On Friday and Saturday last week Kat Fletcher and I were in Oxfordshire at the Association of Colleges Governors Conference, along with 300 Governors from colleges across the country. It was a really brilliant event for lots of reasons, not least because this year we had well over 30 student governors attending the event, way up on the 2 that attended last year! The conference is made up of speeches, presentations, plenary and workshops carried out by leaders from across and beyond the sector on everything from FE funding to diversifying college governing boards. The NUS FE campaign has been promoting the importance of a strong student voice to a number of people and we have invested particular time in getting this message across the Governors, Principals and senior managers in colleges. Our research shows that with some level of senior level buy-in (along with some funding and staff support of course) student representation can survive and flourish. When student representation is at its strongest its when there is a real culture of student voice embedded in the college- which has to start with the mission and ethos of the college, something that is set out by the governing body. Its hugely important therefore that we keep putting our case for active student representation at every level of colleges to governing bodies and the individuals that sit of them, and establishing relationships with them so we can work through practical ways for this to happen, silence the critics and discover news best practice that we can share with other colleges.

Which is why we were so pleased that NUS was asked to do TWO speeches at the conference and co-present a workshop on the ‘learner voice’ with representatives from the Centre for Excellence in Leadership and the Association of Colleges. I was asked to open the conference (v scary) and I’ve put the speech I made below. Kat made a hard-hitting speech challenging them to listen to and act on the views of their students and giving them practical ways to this (Kat delivered it brilliantly and if it hadn’t been for her commitment and hard work to building links and making in-roads for NUS and our campaigns into the FE sector we wouldn’t have been standing there, or be making the impact and success that we are now having across the sector). At the end of the conference in her closing remarks, Margaret Morgan who is the Chair of the Association of Colleges said that from the conference two clear themes had emerged to be driven forward- diversity and learner voice.

This is hugely encouraging and it hasn’t just been the work of the NUS FE campaign but mostly the work of student governors in colleges and those at the conference at the weekend that are driving this agenda forward and making it work in their colleges. Here’s my speech: (the reference to John in the first line is to John Brennan, the Chief Executive of the Association of Colleges)

Good morning everyone.

First of all I want to thank you all so much for asking me here to open your conference today. You’ll notice that I’ve not provided an advance copy of these remarks for you to look over. That probably explains the slightly nervous look on John’s face. But let me just reassure John and reassure you that I’m not going to criticise the sector. I am from FE, I am of FE, and I’m proud of the work that our sector does.

I’m proud of the achievements of the millions of learners in it, my members.

But believe it or not, I’m not going to go on about students in my speech this morning. I’ll leave that to Kat Fletcher, the NUS National President, who tomorrow will set out our views on student involvement and how you can empower learners to improve their education both individually and collectively.

This afternoon, I want to talk about the sector as a whole. Because believe it or not, us learners can, should and do have views on more than just students’ unions, lockers and common rooms, and the price of sauce sachets in the canteen.

Although let me just slip in here on those subjects that we believe that students’ unions are under funded; lockers and common rooms are important to the learning environment; and we’ll be running a campaign next year to expose the scandal of profiteering and poor standards in college canteens. Just to warn you……

No, today I want to talk about the sector and the challenges ahead. I am the Vice President FE for NUS, and as often as not that involves promoting and defending the FE sector to the press, decision makers and NUS’ wider membership, some of whom seem to labour under the impression that education is all about schools, universities and “how to learn Spanish” CD’s that get given away free with the ‘Independent’.

No wonder then, that in his review of FE Sir Andrew Foster called FE “the neglected middle child”. NUS was pleased to play an active and substantial role in Sir Andrew Foster’s Review of Further Education. We got out there and spoke to students, getting them to respond online, taking part in meetings and focus groups and making clear their sense of voicelessness over the destiny of their education.

So when his report was issued, we were delighted. His recommendations on what he calls the ‘learner imperative’, threaded throughout his report, represent a real opportunity to substantiate a voice for this “neglected middle child”. I know that Kat will fill you in how we can make that a reality tomorrow.

But it’s not just on the subject of learner voice that our members made comment, not just on student representation that they had views.

They also expressed ideas about their education - on the curriculum, on funding, on teaching, on learning.

And it wasn’t just articulate A level students either - engineers, beauticians, builders and plumbers all told us what they’d like their education to feel like, to be like, to sound like - and how they want it recognised, certificated and rewarded.

They told us that it was stage, not age that mattered.

They told us that ending the 46% failure rate at the 5 good GCSEs at 16’ cliff-face was essential, and that the impact this has on the perceptions, behaviour and motivations of 15 year olds must end.

They told us that the underfunding of FE in comparison to schools was insupportable.

And they told us that they wanted to be treated as co-creators in their learning, not a blank sheet of paper written over by unresponsive institutions.

But most of all, they gave us an overriding and powerful view that colleges - and the governing bodies on which they sat - had to change to become more responsive, more strategic, and more focussed than ever on changing lives for the better.

So let me set out for you our vision for the sector and its Governance. It’s a vision set out by students, but one which I know we all share.

Let me start with the role of the corporation.

The corporation shapes a college’s strategy: decides what its mission should be; ensures that plans are developed to support it; guarantees that issues of quality, equality and diversity are given adequate consideration; and makes sure that there is strong, positive leadership at all levels of the college to deliver their objectives.

And while it does this, a governing body must ensure the solvency of the college and safeguard its assets.

That’s no mean feat, but too often my members detect a focus on the latter to the detriment of the former- a focus on compliance and finance and teaching, rather than excellence and outcomes and learning.

Well, if the middle child is to grow up, it’s time for change. Right at the heart of the provision of modern public services is the devolution of authority and accountability as near the front line as possible. Autonomy, self-regulation and improvement is the prize for the future. Strengthening governance is, therefore, very important to this Government’s vision for the future of public services.

And for that reason, we want to see stronger, more strategic and more effective governing bodies. Grown up governance is the future.

First of all, we want to see accountable governing bodies. That accountability has many faces.

The first is to its customers, the demand side of FE, students and the employers and businesses who use college services;

The second is to the community and other stakeholders – including potential customers and the indirect beneficiaries of college services;

The third is to central government and the agencies that fund colleges.

And that means more than signing off the management accounts and ticking self-assessment compliance boxes. For NUS, it starts from the mission and ethos of the college - something that despite government and quango funding levers is and ought to be vested inside the Governing Body.

There are those who see the Governance role in Education as merely finance and compliance. NUS would disagree. If a college is there to serve its stakeholders, it must value its students as co-producers of educational outcomes. Then, its Governing Body must be in a position to identify their interests, set a mission and ethos in that vein, and set in place management and monitoring arrangements to meet that mission and ethos.

Many of you will argue over the next few days that the local LSC robs you of the chance to really influence your own mission and ethos. We would agree - but the sector will only get it's autonomy back if it can grow up and demonstrate that the learner really has been put at the heart of decision making at course and college level - and that all stakeholders are involved, listened to and form an active part of the college community.

Because the stronger governing bodies are, the greater the reliance that can be placed upon their effectiveness and the less intrusive accountability to central government and funding bodies will be. That’s why we’ve been working closely with the AoC on a Self- Assessment model for Governors, and I hope you’ll join me and AoC staff in the “Self-Assessment: Focus On The Learner” workshop later in the event; we’ll work together to see how we can make thorough, authentically critical self-assessment the basis of self-regulation and improvement.

But it’s not just the culture of Governance that we want to see strengthened. Our vision for FE goes further - and let me now just briefly set out what that vision is.

We want to see a culture of excellence developed in colleges. A culture where creativity, innovation and enterprise is valued.

We want an end to the number crunching and box ticking, and a move towards colleges and their governors really understanding what’s working, what’s not working, and how to make it better.

We want managers and governors to really understand what motivates my members to learn- and to see them as co-creators, not customers.

We certainly want an end to crude measures of student satisfaction. Because you can go to Mc Donald’s and feel satisfied, but that doesn’t make a Big Mac and fries good for you.

We want colleges that focus on creating confident, productive, skilled students for the challenges of the future. Above all, we want a new vision of quality driven through the sector like the word ‘Blackpool’ through a stick of rock.

And that means several things. It means a relentless focus on improving outcomes and experiences for learners, employers, the community and the economy.

It means not waiting for government or inspection or numbers to do the work - quality comes from people. It’s the sector that must do it for itself.

It means asking ourselves what makes performance good? Continual inspection, and removing funding for poor provision, doesn’t improve things. The answer lies in encouraging people and organisations to improve what they already do.

People already want to do things better, but are sometimes stuck to know how. We want the best colleges to talk to each other to share each other’s best ideas. This kind of self-improvement is not an optional extra. It’s the only way to survive and thrive in the future.

TS Eliot asked, ‘Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?’ Well, we suffer from too much information, and we’re not especially wise in using it. That’s what we’ll change in the coming months.

But I can’t open your conference without a word on the curriculum. Because whenever we at NUS hold events with student reps, it’s what they’re learning - and how that is valued and perceived - that is highlighted as most important of all.

In the words of one Student Activist - we’re gutted at the Government’s failure to create a curriculum and qualifications structure fully fit for the 21st century – flexible enough to meet the needs and aspirations of all young people.

Because if anything helps create the institutionalised snobbery which inhabits educationalist opinion and generates the “middle child” tag, it’s a curriculum that brands as failures anyone not getting 5 A-C GCSE’s at 16.

NUS believes - along with the majority of providers and practitioners - that with a reshuffle on the way it is time to call on the Government to look again at its decision to take the work of the Tomlinson Committee and dilute it. It’s time to implement the Tomlinson reforms, integrate GCSEs and A Levels with vocational qualifications and develop a single new qualifications structure.

And it needs to happen as soon as possible, so that another half generation of young people does not have to unnecessarily lose its way in the foothills of learning. The student governors in this room will be working with you all to push hard on this agenda and I trust that you will give them your time and support to make it happen.

And it is on the very subject of the 30 students in the room that I want to end.

I know that most of you welcome our attendance and involvement.

I know that you will work hard to kill the jargon, answer our questions and make us feel involved in the event ahead.

We all got involved to make a difference - to make things better for other students, to challenge poor practice and improve teaching, learning, facilities and decisions. We want excellence.

But so often we feel isolated, patronised, and excluded when we take part in meetings. In fact, when we come to corporation, we sometimes feel just like the way FE feels out in the wider world. So please, as we learn, debate, and discover throughout the event, do me and my student colleagues a favour- engage us, learn from us, listen to us, and make governance for us a real and living thing, focussed on making our lives and society at large better.

Thank you for listening.

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