AoC London Member’s Bulletin - Issue 123

1. AoC London Region Members’ Bulletin
26 October 2012 – Issue 123
Dear Colleagues
This week I would like to highlight a number of key London events that have taken place since
the last bulletin.
MPs Dinner at the House of Commons
We were delighted that the Right Honourable Margaret Hodge MP, Seema Malhotra MP, Sarah
Teather MP, and Nick de Bois MP accepted invitations to attend the AoC London dinner at the
House of Commons hosted by Meg Hillier MP. This was a highly successful event and a
timely opportunity to highlight key messages around London’s needs, what London Colleges
are doing to meet those needs and how London MPs can help. The discussion centred around
London policy priorities for young people, for employer skills and apprenticeships, and getting
people into work. A summary of AoC London Colleges Policy and Priorities is attached. This
summary has been developed through AoC London Regional Committee and Principals
Forum. You may find this useful when meeting with your MPs. Please keep feeding back to us.
We were invited to provide a further follow up brief for the MPs. This was an important
opportunity to set out the scale and scope of Colleges’ contribution to the capital, and the
impact of policy and funding changes on learners and on the College offer. If you would like
to discuss further please contact Ian Ashman, Cathy Walsh, Steve Dowbiggin, Vicki Fagg, Andy
Wilson, Marjorie Semple, myself or Judith Smyth as participants at the event.
London Councils: Young People’s Education and Skills Board, 16th October
As an observer on the YPES Board I attended the meeting chaired by Jack Morris on 16th
October. The agenda included consideration of the Draft Statement of Annual Priorities,
Raising the Participation Age – Post 16 Transition, Responses to London Youth Unemployment
and High Needs Funding Reform. The papers are available here.
Regional Committee FE Principals Meeting with Munira Mirza, Deputy Mayor for Education,
18th October
The agenda included updates on the Vision GLA 2020, the Mayor’s Inquiry and the LEP, and
the opportunity to discuss issues around 16 -18 recruitment in London, and the Mayor’s
Apprenticeship campaign. A number of follow up meetings have been agreed.
If you wish to discuss any aspect further please contact Caroline or Judith.

2. AoC London Region Members’ Bulletin, 26 October 2012
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AoC London Regional Forum, Eversheds, 18 October
This well attended and successful event focused on Governors’ Responsibilities and Liabilities
and an update and over view of Charity Law. Please contact Evelina Bagusyte if you would
like to receive the slides.
Mayor’s Education Inquiry: Launch and Publication, 19th October
Judith attended the launch of the Mayor’s Education Inquiry Final Report on Friday 19 October.
Colleges will be particularly interested in Recommendations 6, 7 and 8. AoC London Region
released a statement on Londoncolleges.com and on Twitter in response. Laraine Smith,
Principal of Uxbridge College has been part of the panel and will continue to work with them
on careers guidance for Londoners.
Best wishes
Caroline Neville
CALLS FOR ACTION
London Colleges website
You may have already noticed that the new London Colleges website has a rolling banner of
the pictures on the front page. Please keep sending to Evelina Bagusyte your high resolution
pictures to promote your Colleges. We would ideally like to have an up to date picture from
every regional member– so please don’t miss out on your chance to promote your College.
Please give your views on a London skills and employment service
The Social Market Foundation has been commissioned by the GLA to carry out an evaluation of
the London Skills and Employment Observatory. This is the chance for Colleges to have an
input. The Social Market Foundation is really keen to get Colleges’ thoughts on the service that
the Observatory provides, the types of labour market and skills information that are important
to Colleges and any ideas about how the service could be improved in the future.
Please complete the survey online to give your views. All responses will be treated
anonymously. The deadline for completing the survey is Wednesday 7th November 2012.
For further detail about the project please contact Nigel Keohane at the Social Market
Foundation.
LONDON NEWS
London Colleges news
Richmond upon Thames College Lecturer Wins BBC Countryfile Competition
A wildlife image taken by Richmond upon Thames College (RuTC) lecturer Dave Foker has
been voted by the public as the overall winner of the BBC Countryfile Photographic
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3. AoC London Region Members’ Bulletin, 26 October 2012
Competition. Titled 'On the Move', Dave's entry beat over 50,000 other participants to take
pride of place on the front of the Countryfile Calendar 2013 as well as featuring in the month of
May.
The winning image, voted for by Countryfile viewers, was
taken whilst Dave was holidaying with his wife in Scotland and
features a badger scurrying down a secluded country track.
'The response and support I've had since it was announced has
been amazing' said Dave. 'I've had people I haven't heard from
for thirty years contact me to say congratulations and the image
has also featured in the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail and the
Radio Times.'
Richmond upon Thames College picture
Please visit London Colleges website to read a full story.
GLA news
4,000 young people to benefit from Mayor’s youth funding
News From Len Duvall AM: Questions over Mayor’s ability to deliver on Education Inquiry
Mayor unveils ambitious plans to make London a world leader in education
UPCOMING EVENTS
AoC London Network Events and Dates for the Diary
• AoC London Finance Directors Network meeting, Thursday 8 November.
• AoC London Heads of Sport Network meeting, Monday 12 November.
• AoC London Business Development Managers Network meeting, Wednesday 14
November.
• AoC Annual Conference and Exhibition 2012, 20-22 November.
• AoC London Marketing Committee meeting, 27 November.
• AoC London Procurement Network meeting, 28 November.
AoC National and AoC Create events
AoC / WorldSkills UK I AM GLOBAL Conference - Excellence in VET International
Leadership: Driving Economic Growth, 19 November 2012, Birmingham
The AoC / WorldSkills UK I AM...GLOBAL Conference will provide a forum for international
exchange on VET. It will showcase cutting edge approaches to key VET issues and share up to
date research from the sector. There will be sessions feeding back from the different strands of
the WorldSkills legacy project. It will be a perfect opportunity for international colleagues to
share ideas and help set up an international VET network on which future partnerships can be
built.
For more information please visit the AoC Create website.
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4. AoC London Region Members’ Bulletin, 26 October 2012
Be a Better PA – A new course for PAs serving the Further Education sector, 27 November,
London
.
AoC Create is pleased to unveil its first workshop exclusively for PAs serving the Further
Education Sector. This course will equip you with the essential skills for influencing and
managing relationships with key stakeholders, including your Principal. You will also have the
opportunity to develop the essential project management skills for preparing and
implementing change, and listen to a Sector update from an AoC Director.
For more information and to book your place, please visit the workshop website.
Other events
Funding for High Needs Students, 8th November
At the AoC London Principals Forum meeting on 2nd October the policy, and policy
implementation, of High Needs Students was discussed as a key issue for London Colleges and
local authorities. A Regional Event has been organised (London Councils/Education Funding
Agency/Association of Colleges/Association of National Specialist Colleges) on managing
these key policy changes in the interests of learners.
To find out more about the event or book your place please visit the London Councils website.
London’s Regional Tournament
British Colleges Sport (BCS) come to a very exciting time of year when they are hosting
London’s first regional tournament. The regional tournaments are a chance for Colleges to play
against each other for a place on the London team for the National Championships which occur
at Bath University in Easter. This year the students taking part in 12 of 14 different sports
across 4 different sites in London over 5 Wednesdays in November and December. Whether
your College is taking part or have not been involved in the BCS setup before and would like to
see what it’s all about, you are invited to view some of the sports on one of the days in
November:
• Football, Tennis and Squash in North London on the 7th (Enfield)
• Cross country, Rugby, Netball and Golf in West London on the 14th (Richmond)
• Badminton, Volleyball, Trampoline and Table tennis on the 21st (UEL SportsDock)
• Basketball at Hackney Community College on December 5th and 12th
To find out more please contact Carla Emmanuel, Regional Coordinator at BCS.
GET A LINE ON AOC LONDON REGION MEETINGS
Recent meetings
Date Meetings/Events
15 October MP’s Dinner (CN, JS, IA)
16 October AoC London Heads of Student Services Network Meeting
16 October Meeting with Tod Baker and Davide Persechino, Barclays (CN)
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5. AoC London Region Members’ Bulletin, 26 October 2012
16 October Young Persons Education and Skills Board Meeting (CN)
16 October Talent Match Partnership Meeting (JS)
17 October AoC London Marketing Committee meeting (JS)
18 October AoC London Regional Committee Principals’ meeting with Munira Mizra, GLA, (IA,
CN, JS)
18 October Quarterly meeting with Mark Hilton London First (CN)
18 October AoC London Regional Forum, Eversheds
19 October ESOL Planning Meeting (EB)
19 October Mayor’s Education Inquiry Meeting, Pimlico Academy (JS)
19 October AoC London Clerks’ Network Meeting
22 October 16-18 Apprenticeships Recruitment Meeting with Bronte Turner and Jon Thorn,
Apprenticeships (CN, JS)
22 October AoC London Region Vice Principals C&Q Network meeting
24 October Meeting with Steve Kerr, Policy Officer, London Voluntary Service Council (IA, CN)
24 October AoC HE Coordinators Network Meeting
25 October AoC London Strategic Group for Sport meeting
25 October Disability Sport Meeting (JS)
25 October Telephone Meeting with Nigel Keohane, Social Market Foundation (CN)
Future meetings
Date Meetings/Events
7 November South Thames College visit (EB)
7 November Meeting with Paul Wakeling, Principal, Havering Sixth Form College (CN)
8 November ESOL workshop event, City Hall (CN, JS)
8 November AoC London Finance Directors Network meeting
8 November London Councils Higher Needs Students event (CN)
8 November Meeting with Julie Naldrett (CN)
8 November GLA Part–Time jobs campaign event (JS)
9 November AoC Directors Strategy Meeting (CN)
If you like to get more information about the AoCLR attended recent and future
meetings/events please contact Etha Taylor, AoC London Region Team Administrator.
CONTACTS
If you wish to contact the AoC London office to give feedback on this Bulletin, to request
additional information where we have offered it, or to provide suggested content for future
issues, please email Evelina Bagusyte.
Caroline Neville Judith Smyth
Regional Director Deputy Director
caroline.neville@aoc.co.uk judith.smyth@aoc.co.uk
Evelina Bagusyte Etha Taylor
Regional Co-ordinator Team Administrator
evelina.bagusyte@aoc.co.uk etha.taylor@aoc.co.uk
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