Constellations 2021-22: Some Guidance

Thank you for your interest in the #APConnect Year 4 Communities of Practice (or ‘Constellations’ as we fondly call them). You have reached this page because you have expressed an interest in joining us this year. #APConnect is delivered by touchconsulting Ltd on behalf of the Education and Training Foundation.

We like to think you’ve heard good things about us and you can always check back here if you want to learn more about what’s gone before.

All the changes we make are based on what you’ve told us, what we’ve learned from the evaluation and our own experience of what seems to shift cultures. This year we’ve dialled up the level of co-production: APs participation as co-researchers and participants in the #APConnect co-evaluation and #APDigital Research have had a significant impact on the shaping of the project this year.

We already knew that APs were turning out to be the engine room of change in FE and – wow! haven’t we learned that a hundred times over during Covid times? APs have been everywhere, leading practices of trust, solidarity, openness, equality and kindness. This page will help you see where you fit.

Remember too, that we are offering Equalities-Mentoring this year, so please check the guidance here and decide if you want to apply for this. If you’ve ever felt that the world was holding you back on the basis of an identity characteristic, it might well be for you.

Before we start, we have to warn you that we are very likely to be oversubscribed. We can only offer 150 places across both Constellations and only 15 Equalities-Mentoring places. So the guidance here also includes our fair and transparent selection policy. It is never personal and always based on our aspiration of getting the AP joy channelled across all diverse FE’s contexts and settings.

#APConnect is organised by touchconsulting Ltd on behalf of The Education and Training Foundation (ETF). This year, ETF have asked us to support 585 unique engagements, by which they mean 585 discrete individuals who have directly benefited from #APConnect.   ⭐️It doesn’t matter if you have been on #APConnect before, you can still apply to one or more pathway⭐️  We still hope to make every pathway of the programme available to anyone who wants to apply, even if we have already counted your engagement in our monitoring, but, mindful of how far we can also stretch our energies and resources, we can’t guarantee this.

This year, we are offering Constellation B and Constellation C (yep, you read it right, we start at B🐝).

Is Constellation B right for me?

Constellation B is our bread-and-butter, a solid intro to Advanced Practice. It’s right for you if you are working in (or actively working towards) an AP-type role and you haven’t accessed any of our #APConnect provision before, except peripherally. You might have participated in #APDigital research, for example, or come along to one of our AP-led events or an #APConnect CPD module.

On Constellation B, you’ll be learning all about being an AP and you’ll be working on your own small-scale Quality Improvement project, something that will make a difference to your organisation. You will complete an online training programme and attend two face-to-face days (online). We are really good at building communities you’ll feel part of something as long as you are willing to show up in community spaces. You’ll have access to Constellation C opportunities such as #FestivalFridays and also be part of an active Slack workspace with the touchconsulting team and Constellation C.

Selection Criteria for Constellation B

You will be in an AP*(-type role or actively working towards and you will have the support of your organisation (this is to help guarantee that your QI project will have space to flourish). You will not have accessed an #APConnect Constellations training programme before. You will be a ‘can-do’ person, who is willing to be brave in digital spaces, knowing that there is lots of support. You will be self-directed and willing to engage on a regular basis (at least once a week) in the #APConnect community, via Festival Fridays, Slack, social media and other events. You will commit to two face-to-face events (Wednesdays 30th September 2021 and 12th January 2022), to completing all modules of the online course and to being an active part of the Constellations community.

We hope to offer a place to everyone. However, as we are likely to be over-subscribed, we will prioritise the following applications:

1. Those from ESFA funded organisations who have not engaged with us before.
2. Those from settings and contexts which are less well represented on APConnect, eg specialist colleges (including landbased), secure estates, adult and community learning, independent training providers.

*We know from the #APDigital research that there are at least 44 different job titles for ‘AP’ out there, so don’t overthink this.

Is Constellation C right for me?

Constellation C is for graduates of Constellation B, the 3-day CPD and the collaborative projects of recent years. This may also include some individuals working in an active and informed way as APs, who have been ‘around’ #APConnect and not a direct beneficiary of it. There is no limit to how many times you get involved in Constellation C and we are happy to welcome back ‘old friends’ (but see caveat, below).

Constellation C is modelled on the fluid, rhizomatic approach we took last year and you need to have some digital confidence to work with that, though there is lots of support! It’s hard to imagine any AP who hasn’t seen an increase in their digital confidence over the past 15 months. You will be getting involved in various ways in amplifying the quality improvement work that you and your team do – podcasting, tweeting, blogging, making videos, doing presentations, writing articles. You will have one face-to-face (online) day with the rest of Constellation C on Wednesday 7th July 2021 and you can expect to bump into each other everywhere 💫 You will be part of an active Slack workspace with the touchconsulting team and Constellation B and you are expected to take an active role in Festival Fridays, including leading thinking sessions and workshops.

You are agents of change, very visible within the FE workforce, leading on events and other amplification opportunities. You will begin to develop your own constellations during the year and you may choose to extend last year’s work or do something different. We particularly welcome applications from whole-AP teams (whatever you are called). We are looking forward to Bs and Cs doing a lot of work together this year – however we do expect everyone who applies to get stuck in. We’ve noticed before that some people do all the heavy lifting when whole teams apply 🙄

Selection Criteria for Constellation C

Constellation C You will likely be a graduate of #APConnect in some form (exceptions can be made). You will be a ‘can-do’ person, who is willing to be brave in digital spaces. You will be self-directed and willing to engage on a regular basis in online communities. You will commit to the face-to-face event (7th July 2021). You will be excited about amplifying the quality improvement work you’re involved in, across AP networks nationally.

After last year, many of you will absolutely know what it is to be an agent of change and you will be up for the challenge. You will be prepared to lead on amplifying not only your own work but the work of APs nationally. You will be prepared to organise an event, host a podcast/webinar series, produce a reflective account of your experience, offer to host Festival Friday sessions and/or feature in some other way on the national stage.

We hope to offer a place to everyone. However, as we are likely to be over-subscribed, we will prioritise the following applications:

For Constellation C

1. Those from ESFA funded organisations who have not engaged with us before.
2. Those from settings and contexts which are less well represented on APConnect, eg specialist colleges (including landbased), secure estates, adult and community learning, independent training providers.
3. People who have previously been actively engaged in #APConnect. We’re not looking for people who sit back and wait for things to happen.

Last year was rough on us all and we know this meant some of you weren’t able to commit as wholeheartedly as you’d like. We get that. We reached out to you repeatedly and if we heard back from you, you are more than welcome to apply again. If we didn’t hear back from you and your ability to commit has changed, please indicate this in your application and we’ll get in touch with you.

Is Equalities-Mentoring right for me?

If you identify as Black or Asian or you are from any other minority ethnic group (including minority groups who are racialised as white, for example people with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller backgrounds) and/or you have a disability, you are eligible to apply for our Equalities-Mentoring offer.

We would love to a) extend this to all the protected characteristics (and some ‘unprotected ones’) and b) offer everyone a place but funding is limited to 15 places. Everyone who applies can attend the Equalities Mentoring workshops. We will apply selection criteria for the individual mentoring.

Selection Criteria for Equalities-Mentoring

On the application form, we ask you: ‘How would an Equalities-Mentoring opportunity benefit your practice?’ Together with our partners, the BAMEEd Network and Mole Chapman of EQTraining, we will select based on your response. We are looking for the 15 people who potentially will most benefit from the mentoring opportunity. You will also need to work for a ESFA funded organisation.

APPLY HERE:

For your ease, here is a link to the application form for both B and C Constellations.