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Facilitating Collaborative Professional Development in the Eastern Region (Essex Pilot)


Aim

This pilot project aims to provide and support collaborative, high quality, sustainable and cost effective professional development opportunities to a ‘cluster’ of localised providers.


The Offer

Building on the success of ACER’s regional services around Recruitment and Procurement for member organisations, we plan to pilot a project in Essex extending this approach to (Continuing) Professional Development (CPD) working closely with Essex PDC.   Utilising Essex PDC’s extensive local provider network, we will invite a selection of organisations in Essex to form a professional development ‘cluster’.  Cluster organisations will be expected to share their Workforce Development Plans (WDPs), Quality Improvement Plans (QIPs) and areas of professional expertise with ACER.  Our experienced team will analyse the professional development needs and areas of expertise of these providers.  ACER will then invite the cluster organisations to a network meeting where they will share the identified themes/opportunities for collective CPD.  (To facilitate a collaborative approach to these opportunities we will elicit support from an LSIS Improvement Adviser specialising in ‘Peer Review of Development’ and their recently developed ‘Shared Services Toolkit’).  Following discussions/negotiations with the cluster organisations, ACER will develop a cluster specific CPD programme led by external consultants and provider identified ‘experts’.  The aim of the programme is to provide genuinely collaborative professional development opportunities for cluster members.  Individual providers will be asked to ‘host’ events in return for free or reduced-cost places with full-cost places made available to the other cluster organisations.  ACER will coordinate and manage event bookings centrally.  It is envisaged that this approach will yield significant reductions in venue and travel costs which will be reflected in reduced participant charges.  We also expect participants to experience very high quality professional development as it will be tailored to their specific needs and organisational priorities.


‘Cluster’ organisations


Timescales









  

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 



Assessing Impact

ACER will maintain records of all e-communications and meeting notes with providers during the development phase of the project for reference and evaluation purposes. Individual CPD events will be evaluated and summaries shared with all providers within the project.   A full project evaluation will take place in Dec ’11.


The Future

If successful, ACER intends to extend this model for wider benefit across the region.  Lessons learnt from the pilot project will be used to inform and refine developments although each variant of the pilot model is likely to have unique features depending on location and composition of the cluster.


View a Summary of Providers’ workforce development needs / expertise

For more information contact Rob Shaw on 07738 060246 or email rob.shaw@acer.ac.uk

June ’11

Invitation sent to Principals & Staff Development Managers (or equivalent) asking if they would like to be part of the pilot project (replies by 27th May?) followed by Consultant visits to discuss strengths / areas for development…

July/August ‘11

ACER in receipt of WDPs/QIPs and ‘areas of expertise’ from participating organisations via Consultants

September ‘11

Share themes/opportunities for collaborative CPD with providers at first ‘cluster’ network meeting - outline CPD programme agreed / suggested timescales

October ‘11

Comprehensive CPD programme developed and agreed with providers

October – December ‘11

A range of agreed CPD activity undertaken with pilot organisations

December ’11

Pilot Evaluation

Association of Colleges in the Eastern Region, Suite 1 Lancaster House, Meadow Lane, St Ives, Cambs, PE27 4LG

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