In common with most of us who work in schools and colleges, my year is divided into three terms, each with its own distinct personality and challenges.
For me, without doubt, the spring term is my favourite. Along with the days getting longer and nature bursting into life after winter, it is a period of creativity and development.
I nickname it the “undo the seatbelt” term because I feel I can relax a little in as much as the spotlight has come off me.
It is a stage at which I find myself juggling to see if new opportunities can be created; whether new bids for the future can be developed; and when I can walk around and feel that learners are getting the most out of their studies.
It is also a time when recruitment starts for the next intake. There are open days, visits to schools and academies, bids for new provision, expansion of existing provision, and work on submitting new degrees.
As spring moves into summer, I am aware that I need to deliver a surplus; a surplus that is sufficient for our needs, our reserves and for the future. That is even more crucial now than it has ever been. The FE sector has taken such massive cuts in funding rates that it now needs to grow just to stand still. We are likely to have to grow by a couple of percentage points a year to have the same income to spend the following year. Alongside that, there are capital plans running: the refurbishment and purchase of new properties and, currently, the expansion of our multi-academy trust.
The summer term feels a bit like an obstacle race, making sure that all of our courses are finishing correctly and that we’re looking after learner destinations: those going on to apprenticeships; those advancing into employment; those going into higher education; and those who are perhaps going on a sandwich year abroad.
A lot of my time will be spent in planning for the September intake and designing my adult curriculum in the face of expected funding (bizarrely, I am often only informed by the government of what my funding for September will be in July). In fact, I should like to see our funding modelled as a business. In other words, myself or my governing body, as managing directors, should be held to account. If the business makes a profit, that profit should be able to be reinvested in the business.
Getting into cruise control
Then the Christmas term is about looking to see if all my marketing and recruitment, and development of new initiatives, have had an effect because by November I have to make a return to show that I have delivered the objectives of my strategic plan.
At that point, I also start to receive the full analysis from central government of the success rates of the previous academic year (unlike schools, we are measured on success rates; it is not just about who passes the exams, but how many you retain to pass). The government will also be issuing its national benchmark, which tells me how the college is doing from a national and a regional perspective.
At some point during these three terms, like everyone else, I try to take some annual leave. But it is not always easy to leave my work behind. I can recall the start of one holiday, walking up the gangplank on a cruise ship, bound for Russia, with my family when my mobile rang. Basking in the success of having secured a major contract to provide offender learning in prisons, a last-minute query meant a hectic start to my time on board.
But although my job is an always-ongoing function, there are certain advantages. I have a strong management team. People will deputise for me and it is marvellous how mobile phones do not work very well on board a ship…So I went to Russia. I am not sure if it was to Russia with love or to Russia with anxiety, but I went.
Dr Paul Phillips is principal and chief executive of Weston College
