As competition at WorldSkills 2015 gets into full swing in Brazil, the Association for Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) has urged independent learning providers (ILPs) to get more involved in future competitions.

Chief executive Stewart Segal gave a run-down of what WorldSkills is and why it is “important” that more ILPs give their learners the chance to compete, in the weekly AELP bulletin sent out to members.

It was issued the morning after around 1,200 flag-bearing competitors took part in the parade of nations at the spectacular WorldSkills opening ceremony, at a venue around four miles from where competitions have now begun at Anhembi Park, Sao Paulo.

His encouragement was welcomed by WorldSkills UK and Skills Show organising body Find a Future.

Mr Segal said: “The commitment of the young people involved in WorldSkills is fantastic and this event provides a great opportunity to promote apprenticeships and work based learning.”

He added: “As the focus on skills continues in the UK it is really important that training providers encourage their trainees to take part in skills competitions.

“We are working with Find a Future to encourage more training providers to get more involved in running the competitions, encouraging their employers to get involved and most importantly to use the competitions and Skills Shows as a way of demonstrating the high level of skills that their apprentices can achieve through effective work based training programmes.”

Mr Segal also paid tribute to current WorldSkills competitors who have come from ILPs.

They include auto technology competitor Elijah Sumner, aged 20, from Cardiff, Wales, who is training with Provq, in Shrewsbury, and car painting competitor Rebecca Wilson, from County Down in Northern Ireland, 22, who trained at Riverpark Training in Antrim.

He said: “For some of our competitors it is the culmination of a long period of training and commitment.”

He added: “We wish them every success this week.”

Carole Stott, chair of Find a Future, echoed Mr Segal’s comments.

She said: “I would urge training providers of all sizes to investigate the opportunities which involvement in skills competitions provide, either for skilled members of staff or as a partner organising the actual competitions. The benefits are there for the taking for all.”

She added: “Our research has shown skills competitions bring benefits for both the individual and for their employers, with increased productivity and profitability for business, as well as better job satisfaction, a more motivated workforce and a greater range of skills being passed on to staff as a result of competition training.

“The young people currently competing in São Paulo are great examples of how skills competitions can have positive effects on both individuals and businesses.”

FE Week will be in Brazil with Team UK throughout WorldSkills which closes on Sunday (August 16) and you can follow all the action at Feweek.co.uk and @FEWeek.

Sector leaders have hailed the “fantastic” satisfaction rates of students at FE colleges with higher education courses in spite of huge cutbacks facing the sector, as revealed in the latest National Student Survey.

More than 300,000 final-year students responded to the survey this year, from 190 FE colleges, and 160 other higher education institutions across the country.

It showed that the overall satisfaction rate for higher education learners on full-time courses at FE colleges remained at 80 per cent, the same as in the 2014 survey, while eight further education colleges gained student satisfaction ratings of 100 per cent.

Dr Lynne Sedgmore CBE (pictured right), executive director of the 157 Group, said: “Given the current challenging financial situation, it is a testament

to college leaders that student satisfaction remains strong.”

She added that higher education programmes offered in FE colleges attract thousands of students a year because of their “really high quality”.

“They are delivered by well-qualified staff with excellent links to industry and, in many cases the programmes are more accessible because of their local focus,” she said.

“It is not surprising, therefore, to see that students are very satisfied with their experiences – and it is a great acknowledgement of the strong work done by colleges across the country to enable more and more young people to develop high level skills.”
Nick Davy (pictured left), higher education policy manager at the Association of Colleges, said: “Higher education is a big part of what colleges offer and it is fantastic to see such recognition of this provision from the students themselves.

“The fact that a number of colleges received a 100 per cent satisfaction rates from their students is a real testament to the high quality education and training that colleges provide.

“Colleges specialise in providing technical and professional alternatives to the three year residential degree.

“They enable students to study closer to home with lower tuition fees, often with smaller class sizes enabling more individual tuition.”

The FE colleges with 100 per satisfaction ratings were Bournville College, Central Bedfordshire College, Eastleigh College, Kendal College, Kensington and Chelsea College, Leeds College of Building, South Devon College and West Herts College.

Maggie Cawthorn (pictured right), director of curriculum at Kendal College, said: “We are absolutely delighted. 

“These results show us that the learning experience we offer is enjoyed by our students and is therefore a credit to the fantastic teaching staff we have.

“We will continue to build on this and look forward to delivering even more quality degree programmes for the new 2015/2016 students.”

Jan Edrich, principal of Eastleigh College, said: “We are delighted with the results of this national learner survey.

“Our personalised approach through small groups ensures students are given the support required, which we believe has led to the 100 per cent satisfaction score.”

Shakira Martin (pictured left), NUS vice president (Further Education), said: “The continued satisfaction of students studying higher education in
colleges is a testament to the incredibly high standards of teaching being delivered in the face of sustained attacks on college provision, like catastrophic budget cuts.”

Meanwhile, the survey showed that 85 per cent of full-time FE college students reported that staff were enthusiastic about what they were teaching, the same proportion as last year, and 82 per cent reported that their timetable worked efficiently, one per cent up on last year.

In addition, 82 per cent said that their course had helped them to present themselves confidents, the same as last year.

 

But the section rating the level of academic support showed a slight drop in the proportion of learners who

said that they had been able to contact staff when they needed to (83 per this year compared to 84 per in 2014).

Professor Madeleine Atkins (pictured right), chief executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England, said the survey, conducted by Ipsos MORI, provided “detailed and robust data” which would be used extensively by colleges “to improve the quality of their teaching and learning”.

She added: “It is also valuable in supporting prospective students and their parents and advisors in helping choose which higher education institution to select.”

These three men have been sentenced after conspiring together in a loans scam at a London college.

Nathan Simmons (pictured above left), aged 30, admitted eight counts of fraud after hacking into a colleague’s account and signing-off 44 higher education loan applications between December 2012 and May 2013 while working as an administrator at East London’s Newham College, Southwark Crown Court heard.

Leon Marshalleck (pictured above centre), 29, and Peter Couzens (pictured above right), 30, both admitted fraud and converting criminal property after they passed their details to Simmons on the promise they could keep a cut of the loan cash in their name.

The SLC paid out £117,416, but loans worth £209,571 were blocked.

Simmons, of Meath Road, Stratford, was jailed for two years and Marshalleck and Couzens were both ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work on Friday.

Prosecutor Simon Sandford said: “Investigations by the SLC revealed that 44 students had been paid student loans on the basis they had enrolled at Newham College when in fact they hadn’t.”

He added: “Mr Simmons was the inside man who was an employee of Newham College who used another employee’s login without that employee’s knowledge to authorise bogus applications for loans.

“The other defendants allowed their personal details and bank account to be used for bogus applications,” he said. “They then withdrew the money in cash in return for a cut of the proceeds.”

Father-of-three Simmons, who has previous convictions for affray, battery and possession of cannabis, and served a seven-year jail term for heroin and firearms offences in 2007, secured the part-time job on a temporary basis at the college through his girlfriend’s mother, an examinations officer, but Judge Andrew Goymer said she was “wholly innocent” of involvement in the fraud.

He said: “He [Simmons] had himself been in prison so it looked like a very good opportunity for an ex-offender to better himself and turn his back on crime and that indeed is what he should have done.

“Unfortunately, he chose to let her down badly by going back to crime at the very place where he worked.”

Marshalleck and Couzens each received £6,159 from the SLC through the scam, keeping a cut of at least £1,000 each and handing over the rest to unknown third parties.

Couzens, of Stroud Green Road, Finsbury Park, who has no previous convictions, told police he had provided his name and account details “to make easy money” but did not fill out the applications himself, the court heard.

In addition to the 120 hours of unpaid work, Marshalleck, of Woodville Road, Surrey, who had previous convictions of cannabis and counterfeit currency possession and further drugs offences, received a six month suspended prison sentence, while Couzens was ordered to pay £1,000 compensation.

A spokesperson for the college said: “The SLC contacted us about the irregularities. An investigation took place immediately, as a result of which, the staff member concerned was dismissed and the Police were notified.”

A Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson said more information would be provided about how it planned to reclaim the lost money for the SLC in November.

An SLC spokesperson said: “The SLC detected these fraudulent applications and cooperated with the police during their investigation.

“The SLC’s counter fraud services team works closely with police and other law enforcement agencies to tackle student funding fraud and protect the public purse.”

Image: Nathan Simmons, Leon Marshalleck and Peter Couzens

It had singing, it had dancing, it had speeches and it had an international flavour — no, it wasn’t the WorldSkills opening ceremony, but a hugely colourful visit to a Sao Paulo school by Team UK.

From a schoolboy violinist playing God Save the Queen to pupils dressed as the Village People dancing to Macho Man, every moment of the visit to Plinio Damasco Penna, in the north of the city, will live long in the memory of WorldSkills UK competitors.

The visit kicked off the day of the opening ceremony and came as part of the WorldSkills One School One Country programme in which all the competitor nations and regions are assigned to a local school where children then find out about their team, get to meet them the day before competition and present their findings to the competitors.

And the youngsters at Plinio Damasco Penna had four months to carry out their research, to produce a show with pupils acting out The Beatles’ Twist and Shout, among other impressive and fun representations of UK culture. They also put on demonstrations of their own culture.

In return, the children experienced the Team UK chant led by 21-year-old construction metal work competitor Christopher Hanson, from City Training Bradford and Richard Allan Engineering, and mechanical engineering apprentice Andrew Beel, also aged 21, from New College Lanarkshire and Pacson Valves. The youngsters were also invited to join in for a second rendition.

Hairdressing competitor Eleni Constantinou, 22 and from Coleg Sir Gar and Tino Constantinou hairdressers, said: “It was really good to see how much they wanted to support us and how much effort they put into making us feel welcome.

“I wasn´t expecting to get an experience like that at all. It meant so much to see how they respected us and what we do. It really was lovely.”

School principal Adriana Cunha Premoli said: “We researched all about UK with the children, and thankfully some of our teachers have been there before.

“The children loved putting on the presentations for Team UK and we wish them all the best of luck for the competition.”

The arrival of British ambassador to Brazil Alex Ellis later complemented the morning, which got under way at around 9am with flag-waving children lining the school entrance for Team UK.

He told competitors: “A really big thanks to all of you for coming to Brazil. There are worse places to be, but thank you very much indeed for coming.

“It’s fantastic you’re here — have a great week. This country is all about that — I’ve never lived in a place with so much expression and popular culture. It’s like no other country in the world in that respect. Do us proud this week — be stars.”

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Also in the UK visiting party was Skills Funding Agency and Education Funding Agency chief executive Pater Lauener in his capacity as official UK delegate to WorldSkills 2015.

He told FE Week: “The sheer exuberance of the welcome that was conveyed by the children and also the Team UK competitors joining in as incredible. There were more selfies being taken than I´ve seen all year. It was just terrific and it was great to see the ambassador come along as well and be part of the occasion.

“It was a big change from my day job but it was really interesting coming to see a school in a not particularly affluent part of Sao Paulo, but I’ve seen some great teachers and kids that want to build their lives and the skills that WorldSkills is about will help them build their careers and lives.”

Mr Ellis told FE Week: “This has been a fantastic visit. It’s great to have a host school go to such effort to impress our competitors and also for them to see a real bit of life in Sao Paulo. It´s not a posh end of the city, but you can see the amount of creativity and passion that exists in a place like this.

“I hope this visit will help the children here realise there is a world beyond Sao Paulo. This is a huge city of 20m people and so it can be hard to think of the world beyond. But there is Britain and a lot of the things the children were doing this morning, like singing and dancing, was related to the UK and that’s what I hope the children get — the idea of a world beyond and the UK should be part of that.

“Obviously, Team UK have to perform to their highest possible standard and be great ambassadors for the country, but at the same time I also hope they get to see a little bit of Brazil and think ‘this is interesting, this is somewhere I could come, this is somewhere I could learn a bit and where I could teach a bit’. The future is going to be internationalization.”

He added: “I used to be a teacher. My father was a head teacher and my grandfather was a teacher, so it´s great to get out and do things like this.

“And also we want to build up relationships at all levels in Brazil — it´s not just about me, it´s about all the people that come here from the UK and from WorldSkills. It´s about the kids in the school here and that we all understand a little bit more about each other — that is the best kind of diplomacy.”

The flag-bearing best young tradesmen and women of the world were urged to share with everyone the life lessons of competing in Sao Paulo as the curtain went up on the 43^rd WordSkills competition.

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WorldSkills president Simon Bartley addressed the thousands gathered in Ibiraquera Gymnasium last night after around 1,200 competitors took part in the ever-popular parade of nations. This year it included a growing number of team chants and presentations — including Team UKs which even managed to raise a smile with the audience.

However, Mr Bartley’s speech delivered a message of the benefits that skills can bring to lives across the globe.

“Thank you everyone,” he said. “Thank you Sao Paulo 2015 competition organisers. Thank you CNI. Thank you Senai. Thank you sponsors. Thank you volunteers. Thank you for everything you have done for this our 43^rd WorldSkills competition and our first in Latin America.

“Your dedication and hard work will make sure or competitions have the opportunity to show the world a level of expertise that ensures our message that young people are more than capable of improving our world with the power of skills.

“That message should be heard louder and clearer than ever before.”

The ceremony, which started at around 7pm and closed at around 9.30pm, took place at a venue around four miles from here the competitions will get under way today, at Anhembi Park.

It was hosted by television presenter Didi Wagner and included presentations on the concept behind the medal designs, as well as competitor and expert oaths.

“Tonight, we choose. Over 1,200 skilled young professionals chose to represent their countries and regions at their professions as competitors,” said Mr Bartley.

“Over 1,100 dedicated trainers, teachers and industry representatives choose to represent their countries and regions and their professions as experts. Over 800 of us choose to be volunteers.

“We all choose to be part of the greatest skills movement in history, raising the awareness of the power of skills to transform lives, economies and society.

“And if we are choosing, so is the world — tonight the world is choosing to join us. Our families, our friends, our work and college colleagues have chosen to be part of the millions on social and digital media watching you in every time zone and in every continent and in every country of the world. They want you to succeed. They need you to succeed.

“The next four days are going to be tough. Tougher than anything you have experienced so far, but let me ask you to do four things. First — compete fairly and in the spirit of friendship and mutual development. Second — make friends with your fellow competitors.

“The next four days are the first days of the rest of your lives. Lives where you will treasure those that you have met here in Sao Paulo.

“Third — share what you are doing with everyone, colleagues, experts, WorldSkills, the world. You will never have an experience like Sao Paulo, so fourthly enjoy yourselves and good luck to you all.”

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