Key Issues in 2008

During this second full year of the company, the Landex Board has directed the:

• establishment of a new contract for the supply of chief executive services and monitored its fulfilment
• ongoing implementation of the quality improvement strategy including 52 visits to member colleges and 10 CPD events involving over 180 college staff
• development of stronger working relations with: Lantra – through the Sector Learning Partnership, the FE/HE Strategy Group, Lantra Council and regional meetings with Lantra staff; The Learning & Skills Council – through meetings with senior officers;The Single Voice for self-regulation in FE – through representation on the Single Voice Board; Quality Improvement Agency (now Learning and Skills Improvement Service) – through membership of the National Improvement Board, Support for Excellence Advisory Group & NIPB Research Group; Government Ministers – including John Denham, Secretary of State; Government Departments - DEFRA, DCFS and DIUS; GuildHE – through senior officer meetings; Farming & Countryside Education – through the Year of Food and Farming (now: ‘Think Food and Farming’) Education Working Group; Royal Agricultural Society of England – through the Practice with Science Advisory Group; National Farmers Union – through the Agri-Skills Forum; The Institute of Horticulture – through Heads of Horticulture Group; and the British Equine Federation – through senior officer meetings.
• recruitment of two additional member colleges, (The Royal Agricultural College and Bridgwater College) and the retention of all previous members
• responses to questionnaires and consultations particularly to “Raising Expectations” and on the Prospectus for Self-Regulation.
• submission of funding applications namely for a National Skills Academy (led by Lantra) and for a FE Specialisation and Innovation Pathfinder (led by Landex submitted by Reaseheath College)
• organisation and successful completion of a Spring Conference and Tour to Northern Ireland by kind invitation of CAFRE.
• production, publication and distribution of the Annual Report, Newsletter and a Key Facts leaflet for Local Authorities
• circulation and communication of information to members by frequent emails through the six Landex jisc-based lists as well as through individuals and specific groups
• redesign and development of the Landex website, investigations and collection of
  data
• dialogue with appropriate individuals concerning: quality improvement (including Peer review development); funding (including residential bursaries); awarding body activities; potential links with an on-line appointments agency (eteach); potential links with GuildHE and Lantra’s National Student Database (NSD).
  

Supporting Improvements:

Landex has continued to develop its programme of quality improvement and selfregulation. During the last year in support of this aspiration, Landex has:

• Been an active participant in the national project to develop peer review and development as a means for quality improvement.
• Conducted validation visits to members to support the raising of quality through rigorous self assessment.
• Identified members needing further support and encouraged its uptake.
• Provided in house support for member colleges, including inspection preparation, and review of internal processes such as those for observing teaching and learning.
• Reviewed and revised the quality criteria required for membership to emphasise the significance of quality provision and to enable all members to receive evaluation based on a common set of issues.
• Delivered a programme of continual professional development for member colleges based on needs identified by members themselves.
• Collected, collated and disseminated benchmarking data from member colleges on aspects of performance including observations of teaching and learning, success rates for specific qualifications, progression rates (to employment or further education and training), and aspects of sustainability.
• Started a trial of the revised assessment framework during 2008 / 09 alongside the original membership criteria.
• Continued to review all internal communications to ensure this enhances quality improvement.
• Encouraged the development of informal networking, where appropriate, by visits to fellow member colleges.
• Produced a newsletter for both members and wider stakeholders to raise awareness of the provision offered and the quality of work achieved by Landex members.

Professional Development

In support of the improvement process Landex has staged one and two day events on:

• Good Practice in Land based Programmes
• Retaining and Motivating your Staff Team
• Preparing for IQER
• Individual Learner Management
• Leadership and Management
• Engaging Effectively
• Annual Spring Conference – the approach in Northern Ireland
• A Sustainability Forum
• Living with the new Funding Arrangements
• Standards in Teaching and Learning
• Self Assessment
• Sharing Chairing Issues

Quality Improvements

Landex has been developing its own understanding of the difficult question of what exactly is meant by quality in a land-based provision context, given the many different bodies which evaluate members against their own quality criteria. Evidence of our success in this endeavour to-date includes:

• Most have now been inspected as part of cycle two of inspections by Ofsted. Over 95 per cent have been judged satisfactory or better (comparing well with about 82 per cent among GFE and specialist colleges in the wider sector, from those inspected in the last year*)
• Five members (of the 28 inspected) have received outstanding grades for Overall effectiveness, capacity to improve, quality of provision and leadership and management.
• Of those inspected so far in cycle two Ofsted inspections, three times as many members have improved on their previous inspection result compared to those who have experienced a decline in grades awarded.
• Almost all members have higher education provision either in their own right or in association with a HE partner, and reviews by the Quality Assurance Agency for this provision typically receive a judgement of confidence in the quality of provision delivered.
• All those inspected in the past year for the quality of their residential provision for young people have received at least a satisfactory rating overall, with most good or better.
• Members are proactively engaging with various quality marks. For example: over 20% have either Beacon status or an award following outstanding inspection performance; over 30 % have or are working towards Part A or B (or both) of the Training Quality Standard; 70 % have the Matrix award and 75 % have Investors in People status. Others are working towards achieving these standards. Many have formal recognition for other specific awards such as Customer Service Excellence.
• Five members reached the stage one shortlist in the latest round of Green Gown awards (for good work in one or more aspects of sustainability), and one (University of Cumbria) was highly commended in the final awards.
• Members are contributing to the evaluation of new quality initiatives such as the pilot phase of Framework for Excellence, and the developing of HE in FE strategy statements.
• Individual students within member colleges have won numerous medals and awards for the quality of the work they have produced.

However, perhaps most importantly, members have a growing understanding of quality across all of their work. Self assessment reports are starting to reflect this broader view often un-recognised by current external measures. They are starting to include evaluations of the whole contribution members make to learners success and futures including skill development, progression, employment and future careers.

There is, of course, much still to do. Landex has members at all levels of quality. Quality improvement is challenging work, especially where it is most needed. We have however, made a start, and intend to continue until high quality provision is a reality across the membership.