Bogus United Nations invoice caught by eagle-eyed staff

Providers have been warned to be vigilant after another attempted scam hit the sector.

Andy Cole (pictured), principal of the College of North West London, told FE Week how this month he was invoiced for a fictional United Nations (UN) programme.

And just two days before Christmas another phoney invoice, claiming to be from within the college, had demanded more than £100,000.

“I’m seeing a lot more stuff like this happening and hearing about it from other principals” Mr Cole told FE Week.

“It’s not just scams but stuff that’s getting past firewalls — we’ve got a pretty good one but we’re still seeing it.”

On Wednesday March 11, Mr Cole received an email claiming to be from the UN, asking for payment for a programme he had made an “irrevocable” commitment to — despite Mr Cole never having heard of the programme.

And on December 23, the college received an invoice claiming to be from within the college itself for £100,440 for money spent on railway engineering equipment — a key area of business for the college.

“It wasn’t college paperwork, but it was very convincing,” said Mr Cole. “If I was new to the college, I’d think ‘that’s credible, maybe that’s our paperwork’.”

The case was handed over to police but FE Week understands no further action has been taken.

“Our controller won’t let anything from anybody – including me – through if it isn’t 100 per cent compliant with our policies and procedures,” said Mr Cole.

He added: “The greater concern is the potential for electronic messages that get through any firewall containing a virus.”

Mr Cole’s comments follow a string of attempted scams to have hit the sector.

Last month, FE Week reported on a fraudulent email sent to Westminster Kingsway finance staff, claiming to be from college principal Andy Wilson, requesting an urgent payment.

And the Colchester Institute was hit around the same time by con artists posing as the contractors carrying out £5.8m worth of building work actually being carried out on campus.

In January at least eight colleges were targeted by a man calling himself Brian Hall who claimed to be a bailiff on the way to collect a fictional £7,000 debt. It is understood no colleges handed over money.

 

Planning victory over crossing

Dudley College has won a planning battle to secure a pedestrian crossing after fears for learner safety.

The Midland college expanded in 2012 to open its Evolve campus, which is used by up to 800 students a-day and situated around 200 metres from its main campus on the other side of the same road.

Councillors from Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council rejected the college’s initial application for a puffin crossing in November 2013 because of concerns over noise and air pollution from queuing traffic and pedestrians. But the college’s appeal with the Planning Inspectorate was approved, overturning the council’s refusal. The inspectorate concluded that safety benefits would “heavily outweigh its adverse effects”.

Principal Lowell Williams said “common sense has prevailed”. “The safety of college users and the wider public is our foremost concern,” he added. The college will cover the estimated £48,000 cost of installing the crossing before the start of 2015/16.

John Millar, acting strategic director for environment, economy and housing at Dudley council, said: “The development control committee had refused the application on the grounds of its detrimental impact on residential properties and the potential impact on air quality. The decision of the planning inspector to allow the appeal is noted.”

 

Edition 133: Bob Pattni, Dinah Caine, Stewart Till & Ivan Dunleavy

Cambridge Regional College has appointed a new deputy principal to head finance and corporate services.

Bob Pattni is a former chief operating officer at Birmingham Metropolitan College and qualified accountant with more than two decades’ experience in education.

He has been appointed to help lead and grow the college’s core business of vocational qualifications and apprenticeships as well as its commercial activity.

“I love working in education because it is so innovative, and this is a very forward-thinking college,” said Mr Pattni.

“It works closely with employers to enrich the lives of learners to provide an environment that is full of opportunity.”

Meanwhile, Creative Skillset, the creative industries’ skills body, has announced that chief executive Dinah Caine CBE will leave her post to become its board chair.

She will replace Stewart Till CBE who completes his five-year term as chair following his previous terms as vice chair.

Two further appointments in Pinewood Group chief executive Ivan Dunleavy and Endemol Shine Group chief executive Sophie Turner Laing have been made to the executive board, while the search for a new Creative Skillset chief is under way.

Mr Till, who will be replaced when Ms Caine’s replacement has been appointed, said: “I’m delighted that Dinah remains with Creative Skillset. She has led the organisation since it was a small scale operation and brought the importance of skills and public/private creative partnerships to the heart of Government thinking and industry practice.

“We’re delighted that she will continue to play a key role going forward.

“Our new board members, Ivan and Sophie bring huge expertise and experience from the top of the industry and will be a massive asset to Creative Skillset.”

Ms Caine, Creative Skillset chief executive since 1992, said: “What is wonderful about our Creative Industries is that they never stand still and constantly re-invent themselves. Creative Skillset is doing the same. I am delighted to have been asked to chair the Creative Skillset board, which is made up of such high calibre industry leaders. I am looking forward to continuing to work to strengthen our partnerships with Government and to supporting the new chief executive as they lead the organisation forward into the next exciting stage of its development.”

Mr Dunleavy said: “I’m delighted and honoured to be joining the board of Creative Skillset. The issues around skills and training have never been more important for our industries.”

Ms Turner Laing said: “The training and skills agenda plus promoting the diversity of our industries has always been vital to their growth and is a great interest of mine. I’m thrilled to be joining the board of Creative Skillset to support the great work that it does in this area”.

 

Roll on the General Election

Apprenticeships were on the agenda as David Cameron hit the campaign trail in West Yorkshire on Thursday (April 9).

Mr Cameron met Cory Hurst, a level two fashion and textiles apprentice at Camira Fabrics in Huddersfield.

He also announced deals which had been struck with large employers including Costa to create 16,000 apprenticeships. The Tories have pledged to create 3m starts in the next Parliament if they form a government again in May.

The visit took place on the same day that Labour leader Ed Miliband was at Microsoft’s offices in Victoria with Shadow Education secretary Tristram Hunt and Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna to launch Labour’s education manifesto.

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Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA

 

Access all areas at top Middlesbrough hotel

A group of 18 catering students from Middlesbrough College has launched a takeover of the area’s largest hotel.

The learners accessed all areas of Thistle Hotel Middlesbrough as part of a skills-building employer partnership project.

They took up a variety of roles at the 132-bedroom four-star hotel including receptionists, chefs, waiters, housekeeping and event organisers.

Lynne Alderson, director of programmes for service industries and retail skills at the college, said: “We are always looking at ways to help students increase their skills, making them more attractive to employers, so we were delighted when the team at Thistle Hotel Middlesbrough agreed to take part.

“It’s widely recognised that the skills and experience gained in the workplace determine how successful an individual will be in their career so this was a great opportunity for the students.”

Main pic: Thistle Hotel Middlesbrough head Chef Richard Hardy with Ryan Hodgson (right), aged 19, and Claire Mawson (left), 17, two of the Middlesbrough College students who took part in the hotel takeover.

 

Ross is ranked seventh in the world after Muay Tai bout

A St Helens College learner battled his way to victory after impressing a 5,000-strong crowd at the Macron Stadium in Bolton in an international ranking Muay Thai bout.

Fighting for seventh place in the world rankings was foundation degree in exercise, health and fitness student Chris Whittle, who emerged as winner against his competitor Ross George.

After winning with a unanimous decision, the 18-year-old said: “Although it had to go to the judges I was confident I’d won.”

Along with his international success, Chris is also British Champion in two different fighting weights, 59kg and 61kg, and is ranked 5th in the Yokkao Muay Thai variation of kickboxing.

And balancing his training with his degree is a worthwhile one for the student who wants to open his own Thai fighting gym one day.

“Eventually I want to have my own gym and that’s why I think it’s so important that I have the correct academic qualifications to support my skills in the martial arts,” said Chris.

Main pic: Chris Whittle holding his winning trophy at the Macron Stadium

 

Susanna’s over the moon with ‘space’ trip

It was one small step for a learner and one giant leap for Susanna Harvey’s future when she embarked on an experience of a lifetime visiting the US Space and Rocket Center (USSRC), writes Billy Camden.

Tumbling in a space capsule and walking on the moon are not events many 16-year-olds can say they have experienced but that is not the case for Richard Huish College student Susanna Harvey.

For the chemistry, maths, geography and French A-level learner landed the opportunity to visit the USSRC to participate in a week-long Honeywell leadership challenge academy, in Huntsville, Alabama.

Susanna Harvey
Susanna Harvey

Recognised as one of the most comprehensive US manned space flight hardware museums in the world, the USSRC trip allowed Susanna to experience simulated astronaut training, including a realistic shuttle mission in which she had to land a rocket and flying a Warhawk fighter jet simulator.

She also got the opportunity to see what it’s like to walk on the moon where her body weight was lowered by 20 per cent.

“I really enjoyed the opportunity to see what it’s like to walk on the moon and tumble in a space capsule,” said Susanna.

“It was really hard to move forward, I was bouncing in one place and you have to use your arms to help you move. But I loved every minute of it and couldn’t possibly decide my favourite part because it was all so amazing.”

She added: “It is a scary thought going into space but some of the images of the Earth from out there are really awe inspiring.”

She also had behind-the-scenes access to many of the space artefacts, including the Apollo 16 capsule and the recently restored Saturn V rocket.

Another highlight for her was having the chance to meet retired NASA astronaut Hoot Gibson, who flew five missions in the 1980s and 1990s.

Susanna on board the Warhawk fighter jet simulator
Susanna on board the Warhawk fighter jet simulator

“The talks from actual astronauts like Hoot were amazing. It was great to hear about their real life experiences and the pictures they showed us from their missions were really cool,” she said.

Throughout the week Susanna also built cardboard rockets, extracted DNA from bananas and strawberries, built model moon landers and rovers and role played a tornado disaster search and rescue exercise.

She heard about the scheme, which is only open to children of Honeywell employees, through her dad, Robert, who works as a performance engineer for Honeywell in the UK.

The programme aims to build leadership skills by tackling real-world challenges in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. And the experience did exactly that for Susanna.

Susanna was so inspired by the experience she is now considering a career in space and aviation.

“I’ve always had a big interest in science but before the trip I had no idea what I wanted to be when I’m older,” she said.

“I wasn’t even thinking of a career in space and aviation but the trip was really cool and has made me think about going into that industry.”

Main pic: Susanna Harvey (centre bottom) at the USSRC with her fellow Honeywell leadership challenge academy participants

 

Learners come back from the dead for new term

Students and staff at Leeds City College could be forgiven for not returning to the classroom this week after coming face-to-face with zombies on campus.

But term started as normal after the Easter holidays with the ghastly goings on all in the name of art, thankfully.

Production arts learners brought to life the figures as part of a special effects event called Backstage Pass hosted by the college and inspired by the US drama The Walking Dead.

Fellow learners were transformed for seven zombie-infested scenes, ranging from a wedding and maternity ward to an aeroplane and a circus.

Curriculum leader for performing and production arts at the college Claire Dunkerley said: “The students did an amazing job — while they were all following the same theme, each installation was very different, and there was such attention to detail in each case.”

Main pic: Jadean Mosley, aged 18 (centre), who is studying BTec extended diploma in musical theatre, being transformed into a zombie by BTec extended diploma in production arts students Abigail Oldfield, 18 (left), and Kaytlin Thompson, 16 (right).

 

In the frame for interview with rap star Tinchy Stryder

Salford City College learners put their media skills to the test when they were asked to film an exclusive interview with rap star Tinchy Stryder.

The learners recorded a Q&A session for local radio station Unity Radio where resident DJ JosheeBee interviewed Tinchy.

The filming team was a mix of four second year BTec level three creative media production students from the college’s Walkden Sixth Form Centre plus two media foundation degree students from the college’s FutureSkills programme.

Between them they took on the roles of cameramen, runners, photographers and sound engineers.

BTec student Demmi Duncan, aged 18, said: “I was really nervous at first being part of the crew to film Tinchy, but working with my fellow peers and our media teachers made me feel at ease as soon as we arrived on set.”

Main pic: From left: Foundation degree student Jay Bradley, aged 21, media curriculum leader Saima Sultan, media head of department Ella Tsui-lau, Tinchy Stryder, media technology technician Craig Sharp and foundation degree student Harrison Bradley, 21.