Minutes of Quality, Standards & Curriculum Committee - 29 January 2024 HTML

Prof J. Barratt in the Chair.

01/24. Declarations of Interest

A Robertson and W. Saveker declared an interest as members of the student body.
S. Grecco and A Hodson declared an interest as members of the staff body.
Prof Barratt declared an interest as a Parent Governor.

02/24. Minutes – 25 September 2023 (Appendix – Agenda Item 3)

Resolved: That the Minutes of the meeting held on 25 September 2023, were approved as a true record.

03/24. Quality Assurance and Enhancement Process 2023 – 2024 (Agenda Item 4)

As part of the continuing Committee Development Programme, the VP – Q, A & I provided a verbal update on the college’s quality assurance and enhancement process 2023 – 24, as follows –

• The college’s Self-Assessment Report (SAR) process was substantially complete; the draft being presented to the Committee at this meeting.
• The Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) 2023 – 2024, which would include the areas for focus identified as a result of the college’s self-assessment process, would be presented to the next meeting for review of progress.
• Progress Grade (PG) Monitoring– Progress Grade Monitoring Period 1 took place during December 2023 and the outcome reports were presented to this meeting. Progress Grade 2 would commence after Half Term.
• Student Induction quality assessment work had been completed and the outcomes would be reported to the next meeting.
• Curriculum Quality meetings. The process had changed this year, with meetings being held with Curriculum Directors, rather than a larger number of teachers; this allowed for more in-depth interrogation and any improvements identified could be implemented in-year, for more efficient impact. All areas of provision were now included in this process, including Apprenticeships.
• Student Forums. The programme of targeted conversations with student groups around themes identified through self-assessment and student voice activities had been planned.
• Teaching and Learning Skills Development Programme. The next Staff Development and Wellbeing Day was on 09 February 2024; 31 sharing activities were taking place between teaching cohorts and the VP, Q ,A & I would be presenting on the development of and use of AI in the education sector.
• Professional Practice Reviews (PPRs). The comprehensive programme of PPRs was taking place this week; with over 250 teachers subject to observation. In answer to questions, the VP explained that –
  • PPR was a developmental and collaborative process; focussing on recommendations to improve teaching performance in agreement with the teacher. Outcomes fed into individual CPD programmes and the college’s QEP.
  • The Staff Governors present confirmed the collaborative approach to the Review.
• The college’s Peer Development Work programme was currently being developed.

In response to a question, the VP explained the changes and improvements made to the suite of Quality Assurance and Enhancement processes now provided an opportunity to identify and address issues for enhancement in-year. The Committee supported this approach.

04/23. Draft College Self-Assessment Report (SAR) (Appendix, Agenda Item 5)

The P/CEO attended the meeting and the VP – Q, A & I presented the College Draft Self-Assessment Report (SAR) (previously circulated) for review by the Committee prior to the Full Board.

He explained that –

• Whilst the Draft SAR still reflected OFSTED’s general framework, the document represented a significant shift from previous versions in terms of both presentation and context, to make the document more focussed and clearer on key achievements and key areas of focus on going forward.
• The key areas of focus would be transferred directly over to the Quality Enhancement Plan 2023 – 2024, which would be reviewed for achievement against targets by the Committee.
• The content and design of the SAR would continue to evolve going forward.
• It was expected that the college would be inspected by OFSTED during 2024 – 2025.

The P/CEO explained that the Draft SAR did not feature self-assessed ‘grades’, which in the past would have led any dialogue with OFSTED inspectors and would have been assessed by governors. For this year’s SAR, it was considered challenging to grade provision and invite governors to assess these grades, due to the lack of available comparative public data in 2023 and the partial contextualised sector performance information available.

In response to questions –

• The VP, Q, A & I explained how Value Added was measured. Regarding improving Value Added in some A level provision cohorts, he explained that, as part of the Quality Improvement Process, performance against prior attainment, particularly for certain groups, now featured as part of the conversations with Curriculum Directors and Programme Leaders. This enabled an in-depth analysis and early identification of any areas for development.
• The VP, ALs explained how teacher feedback was captured through monthly Academic Leadership Team meetings and through weekly meetings between the VP and Curriculum Directors and Programme Leaders. The DoQ,T & LE also explained that teachers were able to feedback on student issues through Learning Enhancement activities, to inform improvements in teaching practice. The P/CEO also had a meeting with teachers at the start of each Autumn Term, to review the previous year, identify best practice and where teachers could be supported to improve. This also helped identify themes for attention through the year.
• How the college followed-up on unfavourable student voice survey responses, to ensure the college both understood the reasoning behind these responses and to identify areas for improvement planning going forward. Returns data was scanned for any discernible trends, particularly across students with protected characteristics and with respect to safeguarding, and actions transferred into curriculum action planning.

The Committee observed that the document read well. However, notwithstanding the challenges in securing reliable comparative data already explained, the Committee suggested that the document would benefit from the inclusion, where possible, of national benchmarking data, to enhance the value of the document and provide a national context in which to place the college’s performance. The P/CEO offered to share with the Committee the 2017-18 SAR to illustrate how the college utilised benchmarking data and made judgements where this was both made desirable by the inspection framework, and also possible because of the availability of contextual data.

Resolved: That the Draft College Self-Assessment Report 2022 2023, as amended, be submitted to Board.

Action: Clerk – item to Board

05/24. Quality Enhancement Plan (QuEP) – Progress Update (Appendix – Agenda Item 6)

The Committee reviewed the QuEP in tandem with the Draft SAR (previously circulated), seeking assurance that enhancement projects were on track and were having the desired impact on quality improvement.

The VP, Q,A & I explained that the priority projects had been highlighted in the document at the request of the Board Chair.

The Committee agreed that it would wish to see an updated QuEP at its next meeting, evidenced to show progression against expected targets.

06/24. Progress Grade 1 and Apprenticeships – Reports (Appendices, Agenda items 7a – 7c)

Academic

The Committee analysed a report providing an overview of the risks associated with the achievement of expected outcomes this year and students completing courses to expected grades in June 2024 (previously circulated), with reference to the analysis of Progress Grade 1. Students had been set target grades based on the 2019 dataset, meaning that some had more stretching target grades than might otherwise have been the case. Progress grades were assessed in early November 2023 and improvement actions were discussed by teaching staff with each student. The grades and actions were then the focus of individual consultations between students and their tutor in their next 121 to look at overall progress on their programme.

The key risks identified after PG1 included –

• lower than usual attendance for this cohort compared to pre-pandemic years with consequent risk for lower outcomes.
• lower value-added since target grades were based on inflated 2022 GCSE grades.
• A level retention not back to pre-pandemic levels so risk of lower achievement rates.
• risk of recent tragedies impacting on student emotional health & well-being and affecting outcomes for those individuals.

The Committee identified that the greatest risk impacting on outcomes was attendance which was lower than expectation. Notwithstanding that this was consistent with an emerging national picture across the education sector, the Committee sought assurance that these risks were understood and that actions were being taken to mitigate these risks.

The VP, Als explained the following actions being taken to embed positive attendance behaviours and to support students to meet expected target grades, including -

• attendance follow-up phone calls in first three weeks of Term.
• half-termly attendance reports had been introduced and were sent to parents.
• attendance congratulations letters sent by the Principal/CEO to students with high attendance.
• the in-house tutorial attendance dashboard enabling faster identification of students with low attendance, thus enabling faster intervention actions.
• attendance by subject was reviewed and followed up with Programme Leaders
• redesign of tutorial sessions to include rolling 121 conversations for faster follow-up of concerns.
• subject ‘route to success’ action plans and subject contracts were being introduced, to focus students’ learning towards expected targets.
• provision of extra subject workshops in larger subject areas.
• regular reminding of the college’s ‘SCG 30’ expectations via videos from Principal/CEO
• those academic subject areas currently behind expected predicted grade profile were focussing on quality enhancement actions.
• students at risk of not achieved expected target grades were reviewed regularly with associated follow-up to retain students wherever possible.
• The college’s Safeguarding Team monitoring affected individuals and the college had put in place additional following the tragic events in the December Term, as explained to all governors at Full Board at its meeting on 11 December 2023.
• The two new posts of ‘Head of Student Progress’ and ‘Academic Study Skills Coordinator’ had put in place systems to expand the use of registered study time in the LRC and developed a set of bespoke study sessions focussing on different skills for students to be referred to when needing extra support.

In response to a question from the Student Governor, asking if the college could explore ways of using technology to support students who were genuinely unable to attend, for example, due to public transport issues, the VP, Als explained that it was challenging to provide a high-quality teaching experience to a ‘blended’ audience. The college provided face to face education and content delivery was built around this.

Technical & Vocational

The Committee reviewed a report (previously circulated) on the recent progress and developments made within the Technical and Vocational provision.

The VP, V&TE provided an update on -

• Progress Grades (1). All students were being supported to achieve or exceed their target predicted grades.
• GCSE English & Math November 2023 Exams. Exam attendance had been very strong and whilst GCSE English results were above national average, the Math results did not meet the Committee’s expectations. The Committee requested in the next report include an analysis to fully understand these results further and if the Maths Team required support, and/or resources to get the remaining students ready for the summer exam windows and meet expected predicted grades. The college was reviewing papers and supporting students where it was appropriate to seek a remark. Century AI, the online learning platform for English and Maths appeared to have had an impact in students achieving Grade 4 in Maths. The Committee encouraged the college to promote more engagement in English.
• Local Skills Improvement Fund Project (LSIF) Marches Education Partnership funding success and Local Education Partnership (LEP) funding success to boost skills training in the manufacturing, engineering and construction sectors. The various projects developed as a result would address specific staff and skills needs and enhance existing facilities in the Electrical, Plumbing and Gas provision to enhance teaching delivery and improve further student experience.

The Committee sought assurance on actions being taken to drive up Maths predicted grades outcomes. The VP explained that GCSE tutors were monitoring attendance and providing support for students using the ‘5 Rs’ approach. The college would hold a deep dive of Maths to support the teachers in their readiness for summer exams.

Apprenticeships

The VP, Q, I & A presented a report (previously circulated) on the college’s Apprenticeship provision. The Committee sought assurance on -

• Recruitment, as 2022/23 had recruited below plan. In response to questions, the VP explained that the shortfall in numbers was predominantly in the construction trades as the housing market had slowed due to interest rate rises. However, against the trend of under-recruitment the current funding projection remained at around budget, as the college had recruited higher value apprentices in Engineering. Regarding opportunities going forward, green industry apprenticeships were starting to gain interest from employers and the college was looking at introducing these into its portfolio for 2024/2025.
• The final achievement rate for 2022/2023 had been calculated at 61%, up from 51% in 2021/22. The college now expected to be above achievement threshold for ‘green’ performance within the Apprenticeships Accountability Framework (AAF) applied last year. However, the college might remain within the ‘amber’ retention rate threshold, but this would not be confirmed until the Department for Education refreshed the framework data. The Committee asked how the college intended to ensure that achievement rates were on or above target. The Apprenticeship Curriculum Manager continued to review and challenge every potential withdrawal before it was confirmed to ensure that every opportunity was taken to either ‘retain’ the apprenticeship or replace the apprentice if appropriate. The college also scheduled End Point Assessment to provide more opportunities for apprentices to resit should they fail their EPA first time.

07/24. Higher Education Report (Appendix, Agenda Item 8)

The Committee reviewed a report (previously circulated), setting out the latest developments with respect to the college’s Higher Education provision.

The college had been successful in securing funding from the Higher Technical Skills Injection Fund to spend on specialist equipment, facilities, and upskilling staff to deliver Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs) across the next two financial years. This grant funding would support the college to build and create additional capacity to kickstart and grow its higher technical provision, raise the prestige of HTQs amongst learners and employers, upskill staff, invest in HE facilities, and increase brand identify.

The college had also secured grant funding from the Modular Accelerator Programme, offering eight modular delivery programmes. In response to questions, the VP explained that the college had based the estimated number of learners it hoped to engage on these programmes through extensive research and effective engagement with employers, skills advisory panels and sector networking. Therefore, the college was confident the number learners forecast was both realistic and achievable.

The college had not recruited to expected targets in HE and the Committee recognised the challenges of changes in delivery of HE in FE, which included understanding employers’ requirements and developing the curriculum product portfolio. A core component of the college’s Strategy was to grow HE provision and, whilst the Committee had reviewed the Draft HE Strategy (Q,S & C Min No 06/23 refers) it expected to review the revised HE Strategy, informed by these recent developments, at its next meeting.

08/24. Progress Against the Delivery of the College’s Careers Strategy (Appendix, Agenda Item 9)

The Committee received the assurance report on the college’s compliance with statutory requirements in the delivery of its career provision.

Colleges were required to hold the Matrix Standard if they were in receipt of funding from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) adult education budget. The latest Matrix assessment undertaken by external assessment in March 2023, confirmed the college continued to meet the Standard. A continuous improvement check was scheduled for February 2024. The college continued to meet all eight Gatsby Benchmarks in full with the latest Compass review supported by the Marches LEP Strategic Careers Hub Lead.

The AM updated on planned careers campaigns planned for the Spring Term, to which governors would be invited, including –

• activities during National Apprenticeship Week, including the ‘All About Apprenticeships’ Event being held on 06 February 2024.
• The college had won win a bid for 100 interviews as part of the UK’s first ever National Interview Week. 100 T Level students would have a high-quality interview and received tailored feedback in a report.
• Activities during National Careers Week, including the Telford Skills Show on 14 March 2024.
• Careers evenings
• Careers Confident progression event.

The Agency had developed interim contractual arrangements with Reach4Inclusion, a specialist SEND careers service to provide careers meetings to support the annual Education, Health and Care plan review and FutureFocus (Telford & Wrekin Council) to provide impartial careers appointments at London Road Campus, as part of the further development of the college’s career planning services.

The Committee agreed that the report provided assurance at this stage and looked forward to hearing the outcome of the latest Matrix Standard assessment.

09/24. Student Voice Reports (Appendixes, Agenda Items 10a & b)

2022 - 23 Student SPOC and Subject Survey Report

The Committee reviewed the outcome of the updated End of Year Survey Student Perception of College (‘SPOC’) and the End of Year Subject Survey Subject Survey and the Student Voice Report (previously circulated).

The Committee reviewed the key themes arising from the surveys:

1. The students responded that the campus estates (97%) and atmosphere at college (92%) made it a pleasant place to learn with good facilities for study (95%). They were happy with the quality of teaching (94%) and would recommend the college to others (96%). Students felt safe in college (98%) and those that did not were followed up directly by the Safeguarding Team.
2. In terms of themes for development, students responded that they would like more opportunity for enrichment (78%), learn more about issues beyond college (81%) and development of their digital skills (84%). Challenges remained in developing students’ self-confidence (81%), supporting emotional health and wellbeing (84%) and supporting travel to college (84%). Considering student groups by gender, sexual orientation, learning difficulty, access arrangement and access to free college meals, there appeared to be no significant variation in overall satisfaction.
3. Regarding the subject survey, students reported that courses were well organised (94%), that progress was made during lessons (94%), and they received regular feedback (93%) that helped them improve (94%). The responses showed that students found their teachers supportive (97%) with high expectations of achievement (96%). Students found a good learning environment in the classroom (93%) and felt well prepared for external assessment (93%). However, there was a remaining challenge to provide online resources that support their learning (89%).

The key points raised from the survey results indicated:

• Supportive Learning Culture: The college fostered a supportive and safe learning environment, with systems in place to assist students with personal problems and mental health issues. Teachers were readily available to provide extra help and support, creating an atmosphere where students felt supported and cared for.
• Quality Teaching and Resources: Teachers delivered engaging and informative lessons, utilising well-organised classwork and a variety of resources.
• Social Engagement and Opportunities: The college provided opportunities for socialising, making friends, and participating in off-site activities, trips, and work experiences.
• Personalised Support and Well-being: The college offered personalised support to meet individual needs, including international students, creating a safe, secure, and happy learning environment. Additional support was available for students with learning needs, and emphasis was placed on improving mental health and overall well-being.
• Positive Learning Environment: Students described the college as a friendly, welcoming, and an enjoyable place to learn.
• Quality Facilities and Resources: The college offered excellent facilities for studying. Students had access to organised spaces and resources tailored to their specific courses.
• Career and Progression Support: Students received valuable support in their career journeys.

Whilst acknowledging these positive conclusions, the Committee observed that there were no significant shifts in the student responses since last year and assessed the key actions being taken to improve satisfaction in areas where students felt the college could perform better. The Committee expected progress against these actions and their anticipated impact to be reported back.

Student Voice Report

The Committee reviewed the Autumn Term reports from members of the Student Union Executive members across the college’s three campuses. Members of the Committee and the Safeguarding Link Governor had attended the most recent SUE meetings.

10/24. Safeguarding Report (Confidential Appendix, Agenda Item 11a)

The Committee reviewed the Safeguarding Report (previously circulated) to assess that the college continued to effectively fulfil its statutory obligations regarding safeguarding.

The VP, S reminded the Committee that the most recent Board meeting had received the Safeguarding Annual Report (Board Min. No. 79/23 refers) and that during 2022 – 2023, students needed more support in terms of their mental health and there continued to be high levels of safeguarding referrals in and out of college going into the Autumn Term, with the patterns established over the last 2 years continuing. This included the increased levels of students accessing support for Substance Misuse concerns and the higher levels of reporting of issues related to sexual harm, self-harm and risk of suicide, as reported to Board.

As also reported to Board by the P/CEO, the college had faced exceptional challenges during the Autumn Term in the form of an unprecedented run of student deaths in 3 separate incidents between late September and the end of November 2023. The Board had received detailed information on how the college had moved to support the community of staff and students in response to these incidents and had supported the pro-active and holistic approach taken.

As previously reported to Committee (Q,S & C Min No 29/23 refers), the college had made a number of changes in how students were supported in terms of safeguarding and wellbeing, including offering all short-term solution focussed counselling through the Student Assistance Programme (SAP) from Health Assured. This was intended to remove any waiting list and enable all students to access the service. Students feedback had indicated that some would prefer a face-to-face service and so from January 2024, the college had enhanced its subscription to also include face-to-face counselling. The Student Engagement Coach (Welfare) introduced at London Road Campus was working to identify potential safeguarding concerns and preventing an escalation to a safeguarding intervention.

The updated Home Office online training on Prevent had been rolled out to all staff to be completed by half term in February 2024. This had also been rolled out to all governors, with the same completion deadline expected.

The Safeguarding Link Governor had undertaken a programme of additional development and meetings with the VP,S.

SEND & Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI)

The Committee reviewed an overview of the Autumn Term for the work of the EDI Committee and the college’s work supporting students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), as assurance that the college was meeting its statutory obligations.

The Committee reviewed:

• Outcomes for High Needs students in 2022/23, on their main qualification compared well to those from 2021/22 with a 99% pass rate on their core qualification (98% in 2021/22). There was also an improvement in English and Maths qualifications with the pass rate for High Needs students at 86% (76.2% in 2021/22).
• The retention rate for High Needs students was 92%, compared to the college average of 89.8%.
• 95% of High Needs students secured positive destinations on finishing their course.
• The SEND Transition/Review Team offered structured and planned transition programmes for the new students with the highest level of need coming into college, to ensure support needs were identified early and that transition was effectively supported. This was intended to ensure retention and engagement with learning. As a result, the 2023/24 cohort had settled well, and with attendance at 85% In English and Maths lessons attendance was 78.2%.

The Committee also received an assurance update on:

• The development of college provision aimed at students with Education, Health and Care Plans, with the intention of prepare these students academically but also for adulthood more generally.
• The college’s development of Supported Internships, which had seen a growth in numbers since 2022/23
• The number of students in the SEND category, their attendance and percentage meeting grade after Progress Grade 1, compared to the college as a whole.

The EDI Committee had continued to promote equality and inclusion amongst the categories identified as protected characteristics under the Equalities Act and during the Autumn Term, had:

• Represented the college (staff and students) at Shrewsbury Pride event. Governors had also attended this event, including the Board Chair.
• Continued to support student Pride groups across all 3 college campuses and run a ‘Proud to Be’ campaign designed to facilitate students to comfortably express their identities within a diverse college community.
• Supported an initiative from the FA to encourage more girls to play football (in conjunction with the Sport department)
• Run a European day of languages which included students making a TikTok video to promote it within the college.
• Introduced a Pan Disability football team with students from across provision as well as students from Severndale Futures Campus.
• Recorded new students’ preferred pronouns on internal systems.
• Gained funding from the Association of Colleges to set up and run a Student Action Ambassador scheme; their focus was on organising EDI events and raising awareness.
• Held focus groups with students from the LGBTQI+ community.

The EDI Link Governor had continued with a programme of development and had attended the most recent Committee meeting.

11/24. Risk

The Committee considered the strategic risks relevant to its remit and agreed that they had been discussed within the meeting, particularly –

• QSC 1 - Risk of retention factor falling below target 95% for 16-19 students (or declining from year to year)
• QSC 2 - Risk that Achievement rates fall below target or are declining
• QSC 4 – Risk that Attendance falls below target levels
• QSC 5 - Risk that Systems in place to support students who are struggling to achieve predicted grades are not effective

12/24. Date of Next Meeting – Monday, 22 April 2024 from 5.30 p.m. The meeting would be held at the Welsh Bridge Campus.

13/24. Governance Pack

The Committee reviewed the Compliments & Complaints Annual Report 2022 – 2023 (previously circulated). As the Report indicated that less complaints had been received in 2022/23 than in 2021/22, and that key recommendations drawn from complaints had been translated into actions, the Committee took assurance that the college dealt effectively with complaints.

14/23. Committee Terms of Reference (Governance Pack)

Further to the Committee’s annual self-assessment exercise, the Committee reviewed and recommended to Board the Committee Terms of Reference.

RESOLVED: RECOMMENDED TO BOARD That the Quality, Curriculum & Standards Committee Terms of Reference be approved.

The meeting concluded at 7.12 p.m.