Derby

Derby targets learning

The initial inspiration to make Derby a City of Learning came from a visit by the Strategic Director of the Southern Derbyshire Chamber to Baltimore, which had become a City of Reading.

After discussions with initiatives in other parts of Britain, a model for a City of Learning was devised. It was recognised that the concept would only be of use if it could embrace the self-interest of providers and harness commitment at the highest level.

About 40 people at a senior level in city institutions were invited to a seminar to gauge the amount of interest in the initiative. This was followed by a meeting of some seven key people, chaired by the Director of Corporate Affairs at Toyota who is also Chair of the Board of Southern Derbyshire Chamber. A number of specific matters were agreed:

• The initiative would not be a talking shop
• The future of the initiative would be assessed after one year
• Those present agreed that the relevant parts of their corporate plans would be realigned to match the objectives and targets of the City of Learning
• The group would act as a Sponsor Body to the initiative
• A Forum at a senior, but more operational level should be set up
• Sir Christopher Ball, Chairman of the University of Derby, would act as the link between these two groups
• The initiative would deal with the City of Derby as defined by the boundaries of the Unitary Authority
• It would involve city residents, rather than those who worked there.

Since this initial meeting, The Forum and sponsor body both meet on a quarterly basis. The Forum has also met in two groups to consider target setting. In addition, there is a Marketing Group to cover promotional activities, currently chaired by the editor of the Derby Evening Telegraph; a Networked City Group which is currently exploring links with major telecommunications companies and a thriving Education Business Partnership.

The partners

The Sponsor Body currently consists of:

• The Chief Education Officer for Derby City Council
• The Chair of the City Education Comrnittee
• The Chief Executive of the Southern Derbyshire Chamber
• Principals of both Colleges of Further Education
• The Vice-Chancellor of the University
• Sir Christopher Ball

The Forum represents the same broad interests and consists of nominations from the Sponsor Group.

Again membership is at a senior level.

Those involved in the Forum include:

• The Operations Director of Southern Derbyshire Chamber
• The Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University
• A Vice-Principal from each College
• The Assistant Director of Quality from the City Council's Education Department
• Three employer representatives from Rolls Royce, the Health Authority and a manufacturing firm
• A Trades Union representative
• Voluntary sector representative
• Three school heads - one from a grant maintained secondary school, one from a local authority maintained secondary school and one from a primary school.

The Director of the multi-agency literacy project "Read and Write Away" may also be co-opted onto the Forum Group.

The initiative is linked to the Derby City Partnership, the economic planning group for the city, through the high level of membership of both groups.

Target setting and action planning

In Derby, target setting is seen as the key to a successful strategy and the initiative has made considerable progress in this direction.

In terms of baseline data the initiative is well equipped. An extensive household survey involving over 5,000 individual interviews was carried out in the Southern Derbyshire area and useful data on skill levels down to local district level are available. Research was commissioned from the Policy Research Unit of Leeds Metropolitan University on the evidence from Derby that learning pays for individuals. Southern Derbyshire Chamber also partnered the Basic Skills Agency and the Community Education Service in research into local literacy and numeracy levels.

The Forum Group has set special targets for Derby, based on the National Targets for Education and Training.

The Foundation Targets are:

• 85% of young people to achieve five GCSE’s at grade C or above or equivalent by 2000.
• 75% of young people to achieve level 2 competence in communication, numeracy and IT by 2000. 35% to achieve level 3 by age 21.
• By age 21 60% of young people to achieve NVQ level 3 or equivalent by 2000.
• Additional Targets for consideration
• A target relating to parental education
• A target to deal with under-achievement by boys in English
• A target that all children considered able to do so should be able to read and write by age 7
• A target to ensure that young people have a qualification at level 2/3 in Science and Technology.

The Lifetime Targets are:

• 60% of workforce to be qualified to NVQ 3 or equivalent by 2000.
• 33.3% of workforce to have qualification at NVQ 4 or above by 2000. 40% by 2007. As the national target will probably be exceeded in Derby, a more ambitious target has been set.
• Investors in People
• Additional Targets for consideration
• The survey carried out by the Basic Skills Agency showed that 25% of the population have some difficulty with basic skills. A target to reduce this to 10% by the year 2000 is under discussion.
• A target relating to participation in learning by the whole population.

These Lifetime Targets, except the one relating to participation which is yet to be set, relate to the workforce, including those discouraged from working or registered as unemployed.

An Awayday was held in March 1998 at which a priority action agenda was agreed for 1998/9 which includes the following:

• Motivate ' excluded ' and ' disadvantaged ' groups to participate in learning
• Develop workforce skills, focusing on those with lower level existing skills
• Enhance guidance for adults
• Achieve collaboration among post-16 providers
• Delivery of an effective marketing campaign
• Produce collaborative bids for European and other funding

Problems encountered

The Derby initiative has encountered few problems so far. The vigorous competition between providers, the independence of schools (50% of Derby secondary schools are grant maintained) and the need to prioritise targets are likely to present challenges to the City of Learning. These should be alleviated by the following agreements, already made by the partners:

• A three-year commitment to the project
• No substitution of group members
• Commitment to a substantial joint awareness raising campaign
• Commitment to assist each other in the Forum and Sponsor Body
• Adoption of relevant targets and goals and agreement to monitor these within the setting of corporate planning.

Progress so far

The Derby initiatives major achievements to date have been the rapid target setting exercise and the establishment of a high level partnership, plus excellent coverage by the local news press.

The next stage is to refine the targets and secure resources to achieve them.

Funding

This initiative has received no funding from external sources, nor has it made any bids for such funding.