paper 1: wecan 2009-2011 strategic plan

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Aimhigher London West Central, North (WECAN)

Strategic Plan

2008-2011

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Contents

1. HEFCE Strategic Plan Template

1 Contact details:

Name of Area Partnership: address: Aimhigher London West, Central, North (WECAN)

tel: 020 7911 5000 ext 3996e-mail: [email protected] (if applicable):

Area Partnership lead HEI Thames Valley University

Contact details for lead HEI: address: St. Mary’s Road, Ealing, London, W5 5RF

tel:e-mail:

Contact details for area co-ordinator address: Lead co-ordinator is to be identified. At this stage please contact: Dr. Graeme Atherton

tel: 020 7911 5000 ext 3996e-mail: [email protected]

Name of Area Partnership: address: Aimhigher London West, Central and North Partnership

tel: 020 7911 5000 ext 3996e-mail: [email protected]

2 Partnership vision and strategic priorities (see paragraph 96) (500 words max)

The Aimhigher West, Central, North Partnership (WECAN) will be a new entity for 2009-2011 formed from the merger of the Aimhigher London West, Central & North partnerships. Through a process of consultation, stakeholders in the new partnership have focused on establishing a set of values & principles to underpin delivery of activities in the new partnership. Of particular importance is how to develop a coherent offer for learners over the next two years beginning from a position of contrasting provision across the area reflecting its diverse nature. This offer will build on this existing provision in the three partnerships

The key objective is to target the resource in such a way as to reach the largest numbers of Aimhigher learners and strengthening the ability of the

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new partnership to show the impact of it’s work by supporting a comprehensive flow of information on how the partnership has delivered to its objectives over 2009-2011. The values and principles which will unite the work of the new partnership are outlined below:

Values

Building on the existing track records of the 3 partnerships good practice we will:

Raise the attainment of the target cohort and develop their skills and capacity for success.

Raise learners’ aspirations for progression to higher education in a variety of settings and appropriate to their abilities.

Develop and maintain effective partnership working based on trust, transparency and mutual respect.

Challenge stereotypes and encourage changes of culture in schools, colleges and HE.

Principles

The partnership’s main priority is the delivery to targeted learners of the most suitable activities that support progression to higher education in a variety of institutions. The allocation of resources must always be based on this principle.

Resources need to be focused mainly but not exclusively on supporting activities in schools and FE colleges where there are the largest numbers of learners in the Aimhigher target cohort. This will be done by utilising a resource allocation formula based on the use of the key proxy for socio-economic status in the 2007 Aimhigher targeting guidance i.e. Index of Multiple Deprivation, and the key proxy for school performance as used in the 2008 national Aimhigher funding formula i.e. GCSE Performance (the formula is outlined below).

Each targeted school/college will be allocated a minimum identified resource to support the delivery of activities in that institution.

A core task will be to build capacity in schools and colleges and to promote sustainable activities.

Beyond the minimum identified above and allocated to target schools and colleges, other resources for the delivery of activities for schools will be managed at local authority level.

All targeted schools in the partnership will be grouped in a rank order of need. This ranking will be on the basis of the agreed formula used to allocate funds between Local Authorities in the partnership. The formula is:

0.8 (0.8 No of 15 year old pupils educated in the area resident in the

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bottom 14,000 Local Super Output Areas + 0.2 No of pupils who do not achieve 5A* to C GCSE) + 0.2 (No of pupils educated in schools from 16-18)

The rationale for the formula is that all available evidence shows that social background exerts a greater influence on educational achievement than school attended. The most recent comprehensive assessment of the relative influence of social background and schools on attainment all schools in England by Cassen & Kingdon (2007) estimated the ratio of impact to be 80:20. Hence, the relationship between social background and school attainment in the WECAN formula is 0.8:0.2. The formula also includes an element to cover post 16 education. The reason for this is to account for Aimhigher’s continued commitment to supporting the delivery of Gifted and Talented activity at post 16.

The range and level of activities will be allocated on the basis of need as identified via applying the formula described above. This will lead to:

the most comprehensive Aimhigher offer for the top tier

the next most comprehensive for the second tier

a core Aimhigher offer for the remaining tier

a basic Aimhigher offer for the remaining tier

The basic offer will be made to those schools who appear in the lowest 15%of institutions in the ranking order. The core offer to the next 28%, the next most comprehensive to following 28% and the most comprehensive to the highest 28%.

The tiered WECAN offer will be based on targeting those in need through the development of the WECAN Learner Progression Framework.

To ensure that activities are delivered effectively in partnership with schools each authority will allocate Aimhigher resources to the management and coordination of the delivery programme and nominate a person with appropriate operational and strategic expertise.

There will be a central management team, whose responsibilities will include the coordination of Partnership-wide resources and activities, delivery of the evaluation strategy and the development of the WECAN offer. They will also ensure that activity is targeted at learners from the target cohort who are not based in schools and colleges

Cassen, R, & Kingdon, G. (2007) ‘Tackling Low Educational Achievement’ York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation

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3 Strategic objectives 2008-2011

Strategic objective Indicators of success Timescale

1 To develop a coherent offer to learners in the WECAN partnership at three distinct levels. The nature of this offer will be agreed by all WECAN stakeholders and evidence based, built on the practice of these stakeholders. It will be based on the concept of the ‘Learner Progression Framework’.

An outline of the WECAN offer is developed based on the review of the existing partnership offers and the practice across local authorities in the partnership.

By September 09

The nature of the WECAN three stage offer is developed across the schools/colleges in the partnership. It will be informed by evaluation of impact of the Learner Progression Framework WECAN offer on learners.

By June 2010

All stakeholders in the partnership understand the nature of the WECAN offer and how it differs across three distinct levels.

By September 2010

2 To build the capacity of schools/colleges to embed and sustain support for learners in the Aimhigher target group in progression to higher education.

How schools/colleges can be supported to build capacity across the partnership is understood through consultation.

By October 2009

A pilot programme in capacity building in identified schools/colleges in the WECAN partnership is delivered.

By July 2010

All schools/colleges are able to access a support package in building capacity & sustainability based on the experience of the pilot programme.

From September 2010

3 To develop a communications strategy appropriate to such a large and diverse partnership

The elements of the strategy are agreed by consultation with stakeholders by the management team. In particular the balance between

July 2009

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electronic/face-to-face and inside/outside partnership is agreed.

Management team to report to the APC on the progress in delivery of the strategy

December 2009

APC to review the strategy July 2010

4 To position the partnership to be able to continue to support progression to higher education for learners from lower socio-economic groups after July 2011.

A sustainability advisory group is formed consisting of representation from core partnership stakeholders and those from the outside who can act in an advisory capacity. This group to give advice regarding sustainability for consideration by the APC. APC to agree actions for implementation by Management team

By Dec 2009

Management team to report back to APC on progress in implementing actions and to seek the continued advice of the sustainability advisory group.

By July 2010

Management team to have worked with all stakeholders to identify how WECAN can best support progression to higher education post July 2011 in each individual stakeholder context and what it needs to do up to July 2011.

By Dec 2010

5 To develop a partnership wide staff development programme for staff in schools/colleges/higher education institutions that will support the exchange of information regarding delivering partnership work & inform the development

Staff development programme is devised via consultation with stakeholders and delivery agencies & their funding agreed. It will be aimed at Aimhigher co-ordinators in schools and colleges with approximately 150 learners.

October 2009

Year 1 of the programme July 2010

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of the ‘Progression Co-ordinator’ role in schools/colleges

delivered focusing on exchange of knowledge regarding principles/practice of partnership working & collation of information regarding the considerable amount of provision available for WECAN learners.

Year 2 of the programme delivered focusing on the construction of support materials for staff & agreed understanding of the role of the ‘Progression co-ordinator’ in schools/colleges i.e. skills/experience/knowledge required, tasks/responsibilities, resource required & aims/objectives.

July 2011

6 To ensure that work with parents/carers is integrated into the WEAN Learner Progression Framework model

Existing work with parents/carers is identified, reviewed and spread to other parts of the partnership/ new work piloted if necessary. .

July 2010

All stakeholders in the partnership understand how work with parents/carers fits in the WECAN offer.

September 2010

4 Learner progression framework

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Please provide details of the partnership’s plans for the use of the Aimhigher learner

progression framework or similar arrangement for the provision of sequenced activities

as part of an individual learner’s transition curriculum. (250 words max)

The development of the Learner Progression Framework is at the heart of the WECAN strategy for 2009-2011. It forms the basis for the development of the staged WECAN offer. The offer while differentiated for different groups, will still cover all stages of the learner journey. It will though be provided at different levels of intensity for learners in contrasting situations. The central team will work with the HEIs in the partnership to bring together their activities for presentation to local authority/school partners in the context of the progression framework. This will support them in structuring their offer to learners in a sequenced, coherent way. The other key challenge with developing the learner progression framework is collation and transfer of information for individual learners regarding their participation in framework activities as they cross years/institutions. The WECAN approach will meet this challenge in three ways:

The piloting of the WECAN offer in 2010-11 will be an opportunity to capture how particular schools/colleges are meeting the challenge and the development of the offer for all partners will be a way to spread this practice.

The evaluation strategy by being based around cohort tracking at different levels will provide information on whether our learner’s actual Aimhigher experiences are as sequential as we would like and are meeting their individual needs.

The partnership staff development programme will contain opportunities for colleagues to exchange practice in this area.

5 Evaluation

Please briefly outline the key elements of the Area Partnership evaluation plan.

Please note: HEFCE will request a more detailed evaluation plan to be presented by 31

July 2009. At this stage we only require a brief description of intentions.

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Aspect of the

strategic plan to be

evaluated

Brief description of methodology

(100 words max per item)

Who will do this work? Estimated cost

£000s

1 Development of the WECAN offer at 3 distinct levels & its impact on learners.

The approach here will take 3 stages:

1. Is there a relationship between Aimhigher and learner outcomes?

Mapping of participation in Aimhigher activities against attainment outcomes at end of Key Stage 4//5progression at Key Stage 4/5.

2. What is the role of Aimhigher in explaining the relationship in 1?

1 sample of learners from year 9-12 will be established. It will be approximately 1500..

It will be drawn from across the partnership area.

It will involve participants engaged in a range of Aimhigher activities.

Questionnaires will be distributed to the whole sample and focus groups will be delivered with 20% of it, at 4 stages from Sept 10 to May 11 as offer develops.

The results will be examined to explore the strength of association between involvement in

WECAN central team

Support from external researcher (s)

£40000

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Aimhigher and attainment & progression.

1 sample of school/college staff will be established. It will be in excess of 100.

It will be drawn from across the partnership area.

Questionnaires will be distributed to the whole sample and focus groups will be delivered with 20% of it, at 4 stages from Sept 10 to May 11 as offer develops.

The results will be examined to explore the strength of association between involvement in Aimhigher and attainment & progression. They will feed into the development of the WECAN offer. A member of the central management team will have specific responsibility for evaluation, hence allowing the information to feed into the delivery of activity in the partnership.

The partnership will also seek to link the evaluation approach with prevailing developments in widening participation policy directives e.g. the 50% guarantee of HE offer outlined in the 2009 Government White Paper ‘New opportunities: Fair Chances for the Future.

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2 Impact of the partnership wide staff development programme

Questionnaires to staff participants at the start of their participation in the programme and end of programme. The intended sample size will be 100.

Participant blogs on the programme website.

Focus groups with participants at end of programme. The intended sample size will be between 30-40.

WECAN central team £10000

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6 Aimhigher Area Partnership budget 2009-2011Please provide an indication of the funding to be allocated to deliver the partnership’s

strategic objectives.

Budget heading Indicative budget

2009-10

£000s

Indicative budget

2010-11

£000s

Campus visits 20,000 10,000

Mentoring 15,000 15,000

Master classes (from revision to

subject enrichment)

20,000 10,000

Student ambassadors 20,000 20,000

Information, advice and guidance

(IAG) activities

79,324 46,617

Aimhigher summer schools (HEFCE

funded)

Funding for schools, (including

academies and trusts) and local

authorities for specific programme

(where agreed)*

2200437 1926883

Funding for colleges, training/FE

provider for specific programme

(where agreed)**

574103 501037

Healthcare strand

Staff development 100000 100000

Evaluation 25000 25000

Area management 200000 213000

Costs of lead HEI 20000 20000

Other category (or categories; please

specify)

0 0

Total of above 3278864 2897557

Total Aimhigher funding available 3278864 (1) 2897557

* A separate workbook will be provided by HEFCE for partnerships to indicate the funding to be

deducted at source by DIUS and then passed to schools and local authorities through the DCSF

Standards Fund. It will be the responsibility of the Area Partnership Committee to inform each partner

local authority and school of the funding which has been allocated by the Area Partnership Committee

on an annual basis.

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** It is the responsibility of the Area Partnership Committee to inform partner colleges of funding

allocations and to advise its lead HEI to make these payments.

(1) This amount includes £200,000 of funds carried forward. The HEFCE Widening

Participation Manager in July 2008 agreed that to support the merger process the

Central London Partnership would be allowed to carry forward this sum.

7 Composition of the Area Partnership Committee

The partnership committee below has an interim role until the end of the academic year

08-09.. It will be reduced to a smaller group of no more than 20 members by the

first meeting of 2009-10, as guided by HEFCE in its communication to the

partnership in December 2008. The partnership has undergone a unique, delicate &

sensitive merger process. It is crucial that all partners were involved in the consultation

and decision making process that has underpinned the production of the strategic plan.

Having reached this milestone the partnership now wants to ensure that there can be

appropriate consultation & negotiation to ensure that the APC represents the constituent

sectors appropriately and there are clearly agreed, transparent mechanisms to ensure

that this happens.

The timetable for movement to the APC will be:

April 09 – June 09 Consultation & negotiation on final

composition of APC and it’s relationship to

all partnership stakeholders.

Recommendations put to interim

stakeholder APC.

June 09 Meeting of interim stakeholder APC which

will ratify composition of partnership APC

for 09-10 and how it will communicate with

the all partnership stakeholders.

June 09 – September 09 Central Management team to produce the

communications framework ratified in June

09 to support the new APC in it’s work.

September 09 First meeting of new partnership APC.

TABLE BELOW TO BE COMPLETED WHEN COMPOSITION OF NEW APC IS

AGREED BY END OF 2009-10 ACADEMIC YEAR

Name Organisation Contact details

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8 Aimhigher activities to be provided collectively in association with other Area PartnershipsPlease provide details of activities which will be provided collectively in association with other areas*.

Activity to be

provided in

association with

other providers

Indicative

budget

2008-09

£000s

Indicative

budget

2009-10

£000s

Indicative

budget

2010-11

£000s

Name of provider of collective service

* Please note: Figures given here should have already been included in the budget statement given at 6 above.

It will be the responsibility of the Area Partnerships commissioning the collective service to develop contractual arrangements with the collective

service provider. Please provide details of the way in which the collective service provider will report to the Area Partnership.

The new partnership will seek actively to work with other partnerships in London and beyond. It will look to from collaborative arrangements to access new and emerging opportunities in the capital for the Aimhigher project. These may include activity around the Olympic Games, 14-19 Diplomas and City Challenge.

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9 Strategic planning process

Please describe the process used to draft this plan? (Max 250 words)

This plan has been produced through a process of extensive discussion within the three constituent partnerships who are merging to form Aimhigher London WECAN. In July 2008, an extraordinary meeting of the Area Steering Groups of each partnership met to discuss how to respond to the HEFCE steer regarding the future of Aimhigher in the three partnership areas. It was agreed that the partnerships would emerge to form a new partnership. In September 2008, a Merger Action Group (MAG) was formed consisting of the Chairs, Vice Chairs & Managers of each partnership. It contained representation from Local Authorities, Higher Education and Further Education. The group then engaged an independent consultant to work with stakeholders and produce a report on the future direction of the partnership. This report was completed in December 2008 and submitted to HEFCE for feedback.

The MAG then built on the feedback from HEFCE and the partnership stakeholders in a further round of consultation and constructed a shadow interim APC made up of the constituent members of the existing partnership APC’s (and the 2008-09 Central ASG). This group met on 2nd March 2009 and there was also a consultative conference on that day where stakeholders from across the partnership exchanged their views to shape the strategic plan.

The plan was then considered, amended and ratified by the shadow interim APC on 24th March 2009.

Where appropriate, please give details of other plans referred to when drafting this

plan. (Max 250 words)

This plan has been drafted in the context of the Aimhigher Targeting guidance (2007), the New Opportunities for All White Paper (2009) and the prospective School, Higher Education Links (SHELL) report for London Challenge (DCSF) to be released in summer 2009, in particular. The common element of all these reports is their focus on how an Aimhigher partnership should focus what it offers on the appropriate constituents, and how it could develop an offer that links strategically with the wider support systems that exist for learners regarding progression to higher education. The Aimhigher Targeting guidance has informed the objective of developing the WECAN three stage offer. The New Opportunities for All White Paper has inspired the desire to lead on exploring how progression to higher education support can be ‘guaranteed’ for learners from lower socio-economic groups.

Finally, the recent National Council of Educational Excellence (NCEE) report, has had a major role in shaping the thinking of the partnership in constructing this plan. In particular, the emphasis in the report on the need for improved Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) for young people aspiring to higher education. The partnership wide programme has a thread based on IAG

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running through it and the development of the WECAN offer will have IAG at its core.

Please list the key partners who signed off this plan

Contact Institution/organisation/agency

Ian Tunbridge Lead HEI, Thames Valley University

Andrew Ward Chair, Aimhigher London West

Colin Adams Chair, Aimhigher London Central

Sue Dunn Chair, Aimhigher London North

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10 Area Partnership operational plan template 2009-10Please complete the Area Partnership operational plan for 2009-10 in the following table. Area Partnerships will be required to report against the

annual operational plan in interim or annual monitoring statements.

Budget heading Estimated total funding for year

Indicative activity targets No. of beneficiaries (where applicable)

Campus visits 20,000 All Local Authorities to be offered visits at a level

commensurate with their size/level of need

3000

Mentoring 15,000 A coherent programme to be offered with student

mentors drawn from a minimum of 5 HEIs and

individual mentoring relationships to be a minimum of

10 sessions.

500

Master classes (from revision to subject enrichment) 20,000 Programme to be developed with a minimum of 15

subject areas

2000

Student ambassadors 20,000 Minimum of 6 HEIs to work together to develop and

deliver a collaborative support offer across the

Learner Progression Framework

2500

IAG activities 79,324 There will be an IAG package of materials and

delivery developed across the progression

framework in a minimum of 8 different subject areas.

This package will be piloted and then delivered

across the partnership in 2010-11. The focus in this

year will be in the research & development of the

overall package.

4000

Summer schools (HEFCE funded) 147,250 Provision to be offered by a minimum of 5 HEIs TBC

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covering a minimum of 5 subject areas. The offer to be tailored for different stages in the progression framework.

Funding for schools/local authorities 2,200,437 N/A N/A

Funding for colleges, training/FE provider 574,103 N/A N/A

Healthcare strand TBC FOR 2009-10

TBC TBC

Staff development 100,000 Year 1 of the programme delivered focusing on exchange of knowledge regarding principles/practice of partnership working & collation of information regarding the considerable amount of provision available for WECAN learners. It will be aimed at Aimhigher co-ordinators in schools/colleges. The number of participants reflects the numbers of schools/colleges in the partnership. Each participant will be offered an entitlement of a minimum of 3 interventions including activities delivered in the partnership HEIs.

150

Evaluation 10,000 1500 learners questionnaire, 300 learners focus group, 100 staff questionnaire, 30 staff focus group.

1900

Area management 220000 N/A N/A

Costs of lead HEI 20,000 N/A N/A

Other category (or categories; please specify) 0

Total without funding to schools/local authorities 1,225,677

Total including funding to schools/local authorities 3,426,114

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11 Operational planning by group/outcome/activity type

Please also report planned outcomes in the format given below which uses stages in

learners’ experience and outcomes rather than activity. This method of presentation will

be useful to partnerships when considering their evaluation plans. Area partnerships

should complete the table below for 2008-09 to indicate the allocation of resources by

group/year type, related activities and expected learner outcomes.

Please try to define learner outcomes as you think appropriate. It is accepted that

defining learner outcomes for whole cohorts/year groups will probably be at quite a high

level. We draw attention particularly to the key transition points at:

year 9

year 11

on exit from the 14-19 phase of learning.

Partnerships may wish to focus on these three key transition points rather than attempt

learner outcomes for all year groups.

This is the first time we have asked partnerships to report in this way and we will be

grateful for your best efforts. We have included this table to reflect the importance of

planning and outcomes of the programme as a whole in the context of the learner

progression framework. We will review the format of this table for reporting for 2009-10.

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Group type (year group/cohort)

Learner outcomes Associated activities Cost

Year 9(Options year)

Introduction to HE to raise aspirations and motivation

Presentation of link between school curriculum and HE study

Presentation of differences in institutions, courses and progression routes

School/college visits to offer talks and demos

Talks and demos can be both generic and subject specific

Generic topics can include:

Intro. to Student Life

Budgeting

Choosing a University course

How to apply to University

Access to HE Facilities

IAG sessions on how to progress from year 9 through HE and to careers

Aimhigher Associates Activity

15000

Year 10 Introduction to HE to raise aspirations and motivation

Presentation of link between school curriculum and HE study

Raising attainment and enriching school curriculum

Presentation of differences in

School/college visits to offer talks and demos

Talks and demos can be both generic and subject specific

Generic topics can include:

Intro. to Student Life

Budgeting

15000

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institutions, courses and progression routes

Choosing a University course

How to apply to University

Student Shadowing, Mentoring, Tutoring

Summer Schools


Year 11(Choosing post-16 futures)

Recognition of link between own curriculum and HE study (particularly at Level 2/Level 3 stage)

Development and recognition of link between school curriculum and HE study

Raising attainment and enriching school curriculum


Hands on sessions with direct level 2-3 curriculum link

Work with current undergraduates

Subject specific IAG activities

University visits and orientation

Student life experience workshops

Level 3 subject choice support


15000

Year 12 Presentation of link between school curriculum and HE study

Raising attainment and enriching

A series of masterclass workshops in a range of subject areas extending subject experience at sixth form/FE college

Access to HE and CoVE institutions resources –

15000

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school/college curriculum


Preparation for transition

studios, kitchens, laboratories

Work with current undergraduate students

Extend curriculum experience with subject and industry sector specialists

Hands on sessions with direct Level 3 curriculum link

Preparation for HE transition

Study Skills for HE

Assistance with UCAS application


Year 13 Presentation of link between school curriculum and HE study

Raising attainment and enriching school/college curriculum


A series of masterclass workshops in a range of subject areas extending subject experience at sixth form/FE college

Access to HE and CoVE institutions resources – studios, kitchens, laboratories

Work with current undergraduate students

Extend curriculum experience with subject and industry sector specialists

Hands on sessions with direct Level 3 curriculum link

15000

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Preparation for transition Preparation for HE Transition

University planning and preparation activities and workshops

Introduction to student services and facilities

Introduction to student finance

Study Skills for HE

Aimhigher Associates ActivityWork based learners

The focus here will be bespoke based upon the position of the learners in their learner journey

Given the focus is bespoke, activities can be drawn from the suite of activities above depending on the nature of the individuals/groups.

10,000

Exit from 14-19 phase

Embraced by the Year 12-13 offer Embraced by the Year 12-13 offer Embraced by the Year 12-13 allocation

Other groupsThose with disabilities



It is likely there will be work with staff in partnership with the AchieveAbility network on supporting the learning needs of this group.

15000

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Looked After Children



It is likely that the focus will be on subject specific visits to HE and IAG tailored for this group.

15000

Work with parents The focus here will be on supporting patents to support learners.

Work with parents/carers to identify what would benefit them

Development of support models for extension to wider partnership

15000

Working with pupils below Year 7

Understanding of what Higher Education is

Understanding of how Higher Education relates to different future employment destinations

Visits to schools/colleges

Visits to HEIs

Workshops from student ambassadors

24324

Total 154324

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paper 1: wecan 2009-2011 strategic plan

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