DIUS FE and Skills e-Newsletter

Audience: FE college principals/governors, training providers, school sixth forms, local authorities, voluntary providers and national partners/stakeholders

The Nuffield Foundation's three-year review of 14 - 19 education suggests that the government's current reform of 14 - 19 education, with the introduction of Diplomas and greater emphasis on work-based learning, provides an excellent opportunity to rethink the national curriculum.

Issues Paper 7: the whole curriculum 14 - 19 examines the notions of 'the whole curriculum', 'curriculum development', the principles which should guide such development, and the role of the teacher. Please follow the links below to view the paper and learn more about the Nuffield Review.

• Issues Paper 7: The Whole Curriculum 14 - 19
• Nuffield Review

Audience: All with an interest in skills and employment, people working in skills for life, college staff, union learning reps, employers, voluntary organisations who work with the unemployed.

People who need extra help to improve their skills and job prospects are benefiting from over 700 new European Social Fund (ESF) projects which are being rolled out across England during spring and summer 2008.

The projects were successful in winning funding from the first tendering rounds organised by LSC, DWP and other agencies under the 2007-2013 ESF programme for England.

The programme is investing £2 billion of ESF funding which is matched to £2 billion of government funding. The LSC projects will complement Skills for Jobs and Train to Gain provision. Over seven years, the new programme will help:

• 160,000 employees gain basic skills
• 175,000 employees gain qualifications

• 200,000 people into jobs
• 140,000 of the most disadvantaged people make positive progress towards a job
• 80,000 disadvantaged young people into learning or a job

For further information visit the ESF website.

• ESF website

Audience: FE college principals/governors, training providers, school sixth forms (all post-16 providers), voluntary providers, HR, E&D and CPD professionals training providers, voluntary providers, school 6th forms (all post-16 providers), national partners/stakeholders, local authorities and their partners, LSC, local partnership teams, all with an interest in skills and employment.

On Wednesday 21 May 2008 join Centre for Excellence in Leadership (CEL) at its first conference dedicated to looking at equality and diversity issues across the further education and skills sector. The purpose of this event is to engage with sector leaders, share research findings and discuss the learning from its equality and diversity training programmes and positive action programmes.

Workshops will give participants the opportunity to hear from other agencies and organisations, capture and share good practice, and explore the various issues and challenges that need to be addressed.

Chaired by CEL's Chief Executive, Lynne Sedgmore, keynote speakers will include:

• The Hon Lord Bill Morris - former general secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union
• Wally Brown CBE - principal, Liverpool Community College.

Some of the organisations taking part in the workshops will be Ofsted, the Learning and Skills Council, Lifelong Learning UK, Unison and the University and College Union.

Venue: Millennium Hotel & Conference Centre, 4-18 Harrington Gardens, South Kensington, London SW7 4LH.

Website: www.centreforexcellence.org.uk/

Registration: www.centreforexcellence.org.uk/ED08

Enquiries: equalities@centreforexcellence.org.uk

Telephone: 0870 060 3278

Audience: FE college principals, training providers, school sixth forms, local authorities, voluntary providers and national partners/stakeholders

The consultation on proposed changes to the pre and post 19 system set out in Raising Expectations: enabling the system to deliver runs until 9 June. Both DCSF and DIUS are keen to hear what you have to say about these important proposals so that we can take account of your views in implementing the changes. So please do respond to the consultation which you can find on the DIUS website.

We are running a series of regional events during May to explain the changes, and identify key practical issues arising from the proposed new arrangements. If you haven't attended one of these events and wish to the remaining dates are as follows:

• 16th May: Peterborough
• 20th May: Newcastle
• 21st May: Leeds
• 22nd May: Birmingham
• 23rd May: Reading

You can register via the event website.

• Register for an event

Audience: FE college principals/governors, training providers, school sixth forms, local authorities, voluntary providers and national partners/stakeholders

Analysis of the responses to the recent QIA/CEL/DIUS consultation Improvement in the Further Education Sector - a consultative prospectus for a new sector-owned organisation was published on Friday 25 April 2008. Follow the link below to view the analysis.

• Analysis of responses

Audience: FE college principals/governors, training providers, school sixth forms, local authorities, voluntary providers and national partners/stakeholders

The Managing Information Across Partners Programme is introducing a newly updated version of the Learner Registration Service (LRS) release 2a stage 1 on 19 May 2008. This will include a set of matching algorithms within the LRS to reduce the number of possible learner and Unique Learner Number (ULN) mismatches. These changes are a result of feedback gained from early adopters using the LRS since September 2007. It will also help ensure the integrity of the ULN.

Learner Registration Bodies using the batch interface implemented in release 1a will still be able to use existing interfaces as MIAP is ensuring backwards compatibility.

Release 2a will also make live web services link with the LRS. This will allow Learner Registration Bodies to call the LRS directly from within their own MIS systems. The majority of web services were made live in release 1b and have been used successfully by the Diploma Aggregation Service.

• MIAP website

Audience: FE college principals, FE staff delivering HE provision

Higher Education at Work - high skills: high value, the Government's high level skills strategy, was published on 14 April. The document describes a strategy to achieve the growth in high level skills (level 4 and above) set by Leitch. It focuses both on raising the skill levels of those in the adult workforce to HE level and on improving the employability of graduates.

The document launches a consultation process and one of the questions refers specifically to FE. Question 6b asks how we can best build on the contributions of FE colleges and providers, and their links in particular to networks of small and medium sized enterprises.

At the same time, DIUS has published an initial equality impact assessment for consultation. The consultations end on 7 July.

For more information and to submit your comments please visit the DIUS website.

• View the consultation

Audience: All FE sector and post-16 providers, all with an interest in skills for employment, independent providers, national partners/stakeholders, local authorities and their partners, LSC, local partnership teams

This consultation seeks views on proposals for how we should move to achieve the vision set out in the 14-19 Education and Skills White Paper, of a qualifications system in which every young person can prepare themselves through education and training to make a success of their life.

ASCL and AoC are running a series of consultation events from 3 June to which heads and principals will be invited.

The closing date for responses is 23 June.

• Download the strategy

Audience: All work based learning providers

LLUK has been working with partners to create specific guidance for work based learning providers to explain the workforce reforms, how they are affected and what they need to do in their organisations. The new guidance for work based learning providers is now available on the LLUK website.

• www.lluk.org