Regional Governance Newsletter

Welcome to the second AoC WM Governance newsletter

Since the first newsletter in October it has been a busy time and we are very happy with how the Governance programme is developing Wersquove had great feedback from the events wersquove held and the input from speakers has been fantastic and very well received

In this issue you will see a strong focus on the support and representation of student governors in FE We would also like to use this issue to share information about resources best practice and events as well as showcase college success

In this edition

National and regional activity updateTop ten tips for time managementFE Governance CodeStudent Governor induction and supportAn interview with - Cadbury College Student GovernorCollege showcase ndash Community AdvocatesForthcoming events and useful resources

Spring Issue 2015

2

National Activities

Student Governor Forum 2015

The annual forum for student governors in the further education sector returns this year with a focus on putting studentsrsquo voices at the heart of college governance This forum is held by the National Union of Students (NUS) in association with the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) and Association of Colleges (AoC) and will take place in Manchester on Wednesday 28 January 2015

The forum will offer student governors a chance to build their confidence and understanding of being a governor This will equip governors to make a greater positive contribution in the boardroom and make sure colleges make decisions in the best interests of their key stakeholders ndash students

The event is free of charge to current student governors in colleges and aims to provide a valuable forum for governors to

bull Develop their own skills knowledge and confidence as equal members of their college corporation

bull Network and build links with other student governors across the UKbull Discuss and debate the key issues affecting college governancebull Share best practice in student governor support and impact from

across the sector

Further information and registration is available from NUS

Webinar programme

AoC is delivering a series of webinars as part of the ETF funded governance development programme

The next in the series is on 17 February 2015 All future events can be found online

The webinars are free and can be accessed from home or work computers via the internet To participate you will first need to complete a simple online registration form

On-demand copies of earlier webinars are also available

Market Intelligence Data Exchange Service (MiDES)

MiDES is a shared service that has been developed jointly by RCU and AoC The service started in February 2011 and is available to all AoC member colleges The MiDES service provides members with a regularly updated suite of in-year benchmarked performance reports on key topics

High demand for National Leaders of Governance (NLG) and National Subject Specialists (NSS)

As part of the ETF funded governance programme colleges may draw upon the skills and knowledge of the National Leaders of Governance (NLG) and the National Subject Specialists (NSS) The Foundation supports 270 NLGNSS days which may be taken as one day of NLG or NSS consultancy at a college

Demand for this service has been high AoC currently has 205 requests (out of 270) and have 65 yet to be allocated ndash all to be delivered before 31 March 2015 therefore please get in touch as soon as possible

If you would like to have a preliminary discussion as to how an NLG or NSS could work with your college please contact Craig Williams or phone 0207 034 9900

The top five most requested subjects to date

Subject Of CollegesGovernance ConversationFacilitation 24Governor Self-AssessmentAppraisal 163MentoringCoaching 116Teaching amp Learning Curriculum 85Challenging Questions 78

2

National Activities

Student Governor Forum 2015

The annual forum for student governors in the further education sector returns this year with a focus on putting studentsrsquo voices at the heart of college governance This forum is held by the National Union of Students (NUS) in association with the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) and Association of Colleges (AoC) and will take place in Manchester on Wednesday 28 January 2015

The forum will offer student governors a chance to build their confidence and understanding of being a governor This will equip governors to make a greater positive contribution in the boardroom and make sure colleges make decisions in the best interests of their key stakeholders ndash students

The event is free of charge to current student governors in colleges and aims to provide a valuable forum for governors to

bull Develop their own skills knowledge and confidence as equal members of their college corporation

bull Network and build links with other student governors across the UKbull Discuss and debate the key issues affecting college governancebull Share best practice in student governor support and impact from

across the sector

Further information and registration is available from NUS

Webinar programme

AoC is delivering a series of webinars as part of the ETF funded governance development programme

The next in the series is on 17 February 2015 All future events can be found online

The webinars are free and can be accessed from home or work computers via the internet To participate you will first need to complete a simple online registration form

On-demand copies of earlier webinars are also available

Market Intelligence Data Exchange Service (MiDES)

MiDES is a shared service that has been developed jointly by RCU and AoC The service started in February 2011 and is available to all AoC member colleges The MiDES service provides members with a regularly updated suite of in-year benchmarked performance reports on key topics

High demand for National Leaders of Governance (NLG) and National Subject Specialists (NSS)

As part of the ETF funded governance programme colleges may draw upon the skills and knowledge of the National Leaders of Governance (NLG) and the National Subject Specialists (NSS) The Foundation supports 270 NLGNSS days which may be taken as one day of NLG or NSS consultancy at a college

Demand for this service has been high AoC currently has 205 requests (out of 270) and have 65 yet to be allocated ndash all to be delivered before 31 March 2015 therefore please get in touch as soon as possible

If you would like to have a preliminary discussion as to how an NLG or NSS could work with your college please contact Craig Williams or phone 0207 034 9900

The top five most requested subjects to date

Subject Of CollegesGovernance ConversationFacilitation 24Governor Self-AssessmentAppraisal 163MentoringCoaching 116Teaching amp Learning Curriculum 85Challenging Questions 78

3

Governance Conference 4 March 2015

The next Governance Conference delivered in partnership with the ETF will be held in London on 4 March 2015 Further details of the key speakers will be available shortly To register please visit our website

FE Staff Governorsrsquo Conference 5 December 2014

The FE Staff Governorsrsquo Conference organised by AoC and all the FE Unions with financial support from the ETF was held on 5 December 2014 The conference was attended by almost 80 staff governors who were able to discuss with keynote speakers issues of inspection and funding change management the FE Governance Code and leadership and governance

Peter Pendle Deputy General Secretary of ATLAMiE gave the conferencersquos closing summary and spoke about the next steps for staff governors

For further information please visit our website

Clerksrsquo CPD workshops

As part of the governance programme AoC is also holding a series of CPD workshops These are free workshops which are open only to clerks Further information on the programme and a booking form is available from AoC Create

Governance library

The content of AoCrsquos governance library is constantly updated Recent additions to the library include

bull an updated set of training materials designed for clerksbull additional materials to support the recruitment of governorsbull new guidance notesbull additions to the new policy and research papers page

Further materials will be added shortly

AoC and SGOSS have also developed a new facility to support the recruitment of college governors

4

The West Midlands Governance programme 201415

AoC received some funding from the Education and Training Foundation to run a Governance development programme Here in the West Midlands region we have been delivering a series of events and networks for governors which have proved to be very popular

Since the last newsletter in October we have run several successful events in the region including

Student Governor event on 9 December 2014 at Birmingham Metropolitan College Matthew Boulton Campus This was an induction event for new student governors The session concentrated on an introduction to AoC an overview of the Governance development programme and an overview of the FE sector Angelina Linker Governor Development Officer at NUS led a discussion and delivered a training event on the role of the student governor including some helpful tips and finally the group received a list of useful resources and some further information

An introduction to FE and the role of the college governor on 6 December 2014 at Queen Alexandra College Delegates at this event were given a comprehensive overview of the further education system and the place of colleges within it The roles of the principal organisations who fund and regulate colleges were explained and the business of college Governance and the responsibilities of college governors was outlined The group also heard about the essential information required to assess college performance and compare this with other institutions

Local Enterprise Partnerships on 2 December 2014 at Warwickshire College Group Rugby College At this session Ninder Johal Governor at Sandwell College and LEP Board member for the Black Country sub region spoke about LEPs and colleges including involvement with a LEP Board involvement with a college Board barriers challenges and opportunities views on what LEPs expect from colleges How a college Governor can better engage and build relationships with their LEP There was also a National update from David Walker Director of Governance for AoC along with a regional update from Steve Sawbridge AoC West Midlands Regional Director

We still have lots of sessions coming up

The legal framework for GovernanceSaturday 31 January 2015

Clerksrsquo NetworkTuesday 10 February 2015

Funding and FinanceSaturday 28 February 2015

The political landscape and party policiesWednesday 11 March 2015

Managing performanceSaturday 28 March 2015

Curriculum quality and inspectionSaturday 25 April 2015

Clerksrsquo NetworkWednesday 3 June 2015

College structures and Options reviewSaturday 6 June 2015

Curriculum design and learning technologyWednesday 17 June 2015

Scrutiny and accountabilitySaturday 4 July 2015

Agendas for our events are added to the Governance section of the AoC website You will find venues for all events listed on page 10 of this newsletter as well as in our Governance Programme brochure which contains a synopsis of each of the events above

5

Simple Tips For Time Management

bull Do not start a project if you feel you do not have the time to see it through If something isnrsquot working know when it is time to pursue a different angle

bull Itrsquos better to do less work really well than make a bad job of a lot of things

1Goals

2Formulate an action plan

5Proactive

3Efficiency

4Focus

10Only take on as much as you can manage

9Delegate

8Organise

7Prioritise

6Projectsbull Set goalsbull What will the end result look like What work will you produce

When do you plan to have it finished by

bull Set milestones and break these down into to-do listsbull Having a clear to-do list will clarify your workload and help to

keep you on track with the task at hand

bull Be efficient with your time Are the tasks you are performing relevant to the end goal

bull Be proactive ndash are there any networking opportunities that will help you Are there any members of staff in the college who can help

bull Can you manage each aspect of your workload like a project with a definite start middle and end

bull Concentrate on the most important task first

bull Itrsquos easy to get side tracked and distracted with everything else that is going on around you Evaluating your progress throughout the task will help to keep a focus on your work

bull Use all of your tools effectively Do you have an ipad and or a laptop What other technology is available to make life easier

bull If the Board of Governors are working together as a team is it possible to delegate tasks and carve the work up equally

Sometimes the simple things in life are the most effective

6

The FE Governance Code

While there is no legal requirement for a college to adopt a code of governance the Accounts Direction requires each governing body to publish a Statement of Corporate Governance and Internal Control as part of its annual report and accounts This must set out or refer to the principles by which the college is governed

Until 2011 colleges were normally expected to comply with the Financial Reporting Councilrsquos UK Corporate Governance Code but in that year AoC published The English Collegesrsquo Foundation Code of Governance which has been widely adopted The Foundation Code amplifies the Corporate Governance Code and sets out standards of good governance practice that are specific to the college sector

In 2013 AoC published an Audit and Accountability Annex to the Foundation Code Colleges that have adopted the Annex are no longer required to comply with the UK Corporate Governance Code for other colleges the two Codes continue to sit side by side

Both Codes of Governance are applied on a lsquocomply or explainrsquo basis if the college does not think it appropriate to comply with any of the provisions of either code it must explain its reasons for non-compliance

Background Current Position

AoC has launched the new draft of the Governance Code for consultation The draft code is the result of consultation workshops led by Dr Susan Pember with over 200 governors senior leaders and clerks together with relevant departments and agencies

The draft Governance Code papers have been sent to Chairs Principals Clerks NLG NSS and stakeholders for a formal consultation

The consultation will run until 5 March 2015

For links to the draft publication along with a letter from the AoC Chair Carole Stott and consultation questions please follow the link below

bull English Collegesrsquo Code of Good Governance

P a s s i o n a t e bull P r o f e s s i o n a l bull P r u d e n t

6

The FE Governance Code

While there is no legal requirement for a college to adopt a code of governance the Accounts Direction requires each governing body to publish a Statement of Corporate Governance and Internal Control as part of its annual report and accounts This must set out or refer to the principles by which the college is governed

Until 2011 colleges were normally expected to comply with the Financial Reporting Councilrsquos UK Corporate Governance Code but in that year AoC published The English Collegesrsquo Foundation Code of Governance which has been widely adopted The Foundation Code amplifies the Corporate Governance Code and sets out standards of good governance practice that are specific to the college sector

In 2013 AoC published an Audit and Accountability Annex to the Foundation Code Colleges that have adopted the Annex are no longer required to comply with the UK Corporate Governance Code for other colleges the two Codes continue to sit side by side

Both Codes of Governance are applied on a lsquocomply or explainrsquo basis if the college does not think it appropriate to comply with any of the provisions of either code it must explain its reasons for non-compliance

Background Current Position

AoC has launched the new draft of the Governance Code for consultation The draft code is the result of consultation workshops led by Dr Susan Pember with over 200 governors senior leaders and clerks together with relevant departments and agencies

The draft Governance Code papers have been sent to Chairs Principals Clerks NLG NSS and stakeholders for a formal consultation

The consultation will run until 5 March 2015

For links to the draft publication along with a letter from the AoC Chair Carole Stott and consultation questions please follow the link below

bull English Collegesrsquo Code of Good Governance

P a s s i o n a t e bull P r o f e s s i o n a l bull P r u d e n t

7

Student Governor Induction and Support

Angelina Linker NUS Student Governor Development Officer

There are 4 stages to the programme

1 Becoming a better governor which consists of direct training and support for student governors

2 Supporting students in the boardroom focusing on developing and sharing board practices to increase support access and engagement of student governors

3 Building whole college student engagement by setting the strategy for student engagement throughout colleges and building student-led learner voice structures

4 Student voice in further education which looks at opening up the national voice of seven million students to the sector

The programme is currently being piloted and reports so far have been positive

If you have student governors in place then please consider registering them for the Student Governor Forum in association with AoC and the ETF This is a popular annual event happening in Manchester on the 28 January 2015 and is free to all current student governors to attend

Please contact Angelina via email or by telephone on 07971 097039 with any questions or suggestions that you may have

Angelina Linker is the newly appointed student governor development officer at NUS Her role focuses on the training and development of all student governors This is carried out by face to face training webinars through mentors and also through the development of an e-learning programme

Angelina has spent the last 10 years in various roles that support learners starting as a Learner Voice Practitioner for a college and progressing into teaching before moving into development of e-learning packages

The main aims of the Student Governor Support Programme (SGSP) are to create an engaging and accessible tool for student governors clerks learner voice practitioners and other key stakeholders and to develop cultures people and practices to support student governors collaboratively across the sector By doing this the aim is to increase the impact of student voice throughout college and sector governance and decision-making

8

Cadbury Sixth Form College Student Governor Ibrahim Ilyas

I became a governor because I wanted to be in a position of responsibility I wanted to liaise with staff and the Senior Leadership Team to make college a better environment for us all

I believe the best things about being a governor are

bull Joining corporation meetings and giving your opinions

bull Being called a governor is in itself a respectable title that will stay with you for life Employers and University staff value this greatly

bull Itrsquos nice to look forward to the yummy treats at meetings

Tips

bull If in doubt about anything ask your college staff members they can help you and forward your issues to the relevant staff member

bull If you feel you need more help in exercising your roles as Student Governor talk to your tutor or speak to a teacher you rely on

Colleges themselves benefit because they need student representation and therefore the studentrsquos opinion is always valued and appreciated

Benefits

bull CV applications will stand out (yoursquore a governor)

bull You will learn how to liaise with different people and build confidence to speak and ask questions

Ibrahim Ilyas has been at Cadbury Sixth Form College for almost two years studying A Levels in English Language English Literature Politics and History After College he would like to attend the University of Birmingham to study Law

ldquoldquo

9

Community Advocates

Since September 2013 Shrewsbury College has been running a Community Advocates Scheme which aims to reflect the Collegersquos commitment to remain at the heart of the community and complement its ongoing work in building relationships with the local community to benefit the College and ultimately the students

College governors are getting involved with this to raise the profile of the College and support the fantastic work the College does for the local community

In a nutshell Community Advocates promote the College through business development and educational partnerships as well as gathering intelligence to help the College constantly evolve to fit the needs of the people who use it

The College currently has over 50 Advocates including local employers community groups the local council and college partners

So far three successful conferences have been held to celebrate the place of Shrewsbury College at the heart of the community and to try to provide solutions to Shrewsburyrsquos employment needs

The focus of last yearrsquos June conference was to recognise and celebrate students who have overcome adversity to succeed The event took place during the Collegersquos full Ofsted inspection and was attended by the Leadership and Management Inspector who spoke to governors Advocates and students and praised the work of Advocates and their positive impact on student experience

Shrewsbury College is holding its next Community Advocatesrsquo Conference in January which will showcase the completed College refurbishment and new facilities

If your college is running a new initiative that you think might benefit others please let us know You could feature in the next issue

10

Future dates for regional events 201415

Governance Workshops 830am - 12pm

The legal framework for Governance | Saturday 31 January 2015 | South and City College Birmingham Fusion Centre

Funding and finance | Saturday 28 February 2015 | Queen Alexandra College

Managing performance | Saturday 28 March 2015 | Wolverhampton Science Park Technology Centre

Curriculum quality and inspection | Saturday 25 April 2015 | Walsall College

College structures and Options review | Saturday 6 June 2015 | Queen Alexandra College

Scrutiny and accountability | Saturday 4 July 2015 | South and City College Birmingham Fusion Centre

The political landscape and party policies | Wednesday 11 March 2015 | Heart of Worcestershire College Bromsgrove Campus

Curriculum design and learning technology | Wednesday 17 June 2015 | South Staffordshire College Rodbaston Campus

Governor Networks 530pm - 8pm

Clerksrsquo Networks 1030am - 1pm

Tuesday 10 February 2015 | Heart of Worcestershire College Redditch Campus Osprey House

Wednesday 3 June 2015 | Walsall College

Please book via your clerk or contact the AoC WM Office Manager yasmin_byrneaoccouk 01902 824399

9

Community Advocates

Since September 2013 Shrewsbury College has been running a Community Advocates Scheme which aims to reflect the Collegersquos commitment to remain at the heart of the community and complement its ongoing work in building relationships with the local community to benefit the College and ultimately the students

College governors are getting involved with this to raise the profile of the College and support the fantastic work the College does for the local community

In a nutshell Community Advocates promote the College through business development and educational partnerships as well as gathering intelligence to help the College constantly evolve to fit the needs of the people who use it

The College currently has over 50 Advocates including local employers community groups the local council and college partners

So far three successful conferences have been held to celebrate the place of Shrewsbury College at the heart of the community and to try to provide solutions to Shrewsburyrsquos employment needs

The focus of last yearrsquos June conference was to recognise and celebrate students who have overcome adversity to succeed The event took place during the Collegersquos full Ofsted inspection and was attended by the Leadership and Management Inspector who spoke to governors Advocates and students and praised the work of Advocates and their positive impact on student experience

Shrewsbury College is holding its next Community Advocatesrsquo Conference in January which will showcase the completed College refurbishment and new facilities

If your college is running a new initiative that you think might benefit others please let us know You could feature in the next issue

10

Future dates for regional events 201415

Governance Workshops 830am - 12pm

The legal framework for Governance | Saturday 31 January 2015 | South and City College Birmingham Fusion Centre

Funding and finance | Saturday 28 February 2015 | Queen Alexandra College

Managing performance | Saturday 28 March 2015 | Wolverhampton Science Park Technology Centre

Curriculum quality and inspection | Saturday 25 April 2015 | Walsall College

College structures and Options review | Saturday 6 June 2015 | Queen Alexandra College

Scrutiny and accountability | Saturday 4 July 2015 | South and City College Birmingham Fusion Centre

The political landscape and party policies | Wednesday 11 March 2015 | Heart of Worcestershire College Bromsgrove Campus

Curriculum design and learning technology | Wednesday 17 June 2015 | South Staffordshire College Rodbaston Campus

Governor Networks 530pm - 8pm

Clerksrsquo Networks 1030am - 1pm

Tuesday 10 February 2015 | Heart of Worcestershire College Redditch Campus Osprey House

Wednesday 3 June 2015 | Walsall College

Please book via your clerk or contact the AoC WM Office Manager yasmin_byrneaoccouk 01902 824399

10

Future dates for regional events 201415

Governance Workshops 830am - 12pm

The legal framework for Governance | Saturday 31 January 2015 | South and City College Birmingham Fusion Centre

Funding and finance | Saturday 28 February 2015 | Queen Alexandra College

Managing performance | Saturday 28 March 2015 | Wolverhampton Science Park Technology Centre

Curriculum quality and inspection | Saturday 25 April 2015 | Walsall College

College structures and Options review | Saturday 6 June 2015 | Queen Alexandra College

Scrutiny and accountability | Saturday 4 July 2015 | South and City College Birmingham Fusion Centre

The political landscape and party policies | Wednesday 11 March 2015 | Heart of Worcestershire College Bromsgrove Campus

Curriculum design and learning technology | Wednesday 17 June 2015 | South Staffordshire College Rodbaston Campus

Governor Networks 530pm - 8pm

Clerksrsquo Networks 1030am - 1pm

Tuesday 10 February 2015 | Heart of Worcestershire College Redditch Campus Osprey House

Wednesday 3 June 2015 | Walsall College

Please book via your clerk or contact the AoC WM Office Manager yasmin_byrneaoccouk 01902 824399

11

Useful resources and contactsFor full access to all the available resources please register your details by emailing our national governance team Governors will then be registered for an account and AoC will issue a personal password to enable access to the content of the briefings listed in the notification emails The AoC website offers an extensive range of essential material for the support of Governance including

bull AoC Governance Briefingsbull Pages dedicated to governance issuesbull Information to support the induction of new governorsbull Guidance for would-be governorsbull Guidance for clerks seeking to recruit governorsbull Information about the National Leaders of Governance (NLG) and National Subject Specialists (NSS) service

To discuss either NLG or NSS working with your college please contact AoC NLGNSS Co-ordinator Craig Williams on 0207 034 9900

The AoC Governance library includes pages for

bull Guidance notes which are brief introductory guides to governance mattersbull Templates which are examples of good practice materialsbull A collection of some of the more recent published policy and other papersbull A repository that holds copies of publications and material held elsewhere in the library as well as videos from the Governance

Conferencebull 2013 board composition resultsbull 2013 board composition tables

A programme of webinars on subjects of interest to governors and clerks is available on-demand Details of these are made known through the AoC Governance briefings If you havenrsquot already done so register on the AoC website to see the on-demand webinars

External resources

bull A report and open letter to FE and Sixth Form College Chairs on the review of Further Education and Sixth Form College Governancebull BIS guide for College Governance how Further Education Colleges operatebull For advice and support for student governors please contact Angelina Linker Governor Development Officer at the National Union of

Studentsbull SGOSS - Online Governor recruitment sitebull Visit the University and College Union website to find out how college staff are represented at your organisation

Contact Us

To book your place onto any of the events mentioned within this newsletter please email AoC West Midlands Office Manager Yasmin Byrne

For any questions comments or queries relating to this programme such as advice on commenting or feeding in to the advisory group or suggestions for areas of specialist training please contact AoC West Midlands Regional Projects Manager Sara King

Additionally please also send Sara any suggestions for content or articles you wish to be included in future editions

Association of Colleges West MidlandsWolverhampton Science ParkGlaisher DriveWolverhamptonWV10 9RU

01902 824399

wwwaoccoukFollow us on Twitter

Follow our blog for more AoC college member success stories across the West Midlands

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