The Future Skills Sussex Offer is responding to:

• Learning from rounds 1 and 2 of the Sussex SDF projects - Greener Sussex and CODES and the new opportunity LSIF brings.
• Priorities and recommendations coming through the Sussex LSIP sector deep dives and crosscutting themes such as employability skills and mental toughness; net zero and climate change; and diversity and inclusion. 
• Successful pilots coming out of the innovation ‘testbed’.
• Local and national policy, strategy and investment opportunities.

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We see many potential benefits of this Sussex-wide approach, such as:

• economies of scale
• consistency across place
• shared resources and expertise
• higher profile for Sussex
• increased employer trust and engagement
• investment

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‍The partners

Sussex Learning Network, FE Sussex and SCTP are identified as the most appropriate lead organisations for this theme because of their wide-reaching networks. Over the course of the LSIP they will work collaboratively with the following core partners.

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‍Our activity

Through research and analysis, consultation and planning workshops we developed a set of recommended actions which form part of a 3-year action plan for each Framework theme.

The overarching recommended actions for Offer are:

• Develop a Sussex-wide Continuing Professional  Development (CPD) offer for further education staff (teachers, assessors, support, managers) - to include a focus on industry led CPD.
• Develop a Sussex-wide  campaign to recruit skilled professionals from the key sectors to shortage teacher and assessor roles.
• Develop a Sussex-wide approach to delivering 'employability' skills to address the gaps identified through data, surveys and deep dives.
• Develop Sussex-wide ‘access to employment’ schemes such as skills boot camps or SWAPS, with priority for sectors  such as creative and land-based where jobs are not widely advertised.
• Explore the use of clear and simple 'offer’ language which is understandable by the target audience and consistent across Sussex.

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View the full action plan here.

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Project News

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LSIF Project: Enhancing employability skills with BodySwaps

The Local Skills Improvement Fund (LSIF) is designed to enable further education providers across a geographic area to respond collectively to the priorities in the local skills improvement plans (LSIPs) providing investment in the technical skills system to better support the needs of the local labour market and wider economy.

As part of the LSIF project being led by FE Sussex (the consortium of Sussex colleges) they are developing the BodySwaps project. This pioneering initiative, utilising virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance soft skills training.

This project is in line with the Offer Theme priorities and action within the Future Skills Sussex Improvement Framework to prepare individuals for the modern job market through innovative, immersive learning experiences.

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To find out more about the Bodyswaps project see the FE Sussex report here.

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LSIF Project: Cross Campus and Immersive Teaching Spaces

As part of the LSIF project, FE Sussex (the consortium of Sussex colleges) are implementing a range of technologies to enhance teaching and learning. These include:

• BT Immersive spaces
• Cross Campus teaching spaces

Immersive Classroom offers students, local residents, and businesses the chance to explore realistic working environments and cutting-edge technologies that would otherwise be inaccessible without traveling beyond the college.

This project supports both the Offer Theme and Conversations Theme priorities and action within the Future Skills Sussex Improvement Framework

To find out more about this project see the FE Sussex report here.