Strategic intentions

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Hopwood Hall CollegeSTRATEGIC INTENTIONS 2012 – 2015

Hopwood Hall College Strategic Intentions 2012 – 2015

CONTENTS

Introduction and context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Our aims and priorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

1. High Quality, High Expectations . . . . . . . . . 10

2. A thriving community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

3. An innovative offer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

4. Sound finances and resources. . . . . . . . . . 16

5. A 21st Century College . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Key performance indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT

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The Corporation has reviewed the progress that has been made since 2009 against the targets set for: the improvement in quality of teaching and learning; increasing success rates; student recruitment and participation; development of our accommodation strategy; and achieving a stable financial base.

It is our view that the ambitions set out

Strategic Directions 2009 - 11 have been

successful in establishing a sound base for

the future development of the College.

A good college

Our Ofsted report in June 2011 judged that we are a good college.

“This is a college where Learners make good progress across all levels and some make exceptional progress; this is a college with much good teaching and learning; partnerships are good; this an ambitious college with a strong sense of its strategic direction.”

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Overall student success rates have increased by

10 percentage points over the last 4 years to put

us in the top quartile of colleges in the country.

Our learner enrolment base is strong.

In the last three years we have also achieved significant

financial surpluses and demonstrated our responsiveness

to change. We are an ambitious college and in recent

years we have proved that we are as good as anybody

else. Now it is time to prove that we are one of the best

colleges in the country.

Adapt and changeWhat is clear, however, is that ‘nothing stands still’ and the

only thing we have to fear is complacency. We are aware of

the need to continue to adapt and change in the ways that

we have done very successfully in recent years.

Our strategy is to respond, adapt and ensure that we continue to

grow and develop whatever the external circumstances. That is why

we are developing this new plan which considers the funding and

policy changes that we need to anticipate, understand and master

so that we can continue to achieve ambitious quality, participation

and funding targets.


The key drivers of this change include the following developments and initiatives in addition to many other contributory factors:• Ofsted’s Annual Report and surveys

• The White Paper: ‘The Importance of Teaching’

• The Education Bill 2011

• The Wolf Report

• Comprehensive Spending Review

• BIS ‘New Challenges, New Chances’

• Professionalism in FE review

• Reviews of apprenticeships including subcontracting

• DfE 16 – 19 programme of study

• Dynamic Nucleus – Colleges at the heart of their local

communities

• Rochdale Sustainable Community Strategy

• Manchester City Deal

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This means that we will need to develop new courses

and programmes to meet the needs of our different

communities. We will also need to develop even more

effective recruitment and student support practices to

ensure that we continue to grow.

We cannot afford to stand still in terms of the type of work we do

and the Corporation’s strategy is to continue to grow our student

numbers, by continuing to invest in the development of our staff and

to radically transform the college’s ageing estate.

We believe that we need to focus on the learner experience, create

an environment where outstanding teaching and learning can develop,

invest in our staff and in our estate. These are key to our future

success. Clearly, one of the main reasons for our recent improvement

has been the commitment and professionalism of our staff, and

further investment in our human capital is as important as in our

physical assets.

We are an ambitious college rooted in our community, committed

to developing all our learners thus allowing them to fulfil their

potential.

Our plan is to continue our progression to being an outstanding

college in the heart of Rochdale and fulfil our mission to be the

‘dynamic nucleus’ of the community. Underlying all of this is a need

to maintain our emphasis on teaching and learning and achieving

high standards, and most importantly of all getting our students

into jobs.

Derek O’Toole Robert Clegg Principal Chair of the Corporation

OUR AIMS AND PRIORITIESIn reviewing our last plan we have refined our five strategic priorities to take into consideration the changing external environment and also our progress.

The remainder of this top-level plan considers the way in which we can achieve our ambitions by identifying key indicators and progress measures.


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Strategic Aims and Priorities By 2015, we aim to be an outstanding college that:

• Delivers excellent teaching and learning that helps all

our students reach their potential

• Offers courses that attract students and meet the

needs of individuals, employers and our community

• Achieves sustainable growth and meets our planned

recruitment and income targets in our key markets

• Has an open and supportive community and culture,

where students and staff feel valued and respected

and enjoy working and learning together

• Makes the best use of resources to deliver these

strategic aims and priorities to ensure our financial

stability and future growth

Strategic IntentionsThe strategic intentions of the college are expressed

through the following five developmental strands:

1. High Quality, High Expectations

2. A thriving community

3. An innovative offer

4. Sound finances and resources

5. A 21st Century College

1. High Quality, High Expectations

We will deliver excellent teaching, learning and assessment that ensures that all our students reach their full potential.

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We will:• Take positive actions to deliver high quality teaching,

learning and assessment through appropriate staff

development and resources

• Have rigorous self-assessment and performance

management processes that honestly evaluate our

strengths and weaknesses. Have clear actions for

improvement and sets high targets and expectations

of individual and team performance

• Focus on the development of e-learning to enhance

the learning experience and improve the use and

quality of resources

• Invest in the training and development of our

managers to improve their skills and abilities.

• Deliver high quality, responsive and appropriate

support services that contribute to an outstanding

learning experience

2. A thriving community

We are committed to the nurturing of an open and supportive community and culture, where students and staff feel valued and respected and enjoy working and learning together.


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We will:• Have effective mechanisms for staff,

students and key stakeholders to express

opinions, be listened to, contribute ideas

and for their views to result in real change

• Develop mechanisms to support

innovation and creativity through

collaborative working and a focus on

continuous improvement

• Positively promote a culture where

equality and diversity are integrated

and delivered in teaching and learning,

support services and employment

practices

• Create an environment where all

students and staff feel safe, protected

and supported in achieving health and

wellbeing

• Invest in specific staff development

programmes to develop and release the

potential of our staff

• Establish an outstanding workforce

that is highly productive and well

rewarded through effective performance

management

• Seek to generate consistently positive

feedback from employees and use this to

inform plans and developments

3. An innovative offer

Offer courses that attract students and meet the needs of individuals, employers and our community.


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We will:• Use market intelligence and research

effectively to ensure our courses are

meeting our customer requirements

• Ensure that all of our courses have

progression routes into work or further

training and provide learners with

the opportunity to fulfil their career

aspirations

• Design and deliver courses for 16-19

year old learners that include vocational

skills, employability skills, enterprise and

entrepreneurial skills and the opportunity

to retake GCSE English and Maths

• Provide flexible ways for learners to

attend and access our courses

• Increase our apprenticeship offer

• Increase the number of higher level and

bespoke courses according to customer

demand

• Further develop and exploit our strong

local, regional and national partnerships,

collaborations and employer links to

connect with our local community and

develop new business opportunities

4. Sound finances and resources

To make the best use of resources to deliver these strategic aims and priorities to ensure our financial stability and future growth.

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We will:• Generate sufficient income to fund achieve budget targets

- 16-18s

- Apprenticeships

- Adult Skills

• Deliver programmes to generate sufficient contribution to

support the above

- 40% Target

- Monitor income and expenditure of new business units

• Continue to seek ongoing efficiencies in all areas including class

sizes and curriculum delivery

• Introduce efficient labour-saving technologies where possible

• Ensure that all areas of the College are highly productive

alongside outstanding service levels

• Monitor staff utilisation and manage any underutilisation

accordingly

• Continue to benchmark ourselves against the best in the sector

• Establish a reward strategy to link with the new performance

management system

• Establish a new marketing strategy aimed at increasing income in

priority sectors

• Take measured and evaluated risks to encourage innovative

approaches to new business opportunities

• Reduce the proportion of our funding which we outsource to sub-

contractors

• Ensure that the College becomes outstanding in all areas of

financial management and control

• Ensure that the College maintains healthy cash balances

• Reduce short-term absence levels

5. A 21st century college

Developing the College’s estate and infrastructure so that we are amongst the best in the North-West. Ensuring that the College’s curriculum responds to the needs of the local community and employment market and further ensuring that the College staff can all deliver using new technologies and learning methods.

We will:• Continue to rejuvenate the College’s physical estate to an

outstanding standard

• Provide outstanding facilities for all our students and employees

e.g. Learning Resource Centres, Sports Arena, classrooms,

staffrooms, offices

• Ensure that the College employs leading edge technologies,

which are at the heart of our business and teaching systems

• Develop new areas of the curriculum to meet the needs of our

community e.g. Life Sciences

• Further develop the College’s brand to establish a reputation for

high quality and innovation

• Share services with partners where possible to reduce costs,

share expertise and improve flexibility.

• Contribute to improvements to the health and wellbeing of the

College community

• Further develop the College’s use of new media e.g. social

networking, for recruitment purposes.

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KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15

Actual

Enrolment 16 – 18s 2741 2666 2750 2800 2850

Apprenticeships 343 729 1298 1500 1750

Adult Skills Funding £6.6m £6.6m £6.6m £6.6m £6.6m

Average Class Size 15.3 15.3 16 16.5 17

Curriculum Efficiency 100% 107% 110% 112% 112%

Operational Surplus / Deficit £716k £1.5m £1m £1m £1m

FMCE rating Good Outstanding N/A N/A N/A

Cash Balance £3m £5.3m £3m £3m £3m

Staff Absence 3.7% N/A 3% 2.75% 2.5%

Staff Satisfaction 78% 88% 89% 90% 90%


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2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15

(Forecast) (Forecast) (Forecast)

Success Rates (All) 84% 86% 87% 88% 89%

Success Rates (Long) 82% 84% 85% 87% 88%

Success Rates (All) (16-18) 84% 86% 88% 89% 90%

Success Rates (Long) (16-18) 83% 84% 86% 87% 88%

Success Rates (All) (19+) 83% 85% 87% 88% 89%

Success Rates (Long) (19+) 81% 83% 85% 86% 87%

% of good or better lessons 82% 85% 87% 89% 91%

Success Rates (Overall)

Apprenticeships (16-18) 64.2% 78% 80% 82% 83%

Success Rates (Overall)

Apprenticeships (19+) 77% 82% 84% 86% 87%

Learner Satisfaction

(1 poor and 10 excellent) - 8.3 8.5 8.7 8.8

Employer Satisfaction

(1 poor and 10 excellent) - 8.3 8.5 8.7 8.8

Learner Destination

(learners who progress

to a higher level or

employment) - 86% 88% 89% 90%

Overall SAR grade Good Good Outstanding Outstanding Outstanding

Middleton Campus Rochdale Road, Middleton M24 6XH

t: 0161 643 7560

e: [email protected]

Rochdale Campus St. Mary’s Gate, Rochdale OL12 6RY

t: 01706 345346

e: [email protected]

www.hopwood.ac.uk

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Strategic intentions