FE Week Reporter | FE Week

Apprenticeship success rates fall nearly 5pc points

Last week, FE Week revealed the best and worst success rates performers for classroom-based provision in 2013/14 — and this week it’s the turn of apprenticeships, writes Rebecca Cooney. Click here to view the page

Sam Parrett, principal, Bromley College

As her heart raced, her mouth dried and her imagination ran wild with the tragic scenes that could lay ahead after reports of a gunman on campus, Sam Parrett was calmed by the wise words of her then-principal. “No matter how much you’re panicking inside, all the people in that building are panicking much, much […]

Getting on the balcony — sustaining leadership in times of turmoil

Having attended a two-day leadership workshop with Professor Marty Linsky, of the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Marie-Thérèse McGivern passes on the key lessons and messages she picked up. I first came across Professor Marty Linsky when I read Leadership on the Line, a book he co-authored with Ronald Heifetz around […]

Don’t scrap GCSEs without ‘coherent’ 14 to 19 overview, Labour adviser warns

Labour plans to replace GCSEs with a “national baccalaureate” with both academic and technical routes will only work if those in power take a “coherent view of routes across upper-secondary,” the party’s skills taskforce chair Professor Chris Husbands has said. Speaking to FE Week this morning, the Institute of Education director (pictured above left) said GCSEs […]

Ex- Arsenal boss talks to learners

Students at Merseyside’s Hugh Baird 14 to 16 College were left feeling “inspired” after hearing from one of football’s most influential business leaders, David Dein. The former vice-chairman of Arsenal football club and the FA spoke to learners about his experiences in business and football as part of a visit from Speakers for Schools, a […]

The next government must bring stability to the sector

With further education being placed centre stage in the 2015 General Election, Andrew Gladstone-Heighton considers whether policy change is needed in an industry that has already endured so much recent reform. The focus on FE seen from each political party so far in this election campaign has been more than encouraging.Issues such as vocational training […]

Secret Principal

The principal of a large and well-established FE college writes about life at the top — the worries, the hopes, the people and the issues they have to deal with every day. Is there a general election? Whither education, education and education? Is there a general election? Whither education, education and education?Well, we’re all reeling […]

Jade’s scary start as author

An ambitious young writer from West Suffolk College is hoping to get her career off to a frighteningly good start by self-publishing her horror novel on Amazon’s Kindle. Jade Klassen, aged 17, first created the plot structure for her book, Reflections of Darkness, when she was just 15. It took her just nine months to […]

Boxing clever to raise money in memory of loved one

Shipley College tutor Matthew Green traded in the classroom for the boxing ring to help raise money for the fight against cancer and in honour of his father-in-law, writes Billy Camden. When Matthew ‘Raging Pig’ Green knocked his opponent to the floor in the second round, he thought the gruelling eight-week preparation for his Ultra […]