Briefing contents:
1 AoC Beacon Awards 2009-2010
1 AoC Beacon Awards 2009-2010
Colleagues should have received hard copies of the AoC Beacon Awards 2009-2010 Prospectus at the beginning of April. A pdf of the prospectus is also available from the Charitable Trust section of the AoC website, or you can download a copy here: AoC Beacon Awards 2009-2010 Prospectus
We are delighted that following the success of last year's programme, the overwhelming majority of the 2008-09 Awards are available again. There are also five new Awards: the DCSF Award for the Successful Delivery of Level 3 Qualifications, the Becta Award for Excellence in the Use of Technology, the CLA Award for Promoting the Value of Copyright, the CoLRiC Award for the Effective Integration of Libraries/Learning Resources Centres in Curriculum Delivery and the DCSF, DIUS and LSC Award for Smarter Procurement.
In addition to these new Awards, several of the existing sponsors - specifically British Council, LSC 14-19 Collaboration and the Equality and Diversity Awards and LSIS have also changed the criteria for their Awards slightly, so it is worthwhile having a look at all of them to see if there are any new categories this year that your College may wish to apply for. The monetary value of the majority of the Awards remains between, on average, £4,000 and £5,000.
The Lead Assessors' Analysis of last years show that all submissions describe work of a high standard. The strengths found include:
- Strong dissemination of good practice both within the Colege and the wider sector
- Good progression routes to F&HE and employment
- Enthusiastic support from all levels of the College
- Good communication between College and partner organizations
- Use of CPD to develop teaching styles and support students
- Innovative projects which widen access that could be replicated by other Colleges
- Effective data exchange across areas and systems
- Outstanding social and cultural programmes
- Multi-faith Chaplaincy with a very broad spectrum of representation
- Sharing of good practice through networking
- Individualised student support
- A modern curriculum which addresses emerging technologies
- Good use of VLE by both staff and students
- Effective publicity and marketing materials
- Staff aim to challenge, inspire, engage and enrich students
Some areas where applications could be improved are:
- More quantitative data needed
- More written evidence from stakeholders/beneficiaries
- Objectives not SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, timebound)
- More evidence needed on dissemination
- Need for more evaluation and monitoring
- Sustainability of funding needs to be ensured
- Submissions do not always follow the format recommended in the prospectus
- Need for greater involvement of SMT to develop a strategic oversight
- More evidence of formalised routes for engagement with business
- More evidence of a progression strategy
The reports of the assessors' site visits of shortlisted Colleges, together with the submissions from the other Colleges continue to give an excellent overview of the state of further education across the whole of the United Kingdom. They show that the value of education and training, the need to increase access and to provide support for students to achieve their potential are issues which are well understood and addressed by Colleges.
Feedback is available to all non-shortlisted Colleges which applied last year. So far feedback has been given on almost 100 of last year's submissions. If you would like feedback, which will be given over the 'phone, please contact Alice Thiagaraj, the Manager of the AoC Charitable Trust, on the number below.
The closing date for receipt of applications is Wednesday 22 July 2009, so there is just under a month for your College to put together its submission with supporting evidence. If you would like any advice on putting together your application, if you would like to request any further hard copies of the prospectus or if you would like a Word version of the application form emailed to you, please contact Alice Thiagaraj.
Queries and comments
If there are any general queries or comments about the AoC Beacon Awards, please email the Manager of the AoC Charitable Trust, Alice Thiagaraj.