extent, but the new approach means that it gets graded – and even more importantly, perhaps, how you do in Equality and Diversity can limit your overall outcome.

Guidance is available, in the form of a document recently published jointly by LSC and LSIS.  It is designed to help Providers in carrying out self-assessment in these aspects of their performance.  LSC and LSIS worked closely with both OFSTED and Lifelong Learning UK and the result is a very readable set of explanations and action points, and it also includes some useful experience case study material. 

This piece relies heavily on its wording.  You can get the full document by going to the LSIS Excellence Gateway site at: http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/page.aspx?o=255170.  When there, click on the red document cover image.

Section 3 of the document gives clear guidance on how OFSTED will approach this requirement.    

·      Inspectors will take into account, where relevant, how well governors and supervisory bodies ensure that legislative requirements are fulfilled, such as those for disability, safeguarding, and health and safety.

·      The equality and diversity grade will contribute to and may limit the grade for overall effectiveness in the following ways.

·      Where a judgment of ‘inadequate’ is awarded for equality and diversity, it is most unlikely that the overall effectiveness of the provider will be better than ‘satisfactory’. It is likely that the overall judgment will be ‘inadequate’!

·      Where a judgement of ‘satisfactory’ is awarded for equality and diversity it is most unlikely that the overall effectiveness of the provider will be better than ‘good’.

The two operating principles for the inspection of equality and diversity are:

·       how effectively is the provider is narrowing any achievement gap between groups of learners; and

·       how effective is the provider in actively promoting equality and diversity and tackling discrimination

If a provider is unable to demonstrate that it is working within these two operating principles, this will very likely lead to a judgement of ‘inadequate’ for equality and diversity.

The Inspectors’ Handbook for the inspection of further education and skills from September 2009 provides examples of evaluative statements, further guidance and illustrative grade characteristics for equality and diversity judgements.  For provision to be judged ‘outstanding’, the development or progress of all or nearly all users (including those from vulnerable groups) in relation to their starting points must be seen to be improving significantly and there must be a significant narrowing of any achievement gaps.

In ‘outstanding’ provision, the provider strongly promotes equality and diversity and tackles unfair discrimination very effectively in all aspects of its work.  If a provider is not actively promoting equality and diversity and/or is not taking sufficient action to identify and narrow the achievement gap, the judgment for equality and diversity is likely to be ‘inadequate’.

 Among the illustrative grade characteristics for leadership and management:

·       ‘outstanding’ includes: very effective practice in equality and diversity and safeguarding ensures
 that learners achieve their potential free of barriers to their progress;

·       ‘good’ includes: equality and diversity are promoted well and safeguarding arrangements are
 robust; and

·       ‘satisfactory’ includes: equality and diversity are promoted and data is analysed to assess the
 impact of policies and to review the performance of different groups of learners.

Good or outstanding provision in equality and diversity goes well beyond compliance with legislative or regulatory requirements.

Centres will certainly find it useful to consider the following action points and considerations:

·        How actively do you promote equality of opportunity and eliminate discrimination?

·        How do you monitor the effectiveness of this activity and use the results for improvement?

·        How do you assess outcomes for different groups of learners?

·        What equality and diversity measures do you use to assess the effectiveness of leadership and
  management?

·        How well does your provision serve the needs of socially excluded learners and potential
  learners?

·        What measures are you taking to improve their representation and success?

Can you ‘feel a policy statement coming on’?  

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The Leaders Award, at Primary, Secondary and Advanced levels is an excellent means of providing experiential learning with rewards

Experiential learning is recognised as a key ingredient for providing students with a link between academic achievement and the self-confidence which the 21st century demands. Giving students the opportunities to meet professionals in the world of work, discuss their career and inspiration is, we would all agree, the way forward in motivating pupils.

The Leaders Award is one of the Primary Engineer programmes.  The organisation has established itself as the core programme linking primary and secondary design technology, practical science and maths.  With pupils spanning KS1, 2 & 3 the opportunity to positively affect pupils choices at KS4 was intentional and working with even older students has been a bonus.  Many older pupils were already working with primary pupils guiding their learning – supporting STEM, acting as ambassadors and leaders representing their school or college.  Primary Engineer felt that what was missing was the link to industry - career advice from those that know, those that are doing it!

We have all had that feeling, asking someone what they do for a living and being regaled by a career we would have loved to have followed – we could have done that job if we had only known it existed!  So how do students who may be interested in a career in Engineering or Science discover the diversity of careers and career paths open to them….they have to meet people and ask them!

The Leaders Award for STEM is open to 5-19yr olds and is free, it requires students to apply for the post of Leader for STEM. The letter should detail how they aim to help others, what their interests are and what they are currently aiming to do.  To complete the award they are to interview a professional from a STEM background.  Primary Engineer can link the college or student to the National STEM Ambassadors programme, or they can use their initiative, approach local industry and politely ask if they would agree to be interviewed.

The STEM Ambassadors programme of Scientists, Technologists, Engineers and Mathematicians is populated with professionals at all levels of the career ladder, in all the vast and mystifying complexity of careers this world of STEM offers.  So those students who have only a vague idea of what they want to do can dip their toe in the water and the more they talk, write and submit interviews, the more careers they can discover. A student may submit as many interviews as they wish.

Articles submitted to the Leaders Award are shared with organisations and published.  Over the next year many of the Institutions and organisations behind STEM will be offering special awards to the best interviews and applications.  WISE (Women in Science Engineering and Construction) have offered a special award for the best female interview of a female STEM professional.  Prizes for the special awards will be CV building events, meeting leading professionals, days in industry or receiving certificates at special events. The special sponsor section of the website will hold more and more of these awards over the next year.

To find out more about this unique program of STEM related activities visit http://www.leadersaward.com  - to discover the way primary and secondary teachers are working together to raise standards and aspirations of pupils

NFEC comments: This could be a very useful activity for Diploma or other learners seeking to provide evidence of success in the communication aspects of Functional Skills!

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Edexcel  invites you to one of their BTEC sector-specific launch briefings focusing on the Level 2 BTEC First and Level 3 BTEC National qualifications, now being revised for the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF), for implementation from September 2010.

The briefings will be held at a variety of locations during October, November and December 2009. These free half-day events will be given by BTEC sector specialists at Edexcel. Our intention is to give you an in-depth insight into our development programme for your BTEC sector so that you can plan ahead with confidence.

At the free, half-day briefing you’ll:

•      get a detailed look at qualification structures and units

•      gain an overview on planning and integrating the vocational curriculum

•      look at implications and changes to the specifications in your sector

•      understand what the QCF means to you

•      find out about the extensive range of support on offer

•      review the approval and administration arrangements

Please note that there is mix of face to face and online events for you to choose from. Once you’ve selected the most relevant and convenient briefing event, you can book online.

Dates are 11 November in London, 4 December in Birmingham and 10 December in Manchester.

Get all the details by going to http://www.edexcel.com/notices/Pages/btec-specific.aspx

You can book on line, download a booking form, or if you prefer to book by phone you can call 0844 576 0026.  You can also arrange to have an on-line briefing.

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