Insight into Planning your

Curriculum

Debra GrayJoe Fojut

Debra Gray Assistant Principal

Introduction

Joe FojutHead of MIS

• This session aims to highlight how effective curriculum planning can raise success rates and create significant efficiencies while improving learner voice and employer relationships

Session Purpose

Specific Aims

As a result of attending this session you will be equipped to:• Review your curriculum holistically and ensure it is

directly linked to local, region and national labour market intelligence

• That each programme makes a financial contribution and how to improve accountability and responsibility in curriculum managers

• We will also explore how cross college working between curriculum teams, MIS and finance have led to a more effective offer and a better budget cycle

History and Background

• A medium GFE• 80% Vocational• 10,000 learners

History and Background

Our Circumstances

Roll Over

Uninspiring

Lack of scrutiny and viability

Internal Drivers

Finance

Success Rates

Innovation

External Drivers

Wolf

Funding Methodology

Employability

The Audit

540 Hours

Viability Review

Growth and Decline

June

Offer complete on EBS and finalised budgets

MayDraft Timetables (inc induction)

AprilCurriculum Set Up and draft budgets created

MarchOffer 'Purchased'

FebruaryDraft Curriculum Offer

DecemberCurriculum Planning Day

The Cycle

Launch Day

All relevant academic and support managers

Offsite

Active and interactive

Planning Day

Bespoke to each faculty

MIS and Finance reps

Offsite away day

LMI

Local, regional and national

Matched to new offers and retired offers

Creation of pathways and additionality

English and Maths

Careful choice

FS are still the qual of choice for most vocational learners

GCSEs could compromise your success rates – the cohort needs to be chosen carefully

Additionality

Do not reduce just to save on teaching and exam fees

Powerful tool in your success rates arsenal

Clear employment benefits to learners

Enrichment

Link to wellbeing and

resilience

Link to employability and success

rates

The Purchase

Panel meeting of MIS, Finance, SMT with the Head and Curriculum Managers of an area

Line by line analysis of the proposed offer

Approval, decline or resubmission

The Systems and IT

What data needed capturing:

Qualification Information

Delivery Particulars –

Hours/Dates etc

Costs – Staffing, Course Costs, Learner Costs

Income – Funding and Fees Contribution

Planned Learner Numbers – by

funding type

Planning for 2012/13

• First year for fully costed planning• Short development timescale and no budget• Developed large detailed XLS for each area• Linked to LARA extract for funding• Captured all required information• Income, Costs and Contribution derived• MIS system updated with planned

information

Planning for 2012/13

Planning for 2013/14

• Unable to continue with Spreadsheet solution due to:- Wolf changes - Diverging, complex funding methodologies- Undefined funding rules

• In-house development time excessive and continuing

• Risk too great

Planning for 2012/13

System for 2013/14

• 4Cast – Drake Lane Associates• Re-written for 2013/14 planning • SQL Server Client based application• Replicated our spreadsheets in easy to

navigate forms• Support has been excellent• Open to suggestions

System for 2013/14

• Permission based access to required level of data

• Imported 13/14 course file• Able to plan a programme of courses as both

a Wolf Programme for 16-18s and as a set of individual aims for adults

• Live link to LARA extract and SFA quals spreadsheet

• Managers understood the process already

4Cast

Information and Outputs

• Flexible/Multiple Screen Layouts available• Summary Information visible• Dashboard Views are included• Inbuilt Validation Rules• Can export to XLS, XML or PDF

Information and Outputs

Programme View of a course - headlineProgramme View of a course - headline

Income and Costs for a course

Dashboard ViewDashboard View

The Partnership

MIS

Curriculum

Finance

The Response

“4cast allows me to see how our programmes fit together; going away for planning is brilliant; then when we sit down with SMT it feels good when we get their stamp of approval when they purchase our offer.”

Paul Maude – Curriculum Manager Catering and Hospitality

The Response

• “The new process means that we are not just doing the same curriculum planning every year. It is under continual review, and we can see direct comparisons against historic data on a live basis.

Trevor Burton, Head of Advanced Technologies

The Response

“We had a new, and what appeared to be complicated, process dropped on us at short notice to ‘help make Curriculum more efficient and its planning more effective’. As you can probably gather from my opening statement I was not looking forward to this process! “My initial, sceptical, opinion was soon quashed as I began to explore the document and I found just how powerful this spreadsheet was. All of my Curriculum in one place, with all the associated information with it; dates, numbers of learners, qualification aims, funding, material costs and a wealth of information to assist me in consolidating the Curriculum. Most importantly, we can actually see how our courses perform financially and ensure that we are a viable area. Humble pie tastes quite good when it is a simple to swallow as this was!” Nick Rudkin – Curriculum Manager, Carpentry and Joinery

• The College had its Curriculum offer in place by Easter 2013, which is 6-8 weeks earlier than normal. Whilst the full impact of the new Wolf compliant study programmes is yet to be realised the College is happy that their curriculum offer is robust ,exceptionally well planned and made the best use of cross college expertise in MIS, Finance and business development.

The Results

Saving of £2.2

million in 2012/13

Projected savings of

£1.7 million in 2013/14 Increased

success rates

The Results

Next Steps

Further consolidation

Increasingly sophisticated

LMI

Training programmes for CMs and Heads

Next Steps