A group of West Cheshire College dance students made it onto the small screen over the summer when they appeared on new prime time children’s TV show Hacker Time.
The 10-part CBBC show, which aired at the end of July and throughout last month, stars Hacker T Dog interviewing different celebrities including, Strictly Come Dancing’s Anton du Beke and Tracy Beaker’s Dani Harmer.
The six college dancers who appeared on the programme currently study level three and level four dance musical theatre, as well as HNC/HND dance learners.
They included 27-year-old Jamie Lee-Evans, who has just completed her HND in performing arts and is planning to go back to West Cheshire College to teach dance this month.
She said: “The show was a fantastic experience. Dancing in front of the lights and cameras was amazing, I was really proud to be part of it. As the show is aimed at children, it was really fun and light- hearted.”
Main image: West Cheshire College dance students with Hacker T Dog during the filming of Hacker Time. From left: Laila Mangan aged 19, Megan Lea Haworth, 18, Shannon Newbanks, 21, Molly Dutton, 18, Shaun Creswell, 21 and Jamie Lee Evans 26
While most young people spent their time relaxing this summer, this group from Bridgewater College’s Prince’s Trust Team programme dedicated their time to rejuvenating a classroom and garden area for disabled people.
The Somerset college group chose nearby Jean Rees Centre at Chilton School — a learning environment they said could be more “colourful and stimulating” — for their two-week personal development project.
Unique artwork, refurbished garden furniture, weeding and bright new flower beds were all part of the project.
Jo Wilkes, team leader for Prince’s Trust at Bridgwater College, said the final outcome was a “testament to the hard work and dedication put in by the team”.
“They worked in very hot conditions to ensure they achieved the best possible outcome. They took every stage of the project very seriously and I am very proud of them,” she added.
Main image: From left: Bridgewater College Prince Õs Trust Team Brandon Tottle, aged 22, Jess Mills, 23, Tom Shaw, 23, Sammy Izard, 22, Shane Howe, 23, and Toby Gamester, 20, (back row) with Mayor Leigh Redman (centre) and team leader Jo Wilkes. Front row: pupils from Jean Rees Centre at Chilton School
The introduction of a new Ofsted Common Inspection Framework (Cif) from this month was preceded by a number of pilot inspections under the new system. Ryan Longmate reflects on his pilot inspection experience.
The launch of the new Cif will no doubt pose many new questions to schools, colleges and FE providers across the country, so as an FE provider ourselves the opportunity to be a ‘guinea pig’ and pilot the new inspection model was too good to turn down.
As a grade two national provider, the new model allows for inspections to take place approximately every three years over a reduced period of two days.
The purpose of this inspection is to confirm that the previous grade for overall effectiveness is accurate; safeguarding is effective and the provision remains good.
We were notified of the impending inspection two days prior, which does not differ from previous inspections however the observation and inspection timetable itself was all new.
The structure of the inspection team was consistent with the previous framework and in essence not much was new — the inspection team consisted of a lead inspector and three inspectors who remained on site throughout the two days, along with an additional two field-based inspectors.
To begin with, we did have some reservations in relation to the reduced inspection time and was concerned that we possibly would not have sufficient time to demonstrate our abilities to meet all the objectives within the new Cif.
However, over the course of the next few days, we soon came to realise that the changes to the inspection process would allow this reduced timeframe to work and be successful.
As with any inspection, preparation was key to achieving a positive outcome, which was even more important under the new inspection model.
Communication was very good with clear and timely updates provided throughout.
Although the feedback was not as in-depth or as lengthy as it was under the old framework, it remained accurate and easily digestible for all to appreciate and understand.
So what else has changed?
In the past, a typical inspection would focus on the key elements of observing teaching and learning, quality of teaching provision and leadership and management.
We soon came to realise that the changes to the inspection process would allow this reduced timeframe to work and be successful
The subtle shift we experienced was more focus on all areas of our safeguarding practices and procedures, our ability to maintain and measure the quality of our safeguarding provision, and the continuous training and development of all of our workforce, learners and all stakeholders to achieving it.
Teaching and learning continued to play a big part in the inspection and the framework.
However, the whole experience was on a smaller scale than previous inspections.
This allowed for more focus and depth in areas and topics such as radicalisation, extremism, grooming and bullying.
The new levels of expectation and greater emphasis on driving these areas as a provider were extremely beneficial and allowed greater insight into what the future of FE standards looks like.
The feedback provided was honest and clear and we felt the judgements were not only fair but reliable; the flexible approach to the new inspection model was greatly received by all of our staff and learners.
In summary, our advice to all FE providers who are to be inspected under the new framework in the future is to embrace the changes, be open and honest on where you are positioned against the framework standards.
Be prepared in all areas, as we firmly believe the changes made provide a ‘’better inspection for all’’.
Sophie McCormick is one of a large number of dyslexic students who have triumphed over the condition thanks to Middlesbrough College, leading to it being awarded a British Dyslexia Association Quality Mark.
The 19-year-old not only got a double distinction and a merit in her BTec level three health and social care diploma, but also passed GCSE English at the same time.
The achievements have seen her secure a place on Teesside University’s learning disability nursing degree.
Sophie said: “I don’t think I’d have done as well at any other college – it’s like a village here, everyone is really friendly and the tutors really know their stuff.”
A Quality Mark is given to organisations able to demonstrate exceptional levels of support to students — Middlesbrough College assessed an average of 12 students with dyslexia per week last year.
“We are delighted to receive recognition for the service we provide,” said Jon Lee, the college’s deputy manager for additional learning support.
Main Images: Sophie McCormick holding her double distinction and merit BTec level three health and social care diploma
As the prospect of a new academic year stretching out ahead becomes a working reality for FE sector, Jayne Stigger considers what might be to come for teaching and lecturing staff in 2015/16.
FE & Skills providers are being sorely tested; no one doubts that but those who endlessly shout, tweet and holler the doom and gloom scenarios are missing the point.
Teaching/lecturing is challenging but staff need to seize this opportunity to develop both their learners and their own skills. Delivery using #FELTAG principles, working with local employers, giving learners the opportunity to develop maths and English knowledge in their subject specialism isn’t some new-fangled plan to make life more difficult for teaching staff; it is the future and we should already be doing it.
We should be building learner show-reels to demonstrate their competence to employers, crowdfunding opportunities for them like @hearnesque and #Scrawlmovie and developing our own skills if we don’t know how.
Yes, finances are getting tighter, classes may get bigger, courses may vanish from the curriculum, we may teach other things, some providers will merge and job losses may seem inevitable but they aren’t. This is the opportunity that FE staff should be taking advantage of; to really demonstrate just how valuable we are to the learners, our industries, country and its place in the wider, global market. It is the reactionary culture that needs to evolve.
The relentless push for more apprentices, better vocational education and training with maths and English for all, isn’t going away and the sooner the ‘traditional’ FE get on board with the new thinking, the smoother the transition will be.
UTCs, independent learning providers and National Colleges are stepping out of the wings and learning our lines. If FE wishes to continue to deliver all the courses it currently enjoys, then teaching staff must play our part in the development of even more effective vocational learning opportunities by adapting to the new rules and proving our worth.
We are ‘not like the brazen giant of Greek fame’, we are different. We are staff who are talented in our vocational specialisms, we take those who wish to learn a trade and develop their talent. We also take ‘your tired, your poor, your huddled masses’, and it is essential that we do, but to continue to provide that care and support, we must generate our own income streams, which requires multi-talented staff.
Teaching staff can do much to support this by changing the culture of a provider, with enthusiasm and positivity. If we constantly talk our positions down, why should anyone else value us?
The coming year will be the watershed for FE Staff; those who stand up and evolve into forward thinking, employment-focused delivery partners, those who facilitate skills development in all our learners will thrive
The coming year will be the watershed for FE Staff; those who stand up and evolve into forward thinking, employment focused delivery partners, those who facilitate skills development in all our learners will thrive. If they help develop independent income and secure partnerships, then they can still deliver A-levels, Access, Esol etc. I hope they do, for they are as needed by those the government doesn’t seem to see as clearly, as the favoured ones.
Governments aren’t always right and their hearing is very selective. This may be unfair, wrongheaded, short-sighted and ultimately destructive but it is the hand we are dealt. We should be working with employers, from choosing the units we deliver in a BTec, to relevant careers advice and great learner IAG, useful, logged work experience and staff training opportunities.
I urge all in FE to take the current political climate with a large pinch of salt. Governments come and go, their impact, for all their posturing, is only as great as we allow it to be. The time for standing on the edge, shouting at the water and urging it to recede is long past and those who do will drown.
The smart ones will develop their own training opportunities, build rafts, link together, use social media alongside local knowledge and industry to partner their ambitions and evolve so they can continue to offer courses to everyone who needs them, not just those who are caught in the current spotlight.
Lewis George is heading across the pond to tee up a golf scholarship in the USA after successfully completing a sports course at South Cheshire College.
The 18-year-old jetted off to the University of Central Arkansas last month to study kinesiology and drive forward his golfing talent at the same time.Lewis completed a sport development and fitness BTec level three extended diploma in June and said he was thrilled to be offered the “amazing opportunity”.
“Golf has always been a way of life for me,” he said. “I loved the sports diploma at college and I gained some coaching skills on the course which I’m hoping to use in the future.”
Now playing off a plus two handicap, Lewis first picked up a club when he was just six years old and lowered his handicap to five by the age of 12.
Since then he has won numerous club competitions and has represented England at under-16 level.
Main image: Lewis George outside South Cheshire College before he jetted off to the US
The government has been crystal clear about the need for structural reforms (spending less on FE, curriculum rationalisation, higher and technical specialisation and financial sustainability) and their desired outcome is fewer and more financially sustainable institutions [read: colleges]. The status quo is not an option.
Rather than take you through the pages and pages of policy intention and guidance, covered on feweek.co.uk and also elsewhere in these very pages, I wanted to focus on what is missing and what those in the Offices of the FE and Sixth Form Commissioners, or indeed any Local Enterprise Partnerships (Leps), local authorities or colleges wanting to instigate a review, should not forget.
Talking to learners is essential
It’s inevitable when you have FE principals, Leps, local authorities, regional school commissioners and employers around a table, they will talk about information, advice and guidance. While not a core objective of Area Reviews, there will be implications around learner choice and accessibility of provision nonetheless. There will be issues Area Review teams probably wouldn’t consider without insight from learners around issues such as quality, progression opportunities, student support and transport.
An ‘Area Review of Post 16 Education and Training Institutions’ that only looks at colleges won’t be worth it
If you’re a training provider, local authority provider or higher education institution, the provision you offer will be looked at as part of a review’s analysis of what’s available to learners and employers, your performance and financial data will be analysed by a local steering group, but you’ll only be subject to recommendations if you opt-in. Achieving consistency across all Area Reviews is cited as a key responsibility of the FE and Sixth Form Commissioners and a big part of that has to be about who is in scope. Having neighbouring reviews, one of them fully involving training providers and Universities, while the other only looking at FE and Sixth Form Colleges, leaves the whole process open to criticism later down the line. More than that though, the reviews should be empowered to make recommendations covering all provision that contributes to the economic growth and wellbeing of areas, people and businesses. Which leads on nicely to…
Nothing to say on community learning?
The absence of any reference to adult and community provision should be a cause for concern, primarily because the reviews are about economic contribution and what this could mean in the spending review. If community learning provision is not in scope for Area Reviews, then it gives no opportunity for local areas to, unless they choose to, objectively analyse the economic (in its widest possible sense) impacts this provision delivers for people and businesses. You can see how in areas with higher proportions of older people, for example, benefit from people who can be economically active for longer, and reviews should be able to demonstrate how important a lifelong learning infrastructure will be as our population gets older.
Saving money doesn’t just mean FE cuts
There is a danger that Area Reviews focus very narrowly on the impacts of post 16 provision in local areas using direct economic metrics around productivity, business growth or earnings in isolation of the wider benefits that learning brings to communities that save people, businesses and the public sector money. If you’re going to deep-dive into the economic impacts and potential that post 16 education and training does and could deliver for a local area, you should also look at things like changing demographics, crime, social care, health services and migration.
Area Reviews are not going to be the mechanism when we win the argument that Central Government spending on FE is an investment, not a cost, but they can empower local areas with their own resources to make things happen.
Not starting from scratch
The Area Review policy documents have dramatically under-estimated the amount of rationalisation, integration, specialisation and collaboration that colleges in particular have already delivered in the last five years. The sector never stands still and so it’s right that, given this experience, college leaders play a principal role throughout the review process.
Dr Sue Pember’s vast senior civil service experience has been serving Holex and its adult and community learning provider members for around a month now. She outlines her hopes and fears for the sector.
Adult education is an area to which I am personally committed and believe that for many participants it is their lifeline to society and a better life.
Many adult education services work in partnership and manage complex relationships with other services, such as probation, Job Centre Plus, social care, colleges and universities. They do this because they want the best overall package of support for their students; state funding coupled with robust fee polices allows them to work with these other services in a way that is both value for money and effective.
Going forward, my greatest concerns are that (during the frenzy of the next spending review) decisions will be made without understanding the consequences. We have seen this in the last few months.
My greatest concerns are that (during the frenzy of the next spending review) decisions will be made without understanding the consequences
Government’s desire to increase funding in certain policy areas has led to several decisions being made which taken separately seemed fine, but together, the impact on many providers was to take 24 per cent from the adult budget on top of the more visible 2010 spending review cuts.
The next set of decisions around adult education must be transparent and fully debated, and must not be the unintended consequences of other policy decisions.
It is now recognised by many economists that for our country to meet its full potential it needs to improve productivity. Therefore, going forward, there is an argument for increased investment in adult skills.
Second chance education is about putting right what went wrong in schools; it is about acquiring the skills the nation needs, it is about confidence and personal well-being, which in turn leads to more fulfilled employees and citizens who are less reliant on state support and leads to the bonus of improved productivity and a more competitive and successful economy.
Adult education services — whether delivered through local authorities or colleges — are at a cliff edge and there is a risk that the unintended consequences of other policy decisions could decimate the service, leaving a large hole in the fabric of our society with no means of filling it.
Without these services many people will feel isolated, there will be no easy means of quickly reallocating resource into areas of need such as where there has been large scale redundancy and the need to support people back into work, or providing part of the solution when there have been civil unrest and breakdowns in society.
My role on behalf of Holex members will be to act as an advocate, generate summaries and analysis of current government initiatives and share this information with the network. This will include responses to formal consultations, regular updates, and alerting members to changes in funding and data.
Sharing good practice and looking at how best we can contribute to localism and the devolution agenda will be a key work stream. For example, should adult and community learning providers be in or out of the new area reviews?
This fast changing policy and funding landscape will be the background for my future work with Holex members — a big challenge but I cannot think of a better group of people to be working with.
John Woodcock has spent a lot of his time since being appointed Shadow Minister for Young People following May’s General Election telling the FE and skills sector that he’s in “listening mode”.
But in the four months the MP for Barrow and Furness has been in post, just what has he heard?
“There is a group of people who have adapted well to a policy environment in which an awful lot is expected of them, without the help they would like — both in terms of resources and also a stable policy environment,” he says.
People really believed in and had a view of the kind of change that a third term Labour government could make and the kind of country that we were building
“But I share the apprehension of many people who are saying: ‘Yes, you are recognising the importance of what we do’ — which is a good thing, you never want FE to be not talked about or mentioned by a minister — ‘but you are talking about us in a way which is either totally unrealistic or is potentially forcing us down a route which is not going to do the best for young people’.”
And this, he says, is why like many he’s “concerned” by the government’s 3m apprenticeships target.
Woodcock, aged six, on a family camping trip
“Colleges are being forced into a numbers game where they know they could be providing better service, but the way the government is driving incentives in the system leaves them to be potentially churning out numbers rather than giving people the start they know they really could do,” he says.
When we meet in his parliamentary office, looking out at Big Ben, 36-year-old Woodcock is noticeably more effusive and at ease before the interview begins — perhaps, as an ex-journalist himself, he’s struggling not to second guess how his answers might sound in print.
During his time studying English and history at Edinburgh University in 2000 he started doing shifts at The Scotsman newspaper, as well as editing university newspaper The Student, previously edited by Woodcock’s future boss, Gordon Brown.
Woodcock felt journalism was “a chance for creative writing and to get into that pursuit for truth and exposing stuff,” he explains.
John Woodcock protests outside parliament in 2011 with a group of Furness bowlers to save bowling greens
“In the end I spent more time on journalism than my degree,” says Woodcock.
His “big break” came when he volunteered to work the unpopular Christmas and Boxing Day shifts and he was eventually offered a full time job, which he paused his degree to take up.
The most memorable time on the paper was in September 2001.
“I was in the office on 9/11,” he says.
“I always remember that day, and then the week and couple of weeks after it when the nation was just absolutely fixed on this issue, and reporting on that felt really important and a privilege.
“I remember doing a shift as a night news editor — which was absurd, given I was only 21 — and through the occasional miscommunications that you get in newsrooms, they suddenly realised they had no main story on page five, and it was the day they first released photos of some of the people who had died when the towers collapsed, and they asked me to write a piece on those photos in 25 or 30 minutes.
Woodcock campaigns in Barrow and Furness town centre for the 2015 general election
“And actually it was one of my best pieces of writing, so clearly that’s what you need to do to get good copy out of me — hold a gun to my held and tell me it’s got to be done in 10 minutes.”
Does he work well under pressure then?
“I guess — I survived a year in Downing Street with Gordon Brown, and there was occasional pressure in that environment,” he says, with a laugh referring to Brown’s infamous reputation for flying into a rage with staff.
Eventually, however, Woodcock’s thoughts turned back to university, and life beyond.
“After doing journalism for a while I realised you have to write a lot of stuff you don’t really agree with, and it was coming up to the 2001 election and I wanted to be part of it, and I began wondering ‘Do I want to be a journalist in 10 years’ time?’” he says.
So he headed back to university to finish his degree, and became involved with his local Labour Party.
Woodcock had been “delivering Labour leaflets before I could walk” in Sheffield, where his father was a Labour councillor.
His father’s name, incidentally, is also John — “which has been a source of confusion and annoyance for most of my childhood… just… why would you call your son the same name as you?” — and he was a PE teacher and youth worker, while Woodcock’s mother, Christine, taught at Rotherham College of Arts and Technology.
Woodcock’s student involvement in the Labour Party led to him being elected to run the student wing of the party in London, and then to a job on the 2005 election “back in those glorious days when Labour won elections,” he says ruefully.
“Looking back now it seems fabulous,” he says.
“It was such a privilege being part of a campaign where you saw so many really good, committed people, not only to getting over the line and winning.
“People look back on that time and say it was all about image and media management or spin, but actually it was so much deeper than that.
“But people really believed in and had a view of the kind of change that a third term Labour government could make and the kind of country that we were building.”
After Labour’s victory, Woodcock worked as an aide to his Barrow-in-Furness predecessor John Hutton, before becoming a special advisor to then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown in 2008.
Woodcock takes on the younger generation in a game of football at Barrow park just before the general election this year
The experience, he says, was “fascinating”.
“The way of making decisions in Number 10 could be chaotic and short-termist, but actually it was also such a privilege to be there and see Gordon in action in the financial crisis — the speed of response, and the level of understanding that he brought to that leadership, he genuinely brought to the world, was also an amazing thing to witness,” he says.
In 2010, Woodcock ran in his own right and won, leaving him in the “weird” position of celebrating his victory as his party came to terms with defeat.
“New MPs have to guard against it, because you personally are just elated and proud that you have been elected into this amazingly privileged position for the first time, and you’ve worked your socks off to get there, and that’s sort of tempered by the fact that we did badly overall,” he says.
Woodcock’s tenure as MP got off to flying start — within five months he was appointed Shadow Transport Minister — but that came to an abrupt halt when he fell from a ladder trying to get into his attic.
He thought he had “got away scot-free” without injury — but had reckoned without the last effects of hitting his head on the way down.
“It took a while to diagnose what had happened and a long while to realise how slow the process of recovery was going to be,” he says.
Suffering from tiredness and lack of concentration, Woodcock was forced to cut back his hours and step down from his shadow post to focus on constituents.
“But I think the most impacted was family life,” says the father- of- two.
“Unfortunately the condition meant that lots of noise and changes in focus very quickly scrambled your head and I would have to sort of go and be in a quiet place — and having two small children is the absolute opposite of that.
“So wanting to spend time with the kids but finding that within 10 minutes it would make your head boil over, and not feeling like being the kind of dad you should be was tough, and it led to me being depressed.”
Woodcock says he’s “really glad” he made the choice to seek help with his depression — and was very open about his decision to do so.
“The only reason I had felt able to do that was because other people in public life, particularly parliamentarians, and [former Blair aide] Alistair Campbell had spoken about it,” he explains.
“So I thought maybe I should speak publically and be open about it — in the way I was open about my physical accident.”
The public response, he says, was “almost universally nice”.
“And each time someone talks about mental illness, although people are generally supportive, there is less made of it and that is a really good thing — the only way we can help the one-in-four people who, in any given year, will have a mental health condition, is that if it just becomes a normal thing.”
Now, back on the shadow cabinet with the young people role, Woodcock is looking to the future, with his involvement with Liz Kendall’s campaign for Labour leadership — but, following one of the biggest swings against Labour in the election this year, he’ll also have to keep one eye on his constituency.
And for the sector he’s been listening to, he says, his main ambition is the ever thorny issue of parity of esteem.
“We have a long way to go on that,” he says.
“But it is absolutely achievable. I am really optimistic about the power of colleges, of institutions, of the people in them to play the role that we need FE to play, to be able to give people the chance to better their lives — so I hope I can play a role in doing that during my time here.”
It’s a personal thing
What’s your favourite book?
It changes all the time, but at the moment it’s Robert Caro’s biography of Lyndon Baines Johnson. It’s had four volumes now, and each is around two inches thick. They’ve only just got to the bit where he becomes president and it’s an incredible analysis of human life, but also how power works in politics. Highly recommended.
What do you do to switch off from work?
I tend to my clematis in my back yard, and just recently I have joined a crown green bowling team and we play on a Friday evening. I had my first match recently. I used to play as a kid in the junior leagues in Sheffield, and I had my first competitive match as a grown up on Friday, and I won. I beat a 13-year-old — he was a good.
What’s your pet hate?
I just can’t bear people who put bags on seats and deliberately make it difficult for you to sit down, or put their feet up, on trains. Just so annoying.
If you could invite anyone living or dead to a dinner party who would it be?
The Beatles when they liked each other. I think they would have been really good fun when they liked each other. Björk, and I’d really liked to have met Hugh Gaitskell and Barbara Castle (Baroness Castle of Blackburn) within the Labour Party. I’m not sure that mix will go so well, but yes.
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
I wanted to be a fighter pilot after watching Top Gun, but I learned quite early on that I’m slightly colour blind between blue and green. I don’t think I’d have made a very good fighter pilot anyway, but that quashed my dreams before I left my middle school.
