AoC North West News - Spring Term 2012

 

New Principals in the region

January - Yana Williams, Hugh Baird College

January - Jette Burford, St Helens College

 

March - Amanda Melton, Nelson & Colne College

 

Network News

The Sub-Regional Representatives Group met on 23 January at the AoC office in Chorley.  The meeting included updates from each of the 5 sub-regions, an update on sport and an update on the AoC procurement service.

The AoC NW Strategic Sport Group met on 2 February.  Discussion included funding from Sport England for Sports professionals within Colleges, updates from British Colleges Sport (BCS) and County Sports Partnerships (CSPs), forthcoming Sport Conference and updates from each of the five sub-regions. 

The Clerks Network met at South Cheshire College on 6 February.  This was a well attended meeting and included a discussion on governor training, an AoC NW update, arrangents for the North West Clerks Conference in May, new freedoms for governing bodies and the Foundation Code.

The Business Development Network met at Business Solutions, Bury College on 7 February.  Agenda items included presentations from the National Apprenticeship Service and JobCentre Plus together with an AoC update.

The Finance Directors Network met at Warrington Business School on the morning of 27 February.  Over 40 delegates attended and the meeting included updates from the SFA and YPLA plus a presentation on Risk Management from PKF and an update from the national College Finance Directors Group (CFDG).

The Senior Curriculum Managers Network met at Warrington Business School on the afternoon of 27 February.  Tony Watmough gave a presentation and led a discussion on the changing landscape within the sector including funding, inspection and apprenticeships whilst Debbie Ribchester from the AoC national office covered a range of issues impacting on the 14-19 Curriculum.

The HE in FE Network met at Leyland on 8 March.  The meeting included input and discussion led by Nick Davy, HE Policy Manager at AoC.

The Heads of Sport Network met at The Manchester College on 16 March.  This was the second meeting of this network and was well attended.  Clare Howard gave various updates including Sport England and funding for College sport professionals which was followed by round table discussion.  There were also updates from Podium and British Colleges Sport.

The AoC North West Annual Conference and AGM took place at the DW Stadium in Wigan on 29 March.  Over 70 delegates attened.  The morning session included a members' briefing from Martin Doel, AoC Chief Excutive, the North West AGM led by Tony Watmough and a session on succession planning led by Des O'Hare of AoC Create.  In the afternoon we were joined by a range of regional and sub-regional stakeholders and partners for the main conference sesion which included a keynote address from Lisa Nandy, MP for Wigan and member of the Education Select Committee, John Young from the Bank of England on prospects for the economy and Diane Gilhooley from Eversheds on the legal implications of the new freedoms and flexibilities airising from the recent Education Act.

 

Regional Committee News

The AoC NW Regional Committee met on 23 February.  This was the final meeting in the current Committee year  and included approval of a business plan and budget for the year commencing 1 April 2012/13, arrangements for the AoC NW Conference and AGM on 29 March plus a range of reports and update items.  A summary note of the meeting can be found on the Regional Committee page in the NW section of the AoC website.

Meetings

In January AoC NW attended sub-regional group meetings of Principals in Lancashire and the regional Social Economic and Environmental Partners (SEEP) group plus a range of meetings with individual Colleges.

In  February AoC NW attended sub-regional group meetings of Principals in Lancashire, Cheshire and Warrington, Greater Manchester and Merseyside.

Keep in Touch meetings were held with the North West Provider Network, National Apprenticeship Service, North West Universities Association and the Commission for the New Economy in Greater Manchester.

In March AoC NW attended sub-regional group meetings of Principals in Lancashire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester and attended the WorldSkills Regional Strategy Group meeting.

Keep in Touch meetings were held with the Skills Funding Agency and County Sport Partnerships.