Unions divided by strikes over pay

Two teaching unions have been divided over plans for sixth form college strikes next month.

The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) will not join National Union of Teachers (NUT) members in demonstrations over pay and pensions.

The NUT is due to strike on March 26, but the NASUWT executive voted on Friday (February 14) to keep its options open instead, saying Education Secretary Michael Gove had shown “goodwill” by agreeing to sit down for talks later this month.

Chris Keates, NASUWT general secretary, said: “Teachers will expect the Secretary of State to show that he is seriously committed to building trust and confidence with the profession by demonstrating in these meetings that he is prepared to listen to and address teachers’ deep concerns.”

She added: “We will expect the Secretary of State to recognise the enormous damage that has been inflicted on teachers as a result of the changes to teachers’ pay, pensions, conditions of service and job security since 2010.”

Strikes had been expected to hit sixth form colleges last week, but were put back to next month.

Graham Baird, HR director at the Sixth Form Colleges’ Association, said: “On behalf of sixth form colleges the SFCA has been monitoring the NUT position on the proposed strike action.
“The announcement that the proposed strike action is now planned March 26, rather than mid-February, at least provides additional time to allow for discussions to take place between the union and government to try to avert the proposed action.”

Christine Blower, NUT general secretary, said: “Mr Gove’s persistent refusals to address our ongoing dispute over pay, pensions and conditions of service, is unnecessary and deeply damaging.
“As a result, thousands of good, experienced teachers are leaving or considering leaving the job and a teacher shortage crisis is looming with two in five teachers leaving the profession in their first five years.”

A Department for Education spokesman said: “The unions called for talks to avoid industrial action, we agreed to their request, and those talks will begin shortly.
“It is disappointing that the NUT, unlike NASUWT, has decided to press ahead regardless with unnecessary strike action, which will only inconvenience parents and damage children’s education.”

McDonald’s education chief to become SFA’s apprenticeship boss

The UK head of education for fast food giant McDonald’s is set to become England’s new apprenticeship boss, FE Week can reveal.

sue husband
Sue Husband (Pic: Twitter – @susiesue257)

Sue Husband is to fill the shoes of David Way, who stepped down as director of the Skills Funding Agency’s apprenticeship division in August after 38 years in the employment and skills sector.

The agency put the director of apprenticeships and delivery services role out to advert in December with a £100,000 a-year salary.

Ms Husband is expected to have responsibility for the delivery of employer engagement and the National Apprenticeship Service with, according to the job advert “an outward-facing role with employers, colleges and training organisations, promoting the benefits of apprenticeships to employers and embedding the new relationship between the agency, employers and providers”.

She started at McDonald’s in 1987 when she was 16 years old and studying for her A-levels. She worked her way up through the company from serving customers and working in the kitchen to being appointed head of education in 2007.

davidway
David Way stepped down from his post as SFA apprenticeship boss last year

Ms Husband was in charge of training at McDonald’s when its apprenticeship scheme received a grade two rating from Ofsted, in November 2010, following the company’s only inspection to date. According to her LinkedIn profile, her McDonald’s job title is national education manager at McDonald’s Restaurants Ltd — UK.

An agency spokesperson said: “We can confirm that Sue Husband will be taking up the post of director of apprenticeships and delivery service later this year. She is currently education manager at McDonald’s UK.”

The agency paid McDonald’s £10.5m in 2010/11, £6.8m in 2011/12, and £5.1m in 2012/13. As of January this year, the firm was allocated £4.8m for 2013/14 from the adult skills budget and £5.3m for 16 to 18 apprenticeships. Learndirect is a subcontractor allocated, as of January 2014, £4m for delivering online English and maths functional skills training to its learners.

McDonald’s offers level two intermediate apprenticeship in hospitality and catering.

The firm’s website said its apprentices “learn about customer service, food preparation and the importance of keeping things clean. They also find out about the business and what we do for local communities and the environment”.

McDonald’s is yet to comment.

College chief reassures over vile assault

A Humberside college chief has spoken out to re-assure learners and parents after a former member of staff was jailed for sexually assaulting a young girl.

Ex-Hull College theater technician Andrew Clark, aged 36, was jailed for seven years and four months at Hull Crown Court after pleading guilty to a number of sex offences involving a girl under the age of 13.

Clark, of Pelham Road, Immingham, was arrested on June 11 last year in connection with sex offences committed in the Cottingham area between June 30 and October 3, 2012.
He was charged in September last year with seven counts of sexual assault and pleaded guilty to the offences in December.

Hull College, where Clark worked from April 2012, has sought to re-assure the public that none of the offences related to any of its students.

He was sacked after less than six months at the college after police raided his home and found indecent images of children on his computer, for which he was given a caution.

College chief operating officer Lee Probert said: “Andrew Clark was previously employed by Hull College as a theatre technician. He had been subject to an enhanced CRB check before being offered the post.

“Mr Clark was dismissed in October 2012 in connection to a separate matter to his conviction – these did not concern any current or past students of Hull College Group.”

According to the Hull Daily Mail, Clark had previously taught music at Sydney Smith School, Anlaby, but his conviction did not relate to his time there either. He was sentenced on Friday, February 14.

Humberside Police’s DC Teresa Colledge, who led the investigation, said: “Myself and the officers that worked on this investigation welcome the sentence handed by the Judge at Hull Crown Court.

“Andrew Clark is a man who caused significant distress to a vulnerable girl and, all along he knew that everything he was doing was wrong and what potential harm this was causing to her.

“I am pleased that this Paedophile has been locked away for a number of years and does not pose any further harm to his victim.

“I also hope that this sentence will help bring some closure to her. This has been a harrowing ordeal for both her and her family. I hope this means she is now able to move on with her life in the most positive way possible.”

Traineeships to escape DWP’s 16-hour rule from early next month

A Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) exemption for traineeships that was promised last year by Chancellor George Osborne is to come into force early next month, FE Week can reveal.

The government’s flagship youth unemployment scheme had fallen foul of a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) rule that limits to 16 hours the amount of time JSA claimants can train every week and still get benefits.

But trainees aged 19 and above will be exempted from Monday, March 3, in a move that includes all new and existing enrolments, according to a Skills Funding Agency spokesperson. The hour limit has been almost doubled to 30 hours a-week.

An exemption from the 16-hour rule for traineeships had been promised in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement in December, but delays in confirming when the exemption would be introduced had led to frustration in the sector.

The agency spokesperson said: “From Monday, March 3, the DWP is removing the ’16-hour rule’ for training that has applied to JSA claimants participating in traineeships in England.

“The removal of the ’16-hour rule’ applies only to the traineeship programme and includes all new and existing participants.

“It means JSA claimants aged 19+ will be able to participate in a traineeship programme for up to 30 hours a-week without affecting their JSA entitlement.”

Debating with the deputy PM

Nick Clegg held a question and answer session with hundreds of students at King George V College.
The deputy prime minister spent 45 minutes fielding questions at the Southport college. He was quizzed on university tuition fees and the Syrian civil war by King George students and learners from nearby Southport College.
An informal vote was also held on whether the UK should continue paying foreign aid to overseas countries, or whether the money would be spent better at home. The students were evenly split on the issue. Adele Wills, King George V principal, said: “It was fantastic to see so many students engaging in political debate with the deputy prime minister.”

Cap: Nick Clegg talking to students from King George V College and Southport College

BTECAPP_Advert_strip

Sacre bleu…French students learn to make Scotch eggs

French catering students learned how to cook British dishes during a visit to City College Brighton and Hove.
The learners from Amiens, in France, travelled to Brighton through the Interreg New Technologies for Apprenticeship (NTA) scheme that aims to develop the life skills of French and British students.
They were taught how to cook British dishes, including braised ox cheek and quail Scotch eggs with plum chutney, with help from Brighton and Hove students.
Emma Hotson, the college’s projects and partnership manager, said: “The French students were quite nervous at first about learning to cook dishes they would never have to make back home — but they really threw themselves into it and did a great job. The English and French students sat down together with staff at the end and ate the food. Everyone said how nice it tasted.”

Cap: English and French students in City College Brighton and Hove’s training kitchen holding the British, French and European Union flags

BTECAPP_Advert_strip

Mum of sudden adult death syndrome victim organises heart scanning for 200 young people

Sudden adult death syndrome struck down personal training student Adam Middleton three years ago. The 23-year-old had suffered from an undetected heart defect and his devastated mother, Donna Mayall, was so determined to prevent the same thing from happening to other young people that she raised more than £12,000 to fund screening tests at Warwickshire College, writes Paul Offord.

Donna Mayall’s life changed forever the day her apparently healthy son, Adam Middleton, died unexpectedly.
The 23-year-old, a level three personal training student at Warwickshire College, stayed in bed on the morning of February 3, 2011. He felt unwell.
His heart stopped around lunchtime, a victim of sudden adult death syndrome (Sads), and he was later found dead by his mother.
She resolved to honour the memory of her son by helping prevent other young people from falling victim to Sads — which claims the lives of 12 people aged between 14 and 35 in the UK every week.
Donna raised £12,000 to fund a two-day screening event at Warwickshire College, where around 200 students and other teenagers and young adults were tested for heart abnormalities.
She said: “There was nothing to indicate Adam had a heart condition. He looked after himself physically and was training to be a fitness instructor at the college.
“His heart just stopped and there was nothing I could have done, even if I had been there when he died.
“But I subsequently learned Sads can largely be prevented through testing for heart abnormalities that can then be treated.
“They have introduced tests for young people in Italy and the death rate has fallen by 90 per cent. I decided to organise our own local screening event because of this.”
She added: “Adam was someone who was quite conscious of fitness. If he would have known he had a weakness, he would have definitely done something about it.”
Sads is an umbrella term commonly used for the many different causes of cardiac arrest in young people.
The screening event at the college, which was held with support from the charity the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young UK (CRY), involved a simple ECG (electrocardiogram) test. Four of the young people tested have since been referred for further tests.
“We could have saved four people’s lives, so in my book that is worth every penny of the money we raised,” said Donna.
“Even if we put 200 minds at rest that would have meant everything to me. Adam would have been very proud his family is doing something positive to help other people.”

Warwickshire-College4---wp
Clare Everest, manager of the college’s academy for sport, fitness and public services, said: “We are so pleased Donna asked us to host this screening event in memory of Adam. Our students and staff worked so hard to raise money to help fund the event and to have tested 200 young people and raise awareness has been fantastic.“
The first £1,200 towards the £12,000 cost of the screening event came from donations made by Adam’s family and friends at his funeral.
Students and staff also raised £900 through a Christmas fair held at the college in November.
Donna raised the rest with help from Adam’s brother, Ash Brittain, aged 20, and sister Rhianna Brittain, 14, through events including a golf day, charity auction and fun run.
Donna recently started a new job with the British Heart Foundation, as resource administration manager for the customer service centre in Birmingham.
She said: “I moved from my old job with the Air Ambulance Service because I wanted help raise money to fight heart disease. It was another way I thought I could make a difference as a tribute to Adam. Losing him has moulded my life really. I went through some pretty bad times, but if I can help other people avoid going through the same thing, then that is what I want to do.”

Cap: Tony Hill, from Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY), student Dan Taylor, 17, Lynda Jones, from CRY, and Donna Mayall at the screening event. Inset: Adam Middleton with younger brother Ash Brittain

BTECAPP_Advert_strip