Debra Gray, Assistant Principal, and Joe Fojut, Head of MIS, at Chesterfield College outline the curriculum planning work undertaken at the AoC Beacon award winning College that has improved success rates and created significant efficiencies whilst improving learner voice and employer relationships. This presenation is part of Insight 2013. More details at bit.ly/insight-resources.

1. Insight into
Planning your
Curriculum
Debra Gray
Joe Fojut

2. Debra Gray
Assistant Principal
Introduction
Joe Fojut
Head of MIS

3. • This session aims to highlight how effective
curriculum planning can raise success rates
and create significant efficiencies while
improving learner voice and employer
relationships
Session Purpose

4. Specific Aims
As a result of attending this session you will be equipped
to:
• Review your curriculum holistically and ensure it is
directly linked to local, region and national labour
market intelligence
• That each programme makes a financial contribution
and how to improve accountability and responsibility
in curriculum managers
• We will also explore how cross college working
between curriculum teams, MIS and finance have led
to a more effective offer and a better budget cycle

5. History and Background
• A medium GFE
• 80% Vocational
• 10,000 learners
History and Background

6. Our Circumstances
Roll Over
Uninspiring
Lack of scrutiny and viability

7. Internal Drivers
Finance
Success Rates
Innovation

8. External Drivers
Wolf
Funding Methodology
Employability

9. The Audit
540 Hours
Viability Review
Growth and Decline

10. June
Offer complete on EBS and finalised budgets
May
Draft Timetables (inc induction)
April
Curriculum Set Up and draft budgets created
March
Offer 'Purchased'
February
Draft Curriculum Offer
December
Curriculum Planning Day
The Cycle

11. Launch Day
All relevant academic and support managers
Offsite
Active and interactive

12. Planning Day
Bespoke to each faculty
MIS and Finance reps
Offsite away day

13. LMI
Local, regional and national
Matched to new offers and retired offers
Creation of pathways and additionality

14. English and Maths
Careful choice
FS are still the qual of choice for most
vocational learners
GCSEs could compromise your success rates
– the cohort needs to be chosen carefully

15. Additionality
Do not reduce just to save on teaching and exam fees
Powerful tool in your success rates arsenal
Clear employment benefits to learners

16. Enrichment
Link to
wellbeing and
resilience
Link to
employability
and success
rates

17. The Purchase
Panel meeting of MIS, Finance, SMT with the
Head and Curriculum Managers of an area
Line by line analysis of the proposed offer
Approval, decline or resubmission

18. The Systems and IT
What data needed capturing:
Qualification
Information
Delivery
Particulars –
Hours/Dates etc
Costs – Staffing,
Course Costs,
Learner Costs
Income – Funding
and Fees Contribution
Planned Learner
Numbers – by
funding type

19. Planning for 2012/13
• First year for fully costed planning
• Short development timescale and no budget
• Developed large detailed XLS for each area
• Linked to LARA extract for funding
• Captured all required information
• Income, Costs and Contribution derived
• MIS system updated with planned
information
Planning for 2012/13

20. Planning for 2013/14
• Unable to continue with Spreadsheet
solution due to:
- Wolf changes
- Diverging, complex funding methodologies
- Undefined funding rules
• In-house development time excessive and
continuing
• Risk too great
Planning for 2012/13

21. System for 2013/14
• 4Cast – Drake Lane Associates
• Re-written for 2013/14 planning
• SQL Server Client based application
• Replicated our spreadsheets in easy to
navigate forms
• Support has been excellent
• Open to suggestions
System for 2013/14

22. • Permission based access to required level of
data
• Imported 13/14 course file
• Able to plan a programme of courses as both
a Wolf Programme for 16-18s and as a set of
individual aims for adults
• Live link to LARA extract and SFA quals
spreadsheet
• Managers understood the process already
4Cast

23. Information and Outputs
• Flexible/Multiple Screen Layouts available
• Summary Information visible
• Dashboard Views are included
• Inbuilt Validation Rules
• Can export to XLS, XML or PDF
Information and Outputs

24. Programme View of a course - headlineProgramme View of a course - headline

25. Income and Costs for a course

26. Dashboard ViewDashboard View

27. The Partnership
MIS
Curriculum
Finance

28. The Response
“4cast allows me to see how our programmes fit
together; going away for planning is brilliant; then
when we sit down with SMT it feels good when we get
their stamp of approval when they purchase our
offer.”
Paul Maude – Curriculum Manager Catering and Hospitality
The Response

29. • “The new process means that we are not just
doing the same curriculum planning every
year. It is under continual review, and we can
see direct comparisons against historic data
on a live basis.
Trevor Burton, Head of Advanced Technologies
The Response

30. “We had a new, and what appeared to be complicated, process
dropped on us at short notice to ‘help make Curriculum more
efficient and its planning more effective’. As you can probably
gather from my opening statement I was not looking forward
to this process! “My initial, sceptical, opinion was soon quashed
as I began to explore the document and I found just how
powerful this spreadsheet was. All of my Curriculum in one
place, with all the associated information with it; dates,
numbers of learners, qualification aims, funding, material costs
and a wealth of information to assist me in consolidating the
Curriculum. Most importantly, we can actually see how our
courses perform financially and ensure that we are a viable
area.
Humble pie tastes quite good when it is a simple to swallow as
this was!”
Nick Rudkin – Curriculum Manager, Carpentry and Joinery

31. • The College had its Curriculum offer in place
by Easter 2013, which is 6-8 weeks earlier
than normal. Whilst the full impact of the
new Wolf compliant study programmes is yet
to be realised the College is happy that their
curriculum offer is robust ,exceptionally well
planned and made the best use of cross
college expertise in MIS, Finance and
business development.
The Results

32. Saving of
£2.2
million in
2012/13
Projected
savings of
£1.7 million
in 2013/14 Increased
success
rates
The Results

33. Next Steps
Further
consolidation
Increasingly
sophisticated
LMI
Training
programmes
for CMs and
Heads
Next Steps