As part of GQA’s continued commitment to work with Approved
Centres, we recently held the first group meeting of Centres delivering Print
qualifications. The meeting was hosted by GQA Technical Officer and EV Sean
Hayes and took place at More Training in Stoke on Trent. Although not all GQA
Approved Print Centres were able to attend, partly due to weather conditions
and the needs of students and deadlines, those that did attend found the
meeting informative and interesting. The meeting gave Centres a chance, as a
group, to discuss the current suite of Print qualifications developed by GQA
and also consider other areas of the Print Industry who may not be entirely
suited to those currently available. The group were on the whole very happy
with the qualifications with just a couple of suggestions that will be
considered further.
Other agenda items included discussions on beneficial
changes to Centres on costs and registration options, recent guidance given to
Awarding Organisations on qualifications, forthcoming events including
Northprint and the GQA Conference. Of particular interest was the demonstration
Sean gave on the GQA e-portfolio system that is available at no extra cost to GQA Centres.
The Centres present at the meeting were able to leave
commercial aspects of delivery outside of the discussions and happy to exchange
ideas to overcome differences in interpretation of the standards and also share
thoughts on assessment methodology and material without giving away anything of
a sensitive nature. Richard Moore gave the group an update on the changes and
future focus for Proskills.
Sean said “I was delighted the Centres took time out of busy
schedules to take part in the meeting, however this did not really surprise me
as my experiences with the Print Industry have shown me a real passion to
deliver quality. The Centres were generally very happy with the Print
qualifications but there were still some matters that generated interesting
discussions, it was refreshing to see Centres actively working together to find
solutions and clarity where there was any need”
The meeting was seen by all as a positive move and one that
all are keen to see become a regular occurrence. Philip Owens from More
Training said “GQA has always been very keen to build good working
relationships with Centres and the move to get Centres talking and sharing best
practice is a very welcome one, we and our students particularly like the
flexibility the GQA Technical Certificate delivery allows”
Simon Hirst from Manchester College School of Printing said
“We have looked at the GQA e-portfolio system and are using it as a pilot with
a small number of students so the demonstration by Sean was useful and timely,
we are currently delivering a good range of Print qualifications through GQA
and find them supportive and willing to work with us”
Pete Shaw from BPIF said “We are delivering a number of
qualifications through GQA, the qualification Standards Book provided is excellent
and the e-portfolio is certainly something we will be discussing further within
BPIF”
Plans are being put in place to hold meetings twice a year
as a minimum. This is just part of GQAs
plans to work closely with Centres and follows a similar initiative Sean
organised for Centres delivering Automotive Glazing qualifications and
accredited training. Watch out for plans to introduce these types of meetings
across other sectors using GQA qualifications.
