Employers
67. External validation with employers takes place at a strategic level through the Ayrshire Economic
Partnership, the Economy and Skills Boards of the three CPPs and with pan-Ayrshire employer
organisations such as the Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Small
Businesses.
68. Opportunities for strategic developments and validation at an industry sector and sub-sector level
exist through a number of Employer Skills Forums established and led by the College. These
forums comprise employers, college managers, the relevant sector skills council and the SDS
sector lead. Well-established forums include Aerospace, Renewables and Engineering. In 2015,
the College created a Science Employer Skills Forum to deal with the skills requirements of the
chemical and life sciences companies in Ayrshire. In 2015-16, new forums will be set up for the
Hospitality and Tourism, and Health and Social Care sectors.
69. In relation specifically to evaluating the relevance of provision to industry sectors, the College will
host a series of focused business breakfasts and evening seminars for employers to review our
existing curriculum and help shape future courses.
70. In 2015-16, these engagement structures will be integrated fully into the College’s external
validation process and a toolkit will be developed to capture feedback. The external validation
described above with schools and employers, as well as validation with other partners such as
CPPs and team evaluations across the College in August and September 2015, contribute to a
draft curriculum delivery plan (CDP) for 2016-17 which will be presented to a wide range to
stakeholders in October 2015.
Capacity to improve
71. The College has added a further element of capacity development and, in partnership with
Education Scotland, delivered a series of workshops in 2015 for curriculum and service
manager to build capacity across the College to help deliver the objectives for the action
learning pilot in 2015-16.
72. The College is committed to developing capacity in schools to support implementation of
vocational pathways required by Developing the Young Workforce. Staff development will take
place at annual guidance teacher events in each of the three local authorities and principal
teacher s and college lecturers will share experience, knowledge and expertise at subject
network events hosted by the College.
Taking quality enhancement further
73. The team evaluation process, which was enhanced during 2014-15, will be further enhanced
for 2015-16 to bring service and curriculum staff together for evaluation activities. All staff will
focus on the themes of highly effective learner progress and outcomes; highly effective
learning and teaching; highly effective learner engagement; highly effective support for
learning; highly effective leadership and quality culture; and the capacity to improve.
74. The Quality Enhancement directorate is working in partnership the Student Services team to
develop a student engagement strategy for 2015-16. This will allow for more consistent review
and analysis of student engagement across the college through a series of focus group
2015-16 Addendum to Ayrshire College Outcome Agreement
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