Invitation to first steering group meeting....

With some positive results to go on, I was advised to invite steering group members to a meeting at the beginning of May. In the run up to the meeting, my school had agreed only to release me as 'Lead' and for the responsibilities associated with the role, for 12 lessons and the equivalent of 16K of funding in return. A 14-19 Diploma Development Officer agreed this would be the best way forward and this was confirmed via a written e-mail to our headmaster. Consortium funding has now been increased to 40K for the year 2009-2010, and the allocation of the remainder of the funding as well as delegation of roles and responsibilities within the steering group will need to be on the agenda for an upcoming meeting (perhaps not the first one though!)

Collaboration, as anticipated, proves to be one of the main problems of working as a Consortia. Teachers are busy people! Replying to e-mails and coming to after-school e-mails aren't the sort of things they would automatically prioritise! Below is a copy of the second reminder e-mail I sent out to all members.

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to invite you to an IT Consortium Meeting on the 6th May, Wednesday at Archbishop Tenison's (3:30-5PM) Details are in the attached meeting agenda. As we are at a crucial stage of both perfecting our application and embarking on the preparatory year leading to delivery in 2010, I appreciate your commitment to attending these meetings. Your input will be necessary (see agenda) on a number of things, and it will also be an ideal opportunity for formal introductions to members in the group! We hope to present an overview of the year ahead as well as look at a Diploma in IT specification comparison (which promises to be revealing!) Please confirm your attendance (or let me know if you are unable to make it) by replying to this e-mail. Snacks/drinks will be provided so I do need numbers ASAP. You can also visit a site (still under construction) www.croydondiplomas.tk for a copy of the agenda and all related documents. I have created an online forum for any questions or answers you might have to the posted threads.

With warm regards,

RB

I used moonfruit (www.moonfruit.com) to set up a super-quick website complete with a forum and poll! http://croydondiploma.moonfruit.com/ No one uses it of course, but it is useful (even just for me) to have a record of meetings, logs, and important documents altogether in one public place! Fronter may have been an alternative but logging in and remembering an id and password is just one more thing to do!

You've got to start somewhere!

My first "Lead Diploma Meeting". It started at 3:00PM and then just went on and on -and on. It should be noted that at this stage we still haven't officially gotten through the gateway -i.e our bid has not been approved as succesfull. Nevertheless, onwards and upwards in positive anticipation, everyone keeps talking about the importance of getting the ball rolling, and it is -rolling (slowly but surely). Teachers -deputy head teachers mainly -trickled in in dribs and drabs. There were two very outspoken (and rather wise) ladies from connexions (careers) present. Then there was a representative from Croydon College -on behalf of the Engineering Diploma, and a few other people (unrelated to teaching) but very important sounding (and looking) on the far end of the room. My co-lead partner from the college was also present and had a large notebook on which he appeared to be taking very detailed notes. I had my own "reporters lined excersize book" that I bought from the corner shop just down from Leon house and a new pen. Now, it was called the Lead Diploma Meeting, but what it really was was a meeting for people who had already been coming to this forum to raise questions, book 'sessions' and conferences with LSIS and provide feedback on their experiences so far. From that perspective it was useful to be present. Especially as it highlighted how much I obviously didn't know.

For instance, the first hand out we had was entitled "LSN Training options". The first two sub-headings in the report were

1. IAG -Training session for Connexions P.A's and school careers staff. Possible leading to connexions Diploma champions?

2. PLTS a) Support a session working with LA sta.....

I stopped reading right about there.

LSN?
IAG?
P.A's?
PLTS?
LA?

During the course of the conversation and the free and frequent use of these acronyms their meanings became (somewhat) clear, but it should be said that there is no sector like Education for the efficient use of abbreviations. If only everyone knew what they meant! For the most part, I was just listening very intently. A deputy head from somwhere or the other said her main concern was that the Diploma was only being recognised by universities that were desperate. At one point the connexions lady referred to the Diploma as being 'vocational' and was promptly corrected. The Diploma, she was told by the lady sitting next to her, was meant to be 'academic' not vocational. In my reasoning, the whole point of the diploma is bringing the strengths of both types of qualification together to form one all-round fantastic qualifications for young learners. The question of Information and Guidance (IAG) is however, an important consideration. There was some allocated to a man from the London Network Group -a group committed to supporting staff in the preparation and delivery of the Diploma. They are funded handsomely of course by the government and we can 'apply' for their services. There was a lot of talk about "health checks". You have to be alive to have a health check, and as we aren't quite at that stage, I switched off during this bit.

Anyway, so two hours later I had a notebook entilted "Steering Group" (a group that will only be formed once we know the bid is through). I noted down a number of things that I know will be useful to discuss, once, and if, things do progress.

Steering Group (Possible Points for discussion) (Who will be in my steering group?)

1. Functional Skills. Who will be responsible for the Consortia? War Forward: Mapping PSHCE to PLTS

2. The problem posed by Level 1 @ KS4. How many anticipated Level 1 learners would the consortium have at Level 1? Would Croydon College be the sole centre to offer this? One day instead of Two days? Could Level 1 be nested within the Level 2 offer (Norbury Manor has adopted this approach). Alternatively could an external workforce provider deliver Level 1. The other thing to consider is: Would level 1 learners be suited to doing other qualifications. Note: Level 1 at KS5 didn't (From their feedback) appear to be a problem

3. Level 3 Strand Coordinator -would this need appointment?

4. Employer Engagement

5. Inside Industry Days -to get people "interested"

6. Curriculum Training

7. Assessment Training

8. What is the incentive for other partners (the lead centre gets funding -what about other representatives, how can they be made effective collaborators?) Is the answer to build in Diploma related roles into existing job descriptions.

9. IAG arrangements. Consultancy Service does this. Funding available for IAG implementation.

One of the 14-19 representatives asked me if I had felt the meeting was useful. "You've got to start somewhere" I said.