Please email if you require a plain text newsletter equality@pinnacletrainingsolutions.co.uk

Welcome to the third edition of the Providers’ E&D Network Newsletter.

As one academic year ends and we steady ourselves before the next we thought it

would be a good time to remind you of the benefits of being a network member:

• Invites to subsidised E&D Practitioner & Strategic Events

• Newsletters and regular updates on key E&D topics

• Opportunity to network and share good practice with

hundreds of other members

• Discounted equality training, on-line learning and resources

We owe a huge thank you to TheLearning & Skills ImprovementService (LSIS). In 2011/12 they will befunding 50% of our network activity,fantastic I think you will agree!

A message from Neale Johnson:

We at Doncaster GTA were approached by LSIS to see if we would be willing and able to support the continuation of the network.

Knowing the value of the network to ourselves and colleagues over the years, we have accepted. I am pleased that Alex Baghurst, who has now become Pinnacle Training Solutions Ltd, will be continuing to offer support.

Whilst we are very pleased to have been offered this role, we are also mindful that it is very much member-led.

Going forward there will no doubt be some changes due to the political will of the country, we will tackle these through the existing structure of the steering group and by talking to members.

We will need your continued support, your good ideas and your honest feedback,

Thank You!

Network administration details…

The network lead will be Neale Johnsonof Doncaster GTA.

He will be supported by Alex Baghurst, formerly Diversity Development Manager of The Grimsby Institute Group, now a Director of Pinnacle Training Solutions Ltd and focusing on E&D support.

Hear from both in this issue!

See page 2 for a list of confirmed dates and potential themes.

FE Providers’ Equality Network Newsletter

The new E&D learner toolkit also covers anti-social behaviour, cyber-bullying,safeguarding, learner voice, every child matters and hate crime – see p5 for more

Issue 3 – August, 2011

Dates for your diary!

We are pleased to confirm six network event dates for 2011/12. Final themes and on-line booking details will be circulated shortly:

Autumn

- Strategic Thursday, 6th Oct, 2011 Leeds City College- Practitioner Thursday, 24th Nov, 2011 Hull College

Spring

- Strategic Wednesday, 1st Feb, 2012- Practitioner Wednesday, 7th March, 2012

Summer

- Practitioner Thursday, 17th May, 2012- Strategic Friday, 22nd June, 2012

We expect to be charging only £50 per booking for attendance at these events.

What’s coming up on theE&D calendar?

26th September: European Day of LanguagesEveryone encouraged to learn more languages, at any age, in and out of school. Promotes message that linguistic diversity is a tool for achieving greater intercultural understandinghttp://edl.ecml.at/

October: Black History Month Promoting knowledge of Black History, Culture and Heritage. www.black-history-month.co.uk

10th October: World Mental Health DayAnnually held to raise awareness. Promotes open discussions on illnesses, as well as investments in prevention and treatment services. http://www.wfmh.org/

Not an exhaustive list of course! Why not let staff or learners that are passionate about these themes take a lead on raising awareness?

Your themes for 2011/12...

Recent event themes:-

• Embedding in the curriculum• Autism and the transition trap• Refugee and asylum seeker

awareness training• Equality Act Update• Diversity Champions• Exemplars in Equality

Please email for more info...

Like what you see in this issue? Have you got any suggestions or topics you’d like to read next time? Just let us know!

Strategic Event Themes: Practitioner Event Themes:

Public Sector Equality Duty LLUK Equality Framework Ofsted and inspection Feature providers

“Outstanding‟ on E&D Developing effective

chaplaincy services E&D and Procurement

Mental Health Awareness Promoting E&D through

drama Supporting offenders back

into learning Age Awareness E&D in WBL/Apprenticeships E&D and Learner Voice

Here are the topics on the short-list for the coming year. Thesehave been chosen after listening to you, the providers!

You can talk to us and add to this list at any time. We want tocover themes that reflect your priorities so stay in touch!

Do you have a venue we might use for a meeting in 2012? If so,would love to hear from you. This can be a great opportunity forpromoting what you are doing and getting your learners involved!

Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011

These regulations will promote performance of the equality duty by requiring public authorities to publish:

• equality objectives, at least every four years• information to demonstrate their compliance with the equality duty, at least annually

The publication of this information will ensure public authorities are transparent about their performance on equality.

Public authorities will have flexibility in deciding what information to publish, and will be held to account by the people they serve.

Dates for the public sector:

Public authorities will be required to publish relevant information demonstrating their compliance by 31st January 2012, and their first equality objectives by 6th April 2012 (different dates for schools).

More guidance can be found at:

homeoffice.gov.uk/equalities

www.equalityhumanrights.com

The Equality Act –are you feeling it?

OK, so we’ve been talking about it for what seems like forever. But are we familiar with all of the expectations of The Equality Act? Here’s a few reminders. This is only a snapshot so read up if you need further guidance!

The main new provisions of the Act are:

New disability discrimination provisions, indirect disability discrimination, discrimination arising from disability, new protected characteristics, pregnancy and maternity, new positive action provisions. The public sector duty has been live since April.

Which students or trainees are protected in FE?

• Prospective students in relation to admission arrangements• Those at the institution (including those absent or excluded)• Former students (where there is a continuing relationship)• Disabled students that are not students but hold or have applied for qualifications from the institution

What happens if your organisation has acted unlawfully?

The individual can make a claim under The Equality Act to the County Court. This should only be after the complaints procedure has been exhausted. Therefore, it is good practice to ensure your stakeholders are familiar with the whereabouts of this document! Remember – individuals as well as organisations can be liable. FE providers need to show they have taken all “reasonable steps” to prevent unlawful actions.

Are all of your staff members aware of these terms and familiar with the definitions? If not, this could spell trouble!

• Protected characteristic (and what they all are)• Direct and indirect discrimination• Discrimination based on association / perception• Harassment and victimisation• Reasonable adjustment

Can coverage of some topics in the curriculum be unlawful?

Course content is not subject to discrimination provisions but the delivery of the material must not be discriminatory. On a more positive note, we all know curriculum design and delivery is a great opportunity to challenge stereotypes!

The equality toolkit on page 4 is designed to give all staff a refresher on the expectations of The Equality Act.

Pinnacle Power!

We were established 1st July, 2011 as a registered company offering training, on-line learning and consultancy support. We mainly work on with FE organisations providing equality and diversity support, but do other strands of work in other sectors.

We realise that, now more than ever, providers are looking for quality, cost effective support. Our services and products are designed to meet those needs.

The 1-hour E&D toolkit updatefor staff has been very popular.This covers key equality principles,The Equality Act and Ofsted.Providers are taking advantage ofthe easy roll-out and free reporting,as well as the £1 per user offer ofcourse! (est).

HLC, its staff, partners and trustees are passionate about seeing a well developed, well informed and well represented community and voluntary sector in the Humber Sub-Region, delivering quality services to the community.

In July they took advantage of a network member discount fromPinnacle to run an E&D update session. More than 25 partnersattended an interactive session covering a review of E&D principles, sexuality, gender, cultural diversity and local demographics.

A range of delivery styles including DVD footage, exercises and case studies were well received. Sandra Williamson, representing HLC, said:

“The session was great, thanks – just what I had in mind and very professionally delivered by Alex and Jayne. You took account of the sector really well and applied the theory of E&D in an innovative way which maintained the interest of the group throughout.”

If you are interested in the above or training support just emailalex@pinnacletrainingsolutions.co.uk or call on 07870 995589

A message fromAlex Baghurst:

Winter 2006, I remember it well! I was ringing around a range ofproviders to gauge the level ofinterest in an E&D network we wereestablishing with the support of(what was) the LSC.

Well, the need was certainlythere and it was not long before wewere holding events with nearly100 people. I know the interest isstill there today so I am reallypleased to still be involved andsupporting Neale.

I now represent Pinnacle TrainingSolutions Ltd, working with a greatteam of people to support providers.Our main area is E&D training and on-line learning but we also offer HRconsultancy and funding supportservices (e.g. bid writing).

I have made many friends though thenetwork and I look forward toseeing members at the forthcomingevents. Don’t forget to keep tellingus about the kind of E&D support youneed...

Feel free to browse the Pinnacle web-site. We would be very happy to hearfrom you if you would like to discusssupport or joint working, or even ifyou require a little advice.

www.pinnacletrainingsolutions.co.uk

Cheers!

Humber Learning ConsortiumEquality & Diversity Session

Visit www.hlc-vol.org to learn more about The Humber Learning Consortium

The Equality & Diversity handbookis our most comprehensive resource.This is 160 pages of useful guidance,quizzes, case studies and comes withFacilitator Pack and activity answers.V2 (2011) now available on intranetlicence or in paper form.

http://www.hlc-vol.org/home

Learner Equality & Diversity ToolkitComing soon to a PC near you!

Inducting learners and trainees can be a huge task. You want everyone to hit the ground running and be aware of key information and expectations.

We are currently putting the final touches to a new web-based toolkit that all your learners can work through. It will cover:

• Equality and diversity principles• Safeguarding• Every child matters• Learner voice, getting involved• Hate crime• Anti-social behaviour, bullying (inc. cyber)

It will be very cost-effective and take (on average) about an hour to complete the full exercise or this can be flexibly used in three shorter sessions. Here are the three sections of the toolkit:

So, how does it work?

1. Request a licence which gives access to a specified no. of learners

2. Nominate your contact person who will be able to pull off reports

3. Use the guidance provided to get started. Easy!

What does the learner have to do?

1. Log on to the web-site2. Register their username3. Away they go! It is web-based so

can be accessed anywhere4. There are full on-screen, easy-to-

understand instructions

The user works through some interactive material at the beginning of each section, before answering eightquestions. There are 24 questions in total and the user has to achieve the minimum score before receiving their certificate.

Completers will be logged on a data-base so when you pull off the report you can see Name, Course, and Tutor details.

We will look at three topics. Each one has its own section in the toolkit:

1. An introduction to “equality & diversity”

Looks at you how people can have different backgrounds and needs to you. The

differences between us make it a more exciting and interesting place to learn!

2. Respect and behaviour

We all want to be happy and successful while we are learning. This section will

look at our behaviour and how this has a big effect on ourselves and other people.

3. Me and my learning

This section is all about you, the support you can expect and where you can get

help from. We will also explore a range of exciting things you can get involved in

while you are with us!

Example:-

Wing is worried about Katie. She is on his course. Katie is

regularly upset, has some red marks on her arms and has said

some things which make Wing unsure whether she is safe.

Wing sees a poster that advises the Safeguarding Officer is

called Abdul. Wing speaks to Abdul in private about his

concerns for Katie. Abdul takes all the details and says that he

will take it from there.

Abdul cannot promise Wing that he will not speak to other

people in authority about this. He is legally obliged to take

action to help Katie.

A sample of this facility will be ready mid-August and the full version

will be ready for use by the start of the new term. Drop us an email

for further information equality@pinnacletrainingsolutions.co.uk

FE Providers’ Equality Network

Website: (network web-site is being re-designed)Email: equality@pinnacletrainingsolutions.co.ukTel: 07870 995589Skype: ask-pinnacle

Equality & Inspection

Here are some (not all!) key areas inspectors will look at.:

(a) Action taken to reduce variations between different groups (i.e. participation, retention and achievement)Are you on top of your data? Do you have large amounts of unknown data that need addressing? What action are you taking? Have staff got easy access to learner data? Is this a regular agenda item at the appropriate committee meetings?

(b) Managing incidents and complaintsIs the process well communicated? Don’t assume no complaints means no problems! Are all complaints followed up, are any common themes identified? Is a summary made available to all of your stakeholders? Do your communication methods ensure maximum accessibility to all communities?

(c) Ensuring all learners and staff are protected from harassment, bullying and discriminationAre your formal documents up-to-date and comprehensive on this issue? Are all stakeholders aware of your values and their legal obligations? Does staff training cover this in enough detail?

(d) Assessing impact and making appropriate responseThinking about the effects of what we do is general good practice, but public sector providers have to formalise and publicise this process.The key is to show the what positive outcomes have resulted from impact assessment

(e) Effective management of E&D and promotion to all partnersWill all of your stakeholders be equipped to say something about what you do on E&D? How well do you engage with different communities. Do staff take advantage of all natural opportunities to embed E&D? Public sector providers have a legal duty to promote.

In the next edition we will look at some specifics that will help in the inspection process .

What can we do now?

• Action plan to address any weak areas. Ofsted will want to see the actions you are taking and the impact of these interventions

• View recent inspection reports at www.ofsted.gov.uk

• Include any areas for development as a regular agenda item on committee meetings

• Ensure all staff are familiar with expectations

Key background info!

An Oftsed grade for Overall Effectiveness (OE) is likely to be inadequate where one or more of the following are judged to be inadequate:

• capacity to improve• outcomes for learners• the quality of provision• leadership and management• safeguarding• equality and diversity

Limiting grades are considered before the OE judgement is made.

The grade for E&D is likely to be inadequate where the provider cannot demonstrate they are operating within two key principles:

• effectively narrowing any achievement gap between groups of learners

• effective promotion of E&D and tackling discrimination