Chelmford’s Writtle College has a new governors’ board chair in Julia Smith.
Ms Smith, who has served as a governor since July 2010, took over from Lise-Lotte Olsen, who finished her term of office after eight years in the Essex college role.
“I very much look forward to this challenge as we enter an exciting phase in our history with the ability to award our own degrees and our ambition to further strengthen our FE provision, building on our very successful last Ofsted inspection,” said Ms Smith.
“I am firmly on the side of the student and will be championing them throughout my term of office, making sure they get the very best education if they choose to study here with us at Writtle College.”
Ms Olsen, a business and training consultant, said: “I wish Writtle College and the governing body every success going forward. Hopefully during my tenure as chair we have started to build a sound base for the future and I think Julia will be an extremely able chair to continue this process.”
And Preston’s College, in Lancashire, has appointed a new operations manager to coordinate its Istem (innovation, science, technology, engineering and maths) teaching provision in preparation for the opening of its new £13m Istem Centre in September.
Former Preston’s College student Rebecca Kay responsible for ensuring high-quality teaching is delivered consistently across the curriculum in both traditional and non-traditional iSTEM subjects.
“A shortfall of suitably-skilled employees is already proving costly for businesses across Lancashire and our goal is to ensure more young people embrace iSTEM by focusing resources on the right areas,” she said.
Meanwhile, specialist industry awarding organisation EAL has appointed Natalie Wilson as head of commercial development — a newly created position.
She will spearhead the company’s revitalised commercial offering, formulate and execute strategy and liaise closely with EAL’s sister organisation Semta.
She has spent four years working as EAL’s product innovation manager.
“I am delighted to be appointed to this position which will enable me to utilise my knowledge and experience to the full,” said Ms Wilson.
Julia Chippendale, EAL managing director said: “Natalie brings a wealth of experience and knowledge of the skills arena and sectors we operate in. She has a finely focussed vision of how we will evolve — and an extraordinary drive to deliver.”
And at Walsall College, senior manager of sport has been appointed the new chair of the Association of College’s (AoC) West Midlands Sport Network.
Rayna Crawford-Jones, who is responsible for shaping the sport curriculum at Walsall College, will lead the group — made up of staff with responsibilities for curriculum delivery as well as sports facilities and student participation at 38 colleges across the West Midlands.
She said: “I’m delighted to have been selected to Chair the AoC Sport West Midlands Network. I am looking forward to helping develop the strategy for sport and making sure that we take a whole organisation approach to sport within colleges.”
An East Midlands college has issued an exams blanket ban on wristwatches over fears learners could cheat using powerful new “smart watches” that can access the internet.
A North Nottinghamshire College (NNC) statement on its website says candidates will be banned from wearing their watches in all exams following the “emergence of smart watches that are being used for cheating”.
Such watches are already banned by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) for A-levels and GCSEs.
It represents awarding organisations AQA, City & Guilds, CCEA, OCR, Pearson and WJEC, and has issued guidance for providers that candidates should be stopped from taking “any potential technological/web enabled sources of information” and specifically “any wrist watch which has a data storage device” into exams.
But NNC director of quality David Barnett told FE Week the college had gone a step further and banned all watches, for all exams, because “advances in technology” made it harder to differentiate between smart and ‘normal’ watches.
Mr Barnett said: “Previously we have felt we have been able to identify these types of watches through the use of invigilators.
“Obviously, with GCSEs we have a high volume of exam entrants, and with the advances in technology it is more difficult to tell the difference between types of watches, as a lot of the smart watches look like normal analogue watches.
“All candidates already have a mobile phone pouch on their desks, and we are asking them to put their watches in there too.
“It just seems like the best way of dealing with these advances in technology without causing disruption.”
Mr Barnett said the college had conducted research into online shops which marketed smart watches as “cheating watches,” and said staff had come across watches with internet functions which could be linked to mobile phones which looked like “round, analogue watches”.
JCQ director general Michael Turner confirmed that smart watches were already banned from exams and that no new guidelines banning watches entirely had been issued.
He said: “I’ve checked with colleagues and nothing has been issued to centres regarding the banning of watches in examinations.
“The use of i-watches and other similar devices are already covered by the regulations.”
It comes after exams watchdog Ofqual announced it had seen a rise in penalties issued to college and school candidates for possessing a banned electronic device. For the summer exam period last year, Ofqual issued 850 such penalties, compared to 810 in 2013.
But the data issued by Ofqual is not broken down by type of device.
The total number of penalties fell slightly in the same period, from 2,590 to 2,550, a decrease of 1.5 per cent.
Lewisham Southwark College discriminated against a blind employee by failing to make reasonable adjustments to help him do his job, an employment tribunal has ruled.
It found, last week, that disability officer Michael Lambert (pictured above) had been put at a “substantial disadvantage” to his colleagues after the college refused to give him access to software that was central to his role.
The court ruling said: “It is the unanimous judgement of the tribunal that the claim of disability discrimination is well-founded.”
Mr Lambert, aged 58, said he was “delighted” by the result. A separate hearing to decide upon compensation and remedy is expected, but no date has been set.
“It’s been a long struggle, but I hope that the result will galvanise disabled employees to challenge unequal access to facilities,” he said.
“This result should send a clear message to employers that they need to take requests for reasonable adjustments seriously.”
Employment judge Ian Lamb said the college had failed to respond to Mr Lambert’s requests in a “coherent, logical and urgent manner”.
Mr Lambert, who was involved in an accident at the age off 16 which left him totally blind and started working for Southwark College in 1983 before it merged with Lewisham, requested changes to Spirals software programme which stored student records and allowed them to be shared between staff.
A restructure of his department in 2010 meant that Mr Lambert workload tripled, leaving him unable to rely on his memory of students’ records.
The software changes would have made the programme compatible with the software he uses, which reads text on a computer screen out loud — without them, he was unable to access the software, which his colleagues said was “essential,” according the court documents.
However, he was told by his line manager that the software changes would be too expensive, and that he did not need it for his role.
And in 2014, three years after he began making requests for changes to the software, a further restructure at the college meant Mr Lambert was invited to apply for the role of disability co-ordinator.
The selection process involved a written test, and despite Mr Lambert’s requests, he was not given advance notice of the test to find out what adjustments needed to be made — and was tested on the Spirals software he had been unable to access.
University and College Union general secretary Sally Hunt said: ‘It’s absolutely unacceptable that the college failed on so many occasions to address Mr Lambert’s needs, and that his personal wellbeing and professional development suffered as a result. The ruling reinforces the need for colleges to swiftly act upon requests from disabled staff for reasonable adjustments.”
Mr Lambert’s barrister, Adam Wagner, said the case offered useful guidance for employers and warned they should consider the needs of disabled employees at the earliest possible stage when thinking of introducing new technology.
“If the issue is technological, then appropriate expertise should be sought to figure out how to make appropriate reasonable adjustments for disabled staff,” he said.
“If the employer fails to make adequate adjustments then that is unlawful discrimination.”
Update:
A spokesperson for Lewisham Southwark College said: “As far as the college is concerned, the case is still ongoing and therefore we’re not able to discuss the detail at this stage.
“Out of multiple main points raised as grievances, Judge Lamb ruled in the college’s favour on the majority.
“While any such case is regrettable, Mr Lambert remains in our employment.”
Apprentice employers have been honoured at a glitzy London ceremony at the Oxo Tower.
The third national AllAboutSchoolLeavers Awards were judged using employee satisfaction surveys, with research on every aspect of young people’s working lives — from job satisfaction and career progression, to company culture and work-life balance.
Nineteen awards were up for grabs on the night, rewarding top UK employers who offer intermediate apprenticeships, advanced apprenticeships, higher apprenticeships, school leaver programmes and sponsored degrees.
International energy provider National Grid stole the show, winning both top employer for school and college leavers and best school leaver programme.
Sharing the limelight were Visa Europe who won best higher apprenticeship, Nomura who won best intermediate apprenticeship, Nestlé for best sponsored degree and Tangerine PR, who claimed a series of awards including best newcomer, best advanced apprenticeship and best school and college leaver recruitment campaign.
And young people themselves were celebrated for making a valuable contribution to their chosen industry. Eighteen-year-old Honeybea Youngman was named school or college leaver of the year for her work on the Pret A Manger school leaver Programme.
Jack Denton, co-founder of AllAboutGroup, with school or college leaver of the year Honeybea Youngman and Ezgi Bulbul, account executive at AllAboutGroup
Honeybea said: “I have really loved the responsibility and independence that I have gained. I can honestly say it has been a great transition from school to work.”
Pret school leaver programme coordinator Kate Nicholls said: “We are just so proud of Honey and how much she’s achieved.
“Honey has grown up with us. We trust her 100 per cent. She’s a critical part of the shop, and has responsibility for running shifts even though she’s still only 18. She knows how to be in control and we totally respect her.”
While 13 of the awards were based on employee satisfaction surveys completed anonymously by school leaver trainees who currently work for the companies involved, a further four categories were judged by a panel of 12 impartial industry experts, and a final two by a student judging panel.
Industry figures on the expert panel included Jonathan Ledger, chief executive of Proskills UK, Janet Hull, executive director at Creative Pioneers, and Simon Tarr, managing director at People 1st.
The award winners included companies from various sectors, from IT and engineering to retail and law. They ranged from household names, such as Jaguar Land Rover, to growing SMEs, such as Ginger Nut Media. The awards took place on May 18.
Main pic, from left: Jack Denton, co-founder of AllAboutGroup, Chris Leonard, resourcing coordinator, National Grid, Sharon Goymer, resourcing manager – development programmes, National Grid, Karen Alford, resourcing specialist – technical programmes, National Grid, and Ezgi Bulbul, account executive, AllAboutGroup
Gazelle has been dealt a major blow with news that a key founding college has announced it is “no longer an active member,” FE Week can exclusively reveal.
Fintan Donohue said he was “naturally disappointed” that North Hertfordshire College (NHC), where he was principal and chief executive when he set up Gazelle in around 2011, was ending its membership.
And FE Week has learned that only City College Norwich (CCN) of the other four founder colleges was prepared to commit to staying with Gazelle for the rest of the year. Of the remaining 13 members, only four told of their commitment to staying on with Gazelle.
Matt Hamnett (pictured above), NHC principal since March when he replaced Signe Sutherland, told FE Week: “We are no longer an active member, though as a founder college we retain an interest in work currently being undertaken to review how Gazelle is structured and moves forward.
“It is clear that Gazelle played an important role in our shift towards a more work-focussed, project-based model. As we look to the future though, we believe we can more effectively access innovation and drive continuous improvement outside of Gazelle.”
Mr Donohue, Gazelle chief executive, said: “We are naturally disappointed that NHC no longer wishes to be a member of Gazelle. They have made a hugely valuable contribution in shaping the work of Gazelle and assisting other colleges across the network, particularly in the area of curriculum innovation.”
Fintan Donohue
An FE Week investigation revealed in June last year that the group’s five founding colleges — which also include Warwickshire College Group (WCG), Gateshead College, and New College Nottingham (NCN) — dished out more than £530,000 each to set up Gazelle, according to figures obtained from Freedom of Information Act requests. Along with other colleges, they also paid £35,000 in annual membership costs.
The announcement by NHC follows departures from the group of Lewisham Southwark College, Middlesbrough College, The Sheffield College and Peterborough Regional College at the turn of the year.
A 24-page impact report, produced by the Policy Consortium, was commissioned by Gazelle and then unveiled by Mr Donohue in January. However, the report was criticised by the University and College Union for not assessing whether, in light of worsening public funding pressures, member colleges’ spending on Gazelle of £3.5m-plus in public funds had affected Ofsted grades.
At the time, Mr Donohue also said Gazelle would be reviewing its membership offer. And after the NHC membership blow for Gazelle, he said it was “undertaking a major membership review, which is likely to lead to a more streamlined structure” and hoped to complete this by the end of July.
“Our purpose will remain the same — to give students the option of making as well as taking a job and to help colleges diversify income — but we need to change in order to better reflect the financial pressures facing colleges and respond to the independent impact report, published earlier this year,” he said.
“That report challenged Gazelle to work more closely with members to improve communication, both internally and externally, simplify the structure of the organisation and continue to ensure value for the future.”
Only five, including CCN, of the remaining 17 member colleges have now committed to staying with Gazelle, after FE Week asked each about their intentions. The others were Barking & Dagenham College, Activate Learning, in Oxford, Preston’s College, and Cambridge Regional College.
A CCN spokesperson said it looked “forward to continuing to work with the group of like-minded colleges for the remainder of this calendar year and beyond”. However, fellow founders WCG and Gateshead both said they were “involved in the membership review” and “will finalise our decision upon its completion”. A spokesperson for the other founder, NCN, declined to comment.
Of the remaining members, Bath principal Matt Atkinson said it was “proactively working with our colleagues to see how we can continue to derive the benefits of membership albeit for a more affordable fee”. Moira Tattersall, principal of Carlisle, said future membership was “dependent upon receipt” of the review proposals. A Glasgow Kelvin spokesperson said it “reviews subscriptions on an annual basis and continued membership will be considered as part of this process”.
A spokesperson for Amersham & Wycombe said it would make a decision “by the end of the academic year,” while Cardiff & Vale said its executive team had not yet reviewed future membership. A Plymouth spokesperson said it “continues to be a member”, but declined to comment on long-term plans.
Highbury, South West and Liverpool declined to comment.
See below for full college responses.
Editor’s comment
Learning the right lessons
It’s just under a year ago that a hard-hitting FE Week report laid bare the extent of five colleges’ extensive spending of public money on setting up Gazelle.
It was more than £500k each at that point, more than a year into Gazelle’s existence, and yet there was no hard evidence that such huge investments had been worth it.
A year later and there is still no such evidence of a return on those investments, which have been added to with renewed £35k membership fees in the interim despite the increasingly straitened financial times.
It has always been the case that Gazelle could call upon the full support of FE Week if and when it presents evidence of a return on investment, but it seems the wait for this has proved too much for North Hertfordshire College and its membership has ceased.
It was the sixth college to leave Gazelle over the last year. Seventeen remain, but commitment appears to be faltering despite a review of the models and costs of membership that could result in a very different organisation.
However, this should not be taken as a lesson pointing to the avoidance of innovative thinking or the fostering of entrepreneurialism in the sector. These are key, especially for a sector struggling to survive.
More, it should be taken as a lesson in the importance of accounting for public funds and proving the worth of projects.
College responses to FE Week Gazelle membership queries
Sally Dicketts, chief executive of Activate Learning, said: “We remain committed to the Gazelle Group and have gained considerably from our membership.
“In fact, just last week business students from across our three colleges took part in an enterprise project led by Gazelle, which enhanced their learning and which they found it extremely valuable.”
An Amersham & Wycombe College spokesperson said: “The college retains its membership of Gazelle group colleges to the end of this academic year. The college will make a decision about future membership by the end of the academic year.”
A Barking & Dagenham spokesperson said: “The college is a member of the Gazelle Colleges Group, and has no plans to change this status.”
Anne Constantine, principal and chief executive of Cambridge Regional College, said: “We will remain as a member of Gazelle.”
A Cardiff & Vale College spokesperson said: “I can confirm that we are proud members of the Gazelle group and that our students have seen real benefits as a result of our membership.
“I cannot say what our plans for the rest of the calendar year regarding membership at this time as it is not something that the executive team has reviewed.”
Moira Tattersall, principal of Carlisle College, said: “Our future membership of the Gazelle college group is dependent upon the receipt of proposals regarding future fee structure and the services that will be provided, which will be reviewed on a cost-benefit basis.”
A spokesperson for City College Norwich said: “The college continues to participate in Gazelle college group activities and looks forward to continuing to work with the group of like-minded colleges for the remainder of this calendar year and beyond.”
A City College Plymouth spokesperson said: “The college continues to be a member of the Gazelle college group.”
Matt Atkinson, principal of City of Bath College, said: “The college continues to be a member of the Gazelle colleges group and remains committed to working in partnership with other members of the network to improve the learning experiences of all of our students.
“We are currently actively participating in the membership review that is underway and are proactively working with our colleagues to see how we can continue to derive the benefits of membership albeit for a more affordable fee at a time when college funding is decreasing.”
A Gateshead College spokesperson said: “We are involved in the membership review that is on-going and will finalise our decision upon its completion.”
A Glasgow Kelvin College spokesperson said: “The college remains a member of the Gazelle group of colleges and has planned a major continuous professional development event in June for our staff in collaboration with other Gazelle group members.
“However, the college reviews its subscriptions on an annual basis and continued membership will be considered as part of this process.”
Matt Hamnett, principal of North Hertfordshire College (NHC), said: “NHC is no longer an active member of the Gazelle Colleges Group though, as a founder college, we retain an interest in work currently being undertaken to review how Gazelle is structured and moves forward.
“It is clear that Gazelle played an important role in our shift towards a more work-focussed, project-based model for teaching and learning. As we look to the future though, we believe we can more effectively access innovation and drive continuous improvement outside of Gazelle.”
A spokesperson for Preston’s College said: “The college is still a member of the Gazelle group and will remain so for the foreseeable future.”
A Warwickshire College Group (WCG) spokesperson said: “WCG is involved in the membership review that is ongoing and will finalise our decision upon its completion.”
These are the 41 UK youngsters upon whose shoulders the hopes of a nation will rest at WorldSkills 2015 in São Paulo, Brazil, in less than two months.
They were put through a gruelling four days of head-head competitions at a special selection event at Central College Nottingham and Burton and South Derbyshire College on May 18 to 23 and the name of the 34 young men and the seven young women to have been selected for Team UK were announced today.
And the UK is likely to be in a strong position in Brazil because, for the first time in a number of years, at least one competitor in each of the 38 skills the UK was planning to compete in reached a minimum points threshold that would indicate the ability to reach a good international standard.
The UK team is therefore already up on that of WorldSkills Leipzig two years ago, when several skills had no UK entrants because minimum thresholds were not reached during team selection meaning no competitor was sent.
Performance coach Sam Andrews, who supports competitors emotionally and mentally through the training and selection process, said the selection event had been “brilliant”.
“It’s been two years of hard work for them and watching these guys and seeing the emotions they go through, dealing with stress and the pressure — it’s been an exciting week to be honest,” said Mr Andrews, a BAE engineer and WorldSkills UK alumni.
“The pressures been high but there’s a lot of people here who thrive under pressure. Without a doubt, I’m optimistic about our chances in Brazil. We’ve got some very strong people — some of the strongest I’ve seen in six years of involvement with WorldSkills.”
And Mr Andrews had some words of advice for those who had not made it through the selection process.
“I’ve been letting them know that this isn’t the end for them,” he said.
“They’ve had a brilliant opportunity and they’ve got it on their CV for life that they’ve been in the final of the UK to represent their chosen skill and they’ve got further opportunities to travel and represent the UK in other ways.
“Whether they get through or not they should be very proud of themselves.”
Christine Doubleday, director of education and development for WorldSkills UK organisers Find a Future, agreed in her speech to the competitors.
“All respect to you, whatever happens and I really mean this, you should be so, so proud of yourselves,” she said.
“I feel like it’s been a complete and utter privilege to be part of this.”
Those who were successful were judged not just on the skills they demonstrated, but also on their emotional maturity and ability to cope under pressure.
Mechatronics competitor Robyn Clarke, aged 22, who will be competing jointly with Andy Smith, 21, was at a loss for words when FE Week caught up with her.
Robyn said: “I wasn’t expecting it whatsoever and I’m trying to come to terms with what’s just happened and the fact that I’m going to representing the whole of the UK — it’s surreal.
“It’s been a very challenging week, but it’s also been a very enjoyable week — it was very hard to judge who was going through, I think we all competed well so it made it even more exciting today.”
She said she expected Brazil to be “a new experience in many, many ways”.
“I’ve never been before and I’ve never competed in such a big competition either,” she said.
“I believe we’ll do we’ll do our best, and as long as we perform our best and we’re proud of what we have done then I’ll be happy. Roll on Brazil.”
However, the successful team members can’t afford to rest on their laurels.
Aircraft maintenance competitor Shayne Hadland said: “I’m realising a lot of things now, training hasn’t stopped, it’s going to get harder.
“It’s going to be a tough few months before the world final, so I’m not sure how I feel about Brazil yet, I’ve got a lot of training to do yet.
“Now’s not the time to celebrate, I’ll do that after the final.”
Martin Doel, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said: “Given the level of skills attained by young people in our colleges, it is really no surprise to see so many of them named in Team UK – but that doesn’t make me any less pleased.
“It is a testament to their hard work that they have been chosen to represent their country in an internationally renowned competition. We wish these young people all the best, and will be carefully watching their progress in São Paulo.”
Paul Warner, Association of Employment and Learning Providers director of employment and skills, said: “It’s been a long road for many of these competitors to get to this stage and we congratulate them on making it to São Paulo.
“The FE Week special supplement outlined the challenges facing independent learning providers [ILPs] in getting involved in these skills competitions but the benefits to employers and learners are clear as are the reputational aspects for providers.
“It would be great to see some learners from ILPs getting through to WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017.’
WorldSkills São Paulo takes place August 11 to 16.
Pearson has stopped registering higher national certificate (HNC) distance learning students at a second general FE college delivering the provision with support from private firm Acquire Learning (AL), FE Week can reveal.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) was critical of the HNC in business course, launched at South and City College Birmingham last October, in a report following a visit in January.
A QAA spokesperson said it was prompted to investigate the course after the Higher Education Funding Council for England raised concerns about its “rapid growth and rolling monthly recruitment (more than 50 per cent of the Birmingham college’s first year higher education students had been recruited to this course), and its 1 to 100 staff to student ratio”.
The report said awarding organisation Pearson “informed the college in December 2014 that it would be unable to continue to register distance learning students with it until it had reviewed the college, due to the number of registrations”.
“However, students began the programme in January 2015 in the belief that their programme was validated by Pearson,” it said in the QAA report.
Tim Demetriou, director of AL, denied any wrongdoing and said his company collected extensive information on all potential applicants.
“It is then sent to the college to decide how many of them it wants to take on,” he said.
The Birmingham report said the college had an agreement with AL allowing the private firm to oversee recruitment for the HNC using “targeted telephone marketing to advertise the programme to prospective students”.
However, it said that the college “did not provide information to the team regarding any monitoring procedures in place to ensure that prospective students… were making an informed decision about enrolling”.
It recommended the college should clarify its admissions policy for the course and communicate it clearly to staff and prospective students, ensure all prospective and current students were kept fully informed about their enrolment status. It should also gather and respond better to feedback from students about the HNC.
A Birmingham spokesperson said: “We acknowledge the recommendations made by the review team and have already taken action to address these.”
It comes a fortnight after FE Week reported how Pearson had “blocked” a HNC business (management) distance learning course at 6,000-learner grade two Ofsted-rated Sussex Coast College Hastings that was also delivered with support from AL.
A QAA report published earlier this month on the Sussex Coast provision, following inspection in February, also stated that students without standard-entry qualifications were only required to complete a 100-word statement to be enrolled on the HNC and “in the view of the [inspection] team this is not a sufficiently robust assessment tool”.
Nobody from Pearson was available to comment on the Birmingham or Sussex Coast courses before FE Week went to press.
However, a spokesperson for Pearson told FE Week two weeks ago that Sussex Coast was not registering students on the HNC “while they work to address the issues identified”.
Dan Shelley, vice principal of Sussex Coast, said: “The college has fully addressed the range of issues identified by Pearson.
“This included a revised process which requires a more detailed submission of written work prior to enrolment.
“The college looks forward to a [return] visit from the QAA in early July, where we fully expect all recommendations to be addressed and the pause in enrolments to be lifted.”
An AL spokesperson said: “There were some teething issues with this course but the college has made considerable steps to address these. The admissions process is quite robust.”
