Construction Skills C & BE Diploma Conference 31.03.09
ConstructionSkills C&BE Diploma Conference
31 March 2009, 9:00 – 15:30
Programme and summary
Narrative summary of the employability conference held on the 31st March 2009 for employers, school consortia and key partners to network and action plan for the delivery of the Construction & the Built Environment Diploma.
The key objectives of this event were:
- To allow Diploma Consortia to speak with members of other consortia to share problems and success stories and feel supported
- To develop lasting and mutually beneficial relationships with employers and other consortia
- Through workshops, to share and address concerns surrounding the C&BE Diploma
- To tap into the network of resources available to Diploma consortia
- To action plan for the future
In this document the beginning session and two workshops are summarised. The content of the remaining two workshops can be seen as attachments to this email.
|
Time |
PROGRAMME |
|
|
9.30 |
Opening Plenary |
|
|
9.40 |
Dirty Laundry session A chance for delegates to get their grumbles out of the way & recorded to be addresses during the conference
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|
|
10.00 |
Workshop: Embedding PLTS & Functional Skills |
Workshop: Diploma Progression Pathways |
|
11.00 |
Break |
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|
11.20 |
Plenary: Diploma Update Rumour control, myths & negative stories Student take-up, active partnerships |
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11.45 |
Workshop: Training & Delivery |
Workshop: Planning the Curriculum |
|
12.45 |
Group Plenary: HE Involvement & Support How to link in to your local HE institution; understanding what HE are looking for; tap in to HE resources |
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|
13.30 |
Lunch |
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|
14.00 |
Group Plenary: Employer Engagement Led by the chair of the employer engagement network
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|
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14.30 |
Group Networking Session & Workshop Feedback A structured session to action plan & establish links between employers, Diploma consortia and partner organisations
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Dirty Laundry Session
In which delegates started proceedings by airing, and ‘earthing’, their prime concerns, worries and negative experiences associated with the C&BE Diploma – summarised below.
- Securing adequate employer engagement in the current recession, when companies are downsizing and looking inwards
- The capacity of consortia delivering the C&BE Diploma to accommodate all the learners potentially subscribing to the course
- A confusing general picture, nationally, that acts as a barrier to engagement with employers, parents and influencers
- Worries over recruitment on to the course, and reaching out to parents and influencers
- A lack of detailed, easily accessible information provided by the government
- A lack of detailed, easily accessible information for learners making options choices
- Concerns over support of the selection process, which ensures learners are the right individuals for the course
- Neighbouring consortia not sharing employers who potentially could work with more than one consortia
- Set up of the new qualification taking up a disproportionate amount of time for participating schools and colleges
- The high levels of assessment associated with the course
- Guidance from awarding bodies has been too slow to materialise
- Concerns over training staff and employers for Diploma work placements
- Not enough guidance on what does, and does not, constitute appropriate work experience
- Worries that the quality of students won’t match up to the calibre of student currently studying A-Level courses
- Main body of government advertising campaign released too late to influence students making options choices, only hitting the airwaves in high volumes in March / April
- Not enough government support to encourage small and medium employers to participate in employer engagement
- Lack of joined up thinking and collaboration on training support for deliverers from organisations positioned to do so (Learning Skills Network, Specialist Schools & Academies Trust, ConstructionSkills etc)
- The lack of visible support and involvement from other Sector Skills Councils associated with the C&BE Diploma, or the lack of visible collaboration between ConstructionSkills and other Sector skills Councils associated with the C&BE Diploma
- A negative attitude, generally, to Construction as an industry. A general regret that the Diploma is called Construction & the Built Environment, as this creates the wrong impression of the course
Workshop: C&BE Diploma Progression Pathways
This workshop started with an open discussion, prompted by the following comments and thoughts:
“The marketing of the Diploma denotes the students that apply for the qualification and therefore their aspirations.”
“There is a risk, if a student follows the same line of learning from Foundation to Higher, or Higher to Advanced, of repetition of learning and consequently disengagement from the subject”
“The Diploma offers a different learning experience for the learner in the way that it is delivered, and the chance to leave the school sometimes gives the student a fresh start, and the ability to mature, and develop as they have not enjoyed the school experience.”
“Selection of the applied & specialist learning can profoundly change a student’s experience of the Diploma and dictate, to an extent, the more appropriate progression routes available”
“To what level can the Applied & Specialist Learning open up and close down progression routes at any level of Diploma study?”
“What level does Information Advice & Guidance in its current form fit in with the requirements of the Construction & the Built Environment Diploma?”
Key group concerns
- Engaging with parents & influencers
- The stigma surrounding the construction industry
- Impact of the recession on the construction industry
- Access to information for employers wishing to engage
- Not just progression to university – viability of employment to be promoted
- Not just construction – we must also consider the potential for other built environment careers, and even moving into a different sector altogether
Solutions
- Make full use of the resources within consortia – sharing info between employers and education partners, parents within group, governors
- A clear direction for all members of the consortia vital. Each member must have clear objectives in mind that benefit individually and the group as a whole
- A change of culture away from higher education into embracing the whole 14-19 spectrum of opportunity
- Tap into support that already exists – see links below:
Western Vocational Lifelong Learning Network
Full information on all consortia, members and lines of learning offered
AimHigher
An online careers website designed to directly link to the lines of learning offered by the Diploma
National Education Business Partnership Network
Containing a link to each education business partnership in the country, sorted by region
Workshop: Training & Resources
This workshop was designed to help consortia appreciate the training and development resources available within each consortia, demonstrated by a strengths and weaknesses analysis, the results of which are laid out below:
|
|
Strengths |
Weaknesses |
|
Further & Higher Education |
Resources (staff, IT, facilities) Research facilities Mentoring schools & colleges Graduates & undergraduates Delivery experience of similar courses Employer engagement expertise Subject matter expertise Outcome focused work ethic |
Employer engagement! Little experience of 14-16yrs learners Outdated resources & industry info Limits on funding Elitist perceptions (HE) |
|
Schools |
Experience of 14-16yrs learners Knowledge of specific students Enthusiasm Product knowledge (qualification) Budget & funding for qualification Facilities (purpose built buildings) Specialist Schools resources Every Child Matters ethic |
Difficult to change culture Difficult to change attitudes Lack of buy-in from senior management Information advice & guidance Sustaining external relationships |
|
Employers |
Knowledge of industry Passion & motivation Business focused & organised Lack of waste of resources Construction Ambassadors Problem solving approach Different attitude to education |
Transient nature of C&BE industry Invisible masses (SME’s 92% of sector) Health & Safety for pre-16’s Awareness of current qualifications Relating to young people |
This analysis contains the opnions of delegates and is not necessarily that of ConstructionSkills, but what it shows is the ability for most weaknesses identified by the group to be rectified by another partner of the consortia. Some examples are give below:
Schools (difficult to change culture)
Employers are experts at culture change in their staff and could contribute to the strategic planning of the consortia
Employers (awareness of current qualifications)
This can impact on the performance of a business as it lacks the knowledge to recruit from the best pool of labour. Schools have the knowledge and resources to provide this training to their employer partners
Further / higher Education (lack of pre-16yrs experience)
Schools can deliver training to FE and HE staff
Schools (Sustaining relationships)
Employers have expertise in practical and effective communication pathways between their supply chain, staff and departments and could deliver training to schools at a strategic level
Finally, attention was drawn to free external support consortia can tap into through the Sector Schools and Academies Trust on many aspects of delivery of the Diploma. A link to their website was shown:
View the Powerpoint presentation
Download the PDF document: PowerPoint Presentation
