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Our newsletter updates you about the changes proposed to Adult
and Community Learning at Greenwich Community College.
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ACL Update - 5 May 2015
Keeping you up to date with developments
Thank you for sending in more questions which we respond to below - don't forget,
you can view the entire list of updates on our website here
Q. Will the Italian 2 class will run after May 2015?
A. We hope to run the Italian 2 course again next year.
Q. Please can you explain what the college's plans are regarding the
photography department?
A. There are two processes underway at the same time at the College. One
is a change in the terms and conditions of teachers on a permanent teaching
contract. We have asked teachers to sign a new contract. In addition we are
consulting on a reorganisation of the ACL provision in the College. We will
need to complete the consultation process and determine the outcome of this
before we know whether posts will exist or not. In the meantime the
curriculum plan for next year will be developed. It is possible that some
courses move from being taught by a permanent member of staff to a part
time member of staff. Photography classes have on average 8 students to a
class with some classes as low as just 4 students which is not an efficient use
of staff resources.
Q. When will the Staff Consultation on the ACL restructure end?
The consultation will be complete on Wednesday 27 May 2015.
Q. Will all teaching be carried out by agency staff?
A No. We are committed to directly employing staff wherever possible, we
want to ensure that we have a bank of regular staff to engage and build up a
rapport with our students. Employing staff through agencies is generally a last
resort, and can be expensive. Therefore, from a cost and quality perspective
we plan to avoid staffing through agencies wherever possible.
Q. You say that you are in a 'consultation process', but in fact no
permanent ACL staff have been offered new contracts, so are effectively
redundant. Please comment on this?
A. The consultation is on the proposed new structure for the delivery of the
ACL provision. There is a possibility that some or all of the permanent
teaching staff posts will be redundant at the end of the consultation process.
We are asking for feedback on the proposed new structure taking into
account the fact that the ACL delivery is making a financial loss and the
utilisation of the permanent teaching staff is too low to be efficient. We are
open to suggestions.
The new teaching contract comes into effect in September. Any permanent
teaching posts in the ACL structure (if there are any) will be appointed to
using the new contract. However in the first instance the process is to start
the consultation on the new structure and then discuss the new contract.
Q. The sum you need to raise for a new 'craft construction centre' is the
same amount as this proposed 'restructuring' will save the college. Is
developing one area of the college at the expense of existing staff and
courses fair?
A. The fact is the College is making a significant loss on its ongoing
operations both ACL and FE. With old contractual terms for teachers, poor
utilisation of teaching staff, inefficient class group sizes. All of these issues
have to be sorted out otherwise the College could become bankrupt.
The sum of money that the College is making in contribution to the new
construction skills centre is a capital figure i.e. it comes from cash reserves
we have in the bank. Those cash reserves are being depleted at the present
time due to the inefficient operation of the College and annual losses the
College currently makes. The investment in the construction skills centre is a
completely separate issue and is a relatively small sum compared to the
investment in the centre being made by partners and represents very good
use of funds as it will fund provision in an area with significant demand –
groups sizes and the utilisation of staff will be efficient. So there is no link
between the two figures.
Do you have a question?
We welcome your questions. If you have one just email it to
communication@gcc.ac.uk and we will aim to have the answers published in
these regular updates.
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