Previous Events
GM&WL LLN CONFERENCE 2008
The GM&WL LLN held its second annual conference entitled ‘Changing People’s Lives’ on Thursday 8th May 2008. John Cater, Vice-Chancellor of Edge Hill welcomed 90 delegates to the event which was held in the University’s new Faculty of Health building.
The keynote speaker on the day was Sir Howard Newby (recently appointed Vice Chancellor of the University of Liverpool) who highlighted the challenge for education in developing workforces for the 21st century.
Sir Howard discussed a range of issues including the multiple functions of the 21st century University, HE and labour markets, the role of the state and accountability in HE.
Next up was Sarbani Banerjee, Policy Officer for HEFCE who gave a presentation entitled ‘HE: Transforming the Workforce’. She explained to delegates the problems faced by HE institutions when it comes to graduate employability and where they can do more and how this must be done. She added that it is no longer simply about ‘skills’ but that HE institutions now have to be able to widen their participation through increased flexibility of provision and HE systems such as Lifelong Learning Networks. Other issues discussed by Sarbani were communicating the message, HEFCE funding 2008-11 and Co-funding amongst others
Lorraine Westwood from Foundation Degree Forward continued the day by discussing the opportunities for promoting Foundation Degrees. She gave delegates an overview of the FDF marketing strategy and how they have developed their advertising to meet key objectives. Lorraine was also able to show delegates examples of the current FDF advertising campaign which uses the tagline ‘Find, Found’ and discussed ideas for future advertising for the FDF.
Finally, Helen Colley of Manchester Metropolitan University, reported back her findings from the External Evaluation.
Gary Mallon, GM&WL LLN then presented the findings to the delegates and the impact these have on the LLN. He then went on to speak about which aspects of the evaluation he felt highlighted the good work done by the LLN and how this had been achieved.
The delegates then broke for lunch and took the opportunity to network whilst enjoying the sunshine before taking part in one of six breakout sessions designed to challenge different aspects of Lifelong Learning. These were:
- Foundation Degree Information, Advice and Guidance
- Employer Engagement
- Communicating the Message
- Future LLN Priorities
- Supporting Ongoing Learning on Vocational Studies
- Integrated Quality Enhancement Review
The day closed with the speakers being joined by David Law, Pro Vice-Chancellor at Edge Hill University and Pat Bacon, Principal of St. Helens College, for the Panel, Question and Answer session. Here, the panel were asked questions formulated by the delegates and each of the six break-out sessions.
Gary Mallon said: reflecting on the day,
‘The event was very well received and the returned evaluation forms were extremely positive. The day proved just how far the LLN has come since it was formed and today was a great opportunity for all our stakeholders to see how the LLN has helped students to gain qualifications and experiences that they never thought they could achieve.
GM&WL LLN’s First Annual Conference 2007
'LLN Journey: The LLN Conference brought together a number of senior figures and LLN students including: Back row, left to right: Seth Crofts (Dean of Faculty of Health, Edge Hill University); Jim Pickering (Vice-Principal, Southport College); Gary Mallon (LLN Project Manager); Frank Gill (Vice-Principal, Knowsley Community College); and David Regan (Year 0 student). Front row, left to right: Steve Coogan (Year 0 student); Eileen Thornton (Head of School of Health Science, University of Liverpool); Amanda Knowles (Year 0 student); Liz Webb (Year 0 student); Kevin Whitston (HEFCE); Rhiannon Evans (Pro Vice-Chancellor, Edge Hill University); and Carol Farrant (Year 0 student).'
WEDNESDAY 21st MARCH 2007 - Edge Hill University
More than 100 delegates attended the LLN’s first annual conference at Edge Hill University on Wednesday 21st March 2007, with feedback indicating the event was very well received.
Chaired by Rhiannon Evans, Pro Vice-Chancellor from the host university, the purpose of the event was to bring together as many of the LLNs stakeholders as possible, from those involved in the developments of the LLN on a regular basis, to a variety of external stakeholders, including HEFCE, LSC, Connexions, 14-19 groups NWUA, Aimhigher, and employer organisations.
John Cater, Vice Chancellor of Edge Hill University opened proceedings in the Faculty of Health building, and explained the origins of the LLN and how Edge Hill University is the lead partner. He said: “There is a genuine sense of shared commitment, of shared goals, of shared ideology, of being in this for the long term.”
He added words of realistic caution: “There are some challenges ahead. The next Public Expenditure Settlement will be less generous than the one that preceded it.
“It is either naïve or disingenuous – and certainly counter-cultural - to believe that employers, small and (even) large, are going to contribute half of the resources necessary to deliver (foundation) degree level education and training – and the limited number who do so may understandably be driven by market considerations, training individuals in the skills the company needs today and, if we’re lucky, tomorrow, not necessarily the attributes required across the wider workforce and a longer time horizon.
“But the good news is that we’re not there now. We have good programmes, committed staff and engaged students. We have a supportive Funding Council, and a collective desire to succeed.”
The keynote speaker was Kevin Whitston, Head of Widening Participation at HEFCE. He discussed a range of issues including what HEFCE and its initiatives such as LLNs seek to achieve, highlighting the importance of progression agreements, HEI involvement in the 14-19 curriculum and employer engagement.
He outlined the indicators for success that each LLN will strive to achieve including network-wide progression agreements, support for learners, curriculum development, progress with milestones and targets, institutional commitment, responsiveness and sustainability.
Kevin remarked that LLNs will be ‘demonstrators’ of what works and why and that we should aim to concentrate resources on a limited range of high quality outputs rather than trying to do everything.
In addition to a suitable opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the LLN during its first twelve-months in operation, the event illustrated the excellent partnership working between HE and FE institutions, highlighting the benefits the LLN can offer to FE institutions and students, plus the importance and role of employer engagement.
Gary Mallon, LLN Project Manager, and Eileen Thornton, Head of the School of Health Sciences at University of Liverpool, delivered a joint presentation providing an overview of the LLN ‘story so far’, explaining more about the current provision and highlighting that the pace of progress is quickening as the network advances into its second year.
The final session of the morning was led by six students – Liz Webb, David Regan, Amanda Knowles, Carol Farrant, Steve Coogan (all Year 0) and Louise McDaid (Integrated Practice) – who provided superb individual summaries of how they secured a place on their chosen course and what they hope to achieve.
The afternoon provided delegates with the opportunity to attend two break-out sessions from a choice of six. Covering a range of issues from employer engagement to the student experience, all proved productive ad generated excellent discussion.