CEPS Conference 21st July 2006

Dave Stott - Close and Thanks

2006-07-21T15:35:00.000+01:00

Dave Stott thanked all those involved for their effort in organising the conference. He singled out for praise the teaching staff and managers of CEPS saying that they have taken a risk by being "willing to start again, rethink what we do, to make sure what we provide is relevant".

Dave identified 2 foundations to build on the work of the CEPS CoVE, an outstanding inspection verdict from ofsted and LSC support for the excellence of the CoVE partnership.

Finally, Dave expressed thanks to delegates "you are the people that want the best we can give you...today has been about saying hello lets look forward to working in partnership together".

Photo Call!

2006-07-21T13:38:00.000+01:00

Our experienced photographer lines up the delegates for the CEPS Conference 2006.

Our speakers pose in front of the delegates whilst pictures are taken for the paper.

Question 5 - How can small organisations overcome the difficulties associated with rewarding staff?

2006-07-21T13:34:00.000+01:00

In this question it was noted that small organisations will rarely have sufficient career structures in place to satisfy the aspirations of a highly qualified workforce. It is therefore difficult to reward staff.

Jan Sheldon from Skills for Care agreed that within the health and social care sector there is a huge image problem and that this is an important issue to address. She is confident that the development of career pathways through the work being carried out by the SSC will help to overcome these sorts of difficulties.

Question 4 - Why is so much training needed?

2006-07-21T13:29:00.000+01:00

This questioner wanted to know why young people continued to need so much training after they have been in education from the age of 5 until they are at least 16. She wanted to know "What is wrong with the education system?"

Natelie Chaplain responded saying that there is need to change the focus of education away from GCSEs and towards functional and work skills.

Teresa Logan from the LSC noted that the key is to ensure that there is sufficient flexibility in the system to ensure that students can combine academic and vocational studies.

Question 3 - Does training staff mean losing staff for SMEs?

2006-07-21T13:21:00.000+01:00

Question 3 focussed on conflict between retaining and training on the part of smaller employers. The suspicion being that, once trained, staff often move onto bigger employers.

Jan Sheldon of Skills for Care responded to this question by discussing aspirations to "turn this round" stressing that "employers that train staff will keep staff". The old view that training staff leads to losing them "is not a road we can continue to go down".

Question 2 - Will aspirations for a highly educated workforce be undermined by poor rates of pay

2006-07-21T13:02:00.000+01:00

The second question from the floor focussed on the potential conflict between aspirations for graduate skills in the care sector and relatively poor renumeration.

Alison Manning conceded that it was a difficult issue, with no clear remedy, and one which policy makers had been made aware. There are no easy answers, but the message from government is that we have to start somewhere with upskilling and "raise the game".

Questions from the floor 1 - 14-19 funding emphasis

2006-07-21T12:56:00.000+01:00

The first question from the floor focussed on the strong shift in funding emphasis to the 14-19 age group and the implications for adult education and training - not least in the care sector.

Teresa Logan from Suffolk LSC conceded that, although much resource continues to go into funding adult education, there had been a strong refocussing of funding, in line with national policy, on to younger adults. The 'guarentee, of free training and development to 16-18 year olds is one element of this.

Natalie Chaplain - Review and Questions

2006-07-21T12:34:00.000+01:00

Natalie thanked the key note speakers from the morning and outlined the work and progress acheived through the CoVE. The CEPS department at Suffolk College has recently been judged "outstanding" in inspection and part of this was in recognition of the extent to which partnerships have been developed with key stakeholders. Clearly also the glowing inspection reflects well on the centres staff and internal staff development activity. The CoVE has also shown itself flexible enough to deliver bespoke training for a number of clients including SCC and Colchester PCT.

Natalie thanked delegates for there attention and felt it had been "an interesting morning" during which she personally "had gained a lot".

Teresa Logan - LSC

2006-07-21T12:09:00.000+01:00

Teresa Logan, Sector Development Manager for Health and Social Care for LSC Suffolk, was here to introduce Train to Gain.

The LSC is a national body with responsibility for improving the skills of young people and adults by planning and funding training programmes.

Nationally 15% of adults have no qualifications at all and 24% of businesses report skills gaps. Health and social care and early years and childcare have been identified as top priority sectors with particularly severe skill shortages.

The solution is to encourage collaboration between employers; providers; sector skills councils; and other key partners in particular JobCentre plus.

Train to Gain is a national programme which has been developed following the Employer Training Pilots which ran in a number of regions. This programme will provide funding for adult basic skills and first full level 2 qualifications and will particularly target employees within SMEs. Employers can access brokers to advise on the flexible and responsive training available and also on the part-funding of higher level training (including leadership and management, IIP and level 3 qualifications).

Further information can be found on their website www.traintogain-east.co.uk

Alison Manning - SCC Early Years and Childcare Training

2006-07-21T11:37:00.000+01:00

Alison began her presentation with an overview of how early years and childcare training in Suffolk is being influenced by a raft of national policy developments across the early years sphere.

One feature of the changed environment ahead is the proposed development for 2015 of graduate level training and qualification in early years where traditionally it has been historically difficult for practitioners to progress beyond level 3.

A national change agenda for professional development is reflected in the local iniatives pursued by Suffolk County Council (SCC).

These include:

Full range of support services
One stop shop for workforce development
Co-ordinated training opportunities
Transformation fund
Recruitment support

The central question that Alison posed towards the conclusion of her presentation was the nature of the relationship between employers, the local authority and the C0VE? The answer it seems "is all about quality". The Council's own quality agenda is informed by effective dialogue between practitioners, training providers, employers and the local authority - and the central objective remains to provide better outcomes for children through the development of a better qualified workforce.

Jan Sheldon - Skills For Care

2006-07-21T10:57:00.000+01:00

Jan Sheldon introduced Skills for Care as one of 25 Sector Skills Councils (SSC). These respresent the voice of employers, each industrial sector has its own SSC.

Skills for Care is the Sector Skills Council for those involved in Health and Social Care.

The Eastern Regional office is based in Histon and the region is divided into 3 sub regions.

Skills for Care is responsible for ensuring that the workforce is "fit for purpose". Their work includes developing the Sector Skills Agreement (SSA); collating data about the workforce (national minimum dataset); and developing a set of National Occupational Standards.

This work is designed to ensure that the workforce is able to respond to the changing requirements of the industry.

Within the Eastern Region a team of six is responsible for delivering these national objectives. Their work includes developmental work on the SSA; collabaration between Skills for Care and Skills for Health (the SSC for the health sector); a regional skills strategy for health and social care; plans for a joint health and social care skills academy; and a network of the six Centres of Vocational Excellence (C0VEs) within the Eastern Region.

Skills for Care has made funding available to promote training and development within the Eastern Region. This includes training Support implementing funding (TSI) which will be explored in Gerry's workshop this afternoon. Examples of funded projects include: Access to personal safety training for lone workers; a ESOL audit; the regional skills strategy; and developing a tool kit for trainers.

Lizzie Corke - Introduction to the CoVE

2006-07-21T10:51:00.000+01:00

Lizzie Corke provided a brief introduction to the CoVE and the speakers for the day. She also encouraged the delegates in an ice-breaking excercise.

Rev. Peter Mortimer - Pride in the CoVE

2006-07-21T10:40:00.000+01:00

Rev. Mortimer reflected on his own experience in social policy development and the current need for the sector to respond to the government' skills strategy. He underlined how we are all potential users of public and care services and how this provides some impetus to quality.

Rev. Mortimer went on to discuss the challenges ahead and the need for strong partnership between employers, education providers and government stake holders. He went on to assure the audience that despite the physical challenges of the development of New College Suffolk and UCS both institutions are determined not to let standards slip.

Prof. Dave Muller - Welcome to delegates

2006-07-21T09:42:00.000+01:00

To begin the day Prof. Muller extended a welcome to all guests to what he described as a unique event.

He expressed a hope that the day would prove interesting and challenging and that delegates would enjoy themselves.