What's in this issue?
		CEO's Update
		Conference Report
		Executive Action
		Your Career-Booster
		Inspired by Learning
		EAL: Build-On
		Skills Olympics
		New Members
	Contact NFEC....
	t: 0121 200 3048 f: 0870 705 9881 e: info@nfec.org.uk

'It's high time to bring together the designers and the deliverers of
the Engineering
Diploma - so let's do it'

Who Said That?

“A friend who works in re-education and vocational training [speaks of] the 'pistachio-nut syndrome': the process by which as nuts with crackable shells are selected and eaten, the concentration at the bottom of the bowl of a shrinking minority of tooth-breaking dud nuts increases towards 100 per cent”' 

Matthew Parris, in The Spectator  7 July 2007

'It's in YOUR interest to share information and contribute towards a bank of freely-available learning resources for all the main engineering qualifications'

NFEC is not a bureaucracy, but a self-help, self-funding membership body of employers, group training providers, professional training companies, FE colleges/departments and specialist schools.

NFEC uses its membership and commercial consultancy revenues to offer NFEC members practical assistance without charge or at reduced cost.

NFEC operates through its regional organisations, regular regional seminars and highly regarded national conference.

For further information or membership application:
visit www.nfec.org.uk
or e-mail businessdevelopment@nfec.org.uk

Despite the millions of pounds that have been spent, the Engineering Diploma remains a confusion of ideas stewing in an atmosphere of ineffective communication. The result, as one NFEC member puts it, is that getting to grips with this qualification is like ‘trying to grab fog’.

It shouldn’t be this hard, this late in the game, to see what shape the Engineering Diploma qualification will take. Still ahead lie implementation issues that alone put me in mind of an ten-ton jelly that has to coaxed up a steep and bumpy hill.

NFEC will continue to lobby on your behalf to thin out this fog, and is formally engaged in developments through the EDDP on both on the Engineering and the Manufacturing diplomas. However, big opportunities to achieve clarity are being wasted by failure to invite real engagement with the providers, in particular the post-16 providers, on national context and local delivery.

There is one faint light in the prevailing murk. The Engineering Gateway pilots could yet prove a real catalyst.

Here’s what NFEC’s doing about it

	We’re working with the Gateway consortia in Engineering to see that your concerns are acted upon, and that along the way you receive more and better information
	While continuing to be EDDP ‘Delivery Groups’ activists on diploma, we think it’s high time to bring together the designers and deliverers of the Engineering Diploma
	We think a way to do that is to hold a major Diploma event, perhaps in late September or early October, at one venue in the North and one in the South

Besides bringing together designers and deliverers, the proposed Diploma event would:

	Clarify awarding body requirements, updates and advise on assessment and delivery
	Allow specification-writers to explain what they’re trying to achieve and how
	Highlight Gateway consortia’s experience and conclusions so far
	Consider an NFEC national materials bank
	Create a further opportunity to develop local solutions

Now over to you…

Does this Diploma Fest or something like it get your vote?
If so, what do you want to get out of it?
Let me know, and together we can make it happen.
NFEC is not seeking commercial contracts to do what is already there or may be developed through existing NFEC processes.
NFEC is a charity that seeks to ensure that:

	Engineering Diplomas are developed and supported through NFEC’s existing networks
	Materials are freely shared, thus continuing and improving best practice development and sustainability

You can easily help to make this happen.

Just contact your local NFEC representative, and already you’re making a difference.
You can also find outline details of the Engineering Gateway lead organisations at www.nfec.org.uk/regional_network_home.htm.

NFEC’s about ensuring that YOUR priorities and YOUR needs are given full consideration. To say that what you get out depends on what you put in is a truism but nonetheless true for all that: we work to ensure the return to you is tenfold.

It is in YOUR interest to help develop a free central bank of materials and to ensure the regional and local meetings and networks fully get to grips with Engineering Diploma developments.

Opportunities for engineering to develop freely-accessible materials for all the major engineering qualifications, learning resources, schemes of work, learning plans, induction materials and tutor-support should not be lost.

A bankable proposition

Such co-operation does not mean you are giving a boost to your perceived competitors. It helps everybody-you included – to raise the bar and put engineering at the forefront of education and training advance.

An alternative way to see sharing is that it’s better to be at the party rather than outside looking in. NFEC has the key, and you are free to use it.

There’s a helpful AoC/QIA summary of Diplomas as they affect middle managers. For this, NFEC’s thoughts on this issue, and for useful links, please visit www.nfec.org.uk/pdfs/QIA_AoC.pdf

William Devine
CEO, NFEC

'Post-Leitch, It's up to Sector Skills Councils to ensure that training providers understand the needs of employers', SEMTA Director of National Policy Lynn Tomkins told delegates to NFEC’s
Spring National Conference.
Fellow- speaker Dr Anil Kumar, Director of Education and Policy, Engineering and Technology Board (above), reported that ETB research shows employer engagement with Foundation Degrees to be still ‘relatively weak’, particularly among SMEs.

Excellent learning and networking opportunities:
Rolls-Royce's Chris Keane

First-class speakers
Bridgwater College's Jon Gill

The NFEC Spring Conference worked well for delegates, who report: 

	Credible and entertaining speakers
	High standard of discussion and information-sharing
	Excellent networking opportunities, producing practical solutions to individual workplace problems
	Clear update on training, qualifications and government policy

Delegates met at Hilton Hotel East Midlands Airport on 24 & 25 May, and as is NFEC policy, one important item on the agenda was the bit where delegates help to shape the forthcoming Autumn National Conference.

Next time, NFEC people would like to:

	Hear more from employers
	Question QCA on the change in framework for apprentices
	Get a better idea of what NSAM is about

Chris Keane, Principal Training Officer of Rolls-Royce plc, says "As an employer, with large numbers of work-based learners, we very much value the opportunity to attend NFEC Conferences.

Over the years, we have consistently found these to be an excellent forum for learning about the latest developments within the engineering education and skills arena, through presentations from highly qualified and respected speakers, in relation to the varied topics covered. They are also excellent networking opportunities, where like minded professionals can debate current issues and act as a conduit for providing feedback to government and other agencies as required. We very much value our association with NFEC and look forward to attending future conferences."

Dr Jon Gill, Head of Engineering, Bridgwater College, says "I attend NFEC National Conferences regularly, and find them invaluable.  The range and quality of speakers is always first-class, and there is the opportunity not just to keep up to date with the latest developments, but to genuinely influence future developments in engineering education and training.

For Spring National Conference full report, go to NFEC website at www.nfec.org.uk

Forward–looking as ever, NFEC is looking towards the Autumn National Conference to be held on Thursday 6th & Friday 7th December at The Crowne Plaza Hotel, Reading. For an outline, please visit NFEC Autumn 07 National Conference

Help shape this and future national conferences by telling us what you think about such issues as:

	Should there be a single national conference each Autumn or should we continue with two conferences a year?
	Should there be focused seminars/workshops held at a single venue, North and South: for example, a major event on the Engineering Diploma this September?
	Presentations at the evening dinner - Awards you would like NFEC to establish and gain   sponsorship for? - What after-dinner speaker would appeal to you? - Ideas for a charity fund-raising event(s)

This is YOUR conference, so make your voice heard now!

Your contact chiefexecutive@nfec.org.uk

The world moves on, and NFEC continually evolves to meet existing and anticipated developments in education and training for engineering, building services and technology.

NFEC now wishes to appoint an Executive Officer, an exciting opportunity to work both on national issues and to promote effective local action throughout our regional networks. The post could be full-time or job-share, according to what the most suitable candidate(s) prefer. Depending upon the calibre of the successful candidate(s), the Executive Officer job could pay £32K - £40K. Want to hear more? Then email chiefexecutive@nfec.org.uk

The appointment follows a review of the changes needed to support business process, and the forthcoming launch of NFEC’s commercial arm, Inspired by Learning.

A totally confidential service, the NFEC Register for Opportunity will not release personal details without prior consent. We’re starting the register in response to approaches from the sector’s lead organisations who recognise the value of NFEC networks and contacts.

The register will be managed by NFEC’s commercial arm, Inspired by Learning. Initial registration is as simple as forwarding a summary CV, confirming area of interest and whether the opportunity sought is FT or PT employment and/or consultancy.

NFEC members and employers who wish to tap into this additional NFEC benefit should register interest by contacting chiefexecutive@nfec.org.uk

Inspired by Learning (IbL) is the new commercial arm of NFEC, and is to be the subject of a major launch in September 2007.

IbL is already operating nationally, and there are huge discounts for NFEC organisations on IbL services, which can recoup the NFEC membership fee many times over.

Current IbL services include:

	Pre-inspection health check and continuing support
	Interim management
	Financial profiling and funding maximisation
	Advice on T&L, induction, tutorials and learning observations
	Register of employment and consultancy opportunities
	Development of learning support materials
	Guidance on CPD and professional registration

This is not a full list, and even that is continually reviewed in response to demand, so if you have a priority and business need not listed here, simply contact us to begin developing a solution.

Your first contact is chiefexecutive@nfec.org.uk

Building services venture:
EAL's Ann Watson

Young Achiever:
Buro Happold's
Anna Matthews

NFEC was represented at the tenth annual Building Services Awards at the invitation of Ann Watson, Managing Director of NFEC partner EMTA Awards Limited (EAL).

EAL sponsored the BSA ‘Young Achiever of the Year’ gong for the first time, marking EAL’s recent and successful debut as a building services qualifications provider. Comedian Bill Bailey presented this year’s Young Achiever to Buro Happold’s Anna Matthews.

EAL has launched Levels 2 & 3 NVQs in Plumbing and Heating & Ventilating based on standards developed by the Sector Skills Council, SummitSkills.

Many NFEC members are active in delivering qualifications and training in this vital sector. We wish Ann Watson and EAL well in the new building services venture.

The Building Services Awards honour excellence, innovation and professionalism and were established by Building Services Journal of the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers and by Electrical and Mechanical Contractor (Electrical Contractors’ Association).

Event details

There's gold in them
there mills:
UK Skills' Chris Humphries

Much comment in the forthcoming London 2012 Olympics focuses on the cost. But what about the engineering and other skills needed to ready the capital and its venues for the games?

UK Skills views 2012 as a unique opportunity both to showcase these skills and to link world-class achievement in skills with world-class performance in sport, getting young people interested in vocational skills through sport, a medium they understand.

Indeed, says UK Skills chairman (and City & Guilds DG) Chris Humphries, UK Skills sees a double dividend in the news that the UK has beaten Australia and Sweden to stage the 2011 ‘Skills Olympics’ or WorldSkills 2011 competition.

Long before that, however, there’s 2007 (in Japan) and Canada 2009: UK Skills wants to enter such a good team youngsters in 2009 that it will form the basis of the winning 2011 team.

UK Skills, by the way, is a not-for-profit organisation that champions skills and learning for work through competitions and awards.

WorldSkills pits talented young technicians and engineers against each other for gold, silver and bronze in discipline-based competitions based on workplace skills in everyday use.

Employers can take part by:

	Putting forward young employees as training managers and judges
	Encouraging employees to compete at regional, national and international levels
	Hosting and/or sponsoring competitions

All that is asked of employers is that they allow reasonable time off for employees who compete or who are training managers to attend competitions.

Competitors need to be released for further training if they go through to WorldSkills, but that training is funded and managed by UK Skills or its sponsors.

www.skills.org.uk

Welcome to Great Yarmouth College, Carter & Carter Group PLC, North Nottinghamshire College of FE (East Midlands Region), Lewisham College (London), Hull Tec, NEMI, North East Chamber of Commerce (North East), Collingwood School, Thames Valley University (South/S East) and Rolls Royce PLC (West Midlands).

If you're not yet a member, then to hear of the wide range of services and benefits provided by NFEC please contact our business development officer at businessdevelopmen@nfec.org.uk

General information on NFEC may also be fou nd on www.nfec.org.uk