FE Week Reporter | FE Week

Learner voice: teacher voice?

Taking the learner voice into account is key — but the teacher voice needs to be listened to as well, says Dr Peter Lavender. Learner voice specialists are staff we often admire, but who frequently remain invisible in professional terms, not being part of the teaching workforce. As a college governor, you find evidence of […]

Colleges’ move after bully claims

Allegations of bullying and physical abuse have prompted three subcontractor colleges to take over apprenticeships from a Midland-based prime contractor. A damning Ofsted report found “serious allegations of physical and verbal bullying and harassment” and deemed the National Farrier Training Agency (NFTA) to be inadequate, as reported by FE Week in June. The Skills Funding […]

Foundation publishes partner commitments

The Education and Training Foundation has announced £75,000-worth of partner commitments with four FE bodies. The foundation, the FE sector’s self-improvement body, has published its delivery plan for 2013-14, which includes a £25,000 commitment to the Association of Colleges (AoC) to continue clerks and senior leadership programmes. Nevertheless we remain committed to working with and […]

Former Blackburn College worker jailed for work credit card fraud

A Lancashire college purchasing officer has been jailed for a year for using a work credit card to splash out more than £21,000 on solicitors’ bills for her divorce and trips to Alton Towers and Florida. Shaheda Lorgat (pictured) illegally used a Blackburn College account to pay for a host of personal items and services. […]

Colleges win meal deal, indies miss out

Further education students are to get free school meals, the government has announced — but learners at independent training providers (ITPs) will miss out, FE Week has learned. The Deputy Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said the government would extend complimentary lunches to disadvantaged 16 to 18-year-olds at general FE and sixth […]

Exam talks over Ramadan clash fears

Qualifications bodies have been in talks with Muslim groups over concerns the summer exams season could be affected by Ramadan. The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) is among those working to “reduce as far as possible the impact” of the month-long religious period, which is expected to fall in the key academic months of June […]

Zero-hour review gets unions’ welcome

Further education unions have given a cautious welcome to newly-announced government consultations on zero-hour contracts and apprentice pay. A review of the controversial employment agreements over the summer has finished and Business Secretary Vince Cable said it was being followed up with a consultation, looking closely at “exclusivity” — whether the contracts were being used […]

Gaps in careers guidance an opportunity for FE

Ofsted’s careers guidance report pulled no punches in its criticism of schools. Nor did it come as a surprise to many in the FE sector. But now that it has arrived, so has the time to act — and to capitalise, says Ruth Sparkes. Careers guidance in schools has come in for a rough ride […]

Keeping an open mind over online learning

Almost everything is available online nowadays it would seem — including educational materials. Dr Chris Pegler looks at whether the FE sector can benefit. In 2001 Charles Vest of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced it would make nearly all its course materials available free on the World Wide Web. If you spotted this […]